I can already hear the keyboards typing into google.. ‘what is a mantra??’ - A mantra is a personal affirmation that helps you focus and stay mentally tough. Best thing is they are free, easy, and they work!

With runners - lots of love and affection usually goes only to the body parts that demand our attention with a niggle or ache. Eg, legs or feet. It seems that many of us may miss caring for the most important organ in a runners body - the brain.

Our brain directly decides how successful we are each day, such as:

• Deciding to wake up with your alarm, rather than snoozing.

• Staying mentally tough during a hard workout, helping a strong finish.

• Maintaining high levels of motivation. eg constant training cycles.

• Giving you drive to complete strength training, or rehab correctly.

• Building your confidence to register for runs and races.

In reality, almost all success that you might have with your running journey has more to do with your thought patterns, mental fitness, and psychology than your physical skills alone.

So why do I need a mantra?

Running is a unique kind of sport. Most sports that are undertaken as individuals (eg, golf, rock climbing, surfing, water-skiing) are completed with a desire to avoid pain. There is no purpose of pain in these types of sports, so it’s to be avoided to be successful.

But along comes running (and other endurance sports). In these sports you’re rewarded for actively seeking out more and more discomfort! The more ‘race-related’ pain you can endure, the better you will perform.

This is the differentiating factor that makes our mental fitness so important as a runner. Without preparing our psychology for the demands of increasing running-related pain and discomfort, we’ll never reach our potential and always ‘stop at the next street corner’.

Mantras must be personal and something that you can repeat to yourself over and over when things get challenging. Sometimes they relate to all of the hard work you completed to get where you are, or have an important back story. As long as they mean something to YOU.

Here are some basic examples that might inspire you:

• I CAN. I WILL.

• JUST KEEP RUNNING

• BREATHE

• QUICK FEET

• THIS RACE IS MY B$%CH

• RIGHT LEFT, RIGHT LEFT

They can be super simple one liners, just as long as they spark that right motivation when you start screaming them in your mind.

A great place to start is to make a list of personal mantras to use in practice (on a hard training day etc) and if it doesn’t light you up or help you push harder - ditch that particular mantra and find a better one.

Some runners recommend making a list of mantras for particular activities. eg, one for hills, one for races, one for distance - so they are never left mantra-less when one is needed.

It might take a little bit of planning to nail a good mantra, but after a bit of practice your mind will be battle-hardened for that next challenge.

As we emerge from big lockdowns and snap lockdowns, it’s noticeable that more locals have started a new fitness journey in running.

Running has been an escape for people in this new world where things don’t feel exactly normal. Ticking off the daily run or weekly km goal has been an excellent way to cope.

As many of us start to get serious about an upcoming race or distance goal, (cough, cough, only 12 weeks until the GOR mara, eeek) - I thought it would be great to list down the six things to keep in mind as you increase your running activities.

1. WEAR THE RIGHT GEAR

   While running requires minimal equipment, having the right gear makes it so much more enjoyable. The biggest mistake with most runners is buying a shoe for its brand, but not the right fit to your running style. Visit our friends at Active Feet - Ocean Grove to learn more about the right shoes for your individual running mechanics.Your body and feet will thank you

2. DON’T BE A ‘TOO’ HERO

   Too much, too soon can lead to major problems such as stress fractures and other injuries. Gradually increase one of your running factors each time. Don’t attempt to increase speed and distance together.

3. CHECK YOUR SHOES REGULARLY

   Pilots check their aircraft before a flight, you should too. When you increase your weekly milage, you might need to replace those shoes sooner than usual. Take notice if you have blisters or achy feet after a run as these are usually early-warning signs. Another idea is to rotate your shoes each day, allowing the cushioning to ‘recover’ before the next long run.

4. DON’T PUSH YOURSELF TOO HARD

   These are already stressful times for most. There is no need to push yourself too hard if you are feeling overwhelmed in other areas of your life. Your body can’t really distinguish the difference between workout stress and life stress. Keep things at a moderate intensity and most importantly listen to your body. If you feel fatigue, give yourself some extra days rest, or lower the intensity with some light cross-training.

5. BE AWARE OF OVERTRAINING

   At some stage you will feel the impacts of overtraining. The symptoms can creep up unnoticed if you are out-of-tune with the body, then whack - run plan goes way off course.

   Some symptoms / signs that may be a warning to overtraining:

   • Feeling exhausted, even after a good sleep

   • Heavy legs before, during, and after running

   • Emotional highs and lows

   • Appetite changes

   • Heart rate is higher than normal when resting

   • Lack of motivation for usual workouts

   • Frequent headaches

   • Lowered immune system

   If you experience one or more of these symptoms on your running journey, take some extra days rest.

6. RECOVER PROPERLY

   Good recovery is just as important as the actual run. To gain strength, speed, and more, muscles grow when they are subjected to forces that cause tiny tears in the muscle fibres. It’s during recovery that the body repairs these fibres and builds new blood vessels to the stressed area.

   Some easy methods for starting the recovery process after a run:

   • Eat straight after a run. (suggested within 30mins after a run)

   • Foam rolling and stretching

   • Add rest days to your calendar, don’t skip them

   • Light cross training

We are thrilled to be working with the local lululemon Geelong team to tackle the very first challenge of 2020. 

All local runners are invited to join us in running 40 or 80km between the 13th-26th January to kick-start our 2020. 

Let’s pound the pavement, get that heart rate sky-rocketing and tick a goal off the list before January is through.

Join your challenge run mentors, Tristan Austin and Romy Harwood, for a challenge kick-off run and connect on Monday the 13th January at the local lululemon Geelong store and see how we can support you in clocking up the k's. 

Then to keep the momentum, join some of the extra challenge runs hosted by the GRC run crew so you can confidently log the challenge miles and share the kudos with the Strava community.

lululemon x STRAVA - worth running for.

What a first year for GRC!

From the humble beginning of being a simple idea over coffee, into a growing runners club now passing 140+ members, its been a fantastic journey.

When we launched GRC we had the simple idea of….