Best-Of Highlights And Why They Matter

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So you're thinking about running, but not sure how to take the first step? My name is Brian Patterson, and I'm here to help. Welcome to Brian's ROM podcome back to Brian's Ron Pod, the podcast that brings you the stories, the science, and the people behind running. Now, today's episode is a little bit different. This is sort of the best of special. So after the past few months, we've had some incredible guests, coaches, ultrarunners, physios, everyday runners doing extraordinary things. And in this episode, I pulled together ten of the most powerful moments. Now I know I must add a caveat here that by saying that there are special moments in the 178 episodes that I've produced so far, which is remarkable. So I might cover these more wonderful moments in another episode. These are the clips that make you think, uh make you reflect, and in some cases might just change the way you approach your running altogether. So whether you're out on an easy run, commuting, or just relaxing, this is your highlight reel from Brian's Run Pod.

The Magic Of Accessible Running

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So uh let's kick things off with something very simple but powerful. This is from my conversation with Tom Waite from episode 168, and it's a reminder of why so many of us fall in love with running.

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Yeah, and it's it's so accessible. Exactly. I really wish everyone could have a passion for not necessarily running, but doing something that makes them feel good.

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Yeah.

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And running's such a great one because it is so accessible, you can just go outside and run. And there's no there's no fear around it. A lot of the times that one of the biggest barriers that I find with with people coming into a gym, that they're scared of being in a gym environment. Yeah. It's intimidating. Whereas with with running, the the barrier is you just need to go outside and be on your own and go have fun.

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Yeah. And that's it, isn't it? No friction, just you, your shoes, and the road ahead.

A Late-Life Leap Into Ultras

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Now, for my next clip, um is basically about simplicity to pushing the limits. Jeffrey Weiss, an author, uh, joined me to talk about stepping into the world of ultrarunning later in life and how that spark came can come from unexpected clause places. In episode 151, we talked to Jeffrey Weiss on what made him start running and when did this transition to ultras uh begin? Ultras. So so what's what's your history there in terms of um uh looking to go that next step to the ultras? Because I know it's being it's quite it's quite popular now.

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Yeah, it wasn't something that I it wasn't as natural a progression for me as going from 10k to the half to the full. That I think is a path that a lot of us follow. Um I did three marathons and had pretty much decided that I was done with marathons. And then I saw an article, an interview with Catherine Switzer, who was the first woman to originally run to officially run the uh Boston Marathon. Um and she was seven years old at the time of the article, getting ready to run the race to celebrate the 50th anniversary of her achievement, which was pretty remarkable. But she was in DC to run uh uh a 10 miler there as part of her preparation. And in the interview, she surprised me by talking about the Comrades Marathon, a 56-mile uh ultra marathon in South Africa. It's actually the world's oldest and largest ultra marathon. And she said it was a race that she'd always wanted to do, and uh and and she said, perhaps one day I'll still do it. And as I read it, I thought, I think at 70, it's probably too late. But I'm right now 56, and and I might still have time, and I don't want it to be too late for me, so I need to actually look at it in a serious way. And so that's really what got me into it. So train did my first 50k.

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And that's often how it starts. Just a small idea that grows into something much bigger. Now,

Consistency Through Small Daily Changes

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small habits, big results. Now, sticking with Jeffrey, but this time rewinding to the very beginning, um, because this next one, it's really about not really about running, it's about consistency. And I did quote him and said that it is about making small changes that you can sustain every day. He said this is really when talking about his book. Now, if you've ever need inspiration to write a book, Jeffrey says it best. And I quote, if you write a page every day for a year, you have a book by the end of it. So you can swap writing a page for running a mile. So same principle, same outcome.

The Talk Test For Easy Runs

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In our fourth segment, um is basically keeping your easy runs easy. Now, if there's one thing runners get wrong time and time again, is running too hard too often. Here um in my episode with Ken Graham, a running influencer and running coach from down under, and you wouldn't think it if you if you actually hear him because he's actually Irish, uh, with a simple fix. In episode 172, he helps us explain what we can expect from our easy runs.

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Easy running. But they're still running easy, it's just relative to their fitness level. So that's what I encourage people to do to run easy. Just ask yourself, can I comfortably maintain a conversation at this kind of effort I'm exerting at the moment while I'm running? Um and if you feel like you can only kind of speak in a few short sentences or you can only kind of get a few words out before you have to kind of catch yourself, then you're just running too quickly. So just slow down. Best piece of advice I can give, if in doubt, slow down.

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So the talk test. Simple, effective, and still some of us seem to ignore it. I know I do.

Breaking Limiting Beliefs About Ability

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Segment five. Um breaking the limit or uh breaking the limiting beliefs. Um next up, something that doesn't get talked about enough. This has become a running theme, if you forgive the pun, on the podcast. Um it's not always your legs holding you back, but sometimes it's your mindset. In episode 98 with Molly and Pauly Molly and Paul, Paula from St. Margaret's physio, Paula talks about this concept.

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Often people come in and be like, I don't know if I can ever run.

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Yes.

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Or I don't know if I ever can do this thing.

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Yes.

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And I was like, Who told you that?

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Yeah.

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Who told you that? And then we have to kind of like go backwards and yeah, kind of like deal with like limiting beliefs, uh the knowledge itself about their body and conf uh building confidence and then learning the new movement patent and strengthening.

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And once that belief shifts, everything sh else should follow.

Running As Identity Through Hard Times

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In our next clip, running is n is also about, isn't just about performance, it's about transformation. Here's Lisa Junk Lisa Jackson, a running author and contributor to Runner's World or um Runner's World magazine, and has appeared on countless uh running conferences. In episode 156, in what running can do over time.

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There's a whole epilogue session, it's actually a very long epilogue section, which is all the things I wish I'd known before I went through certain things. So wow how I wish I'd known how to speak to medical professionals, what I wish I'd known about grief and how it affects you, what I wish I'd known about regaining your running mojo. So it's a nice handy summary at the back of the book, but the rest of it's told in a story. And there's some very funny sections in the book. I mean, even through my husband's illness, we found a lot to laugh about. Uh and um now after his death, um, I've done a lot of well, a lot of um speed dating and not even a little bit of online dating. Okay. I tell you, I now feel I do it not to meet someone, but just to amuse my friends. Because the stories that I come out with, I mean, when I tell my paces at a at a half marathon, um, you know, the stories, and we just we almost can't breathe through laughing so much. So I'm yeah, I'm having a lot of fun with that. So there's a lovely chapter called Love Me Tinder that's all about that. Yeah.

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Um and there's this lots of fun and I'll um I'll earmark that one.

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Yeah, no, do if you have that's what I always say to people. If my book gets too heavy for you, just jump to chapter 27, read Love Me Tinder, and you can come back to the sandbits later.

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That journey from zero to this is part of who I am, that's what keeps people coming back. Now, what

Sleep And Recovery As Training

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about the power of sleep? All right, let's talk about recovery. Uh, Dr. Michael Bettler in episode 176 emphasizes this being a key part of one's well-being. Because no matter how hard you train, if you're not sleeping well and recovering, you're leaving that part of the process on the table. Kind of tend to neglect the recovery part of it, um, sort of like the sleep and recovery.

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Yeah, I think it it is um, I guess it's person to person. In my experience with telehealth, um, you definitely see variation. Um, that is is job related, some of it is social related, but um the people that tend to do very well from a strength training and and cardiovascular standpoint, um, definitely focus on sleep, same sleep and wake times, um like routines before bed, the blue light blocking glasses, yeah. If they are have to be on the phone or something like that. Yeah um to to make sure that their brain is not overactive so that they can get that good rest and recovery.

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So, in a way, sometimes, you know, less is more to make sure that you're getting the benefits of the training that you're, you know, that you're doing. So it's I know it's not really a difficult concept, but it's something that does get overlooked. It's really important that it's not about the training. We need to get that adaptation so you can um improve your fitness, and it's absolutely essential. Now,

The Small Habits Nobody Sees

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in our eighth clip, um, little things matter. And building on that, sometimes it's not about doing more, it's about doing the small things better. Now, in an upcoming episode, we have with Wendy Welton, movement specialist, who talks about making small daily habits.

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Posting online, and I had been quite anti-social media before, but then this was different. I had something I wanted to say, and it gained traction because I Yeah, you are very successful on social media. I brought moments of what I was doing online and said to people, it's possible to change, but we don't need to be the big shifts. Everything's always about the big shift.

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Yes.

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And actually it's not, it's the small stuff that we're missing.

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So the stuff no one sees, that's where the gains are being made. And I can recommend um the episodes we have with Wendy Welpton.

Starting Yoga And Progress At Any Age

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In our ninth clip, it's never too late. Now, here's something I love because I complete completely remove the excuse of it's too late to do anything. And we had a yoga teacher, uh Nikki on Nikki Yasbek on the podcast, and she said, um, it's never too late to try new things. And obviously, that includes yoga.

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Yeah, I mean, I love working with men, and men come into classes all the time, and it it's really good, it's really humbling, and it's a really good way to get our egos in check. And it is, it's like totally there's more and more men coming, so there's not a stigma around that at all. And the one thing I would say is that yoga is different than a lot of other sports and activities because I think a lot of sports, by the time you hit 30, you're gonna hit this downhill path. But yoga, if you start in your 30s, your forties, your 50s, whatever age you begin, you're gonna see progress. And so it's really cool. The tighter you are when you come into that class, the more you're gonna see that progress. From I I couldn't touch my toes in the beginning of class, and now I'm an inch or two further.

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So whenever you're wherever you are right now, you're not behind. It's just about getting started. In

Mantras And The Mental Battle

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our final clip, um, which is mind over body, and to close out, and it's one of the most powerful truths in insurance sport. So running author Marelli Ferreira in episode 83 really encapsulates what your mind is capable of.

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I I remember this one run um when I was coming off off from that I keep band injury, I went for a run, and then well, it was a bit raining and it was cold, and then I felt that oh I think my knee is starting to hurt. And instead of um concentrating on on that, that I'm uncomfortable and and everything that it might be hurting, I started to think that well, my knees are strong, I'm feeling good, and and it went. So it's it's a lot of fitness in in your mind. I have done two 40 mile ultras, and with ultrasound it's a lot of fitness and mind became as much as you have to prepare your body to do it, you uh you have to prepare your mind, and I think you have to prepare your mind even more than than your body, because your body can do a lot more than you think, but your mind is the one that gives up and says that you you're you're hurting, you're tired, you can't do it. But instead I I have this like set of mantras that I'm I I'm using. Like I I ran my last tool train in May, and I had really poor prepar preparation because I I had a few boats of illnesses in February and March, and uh and until the week before I thought that maybe I'm not even going. But I I decided that didn't finish would be better than didn't start. So I thought at least I will go and I will try and see what happens. And I I did quite well, but I did have um difficult uh moments during that run. But I I kept saying to myself that I'm strong and I I can do hard things and and it pushed me through. And and it definitely especially with that tool try uh it it proved to me that the mental game is is has so much uh importance.

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If you've

More Conversations To Explore Next

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really enjoyed this best off episode, there's plenty more from where that came off, and you can go back and explore the full conversations in our library. So please do keep listening to uh Brian's Rompod, and it's me, your host, Brian Patterson, signing off for now. Till next week. Bye bye.