Tag: Motivation

How to Decide On Your Next Big Adventure

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How To Decide On Your Next Big Adventure image

This week I’m delighted to share with you a piece I wrote for Tough Girl Challenges. As it says on the tin (so to speak), it’s written to help all you people out there who are determined to go on a Big Adventure! (And yes, the capital letters are deliberate. A Big Adventure is very different from a big adventure, dontcha know.)

But first, I have a bit of a confession to make. When I set out to write this article, I was planning on writing a ‘how to’ guide on planning your big adventure, from start to finish. But then I got a thousand words in and realised I hadn’t actually got past the first stage – deciding what to do.

For many people, this is the first stumbling block you come across when dreaming of adventure. Sure, there are lots of things you could do and perhaps many things you want to do. But sometimes there are so many options or ideas that narrowing them down feels impossible.

And, after all, things kind of get a bit easier once you have a goal. Then you can start thinking through what you need to do to get there – how much money you need to find, what visas to apply for and how much time to beg off work. Without that specific goal, your dream will stay just that – a dream.

So if you’re feeling stuck – if you’re pining for adventure, but struggling to work out what it is you really want to do – then check out my piece at the Tough Girl Blog. I hope it helps you move from daydreaming of adventure to living it.

If you need a bit more encouragement, then check out my review of The Push: Overcoming Obstacles to Adventure – a book designed to give you a polite kick up the backside when it comes to taking action.

Losing Motivation (and How to Find It Again)

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Climbing-Motivation

Happy climbing in motivated times

Motivation has always been a funny thing for me. I like to think I’m quite a motivated person, but I also take setbacks hard. Like most people, I sometimes feel tempted to quit when things aren’t going quite the way I want them to.

Take rock climbing. It’s been a huge part of my life for the past fifteen years. I would never go so far as to say there is one sport I’d choose over all others, but if I had to pick, climbing would be a strong contender. It’s not just the physical aspect of it – having the strength and flexibility to pull, push and twist your way up a rock face – but the mental aspect. Climbing is a three-dimensional puzzle. You have to figure out what sequence of moves and holds will unlock the key to the route. And the really fun part? The puzzle is different for every person.

For most of the past ten years, I’ve focused on sport climbing, with some bouldering thrown in. Don’t get me wrong, I love trad, but for me, discovering sport climbing and redpointing* allowed me to push myself harder than I thought possible. Climbing 7a went from an impossibility to a frequent occurrence. 7b fell, then 7b+, and 7c was nearly in my grasp. Perhaps, I thought, with a bit more focused training, I could even climb 8a – a lifetime goal I’ve never been brave enough to admit to having.

Ironically enough, the peak of my climbing ability occurred when I lived in London – about the furthest place in the UK from any decent climbing. But in my final year of living in London, my climbing started to wane. I put it down to maintaining a long-distance relationship, along with a busy job and fitting in climbing around life. My increasing nervousness about leading down to a big (but safe) fall I’d taken.

When I moved up to Yorkshire eighteen months ago, I thought this would be the start of a new era. Time to get strong again, and crags practically on the doorstep. No excuses. But things didn’t quite turn out like that. Despite getting down to the wall more and climbing outside, I was getting weaker, not stronger.

Fine, I thought. I’ve been slack and need to get back on the training bandwagon. And I’ve been trying to do this, really I have. But despite my mental will to pull hard, my body didn’t respond. The power and finger strength that I’d always relied on had gone. I could no longer do even a single pull up, or a proper press up. And it seemed as if the more I tried, the weaker I got.

This week we are back down on Portland, my main weekend haunt from my London climbing years. Back at the Cuttings, I looked idly up at Hall of Mirrors – the 7c that I was so close to getting a few years ago. I was feeling positive, my fingers tingling in anticipation of getting back on the Portland rock I know and love; of warming up on routes I feel comfortable on. Getting my lead head sorted, and perhaps getting a quick 7a tick or two.

I was quickly brought back down to earth. I puffed my way up the 6b warm-up, tried to persuade myself that the move above the bolt would be totally fine (you’ve done it before) and finally slumped down in defeat. My optimism went right out the metaphorical window. And when I finally did get on my ‘project’ for the week, progress was essentially non-existent. I could see what I had to do, even picture the moves in my mind, but I just couldn’t get my body to actually do them. I walked away, frustrated and downcast.

Getting Back On the Horse

I remember one of the first lessons I was taught when I started horse-riding as a kid. If you fall off, get up and get back on that horse. I took my fair share of tumbles during my riding years and quite often the last thing I wanted to do after falling off was to get back on the horse which I knew was prancing round ready to gallop off and dump me again. But even so, I got back in the saddle.

The same is true if you fall out of a sport for a while. This may be because of injury, a busy period at work, or because you fell in love with another sport for a time. It may be for good, happy reasons: having a child, or falling in love with someone who loves you, but not your sport. When you do come back to training again, it can be tough to get going, to keep motivated when you know you should be doing better than this.

Getting back on the horse is not easy. It requires willpower, toughness and a willingness to fail. So why do it? Why not just move on and accept that that part of your life – the part where you were a good, strong climber – is over.

I’ll tell you why. It’s because there is still part of you that wants to believe that it doesn’t have to be over. The part of you that remembers that glorious feeling when every piece of the puzzle falls into place as you climb higher and higher, dancing up the rock face; grasping every challenge that faces you and conquering it. The feeling of finally clipping the chains on your project, having devoted countless hours to figuring out the precise moves and body positions you needed to climb it, and riding the wave of highs and lows that is redpointing. It’s the child in you that believes you can do anything, if you want it enough. Listen to that child. Nurture that child.

Finding Your Motivation

Losing motivation is easy. Finding it again is a journey. And the first thing to realise is that this won’t happen overnight. (Unless you are one of those super naturally fit people who can go from couch to Ironman in four weeks, in which case you probably aren’t reading this article.)

Step 1: Start with baby steps

Remember what you love about your sport and focus on that. If that means going backwards for a while, so be it. For example, I have always struggled with my leading head, and my lack of fitness made this even worse, to the point that I wasn’t even pushing myself on climbs or getting tired because I was too scared of getting pumped. Crazy, huh?

So when we took a few days off to go out to Spain earlier this year, my main goal wasn’t to climb a particular route or a particular grade, it was to enjoy myself. To learn to love climbing again. I gave permission to myself to only lead what I wanted to lead. And if that meant spending the whole trip seconding easy routes, so be it.

And I did spend most of the time seconding routes. But you know what? I loved it. My body slowly remembered how to move on rock. The subtleties of body position and the flow of climbing. I got pumped out of my mind on long 6a+ routes that a few years ago, I’d have been warming up on. But I didn’t mind. Much. Ok there was a part of me that was frustrated at my lack of progress, but a bigger part of me was whooping inside at rediscovering just how FUN climbing is.

Step 2: Set small goals

Goals are important tools for motivation. But remember, these don’t have to be end goals, they can be process goals. To start with, focus your goals on your training. Set yourself a realistic training programme (based on the current ‘you’, not the former ‘you’) and create small, incremental goals. If you’re struggling for motivation, then just keep going and trust the process.

Step 3: Explore new areas

Going back to old haunts and the sites of your top achievements is not a good idea right now. You’ll only end up comparing your current performance to your past performances and wind up feeling disheartened. (As per my example above.)

Instead, use this opportunity to explore new places. Climb the classic routes you used to overlook as being ‘too easy’. Bike or ski down the green and blue trails, rather than scaring yourself on the black runs. Instead of running your usual circuits from your front door, venture further afield to a new park, forest or hill. Enjoy the experience and focus on what you can do, not what you can’t.

A Final Word

It won’t happen overnight, or even in a few weeks or months. But little by little, your strength and confidence will return. Or you may discover that your goals and how you measure success in your sport has changed during your journey. That what you want to achieve is something quite different to what you originally thought.

Motivation is not a finite resource. There is plenty of it – you just need to capture and hold on to it. Plug the hole in your motivation reservoir and figure out how to fill it up again. And if in doubt, listen to your inner child; he, or she, is probably right.

Have you been struggling with motivation recently? Share what tips and tricks you have for pulling through in the comments below or with me on Twitter. Thanks to Stuart Stronach for the awesome photo – there aren’t many good ones of me climbing!

*Redpointing is climbing a route, cleanly in one go after practising some or all of the moves.

The 10 Best Tips to Smash Your First 10K Race

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10-tips-first-10k-race

There’s a reason ten kilometres is the most popular race distance. For new runners, it’s achievable but challenging and for more experienced runners, it’s a chance to show off speed and strength.

But if you’ve just completed your first 5K run, then a 10K race may feel like a long way off. You may be thinking that the 5K run felt hard enough; that there’s no way you could have done two loops of that course – it was tough enough just walking back to the car afterwards.

But, let me let you in on a secret. Everyone feels like that at the end of a tough race, whatever the distance. I swore after doing my first half-marathon, that I could never run further than that. And admittedly, I still haven’t got round to running a ‘proper’ marathon, but last year I did run an ultra-marathon. And yes, I was adamant at the end of THAT that I couldn’t run another step. But I know that if that half-marathon had been 15 miles rather than 13.1, or the ultra 45 miles rather than 41, I would still have made it to the finish line.

This is the secret to the mental game of running. Whatever distance you are there to do, you can do. If you’ve done the right preparation, you just need to keep that distance and the finish line in mind, and with a bit of grit and determination, you will get there. So if, as you’re proudly clutch your 5K medal and hug your supporters, there’s a tiny little voice inside of you saying ‘but what if I could run 10k?’, I am here to tell you that you can. However much it feels an impossible challenge at this moment in time.

Mental toughness aside, as with any race, the right preparation is key. I’ve pulled together ten top tips to give you the best chance of achieving the result you deserve on race day.

1. Give yourself enough time to prepare

Doubling your distance doesn’t happen overnight. Leave yourself plenty of time to build up your training gradually before race day. This ten-week training plan may provide a useful guide to the rate at which you may want to increase your training. Remember – you can adapt it to suit your target time.

2. Don’t over train

Aside from doing no training at all, probably the worst thing you can do is over train. If you’re pushing your body hard, it needs recovery time. This is as true if you’re a beginner runner as it is for an Olympic athlete, though your tolerance for training will be quite different.

Make sure you schedule in rest days each week and prioritise rest time as much as you prioritise training. Rest activities may involve going to bed earlier, having a hot, relaxing soak in the bath or spending an evening watching Netflix (yes, you can quote me on that).

3. Include some strength and flexibility training

As you’re pushing up the distance, strength and flexibility training becomes more important to keep yourself supple and avoid injury. This set of basic strength exercises don’t require any special equipment and at least one can be done in front of the telly. 🙂

Evidence shows that increasing your flexibility can improve your running performance without adding extra miles. Incorporate these exercises designed to improve your range of motion, into your running routine and you should soon notice a difference.

4. Add in speed work

You may be thinking this is starting to sound a bit too hard-core, but remember – everything is relative. Your speed work is not going to be the same as Mo Farrah’s speed work. It just means having a session a week where you run or jog faster for shorter periods of time.

Speed work gets your body used to running at different speeds. Over time, it will make you faster and fitter – whatever pace you run at. Have a look at this post on speedwork for beginners for some suggested sessions (hint: if you’ve never done any speedwork before, I’d start with the 5K sessions and build up to the 10K).

5. Invest in a foam roller

It may not look like much, but this humble piece of kit can help prevent injury and improve recovery. I’m not going to lie, it’s not always the most comfortable exercise, but stick with it. If you’ve no idea where to start, there’s a good article here with some basic exercises.

6. Get to the race in plenty of time

Last weekend, I turned up at a race with just enough time to nip to the toilet and get ready before heading to the start. I wasn’t anticipating a half-hour queue for the loo. After that, getting ready was a bit of a rush and needless to say, I wasn’t in a very relaxed frame of mind when I got to the start!

Don’t make my mistake: leave yourself plenty of time to get to the race (taking account of traffic) and get ready. There are often long queues for the toilets so take this into account! That way you’ll get to the start physically and mentally prepared for the race ahead.

7. Stay relaxed and positive

Stay relaxed. Easier said than done, right? But remember, you’ve done all the hard work in preparing for the race – all you have to do is keep putting one foot in front of the other until you reach the finish line.

For some people, listening to music helps them relax and focus ahead of a race. (Though be aware that many races now ban headphones during the race itself.) For others, having a friend along to keep them company is a better way to keep their spirits up.

8. Warm up properly

I know, warming up is the number one rule of running without injury. You don’t need me to tell you that. If you’ve got all the way to race day injury-free, then I imagine you’ve been doing a good job of warming up for your training runs. So don’t go and blow it on race day. Yes, it’s hard to warm up when you’re outside the comfort of your own home. And yes, it’s even harder to stay warm when packing into a pen with a hundred of other runners, all impatiently waiting for the start of the race.

But even a short warm up will help prepare your body physically for the race ahead. A gentle jog from the car park (or the train station) to the start of the race will help warm you up. Once you’re in the designated start area, keep your arms and legs moving, even if you have to do a bit of jogging on the spot to stay warm!

9. Set off steadily

If you’re in a big race, you may not get much choice about this! The crowd-shuffle at the beginning can continue well past the official start line. But even so, resist the temptation to start off fast. It’s hard when you’re feeling excited and raring to go, but you’ll feel the benefit of a slow start later on in the race.

Practice this in training. Time yourself for the first half of your run, then reset the clock for the second half. Your aim is to complete the second half in a faster time.

10. Give it your all

By the time you get to the nine-kilometer mark, you’re going to be feeling pretty tired. Your legs are screaming at you to give them a break, and getting oxygen into your body feels much harder than it did eight kilometers ago.

But you’re nearly there! Nothing can stop you now. So if you’ve been going slow and steady up to this point, now is the time to give it your all. Hear the cheers of the crowds lining the approach to the finish? They’re cheering for you. See the banner up ahead with that beautiful six-letter word emblazoned across it? That is your finish line. Run for it with everything you have left. Then congratulate yourself on having smashed your first 10K race.

And as you hang your 10K medal proudly alongside your 5K medal, you may think that was as far as you could possibly go. And for that run, it was. As for the next race? Well, that’s for another day.

Enjoyed this article? You may like my other posts on How to Start Running, Stick With It and Enjoy It and How to Train for Your First Ultramarathon.

Setting New Year’s Resolutions You’ll Actually Keep

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real-new-year-resolutions

Happiness is a beautiful, frosty, sunny morning

New Year’s resolutions can be great. If you’re a goal-orientated person (like me!) then you’ve probably already set out your aims and ambitions for 2017. If you’re a follower of the Tough Girl podcast, you may already have committed to your 7 or 17 challenges for 2017. My Twitter and Facebook feeds are full of people setting out their resolutions for the coming year.

And I applaud you all! But perhaps take a moment to stop and think why you’re making these resolutions. Many people set themselves resolutions to get fitter, lose weight or get a promotion because they feel this will make them happier or help them be a better person. If they don’t achieve their goals by the end of the year, they feel like they’ve failed.

Or perhaps you do achieve your goals, but wonder why you’re still not feeling as happy about it as you ‘should’ be. That despite all the effort and work you’ve put in, life is still not perfect.

But is happiness something that can be pursued? Sometimes I think we try and define ‘happiness’ too much, and set too much store in trying to achieve it. Earlier this year, I came across this comic strip from The Oatmeal which I think sums the pursuit of happiness up perfectly. If you sometimes feel that you should be feeling happier or more contented, I suggest you have a read of it.

Setting real resolutions

Last year I was guilty of setting a ton of goals without actually thinking through whether I’d realistically be able to achieve them. I’m all for setting ambitious targets, but when you don’t even achieve half of them, you know you’ve done something wrong. In my case, the challenges I’d set were way too ambitious given what else I had during the year. Several of them also conflicted with each other: climbing 7c requires very different training to that needed to tackle the Cuillin Ridge!

So what did I learn from this about New Year’s resolutions? Number one: be realistic. Break down what you’ll need to do to achieve your resolution and work out what you can fit into your life. Number two: commit to it. Set aside time to do whatever it is you want to do, whether that’s reading more books or getting out running.

And perhaps most importantly, number three: do things because you find them meaningful and because you get satisfaction out of doing them. Do things you enjoy whilst doing them and not just for the outcome. And definitely not because you think achieving it will automatically make you a happier, more awesome person.

For example, if you hate dieting but want to lose weight, look at setting a resolution for the process rather than the end point. So rather than your resolution being to lose eight pounds by June, set a resolution to test out a new healthy recipe every week. Yes, it sometimes works to have a goal and endpoint in mind, but making the journey easier is a sure-fire way of actually achieving your target.

What happiness means to me

A few days ago I was running down through the forest I grew up near, on a cold, frosty but sunny morning. I had family (and a hot shower) waiting at home, I wasn’t gasping for air (unusually) and everything was just beautiful. And suddenly a thought popped into my head: this is what happiness means to me.

I do have goals written down for 2017, both for work and personal life. But for once, I have no goals relating to sport, adventure or being outdoors. I’d like to spend more time climbing, but I’m not aiming to climb 7c (as I tried – and failed – to do last year). I’ll go walking and running and orienteering, but I have entered no races or competitions. We’re planning more microadventures, but without any specific agenda.

What I’ve realised this year is that I’m happy just being outdoors and taking part in these activities. There is a satisfaction from achieving goals and ambitions, but the enjoyment is in taking part. And sometimes those moments of contentment are more significant than getting to the top of the climb, or completing the run.

Happiness is the chirruping of a robin, bouncing across a frosty forest floor. The shaft of sunlight lighting up the heather-coated hill. The breathing in of fresh, unpolluted air. The sound of silence.

So for me, being outdoors will be the place I can escape from the pressure of goals and targets, and just be. A place I can recharge my batteries to help me achieve everything I want to in 2017.

Whether you make resolutions for 2017 or prefer to just take life as it comes, I hope you can all find some kind of happiness outdoors this year. Or if not happiness, then moments of contentment and satisfaction.

How to Keep Fit During the Festive Season

by  on  in Training • 0 Comments
sleeping-city-night

Run at night to see a different side to the city

It’s the middle of December. Christmas is just a few weeks away and the festive parties, catch-ups and mince pies are starting to stack up. It’s dark in the mornings, dark in the evenings and generally a bit cold and wet. All in all, not much motivation to get out and train.

Many people (including me) can get a bit relaxed about keeping fit at this time of year. (For relaxed, read lazy.) This is then followed by guilt-laden New Year’s resolutions to be better boys and girls. This year, why not make a resolution before Christmas instead? Sure, it needs a little willpower to implement, but there is a way to avoid the permanent hangover that often marks the festive period.

Let’s take it as read that we’re all busy people with packed social diaries, busy jobs and Christmas shopping still to do. (If you’re still looking for pressies, you may be interested in my Christmas gift guide. Presents for yourself count too you know.) So how on earth do you fit in any exercise, let alone a decent training session, around this?

Take it easy, but don’t stop

I know, I know. I said we were going to talk about keeping fit. But realistically, December is a time for maintaining your fitness levels, not pushing harder. Your poor body goes through a lot at this time of year: late nights, early mornings, a richer-than-usual diet and possibly more alcohol than it’s used to. Give yourself a break and don’t go pushing for a PB just yet.

Then there’s the flip side. I don’t know about anyone else, but as soon as I stop rushing around and rest my body decides it’s time to get ill. The solution? Gently ease your body into the Christmas hols, rather than slamming on the breaks. A bit of exercise can help you relax as well as allowing yourself some time away from the hot, germ-ridden office or pub.

Get out during your lunch break

It’s dark when you go to work and dark when you leave. At this time of year, we really struggle to get any sunshine on our skin, so make the most of any opportunity to get out. Even if you never take a lunch break at any other time of year, get yourself out for at least half an hour a day over the next few weeks.

If you can fit in a quick run, that’s your exercise sorted. But even if you don’t have time for a run (or changing facilities at work) a half-hour walk will give your body a break from the desk and your mind a break from work. You’ll feel better for it and probably have a more productive afternoon as a result.

Get the family involved

What’s the one day of the year EVERYONE gets out exercising? The day it snows! Kids who were previously glued to their Xbox or iPad are suddenly clamouring to go sledging or build snowmen. Everyone runs around like crazy people and you all return home tired and happy.

In Britain at least, there is no guarantee of snow. But that’s no reason not to start a family tradition of getting out and active. For many years, when I was at my parents for Christmas, we had a family tradition of going for a run on Christmas morning. (Yes, we are slightly strange like that.) But it was kind of nice to get some exercise in before the wine and food and feel like we’d earned it.

Run / walk / cycle to work

When time is short, one way to fit in a training session is to incorporate it into your commute. It may be dark when you leave the house, but if you’re lucky you’ll get a beautiful sunrise on your way in – something you may not have noticed if you’d taken the car or train to work.

This is another one where you get to go to the post-work party guilt-free – just make sure you’ve packed your shower kit and clothes to change into.

Run back from the Christmas party

If you’ve read this far, you’re probably one of the few who hasn’t totally given up on exercise. So you may not think this next idea too crazy to contemplate. But it is a way to fit both socialising and training into your busy schedule and is particularly useful if you live in a city. Go to the pub, or Christmas party, but rather than getting the bus, train or taxi home, why not run back?

Now, I’m not recommending you go all out on the booze front and spend your ‘run’ stumbling into lamp posts and rubbish bins. But if you know you have to run home you’ll be more likely to go easy on the drinks, which your head will thank you for the next day. Just pack up your trainers, running kit and a headtorch; change in the pub toilets and trot out into the streets. I’m sure I’m not the only one who finds cities most beautiful at night.

So there you go. Make a pre-New Year resolution to keep fit during this festive season, then get out there and do it. Merry mince pies everyone.