Running Lean with Patrick McGilvray
Sometimes it’s during a marathon when your body just says “no more,” but other times, it’s just life that stops you cold. You lose motivation, faith, or direction — and it feels like there’s no way …
Continue Reading about 305. What to Do When You Hit the Wall →
My name is Patrick McGilvray, and I’m an experienced marathoner, ultra runner, sports nutritionist, master life coach, and weight loss coach for runners. I’ve dedicated my life to helping runners just like you properly fuel your body and your mind so you can get leaner, get stronger, run faster, and run longer than you ever thought Possible. This is running Lean.
Hey there, and welcome to episode 305 of Running Lean. My name is Patrick McGilvray, the weight loss coach for runners. And today, what to do when you hit the wall. So we all hit walls. Sometimes it’s during a marathon when your body just says, no mas. But other times it’s just life that stops you cold.
You might lose motivation or faith or direction. And it feels like there’s just no way through. But what if the wall isn’t the end? What if it’s actually the path? In this episode, I’m talking about how to face the hardest moments in your life and find the strength to move through them, whether you’re struggling in your running, your health, or just life in general.
This episode will help you reframe those challenges and see them for what they really are. Opportunities to grow stronger, wiser, and more resilient than ever. This one’s gonna be honest, emotional, and powerful. Stick around. But first, listen, if you’re tired of feeling stuck, if running feels harder than it should, if you’ve been doing all the right things, but you’re still not seeing the results that you want, you don’t have to keep trying to figure it all out yourself.
What most runners don’t realize is that the struggle isn’t just physical, it’s mental, it’s emotional. It’s about mindset, nutrition, training, recovery. All of it working together, and that’s exactly what I help my clients do every single day. When we work together, you’ll get a customized plan for running, for strength, for nutrition, but more importantly, you’ll get coaching and accountability to help you to follow through.
You’ll finally build the consistency. The confidence and the strength that you’ve been missing. So if you’re ready to break through your wall in running and in life, go to running lean coaching.com. Click on work with me and we can do this together. All right, let’s get into this topic. What to do when you hit the wall.
Um, and I’m not just talking about that moment in a marathon, when your legs feel like cinder blocks, your brain starts telling you it’s time to quit, and every cell in your body is screaming for mercy. I’m talking about the kind of walls we hit in our life, those things that stop us dead in our tracks that kind of make you question everything.
Maybe you’ve hit a wall in your health and fitness journey. You’re doing everything right, but the scale won’t budge. Maybe it’s in your training, you’ve lost motivation. The joy of running is gone. Maybe it’s something much bigger, something personal, emotional, spiritual, something that shakes the ground under your feet, whatever form it takes, hitting the wall can feel like the end.
But what I wanna offer you today is a different perspective because the wall. Isn’t the end. It’s not a dead end. It’s actually the beginning of something much deeper, A chance to grow, to evolve, to become someone new. Uh, there’s an amazing author and book out there. Ryan Holiday wrote this book called The Obstacle is The Way, and he says this beautifully in this book, the Impediment to Action Advances Action.
What stands in the way? Becomes the way, and that’s the essence of what we’re talking about here today. The obstacle that you see in front of you is the way the wall is, the path. The only way through is through. So I wanna start by defining what I mean when I say the wall in running. It’s that physiological crash.
You know, you’ve burned through your glycogen, your brain starts shutting systems down. You just can’t go on. You’re weak, foggy, unmotivated. Every step feels terrible. The reason I’m bringing this up is because I was talking to somebody last night who recently. Ran the Marine Corps marathon. She did it some years ago.
Um, my fiance Jill and I were just in Washington, DC for the Marine Corps Marathon. And we were working the expo, as you know, Jill is the assistant race director for Air Force Marathon. And so we were representing Air Force Marathon at the Marine Corps Marathon Expo. And so we, we watched 40,000 runners cross the finish line.
We were handing out some challenge medals at the end. It was, it was really an amazing experience. But we, um. We’re talking to someone last night who said she, she ran the Marine Corps marathon, and we were like, oh my gosh, that’s so awesome. She goes, yeah, I didn’t finish. I got to mile 20 and I quit. And we were both like, oh my gosh, that’s terrible.
You know? Um, and, and in reality, my thought was. Come on. You only had a 10 K to go. Like, you gotta push through that, uh, feeling of, uh, wanting to quit. You know, your body is shutting down. I totally get that. And, and listen, if you have ever, you know, uh, given up at the end of a marathon because of physiological reasons, you got, uh, really bad.
Cramps or you’re injured or something like that. What she was telling us was a little bit different. She just didn’t feel like she could go on, you know, there was nothing, uh, majorly wrong with her. She just kind of, you know, was tired and just felt like she couldn’t do it. And so she kind of gave up on herself and she sort of regrets that.
And, and I started thinking about that and, and I thought, you know, that’s a, that’s a good metaphor for life because life throws things at us all the time. Um. We have these moments in our life where, you know, things seem un insurmountable. These problems that seem like there’s just no way that we can get through them.
You know, there’s these huge obstacles to our, what we feel like are obstacles to our success, and we just can’t see a way forward. You know, maybe you’ve lost someone you love, maybe a relationship ended. Maybe you failed at something big like a business or a goal or a dream. Maybe you’re just exhausted from trying so hard for so long.
And here’s the thing, we all do this. Everyone at some point in their life hits a wall. You know, runners, parents, entrepreneurs, coaches, leaders. No one is immune to this. The wall is something universal. It’s part of the human experience, and it’s not a sign that something’s wrong. It’s a sign that you’re on the edge of transformation.
Our natural instinct, though, is to avoid it, we want to go around it, go under it, find a shortcut, or pretend it’s not there. And that’s a problem because growth doesn’t happen by avoiding walls. Growth only happens when you go through them. Here’s a truth that took me a long time to really grasp the wall.
Isn’t your enemy, it’s your teacher. Every wall you hit in your life is trying to teach you something. It’s showing you what’s not working. It’s revealing what still needs to change inside of you. It’s refining you, burning away what’s weak and temporary, what’s not in alignment with who you’re becoming.
You know, one thing in my life that was a big struggle was. Uh, 18 and a half years ago, I, I was really struggling with this addiction to alcohol and I had kind of hit a rock bottom and it felt like the end of my life. Like, this was the hardest thing I’ve ever had to like, deal with, you know, to, to stop drinking.
Um, because it was really destroying my life. It was, it destroyed my marriage. It was, um, threatening to destroy my relationship with people, with my kids. Um, and it was something that just felt like the end of me. But really it was the thing that I had to go through in order for me to become the person that I am today.
And today, that wall that I hit, I’m grateful for that wall. Right in the moment though, it did not feel like that. It felt like the end of the world to me. It felt like the end of my life. It was painful. It felt like a loss. It, I felt like a failure. But I can look back on this, you know, years and years later, and I can realize that.
The wall wasn’t blocking me. It was actually guiding me toward who I needed to become. I wasn’t being punished, I was being shaped. Okay, so when you hit the wall, it kind of brings everything to the surface. The fear, the doubt, the excuses, the stories you tell yourself. It’s like stripping away all your armor, your raw, you’re vulnerable, and you can’t hide behind things like willpower anymore.
And that’s why it’s so uncomfortable. That’s also why it’s so powerful ’cause when you’re standing there face to face with whatever it is that your wall is in that moment, you get to see who you really are. It reveals that about you. It reveals who you are. You see what you really believe about yourself.
You can see how much you can actually trust in your own strength. You see whether or not you’re willing to fight for what really matters to you. And most people never get to that point because they quit. They quit before they get there. They feel the discomfort, they see the wall and they run the other way.
But if you stay, if you stand your ground and you choose to go through it, that’s where you find the version of yourself that’s been waiting on the other side. You know, it’s like pushing through the marathon when you only have those last 10 Ks to go. And I can relate to this because I’ve been there before, back in 2012.
I know this was a long time ago. That’s when I hit my marathon pr. Um. Like a 3 43, uh, which is pretty decent for me back in the day. I, I felt great about this. Um. It was in Indianapolis, it was in November. It was cold. We were dealing with, uh, an ice storm. Uh, the wind and, and, and ice were blowing in my face, heading back towards downtown Indianapolis.
And I had a friend running me in those last 10 Ks, like he met me at mile 20 right around there and, and was running me in. And I actually said to him out loud, like, I don’t think I can do this. I don’t think I can keep running like this. And he just said, you, yes you can. But I was like, forced to deal with this wall that was in front of me, you know?
And it was like a, literally like a wall of wind and ice, you know? And, and, and I was doubting myself and the pain had set in and I was exhausted. Um. And, and he just said, you, you can do this. And, and that was the thing that’s just, I just kept running that through my head. Like I just have to push through, you know?
I know what’s on the other side of this. I’m going to hit my PR if I can keep going like this, and I really, really, really wanted to quit and I didn’t. Right. Most people though, when they’re in that situation, when they feel like they just can’t go on when they. See the wall. When they hit the wall, they do one of three things.
They stop, you know, they give up. They tell themselves, it’s too hard. I’m not good enough. I can’t do this. Or number two, they try to go around the wall. You know, they look for the easy way out. What’s the shortcut? What can I do to avoid this discomfort here? Or number three, when they see the wall, they pretend it’s not there.
They numb out with food, with alcohol, with scrolling, with busyness, anything to just avoid feeling that pain of dealing with the wall, of going through the wall, but all those things, stopping going, trying to go around it or pretending it’s not there, they keep you stuck. You can’t outsmart the wall, you can’t ignore it.
You can’t run from it. Eventually it’s gonna find you again, usually in a bigger way. So you have one real option, and that is to face it. And that is terrifying, but it’s also where freedom lives. So the first step in breaking through any wall is facing it and accepting that, that it’s there, accepting it.
You gotta stop seeing it as a problem and start seeing it as part of the process. The wall isn’t a detour, it’s not a roadblock. This is the path. This is where you shift from. Why is this happening to me? To what is this here? To teach me that question. What is this teaching me? This changes everything for you.
Because it takes you outta victim mode and puts you in power mode, right? You stop fighting reality and you start working with it and acceptance. It doesn’t mean resignation. It doesn’t mean you’re giving up. It means you’ve acknowledged that, okay, this is real. This wall here, this is a real thing. And then choosing to go through it.
An ex good example of this is when I first started working as an entrepreneur and I was coaching other entrepreneurs, um, I was working with people who own small businesses and were trying to get started and I had some experience with this and so I started, you know, coaching them and this never really felt right for me.
Um, I had to accept the fact that this wasn’t really where I needed to be and it wasn’t the right. Fit for me and, and I had to sort of give up on that idea, you know? And when I finally did that, when I finally accepted that this wasn’t really where my heart was, and I started working with runners instead, everything fell into place beautifully for me.
But that was really hard to do because quitting something that I had started, I am not a quitter. I don’t quit anything. And when I had started this business and, and I had to make a decision because it just wasn’t working, I had to make that decision to shift into a different sort of genre here, a different, uh, niche.
And so I had to, uh, make that decision to shift gears and do something else, but it felt like a failure. It felt like I was a complete failure. And, and I didn’t wanna be a failure to myself or anybody else, but I realize now that I just pivoted. All I did was, was made a little, you know, shift in my direction and everything became clear.
And, and of course, this business that I have has become a. Incredibly successful, and it was facing that wall and going through it and not trying to avoid it, not pretending it wasn’t there. You know, my wall was, this wasn’t the right fit, you know, and, and this isn’t working. And, and I had to go through that in order to get where I am today.
But listen, going through the wall. It sucks. Okay. It’s like an emotional rollercoaster. It’s not graceful. It’s not easy, it’s messy. It’s emotional, it’s raw. You’re gonna cry, you’re gonna want to quit. You’re gonna feel lost. You’re gonna question everything. Your faith, your purpose, your strength, and you might even get.
Angry at yourself, at others, at the universe, and all that is okay. It’s part of the process, but you can’t numb your way through the wall. You can’t just check out and avoid it. You have to feel your way through it. The emotions that come up, the fear, the anger, the sadness, the grief, they’re not the enemy.
They’re signals. It’s like an alarm going off saying like, Hey, this is some stuff going on that you need to move through. Okay. And when you let yourself feel all that stuff, when you a, allow yourself to, to go on that emotional rollercoaster, ride without judgment, without, you know, uh, beating yourself up about it, something shifts for you.
This is when you actually start to heal and the wall begins to crack. And one of the most important lessons I’ve learned in all of this is that. Resilience isn’t built in comfort. It’s built in the moments when you think you can’t keep going, but you do anyway. Yeah. Every time you face a wall and you refuse to quit, you’re building that muscle of resilience.
That’s how you grow stronger mentally, emotionally, spiritually. Runners understand this better than most people ’cause every hard run, every tough race, every miserable workout, it’s training your body and your brain to handle the tough stuff, to handle adversity. And that’s why I always say like running is such a perfect metaphor for life.
’cause if you can learn to push through the pain during a really tough run, you can do this anywhere, right? The key though is that you can’t just like survive it. You have to be present in it. You have to notice what’s happening. You have to be aware. You have to be there. You can’t just check out. Notice what your mind is telling you.
Uh, notice how much stronger you are than maybe you think that awareness is what transforms that pain into power. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve run in the freezing cold. Or the pouring rain or push through a really hard race. And every time I’ve done something really hard like that, it’s built up just a little bit of mental toughness.
It’s like building that mental toughness muscle. And little by little, my mental toughness, my resilience has grown and gotten stronger and stronger and stronger, and it’s taken years. And it’s taken going through a lot of tough stuff, tough runs and divorces and you know, a addiction. And cancer, like I’ve I, back in 2003, I was diagnosed with cancer and I had to go through all of that really tough times, but I came out the other side of that a lot stronger.
It didn’t feel like it at the time. I can look back on it now and say, yes, that was something that I had to go through in order to become who I am today. But you can’t avoid these things. You can’t avoid. The wall because all that does is just keeps you stuck. It just delays the growth and compounds your suffering.
Every time you avoid discomfort, you reinforce the belief that you can’t do it, that you can’t handle it, that it’s too hard for you, and you’re teaching yourself, Hey, when things get hard, we quit. Like the person I was talking to yesterday about the Marine Corps marathon, she got to mile 20 and it got hard.
There’s a hill there and she couldn’t do it. She quit. And that becomes your default for life. But the truth is you can handle it. You’ve already handled so much more than you give yourself credit for. Think about all the walls you’ve already gone through. Every challenge, every loss, every heartbreak.
You’ve made it through. Every single one. I always tell people you’ve got a hundred percent, uh, uh, track record of getting through tough stuff. We all do. We all have a hundred percent track record of getting through tough stuff. You didn’t think you could do it at the time, but you did. You always did. So when the next wall shows up and it will remember, this isn’t new.
You’ve been here before. You know what to do. You gotta just keep going. So I wanna give you guys a couple of practical tips for a minute here. ’cause this isn’t just about thinking, it’s just not just about mindset. It’s what you do when you hit the wall that really matters. And here’s a few things that can help you to move through it.
Number one. Pause, right? Don’t panic. Don’t freak out. When you hit the wall, your first instinct is to, um, you know, freak out and panic and think the world is about to end. But instead just take a beat. Okay? Take some deep breaths. Remind yourself. This is temporary and you don’t have to fix it right now.
Just breathe and stay present. Number two, just name what’s really going on. What’s the real wall here? Is it fear or self-doubt or burnout? When you name it, you get power over it. Okay. When, when you just, when you’re thinking about something as being so overwhelming that you can’t deal with it, then it has power over you.
But when you give it a name, because it might be something like addiction, but what’s, what’s really behind that? It’s like fear. You know? When you give it that name, then it becomes something that you have power over. Okay. So pause, name it. Number three, ask better questions instead of like, why do things always happen to me?
Why is this so hard? Maybe ask a question to of yourself, like, what’s the real lesson here? How can I grow from this? You’re gonna start to see opportunities instead of obstacles. Alright, those questions are terrible. Why is this so hard? Well, you can come up with all kinds of ideas and reasons why it’s so hard.
But when you say, how can I grow from this? You can come up with lots of ideas there too. Focus on those questions. Those are much better questions. Number four, lean on your people. You don’t have to go through anything alone. Talk to your friends, your family, your coach, your running community. Sometimes just being seen and heard makes the wall feel less heavy and it it becomes something that you can get through and maybe you need help from others to lean into that.
Okay? Don’t, don’t neglect that. Number five, recommit to the process. The wall will test your commitment. It’s like, how bad do you want? This is what it’s saying to you, okay? Reconnect to your why. Why are you doing what you’re doing? Remember what you’re fighting for. Okay? And then number six, take the next step.
Don’t worry about the whole wall, just take the next step and then the next one, then the next one, then that’s how you get through it. One small, messy, but brave step at a time. That’s what’s gonna get you there. Okay. And I get it. Sometimes the wall just feels too big, it’s too painful, it’s too much. And there are things that happen in life when you hit wall after wall, you just don’t have the strength to go again.
And I get that. And if that’s you. Hear me when I say this. You’re not broken. You’re not weak. You are being refined in fire. Sometimes the wall doesn’t move because you’re not ready yet. You’re still becoming the person who can move it, who can push through it. Don’t rush this process. Sit with it, learn from it.
Let it change you. And when you’re ready, when you’ve built the strength, the courage, the faith, that wall that once felt impossible will start to crumble. This took me years and years and years when I wanted to quit drinking. I knew I had a problem with alcohol. It was too big, it was too painful. It was too much.
I couldn’t do it. And it took me years and years and years to sit with it and learn from it. And eventually I had enough strength and courage and faith in myself to attack that and quit, you know? But it felt impossible at the time. It felt like there’s something I could never do. I had to sit with that one for years.
Hmm. When you finally do come out the other side though, something beautiful happens. You’re not the same person who, you know, walked into that wall on the other side of it, you’re stronger. Now, you’re wiser. You’re more grounded, more compassionate. The things that used to scare you, maybe they don’t so much anymore.
The thi things that used to break you or you know, you felt like they could break you. They don’t have that power over you anymore. Because you’ve been through the fire and you didn’t just survive, you transformed yourself in the process. And once you’ve gone through that, once you know you can do it again.
And then once you do it again, you know you can do it again. That’s where freedom, uh, really begins. That’s where your strength really comes into play. That’s where growth really happens. Circling back to Ryan Holiday’s book, the Obstacle is the Way. It’s not just a catchy quote, it’s literally a roadmap for life.
So whatever’s in your way right now, whatever wall you’re facing, it’s not blocking your path. That is your path. It’s the training ground for your soul. Every wall you face prepares you for the next one, and every obstacle builds the strength that you’re gonna need later. And when you start to see life that way, life really changes for you.
You stop dreading hard things. You start welcoming these hard things as opportunities to evolve. Now, we don’t wish these things on ourselves. We don’t wish for, you know, these huge obstacles to show up in our lives. But when they do, you’re not as afraid of them. You realize that the wall isn’t, you know, punishment.
It’s how you build your purpose. Okay. Now, a lot of you, uh, are, are runners and I want to talk a little bit about running here because. What it’s like to hit the wall. Uh, physically, we understand that as runners, right? You, you get that fatigue, that moment where you can’t just, you can’t go another step, but you do anyway.
You dig deep, you find something inside of you, something primal, something fierce that refuses to quit. Well, that same spirit and strength that’s inside you when you’re running and you want to quit, but you keep going. That’s what you need to tap into when life gets hard, when everything starts to fall apart, when you’re tired and broken and scared.
That same, you know, runner’s heart that got you across the finish line, that’s what you need to tap into. You just have to remember that that’s there and it’s available to you. And you’ve done this before and you can do it again. So if you’re standing and, and staring at your wall right now. Maybe it’s a health challenge or a relationship, or your job or your training.
I want you to know this. This moment is not the end. It’s the middle. It’s, it’s the part of the story where everything starts to change for you, but you can’t run from it. You can’t numb yourself to it. You can’t pretend it’s not there. You have to face it and feel it and then move through it. ’cause on the other side of that wall, that’s where freedom is.
And power and peace, and you will make it through this. You always do a hundred percent track record so far of getting through tough stuff. And if any of this spoke to you in this episode, if you’re in the middle of your own wall right now and you want help getting through it, that’s what I do every day as a coach.
I help runners get unstuck physically, mentally, emotionally, so they can do hard things. Lose weight, get stronger, become the best versions of themselves. If you’re ready to break through your wall, just go to running lean coaching.com, click on work with me, and we can do it together. That’s all I got for you today.
Keep on running Lean and I’ll talk to you soon.
You’ve crossed the finish line, achieved something incredible, and then… it’s just over. Now what? This week on the Running Lean podcast, I’m diving deep into The In-Between: What Happens After …
Continue Reading about 304. The In-Between: What Happens After Your Big Race →
My name is Patrick McGilvray, and I’m an experienced marathoner, ultra runner sports nutritionist, master life coach, and weight loss coach. For runners, I’ve dedicated my life to helping runners just like you, properly fuel your body and your mind so you can get leaner, get stronger, run faster, and run longer than you ever thought. Possible. This is running Lean.
Hey there, and welcome to episode 304 of Running Lean. My name is Patrick McGill. Ray, the weight loss coach for runners. And today, the in-between. What happens after your big race? So you’ve crossed the finish line, you’ve achieved something incredible, and then it’s just over. Now what? Well, today I’m diving deep.
Into the in-between. What happens after you complete your big race? This is a space that few runners really talk about, that strange quiet period after your big event. When the structure disappears, the endorphins fade and your left feeling a little lost. I’m gonna walk you through what’s really happening mentally, emotionally, and physically.
During this time and how to handle it like an athlete with wisdom, with care, and long-term perspective, you’ll learn how to recover the right way, how to rebuild your mindset and reignite your purpose so you stay consistent and strong between seasons. ’cause running isn’t just about one race, it’s about who you become for life.
But first, if you’ve been feeling stuck lately, like running just isn’t clicking the way it used to rest assured you’re not alone. Maybe your energy feels low, your pace isn’t improving, or you just can’t seem to find that spark again. I get it and I can help. What most runners don’t realize is that running stronger, feeling lighter and performing your best isn’t about doing more.
It’s about doing the right things, the right nutrition, the right strength training, the right mindset, and that’s exactly what I teach inside my coaching program. It is a comprehensive, personalized approach that helps you transform your body and your mind, so running feels easier, more powerful. And more fun.
Again, you’ll rebuild your confidence, renew your energy, and start seeing results you didn’t think were possible. So if you’re ready to take your running and your life to the next level, go to running lean coaching.com. Click on work with me. Let’s get you running. Lean for Life. Okay, so let’s talk about the in-between.
What happens after your big race? So today’s topic is about something that almost every runner experiences, but a lot of people just don’t talk about it. It’s that strange, quiet sort of emotional space that happens after you finish a big event like a marathon or ultra marathon. Or maybe you just ran your first half marathon and suddenly you feel like you just.
Don’t know what to do next. You’ve spent months, maybe even years, training for this one thing. You’ve structured your entire life around it. Every run, every meal, every weekend long run, every early morning, wake up in the rain and the snow in the wind. Then you cross the finish line, you feel the joy, the pride, the relief, the pain, all of it.
And then it’s just over. And you wake up the next day and you’re like, okay, now what? So I want to talk about what happens in that place that’s. Base between mentally, emotionally, and physically, and you gotta learn how to navigate this with some grace and with some purpose. And this in-between time can be really hard, but it can also be beautiful.
You might feel lost, you might feel unmotivated, you might even feel a little depressed. But I want you to understand that this is normal and it’s necessary, and if you handle it right, if you can actually. Set yourself up for greater success in your next chapter, whatever that looks like for you. So I’m gonna walk through what’s really happening in your mind and in your body after a big race.
How to care for yourself physically and emotionally. How to get moving again, and how to set new goals for the future, all without losing your sense of direction or purpose. Because we’re not just doing this for one race, we do this for life. So let’s start with the emotional side of this, because that’s where most people feel this first.
So you’ve just come off of months of structure and focus and intensity, and you had a clear goal, a plan to follow, a purpose driving you every single day, and now it’s all gone. What most runners don’t realize is this, this creates. A very real emotional and chemical shift in your body and in your brain.
When you’re training, your brain is constant re constantly releasing feel good chemicals like dopamine, endorphin, serotonin. And every time you check off a workout or nail some long run, your brain gives you a hit of that reward system so you feel accomplished. You feel like you’re moving forward, and then suddenly.
You’re not chasing anything anymore. There’s no countdown. There’s no race on the calendar, no Saturday long run to prepare for, and your body’s not producing those same chemicals at the same level, and that’s why you can feel flat and unmotivated or even sad, even though you just achieve something amazing.
It’s a little like withdrawal. And if you’re not expecting it, it can kind of throw you off and you might start questioning yourself, like, why do I feel this way? Shouldn’t I be happy I just accomplished this major thing? How come I feel so depressed? But listen, there’s nothing wrong with you. It’s just a natural swing from a high intensity season back to a resting one.
And it’s the pen pendulum swinging back to the center. So one of my biggest emotional crashes came after I finished the Iron Man, uh, in Louisville in 2013. I had trained for more than a year for this event. And when I crossed that finish line, it was one of the most amazing moments of my life when I crossed the finish line and I heard the announcer say, Patrick McGill, you are an Ironman.
Every time I say that, I get chills. Like I got goosebumps right now. Definitely one of my most amazing moments, probably the proudest moment of my life up to that point anyway. And. I was reeling, you know, for a week or so afterwards, but the depression and the sadness kinda kicked in and I felt like I didn’t have any purpose anymore.
Like my sole purpose for more than a year had been, you know, preparing to cross that finish line. And then I did it and it was done, and I felt like I, I should have been so happy, but I wasn’t, I felt like. Something was wrong with me. So first and foremost, you gotta give yourself permission to feel all of this, right?
You don’t have to rush out of it. You don’t have to fix it. There’s nothing to fix. Just let yourself feel it and then let yourself sort of come down from that. Okay? Now let’s talk about the physical side, because this part is just as important and just as misunderstood. So most runners underestimate how much recovery they truly need after a big race.
Even if you’re feeling okay a few days later, your legs aren’t as sore. You can walk normally again, you can go downstairs without wincing, your body’s still dealing with. Massive stress. Your muscles have micro damage. Your glycogen stores are depleted. Your hormones and your immune system are out of balance.
Just because your mind wants to run again doesn’t mean your body is ready for it. And this is where a lot of runners get into trouble. They start running again too soon. They do too much too soon. They want to, they wanna get back on track. They want to get. That physical feeling again, of running, and they wanna fill that emotional void too with more training.
But if you push your body before it’s ready, you risk injury burnout and prolonged fatigue. So there’s a better approach. I’m gonna call the smart recovery timeline. So this is where the, for the first, you know, one to two weeks after a big event. Don’t do much running. Really, this is the time just to rest, sleep, recover and reflect.
Do some walking, some stretching, some yoga. If it feels good, maybe a short bike ride. I think walking is one of the best things you can do, but keep everything. Easy and restorative. And then once you start getting into weeks like three and four, you can start adding in a few easy runs, but only if your body feels ready.
Keep the pace slow, the distance short. Focus on just getting out there and moving, even if you’re doing a run walk thing, not. You know, increasing the mileage too fast. And then week four and beyond, you can start to gradually rebuild your running routine. A few easy runs, maybe one day of light strength training.
Still no, you know, intense speed work or long runs. Let your body reestablish some balance before you start, you know, building again. Okay. The rule of thumb I always share is this, you can’t rush recovery, you can only support it. And after my a hundred miler that I did back in 2017, I was feeling so kind of lost and stuff.
So I signed up for a trail marathon that was just like two months later and I figured this would give me enough time to recover. And I went into that event thinking it was gonna be pretty easy ’cause it’s just a marathon. I thought to myself, you know, I just ran a hundred miles, so this marathon’s gonna be super easy, but I, my body was not ready to run that much.
Um, I did a few easy training runs and I felt okay, so I figured, oh, it’s fine. I’ll run a marathon. I had such a terrible time out there. It was really hard. Every step was challenging. My legs, uh, were definitely not ready for this, and I had to make the tough decision to cut it short. It was a looped course.
Each loop was like six and a half miles, so they had a, a 10 k, a half marathon and a full marathon. I ended up doing three loops and then called it quits. It was around 20 miles, but that’s all I could do. That’s all I had in me. At that point, I had to just listen to my body and say, you know, um, I, I can’t finish this, and I shouldn’t really, I didn’t wanna get injured.
Uh, you know, I didn’t want to just burn myself out. Um, so I had to like squash my pride a little bit and call it quits around the 20 mile mark. And I, and I feel like that was the right decision. So remember your body, you know, you just did something extraordinary, but it was very stressful. Um. Probably for, for some of us, you know, if, if you ran your fastest marathon or your first marathon or whatever, it’s, it’s probably the most demanding thing you’ve ever done.
And you’ve gotta give your body time and respect and care, um, just like you do in your training. You know, you respect your body and your, and your, um, and your physical state in your training. You gotta respect it in your recovery as well. So let’s shift gears a little bit. I wanna talk about something a little bit deeper.
Something that catches a lot of runners off guard, and this is the identity shift. So when you’re training for a big race, your identity gets wrapped up in that process. I’m a marathoner in training. I’m a. I’m an ultra marathoner in training. I’m an Ironman in training, and you’re, you’ve got this mission, you got a big goal.
You got this mission, your schedule, your nutrition, your mindset, everything orbits around that one big goal, and then suddenly that’s all gone, that identity. Disappears. Uh, you’re still a runner, of course. Um, but that structure, the drive, the sense of purpose is gone. It’s like you’ve lost your compass and it can feel really unsettling.
Some people start overcompensating by signing up for another race right away. Others just stop running altogether for a while either. Extreme kind of misses the point though. The truth is this, in-between time is a chance to reconnect with yourself, not as someone chasing a race, but someone who runs because you love it, because it’s part of who you are.
And this is your opportunity to remember why you started in the first place. Training for those big races for me. It took years of my life and, and during those years, my identity was all about being an Ironman or being that a hundred mile finisher. And after those events were over, I had to accept that.
Yes, that is a part of who I am, but I’m also so much more than that. I’m more than an ultra runner. I’m more than an Iron man. In fact, it was shortly after I did that Iron Man and I finished that, that I decided to quit my corporate job and start, uh, my own business. And I started coaching ’cause I wanted to share everything I learned about, um, running and identity and purpose and nutrition with other runners who might also need help navigating all that stuff.
So that was really. The thing that made me sort of shift my identity. Okay, so I want you to ask yourself, what do I love most about running when I’m not training for anything? Like what is it that’s really driving you and what else in my life lights me up that maybe got pushed aside during the training?
Who am I outside of this event or this particular finish time? This is the identity work that turns you from a. Seasonal athlete into a lifelong athlete because when you truly identify as an athlete, as someone who values health and strength and growth year round, then you don’t really lose that sense of direction or identity.
When one race ends, you just move into a different season with a different intention. Okay, so once the dust settles, once your body starts to heal and your emotions start to level out, this is the perfect time for a mental and emotional reboot. It’s not about setting the next big goal yet. It’s about reflection.
Learning and gratitude. Here’s a few things I recommend to every runner after a big race. Reflect on your race honestly. So what went well? What didn’t go so well? What’d you learn about yourself? What are you gonna do differently? Next time, write it all down while it’s still fresh. This kind of reflection gives you valuable insights that you can bring into your next training cycle.
So definitely do that reflection. That’s very, very important. Number two, celebrate. Celebrate your accomplishment. Do not skip this step. Most runners finish a race. Immediately think, okay, what’s next? But you just did something incredible. You earn that moment. So go out to dinner, eat some ice cream, frame your medal, share your story.
Take pride in that. Uh, number three, practice some gratitude. Thank your body for carrying you that far. Thank your mind for staying strong. Thank the people who supported you. Gratitude is very powerful. It helps you shift out of self-criticism and into appreciation for everything that you have. And then number four, check in on some other areas of your life when you’re training.
A lot of things can fall by the wayside, like relationships, hobbies. Even simple rest. Take time now to reconnect. Spend more time with family, with friends, do something non-running related. And this is all part of your emotional recovery plan. It’s how you refill your cup. It’s not just so you can go run again.
It’s about so you feel balanced and whole as a person, as a human being. So now you’re a few weeks out from your race, you’re starting to feel a little more like yourself again. You’ve rested, reflected, maybe you’ve gotten in a few easy runs. Now what? When should you start planning your next big thing?
Well, my honest answer is this. Just do it when you feel ready, emotionally, mentally, not just physically. If you’re still feeling kind of burnt out, mentally tired, or like you’re. Forcing yourself to care about things, you’re probably not ready yet. Give it some time. Most runners do best when they take two to four weeks off before making any big training decisions or any big race decisions during that time.
Keep moving. Keep journaling and start asking yourself some other questions like, what do I love most about, uh, training? What did I love most about my last training block? What kind of challenge lights me up? What excites me? Um, what did I miss out on that I want to experience next time? When you do feel ready to choose your next event, choose from a place of curiosity and desire, not like.
Fear or peer pressure. Don’t sign up for something just to fill the void, which is what a lot of people do. They come down off a race and they immediately sign up for something else. ’cause they wanna get that feeling back. Right? Choose something that feels meaningful for you, something that lights a spark in you.
And it doesn’t have to be another marathon. Maybe it’s a trail race. Maybe it’s a shorter distance with more focus and speed. Maybe it’s something totally different like. Just doing some strength training or cycling. The point is, your next goal should support your growth, not distract you from your emotions.
So after my Iron Man finish, I, I was like, you know what? I never want to do that again. I did not love the bike. I love running. I, I did grow to love swimming, but I never really liked cycling. Training for the Ironman requires a lot of time in the saddle. So I hung up my tri bike and I decided what I really loved and what I was really passionate about was trail running.
It’s simple, it’s primal, it’s freeing, you know, just get out there on the trails and run, and there are no bikes involved at all. So I signed up for a trail ultra marathon. I think it was a 50 K that next spring, and I set my sights on, on this new purpose and, and that decision felt really good to me. Okay, so let’s talk about what to do in the meantime, because this is where a lot of runners lose momentum.
So when you don’t have a race on the calendar, it’s easy to just drift, sort of, you know, it is like a ship on the ocean without a rudder. You’re just, you’re just out there. You have no purpose, no direction, and a lot of people lose consistency. Um, they start skipping workouts because they tell theirselves it really doesn’t matter right now, but this is actually one of the most important seasons of your entire athletic life.
The off season. That’s when you build a strong foundation. That’s when you maintain your fitness, uh, keep your habits solid, take care of your body, build strength. Here’s how to stay consistent between big goals. Number one, keep a simple running routine. You don’t have to train like a maniac. Just a couple easy runs per week is plenty.
Just enough to keep your aerobic base strong and your body in that rhythm of running. Number two, keep lifting. Strength training is the best off season invest investment you can make. I think you should be training all year round. Um, but the, the off season is definitely a time where you can spend more time, uh, building a, a solid strength foundation.
This is gonna keep you strong all year long, prevent injuries and make you faster when you do ramp up your training again. Uh, number three. Eat well. Don’t fall into the trap of reward eating after your race. Your body still needs real nutrient dense food to recover, and this is the perfect time to dial in your nutrition again and rebuild that metabolism.
Number four, prioritize sleep and recovery. You may not be training hard, but your body is still catching up from months of stress, sleep, rest, mobility, all that stuff still matters. And then number five, stay connected. Whether it’s to a coach or a running group or an online community. You don’t have to go it alone.
Stay connected, um, and it’ll help you to stay accountable and remind you why you love this sport so much. Because remember, we’re not doing this just for one race. We’re doing this for life. The most successful, resilient runners are the ones who learn to manage these in between seasons with patience and purpose.
They don’t chase the next high. They build consistency slowly and intentionally. So if any of this resonates with you, if you’re sitting in that in-between right now, if you’re feeling lost or unmotivated after your big event, please hear me when I say this. You’re not broken, you’re not lazy, you’re not done.
You’re just in a different phase of the process, and this phase is just as important as all the others. This is where you rebuild, reflect, and you remember. Who you are at your core, not just as a runner, but as a human being who’s learning, growing, and evolving through this sport that we love so much. The race isn’t the end, it’s just one chapter, okay?
The space between races, that quiet, uncertain, uncomfortable space, that’s where you truly become the athlete that you’re meant to be. So take care of yourself right now, physically, mentally, emotionally. Be patient with your body. Be kind to your mind. Celebrate what you’ve done and trust that when the time is right, that next goal will find you.
Right? ’cause you’re not training for just one season, you’re training for life. Alright, that’s all I got for you today. Love you all. Keep on running lean and I’ll talk to you soon.
Have you ever felt frustrated because the scale isn’t moving, your runs aren’t going well, or you’re just not seeing the results you want? It’s easy to get caught up in the tiny details and feel …
Continue Reading about 303. Are You Too Focused on the Wrong Things? →
My name is Patrick McGilvray, and I’m an experienced marathoner, ultra runner sports nutritionist, master life coach, and weight loss coach. For runners, I’ve dedicated my life to helping runners just like you, properly fuel your body and your mind so you can get leaner, get stronger, run faster, and run longer than you ever thought. Possible. This is running Lean.
Hey there and welcome to episode 303 of Running Lean. My name is Patrick McGilvray, the weight loss coach for runners. And today are you too focused on the wrong things. Have you ever felt frustrated because the scale isn’t moving or your runs aren’t going as well as you’d hoped, or you’re just not seeing the results that you want?
It’s easy to get caught up in these tiny details and feel like you’re not making progress like you’re failing. But the truth is. You’re doing the work, you’re showing up, you’re eating better, you’re training consistently, you’re probably just too focused on the wrong things. So in this episode, I’m asking that question, are you too focused on the wrong things?
We’re gonna take a step back and look at the entire picture of your health and fitness journey, because once you zoom out, you’ll see. That you’re actually doing a lot better than you think. So this is gonna be your reminder that progress doesn’t have to be perfect, it just has to be consistent. So get ready to feel a whole lot better about where you are right now with this episode.
Okay? But first, let’s be real for a minute. If running feels harder than it should, if you’re. Constantly struggling with energy and motivation or getting the results that you want. If you’ve been trying to change your body and your habits, but nothing seems to stick, then it’s time to do something different.
Nothing changes if nothing changes, right? Most runners think more miles. We’ll solve the problem, but if your body isn’t strong, if your nutrition isn’t dialed in, if your mindset is working against you, then running more is only going to make things worse. That’s why I created my coaching program. It’s designed specifically for runners who want to lose weight, get stronger, and make running easier.
We don’t do quick fixes, though. We don’t do one size fits all We do. Real change body, mind, lifestyle. So if you’re ready to feel better, run stronger and actually love the process, then let’s go. Go to my website running lean coaching.com, click on work with me to get started. Commit to yourself today. I know you are so ready for this.
Okay, let’s get into this here. Are you too focused on the wrong things? Here’s the deal. If you’ve ever obsessed over a number on a scale, or you’ve beaten yourself up for having a bad run, or maybe you missed a workout, if you’ve ever felt like you’re doing everything right, but you’re still not getting any results.
Probably you are probably too focused on the wrong thing. So today is about helping you to shift your perspective and seeing the truth about your progress and, and not letting these little things hold you back. It’s very easy to obsess over some of these small things, so maybe you had a slower than usual run, or you gained a pound.
Or you made a bad food choice, or God forbid you actually missed a workout. When you’re hyper-focused on these individual moments, you’re focused on the negative, and it can really feel like. You are failing, like you are a failure, right? But here’s something I want you to understand. First of all, you are not a failure, right?
You just, you missed a workout or you made a bad food choice and you’re not even failing. What you’re doing though, is you’re obsessing over these little things and you’re almost too close to the situation to be able to see it clearly. It’s like standing an inch away from a painting and all you see are those messy little brush strokes up close.
I did this, you know, a couple years ago I was at the Cincinnati Art Museum, which is a, an amazing art museum by the way, and always free to get in. So if you’re ever in Cincinnati, you gotta go. But I was looking at a Van Gogh painting that I thought was really cool, and I got up really close, um, as close as they would let me, obviously I wasn’t like touching it or anything, but you could like see the brush strokes and, and when you get up really close, it’s a, it’s chaos.
It’s just these random. Brush strokes, it’s really messy. It does not look like something worthy of being in a museum like I’m no art critic or anything, but I’m looking up close at this thing and I’m like, this just looks like sloppy, whatever. Like a 4-year-old could do this. But as you step back, this image starts to become much clearer and.
Literally, it’s only then when you take that, that bigger picture, that zoom out, that you can see the beautiful art that has been masterfully created. So it’s really, when you’re really up close, it’s messy, it’s chaotic. It doesn’t look like anything. But when you zoom out and you look at it from the proper perspective.
You can see the truth of the painting and it is beautiful. So I want you to think about that as we’re going through this topic today, because that’s how I want you to think about you and your health and fitness journey. So let’s say you, um, had a race recently and you didn’t hit your race goal. Well, that happens, right?
I don’t, can’t tell you how many times I’ve run a marathon trying to pr or hit some particular time goal and didn’t hit it like it. It happens all the time. But you have to remember that you still did the work to get there. You did the work to show up. You trained hard, you showed up on race day. Uh, you ran the race, you finished the race.
Those things are huge. Don’t take that away from yourself. Um. One time I got really bummed out about a race. So I was, I was doing this series of 50 Ks, uh, locally here around the Cincinnati area, uh, one summer. And, and if you’ve completed four out of, I think there were six 50 Ks in this series, but if you completed four of the, of the six.
Then you got this, um, special like gym bag essentially, and it had like, embroidered on it. The, the name of the race or the challenge that you won or whatever it was. So I was like, oh, I’m gonna get that bag. You know, so I, I did three of these 50 Ks and it was time for the fourth one, and I had just gotten back from vacation.
I didn’t really train much while I was on vacation. Literally the day before I had, I got off the cruise ship or something like that and then showed up the next morning and I was just tired and not feeling it. And. I was like, I’m, it’s fine. I don’t need to, you know, crush this thing. I just gotta finish. I gotta get the bag, you know, so I, I started running the first mile, was on the road, kind of separate people out before it turned and went onto the trails.
Well, as soon as we got on the trails, about a hundred yards in, I tripped on a, on a route or a rock or something. I didn’t even see what it was. And. Fell on my knee and like busted up my knee and my knee sw up really big and I got up and I was limping and I, I couldn’t even walk on, I couldn’t even put any weight on it.
But I, I was, you know, determined to finish this thing. So I, I just hobbled along for a while. It did kind of loosen up a little bit and start to feel a little bit better and I could, I kind of walk on it without limping and then I could kind of run and walk and then I could run and I was like, maybe I’m gonna be okay.
Um, it was killing me and it was super swollen, but I’m like, okay, I can still run. So I ran and. I ran. I got to 26 miles, so I basically ran a marathon on a busted up knee. I had one more loop to do and that last, the, the loop that got me between like miles 20 and 26, I had to basically walk the last five miles of that.
I could not even bend my leg. Uh. By the time I finished that 26 miles, there was no way I could go on and I was so bummed out. I had to DNF, it was my one and only DNF. Um, and I was so bummed out about it because I had, I had done all this work and I had, you know, I was focused on this challenge and, you know, running these four races and then race day came, I showed up, I did my best, and it just wasn’t my day.
But I was so bummed out about it, and so I was talking to a friend about it and I was telling him about this, and I was like, man, I’m so bummed out. And I explained the challenge and, oh yeah, you’re gonna get this bag and stuff. He goes, I’ll tell you what I’m gonna do. I’m gonna get a gym bag and I’m gonna have an embroidered that says you are a runner and I’ll give it to you.
Would that help? I was like. Well, first of all, you’re kind of being a jerk right now. But second of all, that does make sense and you’re, you’re, you’re right, you’re putting this into perspective for me. And I was so focused on the bag, or, you know, finishing this one race or focusing on this one failure that I didn’t step back and look at the bigger picture.
And he told me that too. He is like, what, what have you done this summer? You, you trained for and ran successfully? Three 50 ks. Who does that? Like most people don’t do stuff like that just because you like, you know, had a, a fall and an injury and you did your best. Like you, you showed up and you ran a, basically you ran a marathon on a busted up knee.
Like that’s pretty badass. That’s, um, David Goggins stuff right there. And like, he, he really helped me to see the bigger picture and that I wasn’t a failure. I felt like a failure. You know, I had never d NFD anything before, and I felt like a total failure, you know, but he really helped me to see the bigger picture.
So this is just one story, and I talk to runners every single day who deal with stuff like this. You know, maybe the scale hasn’t budged. It’s, you know, it’s been a couple of weeks. Um, but listen, you’re still eating right? You’re still fueling your body with the right foods. You’re still focused on being a healthy person and eating well.
You know, you’re still doing the work and taking care of yourself. Um, you know, maybe you. Had a, uh, cheat meal. You ate something off plan, you skipped a run, or you had a, a rough week of running and it was just you had a bad run. That happens quite a bit. You know, we just, we have a bad run sometimes. Guess what?
You’re normal. Welcome to the club. You’re a human being. Okay? None of these little moments. Can undo the progress that you’re making. So you gotta take a, a beat sometimes and zoom out and look at the bigger picture, because it’s only then that you can actually see what’s really going on. We get so stuck in, you know, the failure of a moment that we don’t see how much progress we’re actually making.
Some other things you can see when you zoom out, Hey, you’re running regularly. You’re eating healthier than you used to. You’re creating better habits around food and exercise. You’re stronger, you have more energy, you clothes fit better, you’re more disciplined. Maybe you’re sleeping better. You know you’re becoming.
The kind of person who shows up for themselves. All those things right there, that’s all progress to me. That’s what success looks like. You’re committed to the process of improvement. That’s what actually matters. And if you’re doing all these things, why are you letting like one bad run or, or one cheat meal, steal your joy.
You know, a lot of times we’re so focused on where we’re not, uh, we lose sight of how far we’ve come. This is the, the gap versus the gain principle. So it’s very easy to focus on the gap between where you are right now and where you ultimately want to be. So maybe you, you, uh, set out to lose 50 pounds, you know, and you still got, you know, 20 more pounds to go.
Or maybe your body composition isn’t where you want it to be. You know, you still have 10% of body fat to lose, or maybe you’re not running as fast as you want be. You still have to improve by, you know, 30 seconds or a minute per mile. Focusing on the gap, you know, where you’re not. Does this help you? No, just makes you feel like crap.
It makes you feel like a failure, like you’re never gonna get there. Like it’s always gonna be so far away and it’s frustrating. The truth is, though, this is not reality. Because when you look at how far you’ve actually come, when you look at the gains that you’ve made and you focus on that, Hey, I’ve lost, you know, 20 pounds already or 30 pounds, I’m, I’ve, I’ve lost 6% of my body fat.
I’m running faster than I did three months ago. When you actually look at the progress you’re making, that is what’s, what’s reality. That that’s the truth. The truth is you are making progress, but you don’t see it because you gained a pound. And now you’re miserable, right? Doesn’t that sound crazy when you say it like that?
But it’s true. We do this all the time. Can’t tell you how many people I talk to who get very upset if the scale goes up. I’m like, I’ve never seen anybody lose weight in a straight line that goes from, you know, the top, uh, to the bottom. Like it goes up and down, up and down, up and down, up and down. Now, of course, we wanna see it trending down, and it usually is, but it’s gonna go up.
It’s gonna come down, it’s gonna go up, it’s gonna go down. And if you’re, if you get upset every time the scale goes up a little bit, you are gonna be upset a lot. I’m just gonna tell you. So think about your journey, like the graph that I was just describing, right? If you, if you zoom in and you’re looking at those little bumps, it’s gonna be up, up, down, up, down, oh my gosh.
You know, I’m, I’m not making any progress. I’m two steps forward. You know, three steps back, whatever. But if you zoom out, you get that. You can see the clear trend. You know, you can see that things are actually moving in the right direction, right? You just gotta, you gotta just zoom out, okay? So you’re not the result of the scale, uh, you’re not the result of a bad run, you’re not the result of, uh, uh, a fall that you had on a run.
You’re the result of what you do consistently day in and day out, that’s who you are. So if you’re consistently showing up for yourself, even when you don’t feel like it, if you’re doing the work, even when it’s hard, if you’re staying on the path, even when you feel like you’re failing, that’s when you really win.
Look, I get it. It’s easy to get caught up in like metrics and numbers, your pace, your mileage, how many calories you meet, how many pounds you weigh, your, you know, PR or not a pr, whatever. But that stuff doesn’t tell the whole story. What matters more is like, are you becoming more disciplined? Are you showing up for yourself?
Are you proving to yourself that you can do hard things consistently? Are you getting stronger, not just physically, but mentally and emotionally? Yeah, because that’s what’s going to carry you through the hard times. You know, you’re not gonna have a perfect run every time you go out there, but if you’re consistently working on becoming the best version of yourself, mind, body, soul, then that’s what’s gonna get you through those tough times.
So you’re not every run’s gonna be perfect, and you’re never going to have a, a perfect, uh, scale reading every time you look at the scale. What’s going to help you get through all of that stuff though, is, is this mindset, this mindset of, Hey, I’m, I’m making progress. I’m showing up for myself. I’m doing something today to become the person that I ultimately want to become.
So if you’re in a place right now. Where you’re feeling discouraged, like maybe you’re doing everything right, but it’s not working, or it’s not working fast enough, or you’re feeling stuck, or you’re not seeing the results that you expected. You know, maybe you had a timeline. Oh, I was supposed to lose X amount of pounds in three months, or whatever it was.
Just take a pause, take a breath. Zoom out. Look at what you’re doing. Look at what you’ve already done. Look at how far you’ve come. Focus on the gains. Look at who you’re becoming. Look at what you’re doing each and every day to become that person. And chances are you’re doing much better than you think.
You just need to stop focusing on those wrong things, okay? So keep showing up for yourself. Keep doing the work, keep believing in yourself. I believe in you. And then lastly, never ever, ever quit. ’cause that’s the only time you really fail is when you give up, right? Failure. Is part of the process. Failure is how we succeed.
You gotta fail to succeed. You fail your way to success every single time. There’s not one person who’s done anything of of value that wasn’t, uh, challenged with a bunch of failures along the way, right? So the only way you truly fail is if you give up and quit. Okay? Don’t do that. That’s all I got for you today.
Love you all. Keep on running lean, and I will talk to you soon.
Recovery is the secret weapon of every successful runner — it’s where the real growth happens. If you’re training hard but not giving your body what it needs to bounce back, you’ll end up feeling …
Continue Reading about 301. The Fat-Adapted Recovery Formula →
My name is Patrick McGilvray, and I’m an experienced marathoner, ultra runner sports nutritionist, master life coach, and weight loss coach. For runners, I’ve dedicated my life to helping runners just like you, properly fuel your body and your mind so you can get leaner, get stronger, run faster, and run longer than you ever thought. Possible. This is running Lean.
Hey there, and welcome to episode 301 of Running Lean. My name is Patrick McGilvray, the weight loss coach for runners, and today the fat adapted recovery. Formula. So recovery is really the secret weapon of every successful runner, at least it should be because it’s where the real growth happens. If you’re training hard, but not giving your body what it needs to bounce back, you’re gonna end up feeling flat.
Sore and burned out. That’s why today on the podcast, I’m sharing the Fat Adapted Recovery formula. It’s a simple three part approach designed specifically for runners who follow, you know, kind of a low carb or a fat adapted lifestyle. You’re gonna learn why protein is the number one nutrient for muscle repair, why electrolytes are critical for performance, even when it’s not hot outside, and how carbs can actually help you to recover when used strategically.
If you want to keep running strong and avoid the dreaded post run crash, you don’t wanna miss this one. Tune in here and discover how to make recovery your new superpower. But first, listen, if you’re out there training week after week and you’re not seeing the results that you want, if running still feels harder than it should, if you’re not recovering well, if your body doesn’t feel strong or efficient, then something’s not right.
Something’s probably missing, and it’s not just about logging more miles. Most runners think the answer is to simply run more. Eat less or try the next shiny new thing. But the truth is, without the right strategy, the right nutrition, uh, the right strength, the right mindset, and the right training, all working together, you’re going to stay stuck, spinning your wheels.
This is exactly why I created. A comprehensive coaching program because I wanna help runners just like you to become leaner, stronger, and faster. Not by guessing or following some cookie cutter plan, but with a proven system that actually works. You’re gonna learn how to fuel properly, how to build lasting strength, and you’re gonna approach your training with confidence and clarity.
If you’re ready to finally. Feel light, strong, and in control of your running, this is your chance. Just go to my website, running lean coaching.com. Click on work with me. Let’s make running feel fun and empowering again. Okay, so the fat adapted recovery formula. A lot of runners think of low carb or fat adapted nutrition as just a way to lose weight or improve endurance, which it is good at those things.
Having the ability to use fat as fuel, being metabolically flexible is, is very key. To improving your endurance and to losing weight. But one of the biggest benefits is actually how much better you can recover if you get this formula right. So today we’re gonna be talking about protein and electrolytes and carbs.
What you need, what you don’t, how to make it all work together. So that you can train harder, recover faster, and ultimately become a stronger, leaner, more resilient runner. So training is basically controlled stress. Every time you go out for a run, whether it’s a long run, a tempo session, even an easy day, you are applying stress to your systems, to your muscles, to your cardiovascular system, to your nervous system.
And that stress is, it’s not a bad thing, it’s what drives adaptation. So we stress, uh, muscle, let’s say, and you overload that muscle. You put stress on a muscle by lifting a heavy weight, and then your muscle has a positive adaptation to that stress. It grows stronger. Same thing with your cardiovascular system.
You go out there and you run and you, uh, stress the cardiovascular system. And then what happens is your body will have a positive adaptation to that stress and become stronger, more efficient. Let’s. But the thing is that adaptation doesn’t happen while you’re running. You know, just like they say, you don’t get stronger at the gym.
It happens afterwards when you’re recovering. And if you want to keep on improving, you’ve got to get recovery, right? If you don’t, you’re gonna start to feel constantly fatigued. You’re gonna plateau. You may even get injured. Uh uh. A lot of people get burned out or get injured because they’re not recovering properly.
They just go out there and train and train and train hard, and train hard, and train harder. And they’re never giving their body a chance to repair, recover, and to create those positive adaptations. You know, if you go and you run super hard one day and the next day you run super hard and the next day you run super hard, you are going to get burned out pretty quickly and probably get injured.
That’s why we don’t develop, uh, running training programs that follow that, that formula, that plan. Just like you wouldn’t go to the gym and work out the same, you know, muscle group. Like you wouldn’t just go and do bicep curls every single day, every single day, every single day, because you’re not going to improve that way.
You’re probably gonna get yourself hurt. So the same principles apply to, you know, running and to, uh, improving your running performance in general. Um, so what we’re gonna specifically talk about though, is how fat adapted runners can and should optimize recovery because I think there’s a lot of misconceptions out there about fat adapted running or low carb, uh, endurance athletes.
And listen, this does not mean that you never eat carbs. It does not mean that you have to stay super low carb. Every single minute of every single day. There’s times when you want to up your carb intake. Strategically, though, you know, we just don’t go and eat, you know, entire, uh, pints of ice cream every single day.
You know, oh, I’m, you know, I need my carbs today, so I’m gonna eat a bunch of junk food. No, that’s not what we’re talking about here. And we’ll get into carbs in just a minute. But just understand that nutrition is so important to your recovery, and when you are a fat adapted athlete and you know, keeping your body burning fat effectively, you actually have some positive benefits to doing that.
In regards to recovery, but there’s a right way to approach this and there’s a wrong way to do it. Um, let’s start with, you know, the most important part of your recovery, which is going to be protein. Okay? So if there’s one nutrient that you really need to make a priority post run, it’s gonna be protein.
I think we all know this. But your muscles are literally made of amino acids, and every time you train, you’re creating microscopic damage to those muscle fibers. Protein provides the raw materials your body needs to rebuild those muscles and come back stronger. So just like I was talking about before, you put a stress on.
A system or a muscle, and your body has a positive adaptation to that. Part of that PO positive adaptation is in, in the instance of muscle recovery, your, your body needs protein in order to repair those muscles, those damaged muscle fibers. Here’s the thing, most runners don’t eat nearly enough protein.
And if you’re following a fat adapted, you know, kind of a lower carb approach, you might be eating more fat, you might be keeping your carbs low, but you might be sort of neglecting the protein part of this. You might be forgetting that protein is the real driver of muscle repair. So make sure that every time you run or do a hard workout, that you aim to get somewhere between 20 and 40 grams of high quality protein, you know, within an hour or two after that workout or that run.
Think about things like eggs, chicken, beef, salmon, whey protein, Greek yogurt. If you follow more of a, a plant-based or vegetarian type of diet, you can do this too. Just make sure you’re getting complete protein sources from things like tofu, Tempe, edamame. Um, there’s good plant-based, plant-based protein powders and things like that that use pea protein.
Um, you could also mix up things like, you know, beans and, and rice and stuff like that to sort of cover some of your bases. Um, but the idea here is that we are using high quality complete proteins in order to make sure that that muscle protein synthesis is happening properly. Um, and that we are improving our muscular integrity.
So we want to improve our muscle, uh, strength. We want to improve our muscle fiber. Uh, integrity, the strength of our muscle fibers and the, uh, size of our muscle fibers. We want them to, in some cases, get a little bigger. You know, we don’t want our muscles to waste away. We want to either keep them the same or, you know, we want them to get a little bit bigger.
Running breaks down muscle tissue, so we want to make sure that we are repairing and improving that muscle tissue and building it back up, especially after long hard runs. And protein isn’t just about repairing muscles, it also supports your immune system. It helps regulate your hormones. Um, even helps to keep your appetite in check.
So if you’re eating more protein. You’re typically not as hungry because protein is very satiating. So if you want to speed up recovery, make sure that protein is the, the star of the show. This has to be the main event. This has to be the priority. The second part of this three part formula is electrolytes.
So electrolytes are not just for when it’s really hot outside. Um, when your fat adapted, your body actually excretes more sodium because insulin levels are generally lower. Inflammation in your body is lower, and that means that you’re going to be, uh, excreting more sodium in urine, uh, and sweat as well, but mostly in urine.
Um, even if you’re not sweating a ton, you’re still gonna be losing a lot of sodium through your body, just not holding on to so much water. Um, if you’ve ever. Quit eating a, a high carb diet, and you’ve made that transition. You’ve probably noticed right away you lost quite a bit of weight in the first week or so.
You know, maybe six or eight pounds or something like that. Very normal because your body is releasing a lot of that water that you’ve been holding onto, which is a good thing. We don’t need to be so bloated and inflamed all the time. So eating a lower carb diet, becoming fat adapted means that your body is actually gonna be losing a lot more sodium through natural processes.
And so we gotta replace that sodium, um, but also potassium and magnesium. These things. Sodium, potassium, magnesium are the main electrolytes and they’re critical for muscle function, hydration and preventing cramps. Your brain literally cannot operate without these things. Um, they call them electrolytes because they.
Are, are the actual, um, things, the minerals that stimulate electrical, uh, uh, transmissions in your brain. And so if you’re, if you don’t have enough electrolytes, your brain starts to kind of shut down and not work properly, but especially after a run, uh, long, long run, hard run, hard run. Make sure that you’re replenishing electrolytes.
And this could be through, you know, eating food with, you know, maybe you eat some avocados with some salt and some eggs and some leafy greens and nuts and seeds, or just, you know, do like an electrolyte supplement, something like Redmond Red light element, um, noon or. Liquid iv, any of these things are fine.
I always suggest getting electrolytes that are just electrolytes, maybe with a little flavoring or stevia or something like that. We don’t need something that has a bunch of sugar in it or a bunch of other ingredients. Um. But I don’t want you to neglect this part. If you are a fat adapted runner, you’re not gonna be holding onto as much water, and that means that you’re gonna be losing more sodium.
It’s gonna infect your running performance and your recovery. So make sure that you are replacing the electrolytes every single day, not just days when it’s super hot outside. Um, sometimes people feel a little sluggish or lightheaded, um, or they feel like they’re not recovering properly from harder workouts, especially the day after.
And they might be thinking, oh, I’m not eating enough food, or I should be eating a lot more carbs. And it actually could just be a lack of sodium. You just need more salt in your diet. Um, if you’ve ever stopped eating sugar and you get like the sugar withdrawal symptoms where you feel like you got a headache or you’re lightheaded and um, uh, a little, you know, just lacking energy.
That could just be a lack of sodium. So try drinking one of these electrolyte drinks. You’ll feel better usually within about 10 or 15 minutes. Um, but electrolytes are key for recovery. Do not neglect this part. Okay. Now I wanna address the carb question because there’s some people in the low carb running world that talk about carbs like they are poison.
Listen, they are not. Carbs are a tool and you strategically, they can actually enhance your recovery. I get it. If you are somebody that is following a low carb diet and you wanna keep your carbs low all the time. That is okay, but just understand that you could be jeopardizing your recovery and your running performance because you’re not recovering properly by keeping the carbs super low all the time.
Like I know there’s people out there that love to do keto, and if you want to do that perfectly fine, I’m not gonna tell you what to do. But if you’re doing that. All the time, and it’s trying to stay in ketosis all the time, it’s probably gonna affect your running performance and it’s probably gonna affect your recovery.
So just think about that. Okay. So if you’re training, especially at higher intensities, if you’re doing anything like long runs or doing some back-to-back workouts. Your glyco, your glycogen stores are going to be depleted. You’re, they’re going to take a hit. Okay? So if you never really replenish them, you may feel kind of flat during your training.
Um, and it’s probably because you’re under recovered. And the goal is to use some carbs intentionally, but you don’t have to go back to that high carb lifestyle. All, all the carbs all the time, sort of lifestyle. We want to use some carbs, we want to use them. Intentionally to improve our, uh, recovery. And, and after a hard effort, adding in some carbs with your protein can actually speed up glycogen, resynthesis and improve your recovery vastly.
So think about this. Put a few handfuls of, of berries or a banana in your protein shake. Maybe eat some. Roasted sweet potatoes with your dinner or some rice or oatmeal or something like that, post run, you know, make that part of your post run meal. The key is to pair carbs with protein and keep it in the context of your overall low carb lifestyle.
So, uh, you’re not gonna undo being fat adapted by eating 30 grams of carbs after a 20 mile run. In fact, you’re gonna be giving your body exactly what it needs in that moment to bounce back stronger. And this is a concept that. Um, a lot of bodybuilders know about, like they know that pairing carbs with protein helps enhance recovery and helps them to build bigger muscles because they can repair and recover much faster.
So why don’t we just take that advice? You know, we’re not trying to be built bodybuilders obviously, but we can still take that advice, um, into the running world and use that to help us. Improve our recovery rate. Why not? Why wouldn’t you want to recover a little bit faster and improve the integrity of our recovery and our muscle tissues?
You know, getting stronger, getting bigger, whatever. Why not use some carbs to do that? And again, it’s not gonna kick you out of, you know, fat adaptation. You know, you would have to eat a ton of carbs for days and weeks on end really, to get to, you know, get you out of that fat adapted state. Okay. Uh, and it’s a little bit different for each person.
I can’t tell you exactly how many you would need to eat each day or anything like that. Okay. But let’s put this all together. Okay, so this is the Fat Adapted recovery formula. This is what I really want you to take away from here today. So number one, protein first, 20 to 40 grams post run. Make sure it’s high quality, nutrient dense sources of protein, you know, within an hour or two.
Every day. Make sure you’re getting those electrolytes. Okay. We gotta replace the sodium, the potassium, and the mag, the magnesium, uh, that we lose through just natural processes, you know, in our, in our. Urine in, in our sweat, but especially on hotter days or longer sessions, we wanna make sure we’re replacing that.
I always suggest, um, doing the electrolytes pre-workout or pre-run, it helps improve blood volume and which means you’re gonna have more, uh, blood to uh, uh, send to working muscles. And so it’ll actually has a performance enhancing, uh, effect. Um, so protein first electrolytes every day. And then strategic carbs.
Carbs are not the enemy. They’re just a tool. Use them after long runs or intense runs in order to help improve and speed up your recovery. Okay, that’s it. It’s simple, but if you nail these three things consistently, you’re gonna notice a few things. You might be less sore. Your energy comes back faster.
You’re ready to hit your next workout. Feeling strong instead of feeling completely drained. Okay. Remember, being a fat adapted runner isn’t just about running long on no fuel or just about losing weight. It’s about becoming a stronger, more efficient, more resilient athlete overall. And recovery is where all that hard work you’re putting in.
Really pays off. So follow the formula, protein, electrolytes, carbs, and watch how much better you feel and how much better your running improves. Okay, that’s all I got for you today. Love you all. Keep on running lean and I’ll talk to you soon.
This week marks a huge milestone for the podcast — episode 300! To celebrate, I’m sharing something very special: 20 Principles to Help You Get Leaner, Get Stronger, Run Better, and Live …
My name is Patrick McGilvray, and I’m an experienced marathoner, ultra runner sports nutritionist, master life coach, and weight loss coach. For runners, I’ve dedicated my life to helping runners just like you, properly fuel your body and your mind so you can get leaner, get stronger, run faster, and run longer than you ever thought Possible. This is running Lean.
Hey there, and welcome to episode 300 of Running Lean. My name is Patrick McGilvray, the weight loss coach for runners. And today, 20 principles to help you get leaner, get stronger, run better, and live longer. This week is a huge milestone for the podcast episode 300. So to celebrate, I’m doing something a little bit different.
I’m sharing 20 principles to help you get leaner, stronger, run better, live longer. After nearly six years and 300 episodes, I’ve covered just about everything from fat burning nutrition to strength training, endurance building, mastering your mindset. But the truth is. All of this boils down to a handful of timeless principles.
These aren’t quick fixes. They’re not hacks. They aren’t they, they are the core truths that every runner needs to live by. These are the principles that will guide you to becoming the strongest, leanest, most resilient version of yourself. And to keep you running well for life. So in honor of episode 300, I’m just laying it all out there for you.
Um, I hope you enjoy this. And listen, if you’ve been struggling with your running, with your body, with your health, I want you to know that it doesn’t have to be this way. Running doesn’t need to feel like a constant battle. Food doesn’t have to feel like, uh, confusing or, or feel like, uh, you’re being deprived all the time.
Strength training doesn’t have to be overwhelming. If you don’t have, you don’t have to keep spinning your wheels hoping that things will magically get better. What you need is a proven plan. You need the right support. You need someone in your corner to help you stay on track. That’s exactly what I do every single day with my coaching clients.
We work together to build a strong nutritional foundation. We develop a strength program that actually makes you a better runner, and then we master the mindset it takes to stay consistent with all this stuff for life. If you’re ready to finally transform into Lina’s strongest, most confident version of yourself, let’s go.
Just head over to my website running lean coaching.com and click on work with me. Alright, let’s get into this. Like I said. I’ve covered a ton of ground over the last 300 episodes. I was looking over my list of topics and oh my gosh, there’s so much I have covered on topics of nutrition and strength and endurance and mindset.
But what I’m sharing with you today are the. The big takeaways, the truths that have stood the test of time, truths, that’s hard to say. The truths that have stood the test of time. Think of these as the guiding principles that kind of tie everything together. Um, if you’ve ever like listened to the podcast and you thought, well, what matters most?
What should I really focus on? Well. This is it. Okay, so in honor of hitting this big milestone, here are my 20 principles to help you get leaner, get stronger, run better, and live longer. 20 principles that I believe every runner should live by. And the first one we’re just gonna get right into this, is to eat real food.
Everything really starts here. Real whole food fuels your body the way nature intended. If it comes in a box or a bag, or it has a barcode, or it has a lot of ingredients, I would question it. It doesn’t mean you, you shouldn’t eat it necessarily, but question it. Stick to food that still looks like food.
Food that is nutrient rich. Food that is, uh, in its natural form. You know, I’ve mentioned this in the past where there are some things where I think it’s okay to, to have some lightly processed food. Like I, I buy some frozen broccoli. That is in a bag that has been cut up. You know, if you’ve ever like cut a bunch of fresh broccoli, do you know how messy that is?
The little teeny broccoli pieces get everywhere. It’s ridiculous. So to me that’s like, yes, it is processed food, but guess what? There’s one ingredient in there, it’s broccoli. Somebody else cut it for me and. Froze it so that all I gotta do is cook it. You know, I don’t have to throw anything away so I’m not wasting anything.
Um, so that’s an example of a processed food that I am on board with. Okay? But look at the food that you’re eating. Make sure it is minimally or not processed at all. That’s kind of your, your best bet. Eat food still looks like. The food that it’s supposed to be. You know, number two, fat burning is your superpower.
So teaching your body to burn fat efficiently gives you steady energy. It improves your endurance as a runner. It makes it much easier to lose weight or manage your weight. Fat burning should be the focus. It should be your superpower. And when I talk about fat burning, I don’t mean that you’re gonna, you know, you gotta be on some kind of like ketogenic diet for the rest of your life or something like that.
We’re talking about being metabolically flexible. That means that. You have developed the ability to burn fat and carbohydrates equally Well, most people, they just don’t get into that fat burning zone very well. They don’t teach their body how to burn fat effectively. And so if you’re an endurance athlete, you’re sort of losing, uh, an edge.
You, you’re not using a tool that is available to you. So get good at fat burning. It really is a superpower. Number three, strength is not optional. Running alone will not make you strong. In fact, running is catabolic. It breaks down muscle tissue, especially long distance running. So in order to preserve muscle tissue, in order to preserve your strength, you need to be actively building muscle lifting.
Weights lifting heavy weights. This will build muscle. Eating enough protein. This will help you build muscle. Having more muscle means you’re gonna be, uh, you, you are at less risk of, of injury. You are more metabolically, uh, astute. In other words, like your body is better at metabolizing calories in general, you’re better at burning fat.
Um, you just burn more calories. When you have more muscle. Um, it’ll make you a. A faster runner, you’ll have more power. It’ll improve your endurance because it takes strong muscles longer to fatigue than weak muscles. Uh, so there’s no reason why you shouldn’t be building muscle. So strength is not optional.
Make it something that you do as part of your weekly training. Number four, you can’t outrun a crappy diet. No amount of miles is going to undo, you know, uh, decades of poor food choices, right? Nutrition is the foundation of fat loss. It’s the foundation of your performance as a runner when you are eating a really crappy diet.
You are putting your body in a state of stress. You’re putting your body in a state of inflammation and running just makes that worse. It actually creates more stress and more inflammation on your body. And so that is like a bad combination right there. So instead of just trying to run more and outrun all this crap that you’re eating.
It’s much better to change the diet, eat real food, stick to, you know, a, a, a diet that is low in sugar, you know, that is low in processed food, uh, that is low in hyper palatable food. And then you’re gonna be burning more fat. You’re going, when you are running, you’re, you’re going to burn more fat. You’re not going to be just burning off a bunch of junk and that.
Uh, diet is gonna have such a bigger impact on your overall metabolism and your weight and, and whether or not you are, you know, burning fat or burning sugar. But just trying to outrun poor food choices is not, it’s not gonna work. I talk to people every single day who tell me they’re running more, they’re gaining weight, ’cause their diet kind of sucks.
Fix the diet. Okay. Number five, discipline beats motivation every single time. Motivation is one of those things that comes and goes. You know, you might feel motivated because you, uh, you know, read a story about someone that did something hard or you, uh, got motivated because it’s a new year and you feel motivated to, to join a gym.
Okay. What happens after a couple of months of that though, uh, that motivation fades. Um, and this happens with a lot of people I work with too, who at the beginning of the process, they feel very motivated. They’re doing great, they’re staying on track, everything’s going well, and they start to lose a little bit of that motivation.
And so we have to, you know, reel ’em back in. We do a few things and we get, you know, get people to, to get back on track again. And one of the things we do is, is focus on discipline. Instead of trying to focus on just motivation. ’cause motivation might get you started, but it’s not gonna keep you going.
Motivation might get you started. Discipline is what keeps you going. Discipline is what keeps you moving forward. Long after the motivation fades away. So be disciplined. You’re not gonna feel like you’re not gonna be motivated. You’re not gonna feel like running. You know, some morning you wake up, it’s raining, it’s cold.
But if you’re a disciplined person, you’re gonna get outta bed. You’re gonna put on your running shoes, you’re gonna go do it no matter what. So be disciplined. It’s gonna be motivation every single time. Number six, consistency over perfection. You do not have to do these things perfect to succeed. Even the the 20 principles I’m talking about today, you are not gonna do these perfectly.
I guarantee that I work with God. I’ve worked with like a, a right around 500, uh, different runners and not one of them has done this perfectly. You just have to be consistent. You, you do need consistency. You need consistency over weeks, over months, and over years. You can’t just be consistent for a few days.
Like that’s not gonna be enough, but thinking that you do it perfectly or you’re not gonna do it at all, I’ve heard that from people. Well, if I can’t do it perfectly, I’m just not gonna start. I’m just not gonna do it. And that’s just kind of dumb thinking because nobody does it perfectly. So if you think that you have to do things 100% perfectly, or you’re just not gonna do them, you’re not gonna be doing a whole lot of stuff.
I promise you. So instead, try for consistency. Be consistent. If you are doing the right things, sticking to your plan, getting your workouts in, eating right 90% of the time, that means you have this 10% like wiggle room where you can just sort of. Wing it. I promise you, you’re gonna make a ton of progress over time, okay?
But we can’t expect to be perfect. Uh, ’cause it’s just not reality. Alright? So be consistent. Number seven. Let’s see. Rest and recovery are part of your training. Hard work breaks you down. Recovery is what makes you stronger. Don’t treat rest like an afterthought. You don’t gain muscle at the gym. You gain muscle while you’re sleeping.
You don’t improve your cardiovascular system while you’re out there, you know, running sprints. You, you do that when you’re at rest. You have to include rest and recovery in your training program. It just has to be part of your training plan. If it isn’t, put it in there. I know it’s hard. It’s hard to take a rest day.
Um. But I hear from runners all the time who are like, oh, you know, gosh, I was really burnt out and tired. I just felt exhausted, but I went and did this workout anyway. And I’m like, well, don’t do that. That is not going to help. You’re just like breaking yourself down even more when you do that. But we think we’ve been taught that like that’s what you need to do if you want to be a.
Badass. You gotta go run, even if you feel like crap, you know, even if you can’t even get outta bed, you’re so tired. But you gotta get up and, you know, do that anyway. Now, I think there’s plenty of days where if you’re just not feeling it, you need to just take a rest day. Okay? Uh, now if you’re, if you’re formulating your training properly, if you’re following a good diet, if you’re getting rest and recovery, you’re getting good sleep and things like that, you shouldn’t be burning yourself out anyway.
Um, but we do go through phases like that where we do get a little exhausted, and it’s okay to just take a, take a beat. You do not have to get out there and kill yourself. Like if you end up in the, in the, um, emergency room, uh, that is not a win. That is not a win. Okay? Number eight. Progress is never linear.
The scale’s gonna go up and down. Running is gonna feel hard sometimes, uh, setbacks are going to happen. You need to just stay the course ’cause your results will follow as long as you are persistent. I have seen so many people get frustrated anytime the scale goes up. Guess what though? The scale’s gonna go up and down, up and down, up and down from now until the rest of your life.
Like it’s just always going to happen that way. I’ve never seen anybody lose weight from day one to day 90 or whatever. Just perfectly like straight down like it. It’s always up and down. It always is. I’ve never seen anybody who’s improved their running. You know, do it perfectly where it just kept getting better and better and better and better.
There’s lots of days, weeks, sometimes that kind of suck and you’re running sufferers and you don’t do that well. Plenty of races where you don’t PR Progress is never linear. It is. It is wonky, you know. Instead go back to the principle of being consistent. Um, because instead of thinking that progress is going to be in some perfectly straight line, just.
Stick to the principles, do what you need to do each day, and progress will happen as long as you don’t quit. You’ll get there eventually. Allow the up and downs to be there. It’s part of the process. Okay? Um, don’t get frustrated by the ups and downs. It’s just part of it. Uh, number nine, zone two builds your engine slow, easy.
Miles are the foundation of endurance. They teach your body to to go longer, to recover faster, to burn fat efficiently. Um. You do not need to kill yourself every single time you go out there and run. In order to build a strong aerobic engine, you need to do a lot of slow running, slow, easy miles. So don’t be afraid to get out there and do some of that.
Now, I also think, uh, doing some very fast running is also. Equally as important. Um, hit type of training, high intensity, uh, intervals, uh, stuff like 32nd sprints, you know, uh, 400 repeats, stuff like that. That’s gonna build your VO two max, it’s going to improve your lactate threshold. Um, running will just feel easier, but also that zone two running is gonna help to build your endurance and, and help to create, uh, uh, a a running body that can run longer.
And this part is important too, is like you recover faster as well because you’re not putting so much stress on the systems every time you go out there and run. So if you’re one of those people that goes out there and runs kind of hard every single time, take it, take it easy, slow it down a little bit.
We want, you know, about 80% of our running should be done in that conversational pace. Slow, easy miles. This is your foundation. Uh, if you want to create more endurance, number 10. Comfort zones kill growth. So the magic always happens when you get outside of your comfort zone. You need to get. Used to being uncomfortable because that’s where you actually make change.
That’s when you grow, that’s when you change, that’s when you transform, that’s when you evolve. You’re not gonna change and evolve and grow inside your comfort zone. ’cause that is by definition the things that you’re comfortable with in order to grow. You need to get out of your comfort zone, everything that you want, but don’t already have lies outside your comfort zone.
So get out there in order to accomplish more. You can’t really grow just by sitting on the couch and watching Netflix. Like if you really want to become a better runner, you gotta get uncomfortable. You gotta do the speed work, you gotta do the, the slow easy miles, you gotta do the strength training, you gotta get good rest.
Like you gotta do those things that. May you’re not used to doing, they’re not comfortable for you. Get out of your comfort zone because that’s where all the good stuff is. That’s where the magic happens. Okay? Number 11, muscle is your metabolic currency. The more lean muscle you carry, the higher your metabolism, the stronger your your running is going to be, the longer you’re going to live and thrive.
Muscle is so important. You just have to make that a priority in your training is strength training and building muscle. It helps you to maintain your weight much easier. Um, if you did no other exercise other than some sort of resistance training. You know, and when I talk about resistance training, I’m talking about lifting heavy things, heavy weights.
Uh, if that’s the only type of exercise you did. Awesome. That, that’s probably the best thing that you can do for yourself. It helps in so many ways. Just understand that you’re, you’re improving your metabolism, you’re improving your running economy. Uh, you’re improving the length of your life. You need to carry.
We all need to carry more skeletal muscle. This is like one of the best things you can do for yourself. Make this one of your life’s goals is to build muscle. Okay? Number 12. You wanna fuel performance without sabotaging your fat loss. So food is both fuel and medicine. You know, if you use it wisely, you can support endurance, you can support recovery without derailing your, uh, fat loss gains, you know.
I talk a lot about using, uh, fuel, especially carbs for running because I think it is important that we use carbs for running. Um, but there’s ways you can do it that don’t sabotage your goals of losing fat. You know, if you’re, if your goal is to become a efficient fat burner, get yourself fat adapted, get your body really good at burning fat, and then we use fuels strategically in order to.
Help improve our running performance. That does not mean that you just go eating a bunch of pasta and donuts and, you know, drinking sugary sodas and things like that because you need it as, as fuel for running. No, that’s not what we’re talking about. We’re talking about using Whole Foods. Good sources of carbs like sweet potatoes and rice and oats to help improve our glycogen stores to help improve our running performance and not, you know, sabotage our fat loss.
You know, we wanna make sure we’re maintaining, um, uh, fat loss while we are. Also improving our, uh, performance as a runner, right? And you do that by using carbs around workouts and not just doing the all carbs all the time. Diet, like a lot of runners do. Number 13, identity drives behavior. So. Um, your identity is who you are at your core.
You know, that’s like anything you say after the words. I am like, I am a father, I am a brother. I am a runner. I am an entrepreneur. Like, these are things that I. Would consider part of who I am at my core. This is who I am, this is my identity. Um, you want to become the kind of athlete who eats like an athlete, who trains like an athlete who stays lean for life.
Um, these are things that when they become part of your identity, um, do staying on track with these things is a no-brainer. When you say things like, I’m just trying to, to lose some weight, so I’m gonna go on a diet, what you’re basically doing is like. Making it a short term, uh, set of tactics. You know, you’re basically saying like, I’m gonna change my behavior for a short period of time in order to get these results.
Okay, that’s fine. And that can work sometimes. But instead of trying to change the behavior, you know, change who you are at your core. I’m the kind of person who. Um, eats clean all the time. I train smart all the time. I stay lean all the time when that is your identity, the behavior. Comes automatically when you’re the kind of person who, uh, if you’re an athlete and you eat like an athlete, you live like an athlete, you train like an athlete, then making a decision about whether you should eat, uh, a whole sleeve of Oreos.
It’s a no brainer. Like you’re not gonna do that because that’s not who you are at your core. So identity drives behavior. I want you to remember this one, ’cause this is a big one. Stop trying to change the behavior. Start trying to, and instead, change who you are at your core. That’s going to, that’s gonna dictate the behavior.
Um, it’s gonna be a, a, an automatic, that identity shift is the big domino where everything else falls after that. Okay. Okay. That was 13 number 14, stop negotiating with yourself. Every time you argue with yourself about whether you should do this workout, or do this run, or whether you should stick to the food plan that you put together for yourself.
You are just sabotaging yourself. Make decisions ahead of time and then stick to those decisions. Stop doing this. Negotiating with yourself where you’re like, well, let’s see. I. You know, I, I ran 10 miles this week and, you know, I’ve been really good. Like you, you try to, um, justify bad behavior. Have you ever done that before?
We all have. We all do this. But just stop doing that. Stop doing this negotiating thing where you’re trying to justify, uh, terrible behaviors, and instead just stick to the plan. You make a plan for yourself. You’ve made a decision. Don’t question the decision. Don’t question that plan. Stick to it. Follow through with it.
If you wanted a cookie on your plan, put it on your plan. Which is fine. If you wanna put a glass of wine on your plan for Friday night, put it on your plan. I would much rather you did that than just drink because other people were drinking and you felt compelled to do it, or you felt like there was pressure on you to do it.
I want you to be in charge of your decisions. I want you to be in charge of, um, the, the decisions that you make around food and around training. Um. And around your own health, you know? And so when you make decisions about what you wanna do, stick to those decisions, right? Don’t question the decision once you make it.
Decide ahead of time and then follow through, decide ahead of time, and then follow through. Just keep doing that on repeat, and I promise you you’re gonna be so much happier. You build trust and confidence in yourself. When you do this. You make tons of progress. Yeah. You’re just, you’re gonna be a completely different person.
So stop negotiating and, and stop questioning your decisions. Um, do what you say you’re gonna do. Be a person of integrity. Okay? Uh, number 15, self-compassion without excuses. So. Beating yourself up does not help. Okay. But neither does letting yourself off the hook. So true. Compassion is really accountability, uh, with love.
That means that you let, let’s say you, you binged and you ate all those Oreos, okay? Do not beat yourself up about that because the, the damage is done right. You ate a bunch of Oreos, they’re not good for you. You’re probably not gonna feel good. It might affect your sleep, it might affect your running the next day.
I don’t know, you’re just, you’re probably not gonna feel good. You’re probably gonna gain a couple of pounds of weight since you, you know, all those carbs, all that sugar comes with a lot of water weight as well. Don’t beat yourself up then, because then all you’re doing is just, you know, making it even worse.
You’re taking this al you’re already gonna feel bad. Um, and then you beat yourself up because you did something you didn’t want to do. Um, but also don’t just let yourself off the hook and go, well, you know, that’s just who I am. I just do that sometimes. Now, be accountable to yourself. Be a person of integrity.
Have some compassion with yourself, but don’t make excuses for yourself when you fall off the wagon. Acknowledge that. Accept it. Learn from it and then move on. Do not dwell in it. Do not go down that rabbit hole of just, I’m a terrible person. I can’t do this. Look, I just keep blowing it. You’re gonna fail.
You’re gonna fail a lot of times, and that’s okay. This is part of the process. There’s no such thing as success without failure. You gotta fail your way to succeed. And it sounds counterintuitive, but it is true. So accept the fact that you’re gonna fail. Be okay with that. Fail, learn from it and move on.
Don’t beat yourself up, doesn’t do you any good. Uh, number 16, we’re, we’re training for the long game, not just the next race. So the goal isn’t to crush one race, it’s to be a strong, healthy runner. For decades to come. So think bigger. Okay? This isn’t about just, oh, I, I just need to get, you know, uh, do some strength training until after this race.
Or I just need to eat right until I’m done with this race. No, think bigger. This is about the long game. This is about, you know, being healthy, being fit, uh, being lean, being strong for good. You know, and it’s just not about, you know, running a race. I can’t tell you how many people come to me because they want help getting leaner and getting stronger because they have a race coming up.
And then after the race, you know, maybe we stop working together and they kind of go back to what they were doing before. Not everybody, but some people do this. I don’t think this is healthy for you. I think it’s better to just maintain what you got rather than. Stopping and starting, you know, during race season, you, you eat one way, you train one way, and then, uh, in the off season you go completely off the rails.
Don’t do that, okay? Think about the bigger picture here. Number 17, mindset is everything. Your thoughts really do create your results. If you don’t believe you can do something, you will not be able to do that thing. You gotta master your mind and your body will follow whatever you’re thinking is going to become true for you.
If you think that you can’t do it, you won’t. If you think it is too hard, it will be. If you think you’re super slow and you’ll never get. Faster. You won’t. If you think you can’t lose weight, you won’t. I promise you. You have to believe in yourself. You have to believe in your ability to change because we can all change.
Change is one of those things that is sounds funny, but change is constant. You know, the one thing that is constant is the universe, is that everything is changing. So understand that you may have been doing the same things for the last. Few decades, but that doesn’t mean you have to continue doing those things going forward.
And so changing your mindset around that. Well, it’s not like turning off a, a light switch where you can’t just flip it off and then now, oh, I’m good. You know, now my mindset is much better. No, you gotta practice this. But start working on it today. Start work working on mastering your mindset and your body, your results, your weight, your running performance will follow in kind.
Um, your most prevalent thoughts become your reality. And if you’re constantly thinking negative thoughts, especially about yourself, how do you think? Your reality is going to be, it’s not gonna be good, I promise you. Number 18, data instead of drama. So use facts, not feelings to guide your decisions. The scale, the miles, the amount of of weight you lift, they tell a very clear story rather than, you know, an emotion that you have.
You know, ’cause we get emotional about stuff. We, we do, we all do. We feel like I’m a failure because I can’t do this and this is too hard for me. And, and you get frustrated. Um, all these things are. N normal emotions, and we do feel these things, and that is perfectly fine to feel emotions, but it’s not who you are.
I can’t tell you how many people tell me, we’ll get on a coaching call and they’ll say, oh, I’ve just had the worst week. And very dramatic. Okay. And I say, oh my gosh, I am so sorry. Tell me what happened. And, and we boil it down to, you know, there was this one, one, you know, couple hours of this one day where they were, you know, really busy with work or, you know, maybe something happened to one of their kids or something.
And then there was this one other thing where they didn’t have a very good run. I’m like, oh, okay. So it was like, just those two things. Um, totaling about, you know, an hour and a half out of, you know, however many hours there are in a whole week. Anyway, we, we get dramatic about this stuff. We overdramatize, right?
Just stop doing that. Look at, look at facts, look at data. Um, people will say, this isn’t working, and we’ll look at, you know, where are you today? Oh, I’ve lost all this weight from when we started. Um. They’ve, uh, lost inches. They’ve gained muscle. They’re faster. Their, um, VO two max has gone up. Like we look at data and they’re like, oh, well, maybe I’m doing okay.
Like, yeah, you’re doing okay. I encourage people to do body composition measurements instead of just looking at the scale every day, because sometimes there’s a lot going on under. The covers, so to speak, inside your body that you’re not aware of. You’re burning fat, you’re gaining muscle. Um, and the scale won’t really reflect that.
The scale will just say like, oh, you’re just staying the same. Oh, I’m so frustrated. I’m not losing any weight. Well, you’re losing fat and gaining muscle. Amazing. Okay? But the scale’s gonna say that, you know, you’re just staying the same. Um, but look at the data, right? Let’s not get dramatic about all this stuff.
Fo focus on. You know, are, are you improving your VO two max? Are you improving your endurance? Are you improving your cardiovascular system? You know, are you, are you losing fat? Like these things are important to look at. Okay, where are we at number 19 run, because you get to. Not because you have to.
Running is a privilege. It’s not a punishment. When you approach running with gratitude, everything begins to shift for you. I’ve talked about this before where you know we run because we love. Running and running makes us feel alive and it helps us in so many ways. It helps us to, you know, release endorphins and oxytocin and dopamine and serotonin, and those are all feel good hormones.
And when we feel good, you know, we’re in a better mood. We have less depression. We have less stress in our lives. Um, running is amazing and we get to do it, you know, we’re healthy and we get to run. Isn’t that amazing when you feel like you have to run because you’re trying to, you know, outrun your bad diet?
That feels like punishment. That feels terrible and it feels like it is just gonna be hard. Yeah. And that, that’s not a good place to be, you know? Um, some sports use running as a punishment. I get that. Like, you know, my kids used to play, you know, whatever PB football and they would make the kids run as a punishment and, um.
It is so funny, especially when you see these little like kindergartners, first graders and they’re full football pads and helmets and they’re running and it’s just hilarious. They hate it so much. Um, but a lot of sports use running as a punishment. We, we do it because we love it. I we’re weird. You know, I, I always talk about running, being.
Uh, like 90% mental, uh, ’cause you gotta be like 90% mental to run the way that we do. You know? But approach running with gratitude. Have gratitude that you can run and that you get to do this and you get to move your body. And doesn’t it feel good to do that? Yeah. And it’s like, you know, uh, instead of taking SSRIs, you know, maybe running is the answer.
You know, for a lot of people, I know a lot of people, um, exercise and they run and, and they don’t need to be on some of those, uh, uh, you know, uh, drugs for, uh, depression and things like that. So enjoy running, be grateful. And then number 20, uh, the pri, you know, with all these principles and everything, kind of the biggest thing here is that we want to keep running lean for life.
Like this isn’t a diet, this isn’t a phase. We’re not on some 12 week plan. All these things I’m talking about, this is a way of living. I want you to adopt a way of living that keeps you lean, that keeps you strong, that keeps you. Thriving. That keeps you feeling good about yourself. And if you adopt this identity, like we talked about before, of, of an athlete, of a healthy human being, of a, uh, running badass, then that’s how you’re going to live your life.
And that’s the most important thing. You know, it’s not just about living long, like I, I I wanna live a long life, but I want. The length of my life, uh, to match the quality of my life. I wanna have a quality of life for as long as I can. Uh, you know, I just don’t want to be like, laid up in some bed with a bunch of tubes connected to me.
Just that’s not quality of life. Quality of life is I can still ambulate, I can still get up and walk around and lift some weights and, you know, uh, exercise and do all the things that I want to do. I don’t wanna be, um, an invalid when I get older, you know, I don’t want to have to like be committed to some old folks’ home or something like that, you know, because I can’t take care of myself.
No, I want, I want my mind to be clear, and I want my body to be strong. That’s what I want for myself, and that’s what I want for you too. I want you to keep on running Lean for Life. Okay. Alright, so that’s my 20 principles and a wrap on episode 300. That’s sort of crazy when I think about it. ’cause I look back on the last almost six years I started this podcast.
In, uh, December of, um, 20 19, 1 thing has been very clear to me that this podcast is not about me. It’s about you. You know, I show up here every week to share ideas. That I want the, these ideas to help you to change your health, to become stronger and, and to improve your fitness, uh, maybe improve your life.
And I get feedback from people all the time that say, just listening to your podcast has changed my life. And I love getting messages like that. From people. So thank you. Thank you for listening. Thank you for supporting the show and being a part of the Running Lean community. None of this would exist without you.
I do this every week. I show up every week. This is a lot of work to put together a podcast every week. I do it every week because of you. Um, and if there’s one thing you know, I want you to. Take away from, especially from today’s episode, is that these 20 principles aren’t just theory. They are meant to be lived.
So put them into practice. Do these things day after day, I promise you, you’ll become leaner and stronger and faster. You’ll also live a better life, a longer life, a more vibrant life. Okay? That’s what I really want for you, and thank you again for being a part of this. Um, couldn’t do without you. That’s all I got for you today.
Love you all. Keep on running lean and I’ll talk to you soon.
A lot of runners I talk to are obsessed with burning calories, cutting carbs, and logging endless miles trying to get leaner. And while running does burn some calories, it’s actually not the most …
Continue Reading about 299. Muscle is Your Metabolic Secret Weapon →
My name is Patrick McGilvray, and I’m an experienced marathoner, ultra runner sports nutritionist, master life coach, and weight loss coach. For runners, I’ve dedicated my life to helping runners just like you, properly fuel your body and your mind so you can get leaner, get stronger, run faster, and run longer than you ever thought. Possible. This is running Lean.
Hey there, and welcome to episode 299 of Running Lean. My name is Patrick McGill. Ray, the weight loss coach for runners in today. Muscle is your metabolic secret weapon. A lot of runners I talk to are obsessed with burning calories, cutting carbs, logging endless miles, trying to get leaner, and while running, you know, does burn some calories.
It’s actually not the most efficient way. To change your body composition, the real magic happens when you build lean muscle mass. So today I’m gonna break down exactly how muscle boosts your metabolism, increases your fat burning potential, improves your running economy, and helps you to stay lean for life.
By the end of this episode, you’re going to have a whole new appreciation for your muscles and hopefully. Some motivation to start strength training if you haven’t already. But first, if you’re looking for guidance and support to lose weight, the right way, to get stronger, to run faster, and to make it all sustainable, I got you covered.
Just go to my website, running lean coaching.com, click, click on work with me, and together we’ll put together a personalized plan that’s going to help you to reach your goals without all the confusion and the frustration. That’s running lean coaching.com. Click on work with me. So muscle is your metabolic secret weapon.
Let’s start with why muscle matters. So most runners think of muscle as something that bodybuilders care about, not something that runners actually need. And I hear this all the time, I don’t wanna get too bulky, or I just wanna run. I don’t care about lifting weights, and I talk to a runner. Uh, just yesterday, who is, uh, very strong.
She’s a, a young woman. She is a very fast runner. Her, her, uh, marathon PR is a 2 51. That’s pretty speedy, and she is incredibly strong. She’s got some muscle mass on her. I would not call her a bodybuilder. She is not a power lifter. She does lift heavy weights. Um, and she is doing everything that I’m gonna be talking about in here.
Today, she’s doing all of these things the right way. Um, she has definitely put on some muscle, but she is a very, very efficient runner. But if you looked at her, you would say like, oh, you know, she just looks like she’s a pretty fit person. Okay. She’s not bulky. If you are worried about getting too bulky, um, just put that outta your mind.
I’m just gonna tell you right now, it is very, very difficult to get bulky. Okay. I’ve been trying to get bulky for a while now, and as a runner it’s hard because. You know, running kind of breaks down muscle tissue. It, it breaks down. Um, you, it just breaks you down, right? It’s, it’s a, it’s a, a catabolic activity.
That means it breaks down muscle tissue. It’s not an anabolic activity muscle, uh, uh, strength training is a muscle building activity. It’s a anabolic activity. So if you’re doing both, if you’re lifting weights and. Running a lot. Chances are you’re not gonna put on a ton of muscle. You can put on some muscle, but it’s more difficult when you run a lot, especially if you’re a ultra endurance athlete.
Um, have you ever seen these guys that run, uh, the Olympic marathon? Men and women? They’re very, very lean. They’re muscular, but they are incredibly lean. They’re very small people in general. So getting bulky is not something I want you to worry about. It’s very hard to get bulky. It takes. Years of going to the gym, you gotta eat a ton of calories, tons of protein.
You gotta be very intentional about bulking up. Um, yeah, don’t worry about that. Okay? And listen, muscle is not just about how you look, it’s not just about aesthetics. It’s metabolically active tissue. That means that the more muscle you have, the more energy your body requires. Yeah, just to keep you alive.
So think of your muscles like little calorie burning furnaces, right? Even when you’re just sitting on the couch or sleeping those furnaces, your muscles are cranking away. They’re burning fuel. So if your goal is to lose fat and keep it off building muscle is your secret weapon. Here’s a stat that might blow your mind a little bit.
For every pound of muscle that you add, you burn seven to 10 extra calories per day at rest. And it might not sound like a ton, but imagine adding 10 pounds of lean muscle, that’s an extra 70 to a hundred calories per day every single day without losing, uh, without doing anything extra. And that adds up over time.
Okay, so muscle is metabolically active tissue. It’s very important and it can really help to, uh, make you a better fat burner because it just burn. You burn more calories at rest when you have more muscle, and if the type of calories you’re burning is mostly fat, then you’re gonna burn more fat. Let’s get into metabolism a little bit more though, because most people just think that metabolism is something.
That you are born with, like you either have a fast metabolism or a slow metabolism. I hear this from people all the time. Oh, my metabolism is just slow. I’ve always had a slow metabolism. The truth is your metabolism is largely influenced by your body composition. So if you have more muscle relative to fat, you’re going to have a faster metabolism.
If you have more fat relative to muscle, you’re going to have a slower metabolism. Why? Because fat is basically just storage. It just sits there, and it doesn’t require much energy to maintain fat muscle. On the other hand. Is like an expensive luxury item for your body, right? It takes work to maintain it.
Your body has to devote energy resources every single day. To keep that muscle tissue alive and functioning properly. So if you want to speed up your metabolism, stop worrying so much about cutting calories and start focusing on adding muscle so muscle can definitely improve your metabolism. Even if your whole life, you’ve thought, oh, I just have a slow metabolism.
Well build some muscle. Let’s, let’s give your metabolism a little bit of a boost here. Um, another benefit is when you have more lean muscle mass, your body becomes a more efficient. Fat burning machine. So muscle improves something called insulin sensitivity. This just means that your muscles are better at absorbing and storing glucose from the food that you eat, which prevents excess glucose from being stored as fat.
And when your insulin sensitivity improves, your body’s more likely to tap into fat for fuel. Think about it like this, having more muscle is like. Upgrading your engine from a four cylinder to a V eight. I’m not a big car guy, but this one kind of makes sense to me. So you’re not just burning more fuel overall, but you’re burning a better mix of fuel.
You’re able to use fat more effectively. As an energy source, both at rest and while you’re out there running, and for intern athletes, obviously this is huge because the more efficient you are at burning fat, the more or, or the longer that you can go. Without hitting the wall, without bonking. And the less reliant you are on constant gels and goos and things like that, um, the easier running is going to feel for you.
Okay? So the, the better fat burning you are, the, the easier, uh, running’s gonna feel. Um, the more muscle you have, the better fat burning you are. So just keep that in mind that if you want to improve your endurance, uh, muscle. Is the way to go. Again, secret weapon. Um, I wanna talk a little bit about running economy now.
So there’s another myth out there, um, a about building muscle, which. A lot of people subscribe to this, that it’s going to make you slower, right? So the first one is, I go, I’m gonna bulk up too much and then if I have too much muscle, it’s gonna make me slower. And this is one of the biggest objections I hear from runners.
Um, besides getting too big, it’s getting too slow. And the truth is that strength training and building lean muscle actually improve your running economy. So a running economy is basically how efficient you are at a given pace. And stronger muscles mean stronger. More resilient joints, better biomechanics, improved stride power, and overall less fatigue over time.
And they’ve done some studies and they’ve consistently shown that runners who add strength training to their weekly routine get faster. They can maintain their pace longer because. You know, strong muscles take longer to fatigue. They reduce their injury, uh, risk, and they recover quicker than people who are not as strong.
And that doesn’t sound like something that would really hurt your running, does it? It’s not gonna make you slower, okay? You’re not gonna bulk up, you’re not gonna turn into the Hulk overnight. And, and, uh, building muscle is not gonna make you slower. What you are going to do is become a stronger. More efficient and more durable.
Runner, that runner that I was talking about, um, who is very fast. She, she has some muscle on her. You know, you can, you can see that she’s very strong. But she is not the Hulk by any stretch, and she is extremely fast. And, you know, talking to her about this, she said that the game changer for her was strength training.
And that’s why she’s, um, so keen on consistently, uh, getting stronger, uh, all the time. She’s constantly working on, on getting stronger and, and it’s very smart. It really works well for her. So let’s zoom out a little bit because I wanna talk about. Some long-term health. So one of the biggest problems that people face as they get older is something called sarcopenia.
That’s, uh, the natural loss of muscle that happens with age, right? Starting as early as your mid thirties, um, the average American, uh, loses about three to 5% of muscle mass every decade. Um, that’s average. Some people lose a lot more, some people less. Um, but you, you can reverse this, right? You can actively do something to stop that and reverse that process.
A lot of people don’t realize this though, but imagine that from your mid thirties until whatever, 80, 90, a hundred years old, you just lose three to 5% of your muscle mass every decade. Ooh, that’s not gonna be good. Losing muscle though, listen, it also means that it slows down your metabolism. Um, it’s easier to gain fat.
Staying lean becomes harder because your metabolism has slowed down. And this is why so many people, they hit middle age and they suddenly feel like their body’s working against them. And the truth is they just lost muscle. And it doesn’t have to be this way. You gotta prioritize strength training and start building lean muscle.
Starting today. You’re essentially future proofing your body. If you do this, you’re keeping your metabolism revved up, you’re making fat, loss and and maintenance much easier, and you’re setting yourself up to stay lean, strong, and active for the rest of your life. So when I say muscle is your metabolic secret weapon, I mean it, it’s the thing that’s going to keep you healthy, fit, and lean, not just for running, not just for your next race, but for the rest of your life.
Okay? This is important. I, I tell my runners that I work with. Every single day that the most important type of exercise they can do for themselves is strength training. Yes, you should be running and yeah, running is great, blah, blah, blah. But strength training, it’s more important. It is more important than running.
And running is great, and I love it. Okay, so how do you get started with all this? How do you, um, actually build lean muscle without it, you know, interfering with your running? So I’m just gonna give you a few quick tips. I’ve talked a lot about strength training in the past. You can go back and look at some of those episodes.
Um, but number one is just. Lift heavy. Don’t be afraid to lift heavy weights. You know? Um, don’t, don’t think that you’re going to, uh, do some, uh, good for yourself If you just get this, the lightest dumbbells that you can find and lift them, you know, a hundred times, yeah, that might do something for you. You need to find something that’s challenging in the five to 10 rep range, somewhere around there.
Okay? ’cause that’s where you actually build strength and build lean muscle, right? So lift heavy. Don’t be afraid to lift heavy. That’s another big misconception is that lifting heavy is gonna bulk you up. That’s kind of the opposite is true. A hypertrophy that is building larger muscles comes from lifting lighter weights and doing a lot more sets and reps, lifting heavier weights, uh, fewer times.
So, um, shorter sets and reps. Will, uh, with heavier weights will get you stronger. And that’s really what we want. We wanna get stronger. Um, focus on the big compound movements. So these are the things that, uh, work multiple body parts like squats, deadlifts, lunges, pushups, pull-ups, rows, presses. These give you the most bang for your butt ’cause you’re working.
Multiple muscle groups all at the same time. One of my favorite, um, exercises of all time is the deadlift ’cause it’s working the whole posterior chain from the, from your head to your toes basically, and everything on the backside of your body, um, and a lot on the front as well. Um, but all those exercises I just mentioned, just get good at those and, and you’ll be, uh, super strong.
You’ll be a super strong runner. Um, keep your, your strength sessions short and focused, right? You don’t need to be in the gym six hours a day, six days a week. Two to three strength sessions per week, maybe a half hour or so. 45 minutes at each session is fine. You know, like you don’t have to like, spend your whole life, um, in a gym in order to get stronger.
You can do this relatively quickly. I did a really killer workout today. I only had about 45 minutes and I was surprised at how much I could get done in 45 minutes. Um. So that was number three and number four, um, getting started on all this is to prioritize recovery. ’cause your muscles don’t grow in the gym.
You know, you don’t recover in the gym, you don’t get stronger in the gym. Uh, your muscles grow, you get stronger at rest, like when you are at home, uh, sleeping essentially. So make sure you’re getting good quality sleep. Make sure you are. Eating enough protein and spacing out your strength sessions from your harder runs.
Do not do hard strength sessions and you know your long run on the same day, or don’t do a super heavy, hard leg day, and then the next day expect to have a, a really good, long run. That’s just a recipe for disaster. Um, and then number five, just stick with it. Building muscle takes time. It’s not going to happen overnight, but if you stay consistent, you’re going to start seeing benefits in, in a few weeks, in a few months.
So it’s not gonna take you years. Okay. But, um. A, a couple of years ago, I was pretty lean, I lost a bunch of weight and, and I lost a bunch of muscle in the process and I was able to, to gain about 12 pounds of muscle, and I think it took me like eight months. Okay, so that’s not that long of time to, to build some muscle.
Um, so just stick with it though. Everybody’s a little bit different. It depends on how you’re doing it, how often you’re doing it, if you’re getting enough protein, if you’re getting good quality sleep, all those things matter. Um, the thing is that you have to commit to this as a, as a lifestyle. It has to be part of what you’re doing.
Every single week, you know, we all plan our, our, uh, runs. We all know, oh, I’m gonna be running five times this week, and then next week I’m running four times. I’m doing these workouts like you got your whole month. Your, sometimes, you know, your whole training cycle is 16 weeks. Uh, 20 weeks, 12 weeks, whatever it is, all planned out every single day.
You know what you’re doing from a running standpoint, but when it comes to strength training, people are like, yeah, I just do it every now and then when I feel like it. No, you gotta, you gotta map this stuff out. It has to be planned. It has to be part of your, uh, weekly regimen. It just has to be something that you’re committed to doing and that you are doing consistently.
So just to wrap up, um, muscle is metabolically active tissue, which means it increases your resting, uh, metabolism. The, the calories that you burn at rest. Um, more muscle equals a faster metabolism and greater fat burning potential muscle improves insulin sensitivity. It helps you tap into more fat for fuel, stronger muscles improve.
You are running economy, reduce your risk of injury and just make you a more efficient runner. And then building and maintaining muscle keeps you lean and healthy for life, especially. As you get older, and if you take away one thing from today’s episode, it’s this stop being afraid of building muscle.
It’s not going to slow you down. It’s not gonna bulk you up. In fact, it’s the very thing that’s going to help you to run faster, burn more fat, and stay lean for life. And then remember, if you want help putting all of this into practice, if you wanna lose weight the right way, if you wanna get stronger, if you finally wanna just feel good about the way you look and the way you run.
Go to running lean coaching.com, click on work with me. I would love to help you make that happen. Okay, that’s all I got for you today. Love to you all. Keep on running lean. I will talk to you soon.
