193. Are You Ready to Run a Half Marathon with Coach LaToya

I mean, don't get me wrong, some runs are hot and sweaty and they're just miserable and you don't like it. That's not what I'm talking about. But you shouldn't have dread for the training. You shouldn't have dread for the long runs or the entire process. And the thought of crossing 13.1, start line 5k, whatever you're building up to, but you're 13.1 here, is you should be excited, you should want to do it. And if you have anger or stress or frustration, then your big picture isn't the big, you're not seeing the big picture of it. Are you constantly worried about getting injured or you don't know how to get faster as a runner and you want to continue to run for stress relief, then this is the podcast for you. Welcome to Healthy Runner, the only place that provides you with training tips, injury recovery and prevention tools with actionable strategies by experts in the running industry so you can develop a stronger running body and feel confident that you can overcome any obstacle as a runner. I'm your host, Dr. Duane Scottie, Avid Runner, running physical therapist and coach, educator, founder of Swark Healthy Runner, where we help dedicated runners get stronger, run faster and enjoy lifelong injury free running with the perfect online running coach, even if you've been told to stop running with an injury or you think coaching is just for fast runners. Learn more about our signature coaching program at learn.swarkhealthyrunner.com. Every week on the show, we coach you to grow as a runner just like the process of building a strong, durable home that will last a lifetime requiring little maintenance. The design and planning is your mindset. The foundation is your strength training. The framing is your run plan. The electrical and plumbing is your nutrition. The insulation, drywall and flooring is your recovery. The landscaping and exterior is your race strategy. If you master the six parts of growing as a runner, your running will be strong and last long hitting PRs well into your 40s, 50s, and beyond. Every week we help a runner just like you build their dream home. I'm your host, Dr. Duane Scottie, welcome to the Healthy Runner podcast. This episode is powered by you can fuel smarter during a run with the best no sugar energy gel on the market, delivering up to 75 minutes plus of steady energy to power your best running performance. If you've been listening to this podcast and you know how important it is to fuel your body for your runs, especially those long runs and races, and one of the biggest questions we get from our athletes is, what should I take with me during a run in order to get that fuel in? 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So now that you're a part of our Healthy Runner community, you will get 20% off all your orders using the special link I have in the show notes. Just go to youcan.co. That's dot com dot com forward slash Healthy Runner and use the code Healthy Runner during checkout when placing your order to get your 20% off. Go ahead and give you can energy gel a try for your next long run. Trust me, you won't regret it. Are you ready to run a half marathon, half marathon training? Are you prepared to go the distance? Are you up for the challenge? Running a half marathon is no easy task. It requires commitment, dedication and a whole lot of training, but the feeling of crossing the finish line is absolutely incredible. So are you prepared to go the distance? Let's find out. Welcome to episode 193 on the Healthy Runner podcast. We help you get stronger, run faster and enjoy lifelong injury free running. I have coach Latoya Felton from our Healthy Runner coaching team with me here today to tackle this topic. Coach Latoya, what's going on? How are you doing today? Hi, guys. Hi, Dwayne. I am well. I'm thrilled to talk running. That's what I love to do. So let's talk about it. Shall we? We shall. Indeed. And if you don't mind letting all the new listeners in our audience kind of know who you are, where you call home and tell us like why you love running or why you love being a run coach. All right. Well, we've got a lot to cover there. Let's see if I can do it. So coach Latoya, Latoya Felton, I live here in Wallingford, Connecticut, the local farming team, Greenway, Trails and streets have been my stomping ground for quite a while, hitting the streets and running lots of miles with friends, with family for the past few years. And I love running because it keeps me sane. I call myself a busy mom, busy mom runner. It was when my daughter was coaching cheerleading and handling running and work. Now that I have my son, I've got Boy Scouts, I've got volunteer work, I've got coaching, I've got life, I've running. So I am busy and I figure out how to make it all work and I want to be able to help all those people looking to start running a half marathon, a race of 5K, whatever it is, figure it out. And that's what I love about being a run coach. Being a run coach helps me take all those I can't get it in, I can't make it happen. I don't have the time. I don't have the skills and say, stop, take a breath. You certainly do. And I'm going to be right here along the way with you to say, hey, that's a win. That's a win. Here's a pocket. You can do it here. You can do it there. And before you know it, someone is crossing the finish line 13.1 miles, 5K, whatever it is, their goal is I'm helping them achieve that because it's one of the things I love to do is help people find ways to make it happen and you can make it happen. Yes. And you do help so many like make it happen. I know we are kind of half halfway through or past the halfway mark with our half marathon group coaching training program that you lead right now. And yeah, they are just like crushing the training, getting it done, putting the work in and they're getting ready for their fall half marathon, right? So they are absolutely getting ready. We have, oh, I don't know, 14, 15 athletes. I don't remember. I've got so many runners and I'm so excited for all of them to be over over eight weeks in long runs or done, tempo runs, if you're ready for them, easy runs are going through. And I've seen progress from all of the athletes, whether they were first time, never run a half marathon, it's lined up eight weeks in there feeling confident and strong. I've got some seasoned people in there. This is for all levels. We did this a couple times the year and it's two of my favorite times of the year. To do it is to see everybody run strong and get together. One person that comes to my mind with this training program, this eight week session right now is Neil. Neil is a fast twitch guy. He has run five Ks when he was in high school all the way up into adulthood. I'm not giving away his age into adulthood. And he wasn't sure that he was going to run 13 miles. That was long and slow and he had to do it a little slower than he was used to. I can tell you this is his second go around with a half marathon. He is now working in tempo runs, brushing them because he's running properly for his long distance runs in the week and his long run and he's hitting those tempo runs strong and invigorating and seeing that he can do both the fast and the easy effort pace and how they marry well together. So kudos, kudos to you Neil for trusting the process, trusting you and I can't wait to see how all of the athletes do, Neil and everyone else when they finished their cross or fall race half marathons coming up four, four, short weeks. I'm rooting for you guys. I'm right here to help you all along the way. Yeah, they're doing awesome and it was great to see Neil at the New Haven Road Race that we were at and he absolutely crushed his relay. And some negative splits there and yeah, and he's training only for his second half marathon and he's doing a wonderful job and I just love seeing the progress within that group as well. And I guess I should probably mention for those that are tuning into this episode and want to figure out really if they are ready to run a half marathon or if they should be running the half marathon that they signed up for, then you definitely want to make sure you check out episode 191 on the Healthy Runner podcast that I talked with Coach Whitney about like five half marathon training mistakes to avoid because if you haven't listened that one yet, you'll also get some really good information on that episode. So just kind of linking that in. But as as Coach Latoya and I were messaging each other today about what we were going to talk about, Coach Latoya shared this kind of framework for you to think about as you're considering, you know, should you be running this half marathon or should I sign up? Maybe you've been like secretly training, right? And you're like, do I sign up for this half marathon in a couple weeks, next month, six weeks away? And Coach Latoya really thought of this in like a framework of like red light yellow light green light. I think like, I don't know when I was a kid, did you ever play like red light green light one, two, three. I like to use that for my college students. And they look at me like I've told us they're like, what are you talking about? Dude, you're so old, right? Like they're probably saying in their their head. So I'm glad I could actually mention that reference. And I'm sure a lot of the podcast listeners can probably have a little chuckle and be like, oh, yeah, I remember playing that game when I was a kid. Like when we actually used to play outside and not like on a video game, we're just like TikTok and Snapchat, you know, our friends were teenagers. So yeah, if you don't mind, let's get right into today's topic of, you know, just because this is a common question that we get a lot. And I hear a lot of runners kind of struggle with this. And sometimes, honestly, quite frankly, we see a lot of runners after the fact when they perhaps made the wrong decision. And maybe they got injured and maybe they just had a terrible race. And then they seek out coaching and I'm glad that they're looking for guidance now and they want to do it the right way. But maybe they should have not run the half marathon. And that's really fits into this kind of red light classification. Is that correct? I think that's absolutely right. And I think you've got a good point is that red light, sometimes people don't realize, we have to turn those red lights into lessons and we don't realize that till afterwards. And as long as we don't repeat the things we're going to talk about, then we don't have to ever want to talk about those red lights again. And their lessons and we learn from them and we grow. And every race is different, just like every run is different. Every day of training is different. Based on so many things, as long as we recover and learn from these red light points, then it makes you all the smarter of a runner. It really does. It sets yourself up for success for the next one. And we want you to have the mindset to want to run more, really. I love it. And yeah, it's part of learning, right? It's a learning journey and you're not learning if you're not making mistakes. And I just love how you said that, that it's only a problem is if you repeat the same mistake again, right? So we're here to kind of hopefully correct those mistakes, right? And so you don't repeat those mistakes. So what are some of the considerations that would be a red light for you, that you would really probably recommend so when actually not run, like we're all for running here, right? Look at the metals, right? Like, we love to have marathon distance, right? It's like, I've shared this before. It's my favorite distance. It's the most racist I've ever done. Yeah, I want as many people to run half marathons, but there are circumstances that maybe you shouldn't actually run this half marathon and wait. What are those conditions or situations? So I am not going to shoot anybody down from running. I'm going to have you reframe it and make it a goal that's right for you and attainable and right where you're at. But some of these red lights are almost non-negotiables in my opinion. And I guess we could go down the rabbit hole. But if we went down that rabbit hole, the outcome wouldn't be the same as if we just stopped Chuck a breath and made a better decision to move for the next race or the next run or whatever it is. So a red light for me is, I really think less than 12 weeks of training. We have some of those spur of the moment, people who were like, I just saw half marathon the next town over. I'm going to hop on. I've got four weeks to get ready for it. Not going to happen. You can run that race. It won't be pretty. And I'd like to think your perspective and potential for injury is going to be so large. It's going to keep you from running another race real soon. Just the rehab alone, if you do get injured, keeps you down. If you had just said, all right, I'm not going to run this race in four weeks. I'm going to run the one in 12 weeks from now because there's always going to be another race. There are thousands of races pick the town, pick the hills, destination, doesn't mean four weeks, only half marathon to run, stop and find a better choice. Nope, nope, nope. I think it's important to realize time is on your side. You need time. You need your body to acclimate to things. And in my opinion, the base building, the training, and the long runs, and then the tape ring are so crucial. If you're not getting that, you're missing some things for your body and your mind. Absolutely. Your mind. It's a mind game out there, especially when you're not trained properly. All right. So if we haven't been consistently running essentially for at least a 12 week period, we don't want to jump in a half marathon race. Even if we've done half marathons years ago, used to always do half marathons, you ran a bunch of half marathons in your 20s. And maybe now you're a post baby, right? Maybe you've taken some years off, and you're like, you know what? I got to get back, you know, in my fitness, I got to get back in my health goals. Maybe I need to lose a little weight. And you know what? Let me just sign up for this half marathon, and it turns out you really been really inconsistent with your training, or maybe you only got like five weeks of running inconsistently. So you're saying, it's not worth it. It's not worth the risk. Don't run the half marathon. Absolutely not. Time is your friend when it comes to running, and we need to be patient. That's what I mean, part of being a runner is harnessing and disciplining yourself to be patient. It's so much more enjoyable when you work for it, and you long for it, and that time comes, it's going to kind of feel totally different for weeks in, to jump in into a half marathon versus 12 weeks into training, minimum of 12 weeks. You might need more depends on where you are, and how things are things really go. But you really need to have time. I've seen people just sign up for races, and I just, it's not pretty. It's not pretty. The injuries happen. I mean, that's one way to really put yourself behind the April is to run without proper training. You need time on your feet. All right. So what other things are kind of stop, do not pass go, you know, where you're not going to actually run the race, and it's a red light. Major, major red light is our joints, joint paint, joints, sharp, numb, tingling after the wrong run, during the long run, they get worse after the long run. If you have major joint pain, and that race is close by, then we have to stop, and we have to say, hey, I've got to think about the big picture plan, the long range plan, because once that joint is compromised, when I have rehab, to I have the mental frustration of the pain of the hurt, maybe even regret. I knew I shouldn't have run, but I wanted to anyway. But major joint pain can snowball into so many bigger problems. It really does, and it's not supposed to suck when you run. You're not supposed to be in gut wrenching pain, and if that's the case, then I think we need to re-evaluate your strategy, if you had one. We don't want to. I want you to keep coming back for more, and any kind of joint pain. It's exacerbated, during your training, it's not going to go away on race day. You shouldn't push through it. Don't push through it. Get what you need. Take the time, back off from the race, heal yourself, and then go back at it again, so you can come back at it again, because that might be a one and done for you, really. If you hurt yourself poorly enough, you may not want to come back, make it frustrated from the pain, from the rehab, from all that, and there goes your running, and you loved it, right? You had such a good time. You smart with it, seek counsel, medical counsel, and you see, is this something I can continue on? How should I continue? And then get a game plan. I mean, you can turn to a running coach, turn to a physical therapist or a doctor who has a sports mindset, which is different than some of our doctors today. We want to find someone that's going to not just tell you to stop running. And some will, because they're not fully on the same page, but stop before you get to that point where you have to go and seek medical care, because you're limping around all day, not worth it. Yeah, I obviously couldn't agree more. And this is something, actually, I'm just onboarding a new client just before we hopped on this recording, and you know, some of the variables that I was asking him with hamstring pain specifically was, you know, what is your pain level during your run? And then, okay, how long did it last after your run? And if your pain's lingering, right, after your run for hours and or days, like, yeah, no, you should not be running a half marathon race. And especially if your pain levels are above a four out of 10 pain, if you had to rate it on a scale from zero to 10, right? Those are some of the kind of red flag items that, yeah, you're, you know, you probably, it's not going to do your best interest of really running this race right now. And maybe we need to reframe your goals and think about, no, you don't, maybe necessarily you need to stop running, right, depending upon the injury, all of that, those variables you mentioned, but let's back off some of your training, allow your body to get healthy and heal with the right strategies to address that injury, like you said. And then we can build up and, you know, go to run and live another day and enjoy lifelong injury free running versus force the issue I need to run this half marathon this fall, because I always do it every year or I haven't run it in so long, my friends running it and or I'm turning 40 and or I'm turning 50 and I need to run this race because I said I would do it. Yeah, if you got this major injury going on, I would agree. It's a red light for me. Any other variables that you would recommend to not run the half marathon race. Absolutely. Sometimes we have such a myopic view of things and we've got to do and we have to do it. We lose sight of the big picture and when you have a big picture in mind, it's easier to see the end. If you're taking advantage and using a run coach and your run coach says, don't, not a good idea against my advice strongly, you can do what you want to do, but I don't think it's a good idea. Respect that, you're coming to that coach for their expertise, for their insight, for their knowledge, for their idea and ability to keep the big picture focused because we do get myopic when we're training, got to get the runs in, got to get the miles, all the salt tabs and the foods, got to focus, focus, focus and we forget sometimes the big picture and that coach has your best benefit at hand and if they say, no good, they're not doing it to punish you. They're not doing it because they want to see you sad. They're doing it because they want to see your success and that happens by being disciplined and trusting yourself and trusting the people you trusted to get you there. That's a big one. If someone that you respect says, don't do it and someone who knows what they're doing, not just your mother or your grandmother, oh, you're running too hard, baby, don't do that. You're going to hurt yourself. We're talking about somebody who's got the understanding of training plans and of you and how you run. Please really consider not running. We want you to come back for more and more and more and you may not. It's different now or at the end. It's amazing how many of our clients, probably like the most, the greatest benefit we can have sometimes is protecting them from being their own worst enemy, right? For so many runners that overdo it, they know and they'll even admit it and say, on my own worst enemy, you know what, I'm finally a relinquishing control and you are the expert in this area and okay, I'm offloading this to you. I will follow your directions like that. Sometimes one of the best things you can do and just like you said, getting the objective of you and not having that subjective, emotional decision making of it's you and yourself, like yeah, if you're working with a run coach, like listen to their advice, right, they're going to give you that objective view and really have your best interest in mind for the long run pun intended there, right, not just for the race. So I would agree if coach says to not run that race, then you should probably listen to coach. I agree wholeheartedly with that one and you know, I've had to be on the delivering end of some of that bad news to say, listen, I mean, I'm going to be here for you if you run this race, but I can tell you, it's not going to go well, it's not, I'm not Susie Sunshine, I'm not playing Pollyanna, here's why it's not going to go well and it wasn't comfortable for either of us to hear and handle, but I deliver that information because I saw the big picture, I had the big picture in mind and they were just so focused and this athlete has absolutely come to the reckoning that all right, I respect what you say, I respect my body enough to stop and slow down, that's a real frame, let's build back up, let's keep going, thank you for having my back. So those red lights are not red lights forever, I mean, we've sat at the traffic lights and we're like, let's go, let's go, let's go, why is it not turning to green, let's go? So if we don't listen and respect ourselves, the body and the perspectives, then that red light never changes to a green light, so and green lights are ahead, I promise, it's not all red lights. Oh, I love that analogy, I love it, I love it, yes, it doesn't last forever and those conversations are the difficult conversations, right, and I hate telling an athlete that, but I'm going to be honest with them and tell them like, I'm in this for your long term health and like when we work with athletes in our program, you know, we tell them first and foremost, you know, we want you to enjoy running forever, not just run for this particular race, right? And you know, we don't kind of market our services or say like, hey, we're going to get you your PR for XF marathon, right? It's not only about the time on the clock and you're just trying to run this right, like we want you to actually embrace the dedication, consistency, the enjoyment of running and be able to enjoy all of the positive benefits of running for many, many years to come, like long after you're not working with us, right? So those conversations are difficult, but I think when we're honest and, you know, I get to think of an athlete, the coach cat, just had this conversation with as well. And it is for the better. And there will be another half marathon. And like you said, that red light is not going to be stuck at a red light forever. It will eventually turn green. I love it. Any other red light items that you would really recommend so to not run the half. So I think that we, we said way really nicely and into something I wanted to talk about is, is you know what? You've got to love what you're doing. You have to enjoy the process. Training shouldn't suck. It shouldn't be miserable. You shouldn't, I mean, don't get me wrong. Some runs are hot and sweaty and they're just miserable and you don't like it. That's not what I'm talking about. But you shouldn't have dread for the training. You shouldn't have dread for the long runs or the entire process. And the thought of crossing 13.1 start line 5k, whatever you're building up to, but you're 13.1 here is you should be excited. You should want to do it. And if you have anger or stress or frustration, then your big picture isn't, isn't the big, you're not seeing the big picture of it. And maybe this isn't for you. So that red light is never going to change to green. It's never with, with that mindset because maybe you shouldn't be doing it. And maybe you shouldn't be running that right now. Maybe now is not your season or your chapter. It doesn't mean forever, but you have to be able to do it. No one wants to have 13.1 miles ahead of them, an absolute dread and frustration and anger. Why am I doing this? You have to have the right why. And that's individual, the half marathon distance is so personal. It's so individual. You have to have your reason. And if you're running because your sister wants you to run a race with her or the guy you're dating thinks it's a good idea and you hate running, but he's really cute and you think you should do it anyway. That's wrong, wrong reason. Don't do it. I know people, these are real life cases guys. I'm not just making this up. It's just not worth it. You're going to become resentful to the run, resentful to other people. And that's just not what you want. We want lifelong running. We want happiness. We want you to see the benefits and the benefits of training and running absolutely touch every facet of your life when you do it right. And when you do it wrong and you shouldn't be doing it, those benefits touch. They're not benefits. Those effects touch every part of your life. From you being nasty to the barista at Starbucks to snapping at a coworker to not being kind to your child or your partner. It really, let's get the perspective right. Maybe you shouldn't be running. And that's okay. Find a different time to do it, regroup, but love it, love what you're doing or don't do it. Yeah. You shouldn't hate it. Yeah. So coach Latoya guys is really talking about the mindset pocket right in our six steps to growing as a runner and just having that proper why you are training or about to run this half marathon and just, you know, not being resentful and dreading every single run that you're going out there for. So I love that. I hope you are enjoying this episode and it is providing value for you. I wanted to take a brief moment to share a story of a real runner like you who is struggling with a common problem that you may be facing. Here is one of our athletes who got the guidance, support and accountability from our healthy runner coaching team to get clarity and structure on the six steps to growing as a runner with personalized strength, nutrition and run plans. I hope their story inspires you that there is hope to either get over your running injury or to continue getting faster or running longer so you can continue to get in those mental clearing miles and enjoy your running journey again. Here is their inspiring story. Hey everyone, so I just wanted to jump on here and talk about my experience working with Dwayne and his team for healthy runner coaching. So about the time of the COVID pandemic, I was running kind of casually every once in a while, but after my classes at the gym got canceled, I decided hey, like this is perfect time to get back into running. I just, you know, kind of ramped up on my own and it went okay, but I had some injuries starting to creep in. I got IT band syndrome, which is actually how I came across Dwayne and his podcast. I found an episode where he was talking about IT band syndrome and he recommended some exercises that I started utilizing right away and within a few weeks. It was totally better and I was on my way again training and I trained and ran a 10K and then I was going to do a half marathon four weeks after that and it was kind of a quick ramp up for me having, you know, not run those distances really ever never gotten into longer, longer distances before I did cross country and high school, but just had never gotten to that level. But I decided to buy new shoes and then immediately do my first 10 mile run in them and I ended up with a lot of foot pain and, you know, Dwayne's podcast had helped me before and I decided to reach out to Dwayne for help because at that point I just wasn't sure like I've got this race in like two weeks, am I even going to be able to run it? So I met with Dwayne and he helped me out and I had a great race and then after that I decided to do coaching and I did half marathon training with Dwayne and then kept going and also did half marathon and marathon training with Coach Lu and it was really fantastic for me just as a really busy person having someone else put together the plan and also the resources if I start to have any pain or injuries start to creep in. Like having that strength plan was definitely really helpful for me and I just ran a half marathon a few weeks ago which was really similar to the half marathon that I ran right after meeting Dwayne for the first time that I had trained for basically on my own and it was about seven minutes faster than that one and so I've seen huge improvements working with Dwayne and his team and honestly just had a really great experience. I hope sharing that story inspired you and provided you some hope if you want the one-on-one structure accountability and support from our Healthy Runner Coaching Team of Experts check out the behind-the-scenes video tour of our Signature Coaching program you just heard about including other stories from runners who are just like you and we're struggling with the same sticking points before they signed up for our program just head to learn.spark healthyrunner.com to learn more and book your strategy call with me today. Now let's get back into this episode alright so if I can kind of believe some rise just you know the things that is going to be a red light you know if you're questioning whether or not you should run this half marathon if you're having major injury major joint pain definitely don't run it if you haven't trained consistently for at least 12 weeks definitely don't run it you know no jumping into a race like two weeks out and they're like oh let me run a half marathon and actually that actually brings up a thing I heard is like it's kind of a trending thing on tiktok apparently I'm not on tiktok but you know it's like people just to jump in half marathon or marathons and just to like say they're cool and they did it again what's the purpose you know if just because you see and I guess the biggest problem I have with that is not the fact that people want to just kind of do audacious goals and like accomplish them I think it is people seeing stories of that and normalizing that behavior and thinking to themselves well if they did it I can do it too and if they did it that means it's right right so I think we can see that in many social context of our world today you know it doesn't mean it's right if someone did do it so I guess that's my only issue with it is people doing that so or if your coach says not to run the race and they really feel strongly about you not running this race and then if it's really making you know the training for it thinking about running the race is just making you like resent running and it's stressing you out more than anything or you're getting like angry then don't run the race did I hit all the points that you mentioned love it you got them all yes you did all right I'm a good no-taker here so if someone's not going to run the race what does that mean or if someone was maybe questioning and they were signing up for half marathon are there things that they can do to minimize the pain of having to cancel and not run race so there are some things that we can do we can defer the race we can we have my mascot I have to just say we have a dog in the background our spark on official mascot there we go clearly ready to attack and maybe you guys have seen them on a spot a podcaster not maybe you haven't it's my four pound chihuahua yes I have a four pound chihuahua in the background parking this is real life with coach Latoya on a podcast guys just walked into the flow this is why I run to run off the crazy the four pound dog thinks he's going to attack the dog outside sorry guys all right that was not part of the plan but sometimes that happens in life and we adjust and pivot just like we have to adjust and pivot in training right this is a real real talk with coach Latoya who would have thought yes thank you my four pound iliano so we're talking about possibly deferring right like so you might not only need to like cancel lose all your money you can actually defer to next year perhaps or even if that race company has another race maybe they will let you run their other half marathon that's maybe in a different season right so yeah I mean because you've got a red light it doesn't mean life is over again we're pivoting we're adjusting we're coming back defer your race but maybe maybe it's not a deferral you need maybe it's a drop down and the 13.1 isn't right for you at the 10 times or maybe it's the 5k so we still get the level of engagement we still get the run and you still feel accomplished and you still were able to to complete that so deferral is definitely an option and the deferral buys you time that's what we need when we're training we need time look to a race out get the bang for your money if you get the bang for your book if you can defer that's the right thing to do so some people who sign up for races also consider this is something new now I don't think they had this when I first started running the race insurance oh yeah it's like the new thing now every single race no matter what distance no matter what the distance exactly you can tack on a few extra dollars read the fine print it doesn't get you out of the race because you broke a fingernail but it does you know give you your your money back or again guarantee that you get to defer it or move it through to to another race there are some stipulations with each insurance providers race state insurance so read the fine print before you buy the 5 10 15 25 dollars whatever it is that you may not use but if there's a chance that you may not run that race the insurance is for you you have I don't know I can personally think I thought I wasn't going to be able to run the the Hartford half marathon last year before last when my mom was sick I was like I have to be in the hospital with her that was it would be one reason if I have some uncertain timelines ahead of me travel for work that's a big one that I would be considering if I'm not sure if I travel and I'm going to be at a state or at a town maybe I don't want to lose my money I'm going to put the insurance on and take my chances I'm still going to train but I I'm not going to just call it a loss the only thing with the insurance is you have to read the fine print and it's not always whether specific and we have to have certain whether inclement inclements to to even qualify for that but it's it's an option so you don't lose your money still have your skin in the game and can just buy yourself some additional time to get you out there get you ready and and keep at it it doesn't have to be I'm going to run this race no matter what I've had every single red light coach Latoya talked about but I paid $65 for that run and I'm going to run it because I don't want to lose my money not the smartest thing yeah not at all yeah and I would say if someone was considering that what's the cost of not running for the next three months because you're seriously injured right is that worth $65 like you told me I could run for like the next two months right or yeah exactly if I had to go see a medical provider and either pay my high deductible plan right or your co-pay for treatment it's gonna be a heck of a lot more than 65 bucks right so yes put in perspective there so I love it so it gives us an option and it doesn't totally have to be such a downer that you hit that you know stop sign do not pass go do not collect $200 red light turn green red light turned green because you deferred and took advantage of the insurance and can move it around so there you go wasn't red forever all right all right so all right so we got that red light scenario where we're not running the race what is your yellow light scenario where we're really gonna move forward with caution what are some of those things that you think about in terms of like should I be running this half marathon I think the yellow light for me is a lot of mental concern and not so much physical there is a little bit of physical in there when I when I have a somebody move with caution that doesn't mean stop moving or just moving with caution we're paying more attention and some of those things that make us feel sometimes we need to get out of our feelings and that's where a coach can come into perspective and say hey you're in your feelings no you can do this or no no you can't do it your feelings are right so some of those would be you had some illness you were you were sick for maybe a week you missed some some of your runs not all of your but you can still get your training in that's still an option absolutely I think people get a little nervous they're like oh I fell back on my training I was sick for three days I had the stomach bug it's all right we'll get you back on the horse that's not the big picture in 12 weeks it's really not that that that and if it's at the end of the of the race maybe that's a Bennett a little bit of a benefit because you're gonna have some fresher legs you needed the time off I try to spin it around so you don't have to feel as bad yes you should still run the race if you had a few days of missed runs absolutely you should all right so if we've missed some runs it's only some runs right it's it's not going to change your total level of fitness and preparedness and if you're just thinking from a mental standpoint that you're starting to question whether you're ready right or you don't think you're ready and you're just a little bit anxious about the actual race then this would be more in the yellow light category absolutely yellow like it's not taking anything away from you and your fitness really doesn't degrade over a couple days off it's gonna take a lot longer than that and I think you're gonna find when you come back from those few days off you might have a little more pep in your step maybe you needed them and that's your body was telling you some things so take it and run it up the flagpole if those days off were beneficial you're still running and you're feeling good but you've now got some injuries and aches that are still there let's re-evaluate that again maybe we need to look at that or maybe we need to say okay these aches are there but I can work through them and they're not getting worse they're getting better and I'm this is where a coach comes in I'm seeking counsel to say hey what do you think where the coach might say take an extra day off but I don't need the extra day off but you do it's not the end of the world we're gonna stay ahead of it now so we can stay moving cautiously so we can continue to move forward but if we don't pay attention and it turns into that major and joint problem we go back to that red light we don't want to do that so again that's in your head you take the extra day pay attention to the ache doesn't mean all is lost and you should stop running no let's modify something let's back down let's change volume and load and keep you moving forward and that's all part of the training too right and yeah so this is like our minor injury or even our eakin pain or niggle that we might experience where yeah we might need to modify some of your training but it doesn't mean we need to you know bag the race because you've had some Achilles discomfort or because your IT band started hurting for a couple days right it is a matter of okay how what are we gonna do right now are we taking a day off are we giving you two extra rest days are we taking away speed work giving you an easy run are we dropping mileage right there's so many variables that a run coach can kind of manipulate are we starting to implement said exercise for that condition right that's where we take some action here and we're proceeding with caution I like it it's under the yellow light category we're being cautious and that caution pays off when you don't hyper focus on it I have some athletes who really hyper focus on uncertain parts of their body and certain issues and I'm like take a breath it's just part of the training you just had a heavy leg day on your strength training and you went out and had a midweek long run you should feel tired you should feel a little achy after that you just hit phase two in the training cycle yeah you're gonna feel a little achy you can still run this is not an indicator of whether you can run 13.1 miles even if it's closer to race day it is the beginning of the training that makes sense to feel a little nervous but at the end it's okay if you still feel a little sore doesn't mean all is lost and your trainings going downhill we get into these whirlwinds in our heads sometimes and we just need to take a breath regroup yellow light we're gonna keep moving doesn't mean stop going absolutely gotcha any other things that you want to add for yellow light items or do we hit them all so the yellow light one thing is your long runs didn't go like you thought they should some of your long runs were horrible again it's part of the training not every long run has to be a success you should feel tired after some of them you shouldn't be exhausted and miserable you should be able to bounce back in a day with that recovery run maybe two depending on what is that doesn't mean you're not fit for the distance and you just can't handle it you're too tired after eight miles or 10 miles you've got it move cautiously forward you're getting stronger trust yourself trust the process you can get through 13.1 miles absolutely you can all right so if yeah some of those long runs didn't go exactly they didn't feel great didn't go as planned maybe you had to add some walking intervals in there maybe your legs felt heavy maybe you know you had some GI discomfort maybe right there's so many things that can happen on a long run weather was terrible dew point was high right like there's so many variables here but that doesn't mean that you can't run the race is what you're saying you can find so much strength knowing that you survived that poor long run and the next run was better because you adjusted and you learned from whatever happened in that poor run maybe you needed more food before you run maybe you needed more fuel or water maybe maybe you don't run at five o'clock in the morning for your long run maybe we have to wait till the afternoon so we just learn a just pivot keep moving not stop you got that you got 13.1 I love it so yeah what it last category here green light green means go right it's go time you know what are the things that you know you hear from clients or other runners that they tell you and you know maybe they're nervous and they're like you know am I actually ready to run this half marathon should I run this half marathon and you're like of course you are like that's a green light item like you're gonna be totally fine what are those like variables and what would you consider kind of green light and yeah let's let's go rock this half all right so you've done your training you've done your strength training you your practice the long run got the sneakers figured out and you are just sitting there a week out two weeks out even before your taper during the tapers when I usually see this come up is I'm nervous and I don't think I can do this I am not sure you're just uncertain if you stop reflect and see where you've come from 12 weeks of training 16 weeks of training whatever it is that you have and look forward to fast forward to where you are now you are absolutely ready and I'm thrilled you're nervous I'm thrilled that you're not sure you can do it because that means you're excited that means you want this and you want to get after it if you didn't feel nervous or if you're a seasoned runner some people feel less nervous during race day but if you still didn't feel anxious or can I really do 13.1 can I do this um I would tell you maybe this isn't for you maybe this race isn't for you maybe maybe you want to re-evaluate while you're running if you just feel like it's another 13.1 now big deal whatever that then then go run your race that's fine I want you to be nervous I want you to be excited I want you to have that that's for the the calming of everything you've been training for so if you're feeling nervous not sure you can do it done what you needed to do in the training then yeah you're ready take those nervous butterflies harness them and let them out during the 13.1 and let them out not all at once you don't want to start your fast your first marathon off too fast that's it we'll talk about your strategy there with your coach but let those butterflies go and I've used that as an ounce let the butterflies go slowly during the course let them all out and help you cross the finish line all right so even if you're kind of second-guessing yourself and just getting some of that pre-reason anxiety some of that is normal right and all of everyone experiences it to a certain degree heck you know I've definitely been there before um we all experience a certain element and just knowing that that is you actually it's your body's natural response do you actually getting excited for the event and you know not shy away from that and thinking about number one you know if it is getting excessive and it is you know we've done episodes on kind of race anxiety before and mindset before races so you can check out those previous episodes on some strategies and really doubling down on some self-care strategies but it doesn't mean that your training isn't ready for you to tackle the half marathon right like you've put in the body of work like the hay is in the barn as they say and you know you you put the work in and if you've done the work if you've done the strength training like you mentioned if you've done the runs like you've mentioned um if you have a strategy going into the race and we do our race day strategy and a blueprint and a freebie that I'll link in the show notes if you don't know this already on how to actually run a half marathon with the proper strategy because it is a kind of the sixth step to growing as a runner is actually implementing a smart and effective strategy um so I'll definitely link that in the show notes um but it is just kind of feeling that uncertainty like if that's what you're feeling and you're nervous and uncertain and I'm going to be able to complete this am I going to be able to tackle 13.1 miles oh my goodness I didn't run 13 miles in training oh my goodness maybe you didn't even run a 12 mileer in training like you will be able to finish the half marathon if you've been doing all the things coach Latoya said and you've been training for that 12 week time period um anything you want to add to that at all I think that's the nail in the head it's just taking all that you've prepped and and done and knowing its coming fruition makes new runners and seasoned runners all have that same angst and and I think that's something to think about no matter how seasoned you are as a runner we still all have those first day jitters especially if it's a new race you've never run before it takes you right back to being uh right where you are as a as a runner listening to this for your first time prepping for a half marathon it all comes back and it never goes away and you never want it to go away because that's your love of running you're enjoying it and we want you to do that and you can just see how strong you are when you cross that 13.1 uh finish line the doubt just goes right away it's it's there you there's something that just it depends on the part of the race it just falls away and you're like oh my gosh I'm really doing this I'm going to this I am do this I am doing this and I did it when you cross the finish line that is one of the best things absolutely it is yeah so guys I hope um you know this was helpful for you and really what coach Latoya kind of covered today is helping you in your decision-making process on whether or not you should run this half marathon on your calendar or you're considering signing out and providing this like decision-making tree essentially and making an informed decision and trying to base it on variables such as like training strength training is it nerves is it mindset and really taking those factors into play and do they fit in kind of the red light where you're going to stop do not pass go do not run this race it will eventually become a green light let's just be patient hold off or you know what you can run this race but let's let's provide a little caution here right let's let's kind of you know lean off off the gas pedal you know don't have that like that you know lead foot and like full speed ahead and go go go like let's take a little caution maybe take a little step back modify a couple things maybe in training maybe seek out medical professional for something that's kind of starting to be a minor injury but we could still run that race or you know what like you've put the body of work in and it's the green light scenario and you know what let's proceed forward like you are going to run 13.1 and you are going to feel darn good about it and you're going to be proud of yourself and you know you're going to make yourself proud right and you're doing it for the right reasons you're doing it for yourself because you wanted to challenge yourself you wanted to do hard things and you have the right why and you're grounded in your approach you're grounded in your training you've been putting the work in and you are ready for this moment so you can do it guys hopefully yeah this was helpful I think this is going to be helpful for many folks in our community coach and yeah thank you for sharing this and honestly you know I never thought of it like that tell you the truth and I just love this framework that you kind of brainstormed and came up with and if you guys want to hear more you know from coach Latoya and some of her previous trainings I'm going to link in the show notes all of the previous trainings we've done so you can get like topics such as mindset race tapering marathon training for beginners how to do the easy run mastering that she's done so much and she does such a wonderful job in our group coaching community so you know depending upon the time of the season you're you're listening to this we do usually run twice a year it's like open enrollment just for a week so we only do a twice a year our group training for half marathon distance so it's only specific for the half marathon and you know that has been a very successful program and we've helped many many athletes conquer 13.1 or get a PR right run it feel strong feel confident like actually finished strong for their half marathon so you can check that out on our website spark healthy runner dot com see if our enrollment is open but if you're thinking times of the year typically we will have that open enrollment in January for like an April half marathon and then also in June July period for a fall half marathon so keep us in mind if you're interested in that and if you're running a half marathon at different times of the year we always work with athletes probably like half the athletes that we work with in our 101 coaching program are running a half marathon distance and that's really our signature coaching program which is really personalized totally customized to you your lifestyle like really really provide that support guidance and direction on what you need to focus on in your training to be able to crush a half marathon so if you want to schedule a strategy call with myself then you can get the link to that in the show notes and we'll see if you're good fit to work with coach Latoya or anyone on our team who is the best fit for you or you just go to learn dot spark healthy runner dot com forward slash coaching and then don't forget guys download your freebie for your race day blueprint so you can crush your half marathon and have a smart strategy as well as get your checklist on what you need to bring to the race as well as your timeline and what you need to do the morning of the race so you can just take that cognitive you know workload off your brain and you just focus on actually running the race coach thank you so much for coming on today it is always a blast to chat running and half marathon distances and I was actually thinking about this you're probably the person that I've run the most half marathons with yeah I think you're right right like you just ran a half together in June we've run a heart for half together like many times um yeah I think I've definitely done the most half marathon races with you I I'm gonna count I'm gonna I'm gonna figure out how I'm pushing five six seven maybe maybe maybe I think so maybe I think we have the most post race picks together that we do that we do we have a lot of metal picks yeah anything else that you want to share before you hop off I I'm just so thankful that you guys are are listening to this and planning ahead so you don't have to see the red light you can see those yellow yellow is where you're you're working through green light is going to be inevitable if you trust the process trust the plan give yourself enough time you will see 13.1 miles before you know it awesome thank you so much it's always a blast catching up appreciate it and thank you to the listener guys you guys are what make this show happen you're the you're the reason it's been going 193 episodes is because you actually tune in every week and you also share the podcast with running friends of yours so wherever you're listening to this copy the link share it whether you're watching on the spark healthy runner YouTube channel or you're listening on the podcast on apple on Spotify and we always love the rating and reviews that means the world to us it just helps our podcast get pushed out to other runners who are searching for topics just like this right and that's what we do we share a lot of value on this podcast and actionable steps and if we've helped you at all that's all we ask is share it with a running friend of yours that is my ask for you and I would greatly appreciate that as always let's maintain a strong mind a strong body and let's just keep on running until next time bye guys yeah thank you as always for listening to the healthy runner podcast where we help you get stronger run faster and enjoy lifelong injury free running if you found this content valuable here's five ways we can help you grow as a runner for free one grab a free copy of our six steps to growing as a runner framework at learn dot spark healthy runner dot com forward slash grow two follow our Instagram page at spark healthy runner three join our free group by searching healthy runner in facebook four subscribe to our YouTube channel youtube dot com forward slash spark healthy runner five leave us a five star review so we can gain access to more experts in the running field and bring those lessons and trainings back here right to you don't forget hit the subscribe button on apple podcast or the follow button on Spotify 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