Welcome to Running to Myself. I’m Trisha Stanton. Life and mindset coach, running coach and host of Running to Myself.
16 years ago I ran my first marathon. The process of training for that first race changed my life. This podcast is my opportunity to share some of the lessons I have learned about running and life through the many ups and downs of life during my almost 2 decades of running and learning more about who I am. It is my hope that through my stories maybe you will see a bit of yourself as well and find a nugget of truth and inspiration to take with you. Let’s get started.
Welcome to Episode 17 What are you making it mean?
Last week I shared several firsts that I had experienced the week before in my running life. One of those firsts was racing without a GPS watch. I guess it was technically the second time I raced without gps, I didn’t have that technology on my wrist during my first marathon and I wouldn’t have known what to do with it even if I had. It would be more accurate to say that this was the first time since becoming a data geek about my running performance that I ran without immediate access to my pace, distance, and heart rate data. By the time race day came, it wasn’t a huge deal, but getting myself to the place where it wasn’t a huge deal was a process. It sounds extreme when I say it outloud, but the truth is, I was STUCK on that information. And not in a good way.
Oh, as most things do, it began very innocently. That first Garmin watch changed things in the best way. I no longer had to drive the course ahead of time to map it out. I didn’t have to try to remember exactly where the turn around point was to get my mileage in. It saved me time and energy to just be able to run and track my distance in the moment.
It was freedom.
At first.
The other amazing piece of information my watch gave me was my running pace. This information was incredibly valuable when I was training for a race and needed to run a specific pace based on the type of training run the plan called for each day.
When I adopted a training plan that used heart rate data, my watch provided that information as well. This tiny computer on my wrist gave me all the information I needed each time I set out on a run.
That is my origin story of how I became a complete unapologetic, data geek. I loved the story the data told for the first several years as I improved. Then the trajectory of the story changed and the data told a different story. It told me that what I felt in my body was true. I was slowing down.
Over time, the watch went from providing information that was useful to indicate how training toward a specific goal was going, to becoming something much bigger. The data provided became the measuring stick for whether a run was good or not. And the dividing point was clear. Fast run, good. Slow run, bad. There was no in between. I didn’t see the problem at first. In fact, during the years while I was in a constant cycle of training for races, the data provided was measured very concretely against the training plan. I love a training process with clear objectives. This served me well during that time.
But when I stopped racing, I didn’t let go of the data tracking. It was just part of what I had done for so long that it never occurred to me to stop. Now there was no particular training plan to anchor to, so instead of evaluating the data with a specific goal from a training plan as the measurement, the evaluation shifted. Fast run, good. Slow run, bad.
Let me just stop right here and state the obvious. My data does not need to be tracked.
I am not a professional runner. Nobody cares what my pace is. It feels hilarious and embarrassing to even say those words, but as I listen to what I am saying about my obsession with tracking my data, it seems like something that needs to be said (mostly to myself). And it certainly underscores how out of control I let this situation become for myself.
The odd thing was, this was inconsistent and at odds with the new relationship I had with running. I was heading out onto the trails each day to clear my mind, work through problems that had me feeling stuck. I used that time to pray and reflect. I could physically feel the energy I was receiving from being outside, on trails rather than road. Even as I expended energy through the exertion of running, I was taking in the energy of nature on the trail.
Trail running was such a beautiful experience until I let the tiny computer on my wrist tell me that it was not. The tiny computer said that if I did not run fast enough, the time was wasted. The tiny computer said that I was becoming progressively slow and that was of course a bad thing.
Let’s pause for a moment so I can I give myself some tough love…the tiny computer on my wrist did NOT tell me these things. The tiny computer on my wrist just gave me some information in the form of numbers. Numbers are neutral. It was me. I was the one that made those numbers mean something. I was the one who let the numbers define me and determine how I felt after a run. I took something neutral-numbers on a tiny computer and made them mean that I had a good day or a bad day. I made those neutral numbers carry way more meaning than they needed to.
This brings us to our life coach connection. I have some questions for you to consider today. You may want to write them down to reflect on as we head into the busy holiday season.
Are you ready?
Here we go.
With an open mind I would ask you to consider the following:
Is there something in your life that served a purpose at first, but over time has risen to importance in a way that no longer serves what you are trying to create in your life?
Is there something that carries greater importance than what is healthy?
As we move into the holiday season, big expectations can pop up.
A need for things and people to be just so.
High expectations for ourselves and others to be at a certain place on a certain day, staying for a specific amount of time, doing it all just so.
We can find ourselves holding so tightly to these expectations- jaws clenched, hands squeezed into fists, white knuckling our way through what started as such a positive experience.
This tradition or expectation seems so important.
But is it?
Do we really need to hold onto it just because this is what we have always done?
Could there be another way?
Has this idea, this tradition, this custom that was a perfect fit in the past, grown into a heavy burden that no longer lifts you up and creates connection with those you love most?
Does the expectation of continuing in this way create stress and disconnection?
If the answer is yes, do you have the courage to consider letting go?
Maybe the suggestion of letting go creates a feeling of resistance in your body.
Are you willing to ask why?
Are you willing to explore, what you are making it mean?
Just as I needed to take a good hard look at the internal conflict I had between what I wanted from my time on the trails and my attachment to the numbers on my watch, maybe there is that one thing in your life where it is time for you to do the same.
There is no hurry, no rush. Letting go of something we have held tightly to can be a process. I only ask, that you give yourself the space, freedom and honesty to explore the idea.
Listen, as we go full steam ahead into what is for many the busiest time of the year, the ability to manage your mind is the difference between enjoying the extra time with family and friends or being depleted by it. I am ready to help you! I have opened up my schedule to take on more end of year clients. No day or time is off limits! I am making myself fully available to get you through the end of 2024 with a well managed mind. When you prioritize your mental and emotional health, everything else improves as well. You can contact me through my website or message me on Facebook. Don’t put it off! The time to act is now!
That’s all I have for you today, my friends. I hope you enjoyed this episode of Running to Myself. You can find previous episodes on apple podcasts and spotify or on my website www.trishastanton.com. New episodes are released each Monday. You can subscribe on Apple or Spotify to automatically receive each new episode as it comes out.
If you know someone who you think would enjoy this podcast, please share it with them! I will be back next week to share a little more about my training journey on the road to discovering my truest self.
In the meantime, if you want to know more about my coaching program or have questions about one-on-one coaching or life coaching in general, please visit my website at www.trishastanton.com or my Facebook Group The Simple Truth Coaching. I would love to hear from you!
Have a great week and remember, Mindset Matters!
