{"id":1452,"date":"2019-09-05T08:30:00","date_gmt":"2019-09-05T08:30:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/carolineg1.sg-host.com\/index.php\/2019\/09\/05\/runner-self-confidence\/"},"modified":"2022-04-30T18:15:36","modified_gmt":"2022-04-30T17:15:36","slug":"runner-self-confidence","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.runwithcaroline.com\/runner-self-confidence\/","title":{"rendered":"How to believe in yourself: Running and self confidence"},"content":{"rendered":"

Running and self confidence go hand in hand. Whether you’re a beginner runner or more advanced, it’s only natural to doubt your abilities as a runner.<\/p>\n

I’ve heard this so many times from beginner runners. It saddens me to think that people think they have to run a certain amount of miles or run their first race before they can call themselves a runner.<\/p>\n

I work with a lot of beginner runners whose running confidence is through the floor when I first meet them.<\/p>\n

But as soon as they get out there and get a few runs under their belt, their confidence soon starts to grow.<\/p>\n

The truth is, as soon as you step out for your first run, you’re a runner!<\/p>\n

Plain. And. Simple.<\/p>\n

It doesn’t matter how fast you go, how far you go or whether you do it in the latest running gear.<\/p>\n

As long as you’re running, you’re a runner.<\/p>\n

The pressure to conform to the notion of what a ‘runner’ should<\/em> be is something that I’m sure a lot of us have faced over the years.<\/p>\n

I remember when I set off for my very first run. After a few minutes I felt like I was going to die!<\/p>\n

I felt far from anyone’s view of what a runner should look like.<\/p>\n

I felt like giving up because it felt so hard. I felt like it wouldn’t ever get any easier. My own insecurities and self-doubt started to creep into the picture.<\/p>\n

I felt like half the battle was with my mind, not with my body!<\/p>\n

Over time, I slowly got better at it. I started to see improvements in my form, my breathing and my speed. I no longer got out of breath after a few minutes.<\/p>\n

With the physical changes, came the mental changes.<\/p>\n

Now I look back at those days, I think the reason I struggled so much was that I somehow needed to prove to myself that I was a runner.<\/p>\n

To me, being out of breath after only a few minutes meant I had failed in the running stakes.<\/p>\n

My mind telling me that I wasn’t good enough or strong enough.<\/p>\n

When I work with beginner runners now, I tell them to spend some time working on silencing that negative inner voice.<\/p>\n

When you try anything new, your mind likes to sabotage you.<\/p>\n

It thinks it’s protecting you from any harm, when in fact it’s in overdrive and just needs to take a step back.<\/p>\n

“Thank you, brain. You’re not needed in this area today.”<\/p>\n

Change happens when you let go of expectations and you give yourself permission to succeed.<\/p>\n

If you have the courage, patience, hard work and determination to attack it, you will build up your endurance and you will get better at it.<\/p>\n

There aren’t any check boxes that you need to tick in order to call yourself a runner.<\/p>\n

There are no pre-requisites, no tests, no assessments.<\/p>\n

Getting out there and taking the first step is the best you can do.<\/p>\n

It may feel like you’re struggling more than anyone else, but I can tell you now that everyone struggles when they first start running.<\/p>\n

No one is born a perfect runner.<\/p>\n

Tell yourself that you are strong and capable.<\/p>\n

Remind yourself that you are enough and tell yourself that you’re a runner.<\/p>\n

It may feel weird but after a few weeks it will slowly become second nature for you.<\/p>\n

Last of all: do not give up. You can do this!<\/p>\n

Here are my strategies for boosting your confidence as a runner.<\/p>\n

It’s not a sprint, it’s a marathon<\/h2>\n

Sorry to use the age old running pun, but it’s seriously true when you first start running.<\/p>\n

The tendency for a lot of new runners is to rush into a training plan or believe they have to run every day in order to get better at it.<\/p>\n

This simply isn’t true.<\/p>\n

Yes, whilst in the short term you might see some improvement. In the long term, you’ll be setting yourself up for exhaustion and injury.<\/p>\n

Don’t see running as something that you have to master within a matter of weeks.<\/p>\n

Running takes time. It takes time to build up your endurance and strength and really improve your running form.<\/p>\n

So don’t feel like you have to rush it in order to be accepted as a runner.<\/p>\n

Many of the best runners have spent years training to get where they are today.<\/p>\n

Everyone finds it hard at one stage or another<\/h2>\n

Yep, this is another point that I am keen to make to new runners. When they see someone who glides effortlessly on their run, they assume they have always been like this.<\/p>\n

This is not true!<\/p>\n

Every runner, including the elite runners that you see winning all the major races, has had a period in their life where they found it hard and painful – including myself.<\/p>\n

There have been times when I have fallen completely out of love with running because I found it difficult or boring.<\/p>\n

It’s what you make of it that counts, and your ability to find your inner strength to keep going.<\/p>\n

You will find it hard. You will find it tiring. But every runner has to go through these stages in order to become a better and stronger runner.<\/p>\n

You are capable. More than capable<\/h2>\n

Repeat after me: “You are capable of whatever you put your mind to.”<\/p>\n

Don’t make the mistaken belief that you’re not good enough or worthy of becoming a runner.<\/p>\n

I truly believe that everyone has it in them to become a runner and be good at it. Whether they want to do is another story!<\/p>\n

Don’t let your mind convince you that you’re not good enough. Once you have a few runs under your belt and your experience deepens, you will feel more confident.<\/p>\n

It takes time, but stick with it!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Running and self confidence go hand in hand. Whether you’re a beginner runner or more advanced, it’s only natural to doubt your abilities as a runner. I’ve heard this so many times from beginner runners. It saddens me to think that people think they have to run a certain amount of miles or run their …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2510,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","disable-in-feed":false,"article-schema-type":"","disable-critical-css":false},"categories":[16,39,123],"tags":[],"mv":{"thumbnail_id":2510,"thumbnail_uri":"https:\/\/www.runwithcaroline.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/4-1-300x300.png"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.runwithcaroline.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1452"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.runwithcaroline.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.runwithcaroline.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.runwithcaroline.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.runwithcaroline.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1452"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.runwithcaroline.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1452\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7329,"href":"https:\/\/www.runwithcaroline.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1452\/revisions\/7329"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.runwithcaroline.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2510"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.runwithcaroline.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1452"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.runwithcaroline.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1452"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.runwithcaroline.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1452"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}