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12 Months to Marathon - Episode 16 - The Worst Vice? · 12 Months to Marathon

• 0:00
  SPEAKER_00: Hi and welcome to the 12 months of Marathon Podcast with me, John Hill, the running podcasts for the over 35s with Marathon Dreams.
• 0:07
  SPEAKER_00: Episode 16.
• 0:10
  SPEAKER_00: The worst vice.
• 0:12
  SPEAKER_00: What's going on with me at the moment?
• 0:14
  SPEAKER_00: So I'm currently tapering for Hyrocks.
• 0:17
  SPEAKER_00: That's this Saturday.
• 0:18
  SPEAKER_00: It's the Wednesday as I record this.
• 0:20
  SPEAKER_00: So I'm doing the Hyrocks on the Saturday, the 26th of October, here in sunny Birmingham.
• 0:25
  SPEAKER_00: So I'm looking forward to that.
• 0:26
  SPEAKER_00: The hamstring's held up well so far during training.
• 0:29
  SPEAKER_00: I don't know whether it's psychosomatic, but it's pinching a little bit at the moment.
• 0:32
  SPEAKER_00: But I think that's just because I've loaded it up a little bit with a bit more running.
• 0:36
  SPEAKER_00: Uh because I took a bit of a break when I injured myself.
• 0:39
  SPEAKER_00: So I'm tapering at the moment.
• 0:40
  SPEAKER_00: I am going to do a podcast on tapering to be fair, but I think most people listening to this probably won't be tapering at this point.
• 0:46
  SPEAKER_00: They'll probably be tapering in the future because obviously we're going to be heading into spring marathon, so people won't probably be tapering yet.
• 0:52
  SPEAKER_00: So I'll do another one of those on tapering.
• 0:54
  SPEAKER_00: Just a quick note on the on tapering.
• 0:56
  SPEAKER_00: Chill out.
• 0:57
  SPEAKER_00: Basically.
• 0:58
  SPEAKER_00: Just chill out.
• 1:00
  SPEAKER_00: Um, because you know, if you've done the work, you've done the work.
• 1:04
  SPEAKER_00: And I'll in the words of Forest Gump, that's all I'm going to say about that.
• 1:08
  SPEAKER_00: I want to talk about the worst voice.
• 1:10
  SPEAKER_00: And many years ago, uh 2013, I did a qualification in neurolinguistic programming, NLP, which you may have heard of, which is basically it's a communication skill and it's also a coaching skill.
• 1:24
  SPEAKER_00: So it's how to use different modes of communication and coaching to be able to help people, and and yourself, let's yeah, that's fundamentally it.
• 1:32
  SPEAKER_00: The first thing to do is help yourself with it.
• 1:35
  SPEAKER_00: And I heard the expression the worst advice is advice used in that coaching qualification, used in reference to you know giving unsolicited advice in a case where it could be potentially dangerous for somebody, and it always stuck with me that because I think in the modern world there is tons of information available to us, and the reason why I'm doing this today is because I want to be very clear on this, and I but I I do feel like I need to do this.
• 2:04
  SPEAKER_00: So often, because I'm doing quite a bit on Instagram, so I want some marathon, feel free to head over there and follow me.
• 2:12
  SPEAKER_00: I get a lot of questions which are can you give me some advice?
• 2:15
  SPEAKER_00: Now, I I don't mind that and I I welcome that.
• 2:18
  SPEAKER_00: I think sometimes though a lot of these subjects are quite specific and need the right attention.
• 2:25
  SPEAKER_00: So if you haven't listened to this podcast before, or you haven't had any of my content before, you'll know my feelings on things like injuries.
• 2:32
  SPEAKER_00: I don't think you should be asking people in free Facebook groups and on social media who you don't know about injuries.
• 2:38
  SPEAKER_00: I think you just need to cut the head off the snake, as the expression goes, and go and get a physio and just deal with it as you should, because they're going to give you the proper advice and the precise advice to get it sorted out.
• 2:51
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and even if you can't afford a private physio, then go through in and go through the NHS route.
• 2:58
  SPEAKER_00: It's even that with the delays and the so on and so forth for me is is even better than than getting advice in free Facebook groups and people you don't know.
• 3:06
  SPEAKER_00: Getting advice from people that you know isn't as bad, but even still, if it's an injury, you really should be speaking to a physio, in my opinion.
• 3:14
  SPEAKER_00: So, you know, bite the bullet, pay the money, go and do it.
• 3:16
  SPEAKER_00: Because a good physio, like the one I use, physio 206, based here in the Westmids Bromsgrove, with my my my good friend Gary Jones, um, he he saw me once with my hamstring, and that was it.
• 3:27
  SPEAKER_00: And when I've had some treatment before, he only saw me a couple of times, and everybody that I've sent to him has only seen a couple of times, so it doesn't necessarily have to stack in terms of financial.
• 3:35
  SPEAKER_00: But if you're a serious runner and you want to get better at it, usually the sort of people that I speak to they understand there's an investment, and whether that's a time investment, an effort investment, or a money investment, they understand that there's an investment involved.
• 3:48
  SPEAKER_00: So when it comes to advice, particularly around injuries, I see these things in free Facebook groups and I see these comments, and I know people are trying to do their best and trying to help, but I don't think it's helping the individual.
• 4:00
  SPEAKER_00: I think you're far better off going to an expert, getting the right advice, and like I've said before, somebody with a vested interest in this.
• 4:06
  SPEAKER_00: And I'm gonna keep banging that drum and I'm gonna die on that hill.
• 4:09
  SPEAKER_00: Because I think I've said that exact statement on the podcast before, but I'm gonna keep saying it.
• 4:12
  SPEAKER_00: You know, go and get the right advice.
• 4:14
  SPEAKER_00: Now, this is prompted by occasionally well, the the injury one's probably the most prevalent, and then I do get questions like, Can you give me some advice on running a marathon?
• 4:25
  SPEAKER_00: Now, that's a loaded question.
• 4:27
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, it's a big question that is, and I don't really think you can give somebody advice on running a marathon, you can only give the key principles that sit behind it, and then let them go if they don't want coaching, right?
• 4:42
  SPEAKER_00: So, how I answer that question and how I'll answer it to you if that's a question that's popped up in your head or what you're thinking about if you're following this, is you need two things.
• 4:50
  SPEAKER_00: So you need research and experimentation, and you need help, right?
• 4:56
  SPEAKER_00: Now, if you can't get help, as in getting coaching is beyond your means, then you're gonna have to research and experiment because that's all I've done.
• 5:03
  SPEAKER_00: I never I didn't get a coach for any of my marathons at all.
• 5:08
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, that's probably why it took me a good few years to get my sub three, but I didn't get a coach at all.
• 5:14
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, I was quite stubborn, I was self-taught, and I don't regret that because I learnt a lot, and actually, that me self-teaching myself has enabled me to, I think, to become a better coach and a better support network for my community.
• 5:26
  SPEAKER_00: So that's the answer, really, because there isn't any real advice.
• 5:31
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, you could be blasé about it and give sarcastic advice and say just download a 16-week training plan and follow it, which is true, but ultimately it depends on you as an individual.
• 5:41
  SPEAKER_00: And I care about people, you know, I care about their results and I care about what they do, and I I don't want to say things like just follow a plan or just do this, because again, I've said it before, I don't want to send somebody down a path that could be potentially damaging for them.
• 5:57
  SPEAKER_00: I don't think that's right, and I don't think we should be doing that as coaches, and I don't think we should be doing that as people who, you know, let's be honest, at the moment, there are people there who take things I say on on social media and listen to me.
• 6:10
  SPEAKER_00: And I I am so grateful for that, and I appreciate every single one of you, and please continue to do it because hopefully it's adding value.
• 6:16
  SPEAKER_00: But I don't want to be giving you specific advice that could send you down the wrong path, particularly let's say you've entered a let's say you've entered the London marathon and you've got in and somebody gives you some advice that sends you down the wrong path, you get hurt and you can't do it, or something like that, or you get put off it for life.
• 6:30
  SPEAKER_00: That's not right, in my opinion.
• 6:32
  SPEAKER_00: So, what we should be doing is just being honest with you.
• 6:34
  SPEAKER_00: So, we should be saying to you, look, here's the truth about running a marathon, and honestly, this is what I'm going to say.
• 6:39
  SPEAKER_00: And you can take this as advice if you want, because this is a podcast and you can use the information as it was.
• 6:44
  SPEAKER_00: A marathon will find you out if you're not ready for it, it will find you out.
• 6:49
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, my first marathon 2014, I wasn't ready.
• 6:53
  SPEAKER_00: I had trained, not to the level that I needed to because I didn't follow any sort of plan.
• 6:57
  SPEAKER_00: I just sort of googled a few things.
• 6:59
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, I was very naive, the conditions weren't great, my fueling wasn't great, mindset wasn't great, nothing about it was great, and then of course, you had the extra pressure of the conditions on the day when it was hot, and then my mum dying and raising money for cancer, and uh, and it was a messy time emotionally and psychologically, which I didn't realise as much at the time as I do now, looking back, right?
• 7:22
  SPEAKER_00: So it was a mess, and that meant that I didn't enjoy the experience of running the London marathon as much as I could have done.
• 7:28
  SPEAKER_00: That's why this time I did it this year, as I record this in 2024.
• 7:31
  SPEAKER_00: It was an amazing experience because I got the most from it.
• 7:34
  SPEAKER_00: Okay, so I had to learn the hard way.
• 7:36
  SPEAKER_00: So I've done 14 marathons.
• 7:38
  SPEAKER_00: Um I try I I started getting quicker around really quicker well quicker around 20 where are we?
• 7:47
  SPEAKER_00: 2017 was my first sort of foray into doing decent-ish time.
• 7:55
  SPEAKER_00: So I went from a 345 349 or 345, I think, in Florence, to a 327 something in Manchester, and then I broke, then I did a 315 in Birmingham in 2017.
• 8:11
  SPEAKER_00: So those are all the two I did in 2017 when I started to pick up the pace a little bit, yeah.
• 8:16
  SPEAKER_00: So then I got this idea in my head that I wanted to do a sub three.
• 8:18
  SPEAKER_00: Now it took me from 2017 to 2023, obviously with a little interruption due to the pandemic, to get my sub three.
• 8:25
  SPEAKER_00: Uh I did a 303, a 302, um, so I did a 303 and a 302 in the two marathons that I could do because obviously we had a pandemic, and I also both my children were born between those two dates, so it's quite difficult for a retiring point of view because we've got no help here.
• 8:39
  SPEAKER_00: So I had to learn the hard way and I had to learn and do all the things I needed to do without any help.
• 8:44
  SPEAKER_00: So, you know, would I have got would I have done got there quicker if I'd have had help?
• 8:48
  SPEAKER_00: Yes, I I probably would have done, but being a coach and being a personal trainer or a fitness professional for all the years I've done what I've done, um, I just thought, well, actually, I can I can do this 100%.
• 8:57
  SPEAKER_00: So for you, normally the people that listen to this will f or follow me on 12 months to marathon, help over to Instagram and follow me now.
• 9:04
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, I'll say it again, are the sort of people that are either doing their first marathon, um, because that's my goal.
• 9:10
  SPEAKER_00: My goal is to help a thousand people over the age of 35 run the first marathon, or they are perhaps looking to get a little bit better at a marathon and make it a bit more comfortable because they've gone out and done a first one and they've had the experience of it, which is great, and I recommend doing that, and now they want to get a bit a little bit better, but it's serious business, and you deserve the respect you deserve, not to just be given general advice of somebody of trying to sort of make things fit for you based on questions on social media, and I don't think that's right.
• 9:38
  SPEAKER_00: So if you want to experiment and research yourself, absolutely do it.
• 9:42
  SPEAKER_00: And the best research and experimentation you can do is doing the research on what's actually required, which is following a 16-week plan, making sure your nutrition's dolled in, making sure that your rest and recovery is dolleding, making sure that your strength conditioning is dolleding, test, repeat, tweak, go from there, or get a coach who can guide you.
• 9:59
  SPEAKER_00: Now, the investment in a coach may be worth it if it's your first one, just so you're comfortable.
• 10:04
  SPEAKER_00: And then actually, like I said to somebody the other day, if you then think, well, actually, I know what I'm doing now, I can really get through it myself the next time, absolutely 100% do that, and that's what I would recommend doing.
• 10:14
  SPEAKER_00: And I think with the resources we have available now, I would certainly recommend that.
• 10:18
  SPEAKER_00: But I don't recommend getting advice from strangers or people you don't know about really quite serious things and injuries, I've mentioned serious business, marathons are serious business, and my expression is always respect the race.
• 10:31
  SPEAKER_00: And if I'm getting you ready for a marathon, I want to make sure you've done your best and you've done what you wanted to do, and you've actually enjoyed the challenge and the experience.
• 10:39
  SPEAKER_00: Because the worst thing in the world is a marathon being excruciating and it not being a decent experience for you.
• 10:46
  SPEAKER_00: I wouldn't want that.
• 10:47
  SPEAKER_00: That's something I definitely wouldn't want, and I wouldn't want it for anybody that coach, and I certainly wouldn't want it for any of you listening to this.
• 10:53
  SPEAKER_00: So that's why you need to be very, very careful around advice and where you go, and also information.
• 10:57
  SPEAKER_00: If you want to be successful, you don't need information, you need execution.
• 11:01
  SPEAKER_00: Okay, you don't need more information, you need execution.
• 11:04
  SPEAKER_00: My job as a coach, I'll say it now, is not maximum information, it's maximum execution, it's get you doing, and then come back and say, I tried this, I tried that.
• 11:13
  SPEAKER_00: That's all I've ever done since I decided in 2005 enough was enough, and I didn't want to be the fat kid anymore.
• 11:18
  SPEAKER_00: I've experimented going from a fat overweight smoking, drinking, recreational drug taking, overweight, fat, angry, loud man to where I am today based on experimentation and finding things out for myself.
• 11:31
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and you need you know, there's there's always gonna be an element of that in there, um, but you always got to question things and and and tweak things and do things differently.
• 11:40
  SPEAKER_00: Um, but information's not gonna do that.
• 11:43
  SPEAKER_00: What's gonna do that is execution, and what's gonna do that is getting you there.
• 11:46
  SPEAKER_00: Running years, running, and you don't need much information to run.
• 11:49
  SPEAKER_00: That's why I think any overcomplication is unnecessary, like giving every single different type of run a different name.
• 11:55
  SPEAKER_00: It's like, let's not do that, let's keep it simple, let's bracket under three things.
• 11:59
  SPEAKER_00: A run's either easy, comfortably hard, or you're doing threshold and pacework.
• 12:03
  SPEAKER_00: We don't need technical if you're especially if you're a novice and you're looking to get around your first marathon, you don't need a technical jargon, you don't need to be stressed about heart rate zones, and I've talked about this in a previous one.
• 12:14
  SPEAKER_00: I'm pleased listen to it again.
• 12:15
  SPEAKER_00: You don't need to be stressed out your eyeballs about your heart rate zones unless you've got a problem.
• 12:19
  SPEAKER_00: Let's keep it nice and simple and let's get you executing.
• 12:21
  SPEAKER_00: And to do that, you don't need information, you don't need advice.
• 12:24
  SPEAKER_00: What you need is actual concise guidance of do this, do this, do this.
• 12:30
  SPEAKER_00: Not you know, ask 67 different people in a Facebook group about your shin splints or 67 different people in a Facebook group about how to judge your tempo runs.
• 12:38
  SPEAKER_00: You're gonna be getting advice from people who are totally different from you, who don't have a vested interest in your success.
• 12:44
  SPEAKER_00: So, yes, I'm not saying don't get advice, I'm not saying don't ask for help.
• 12:49
  SPEAKER_00: What I'm saying is just make sure that whatever you're doing is getting you to act and it's getting you where you need to get by acting and it's getting you the right result that you want and you're not being led astray and you're not being led by other people's model of the world.
• 13:01
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, my job as a coach, if you wish to use me, which is fantastic and I'd appreciate that, but even if you don't, you know, a job of a coach should be to give you the minimum viable information you need for how to get the maximum execution to get the best to get you to your result.
• 13:16
  SPEAKER_00: My job is to get you to your result, that's it.
• 13:19
  SPEAKER_00: It's not to inflate my ego, it's not to make me look clever, it's to get you to your result.
• 13:23
  SPEAKER_00: And in marathon terms, for over 35s, that's my jam, baby, and I can do that hopefully.
• 13:30
  SPEAKER_00: So that's why we do what we do.
• 13:32
  SPEAKER_00: It's not complicated, it is about execution.
• 13:34
  SPEAKER_00: So just remember that.
• 13:36
  SPEAKER_00: So, final point, disclaimer, and I want to be clear on this one.
• 13:41
  SPEAKER_00: I'm not asking, I'm not saying don't ask for advice, particularly I'm not saying don't ask me for advice.
• 13:46
  SPEAKER_00: What I'm saying is, and I'm not being rude by this, you know, injuries and particularly marathons, it's a big question to ask, and there isn't and there isn't advice you can give that will get you on the right track.
• 13:58
  SPEAKER_00: It's either do it yourself and experiment and research, or really get the actual help with some skin in the game so you can get the right guidance to actually get you the result you want.
• 14:06
  SPEAKER_00: So the worst advice is advice.
• 14:09
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, information won't get you where you want to get.
• 14:12
  SPEAKER_00: What will get you where you want to get is maximum application.
• 14:15
  SPEAKER_00: There are three parts to the change process, in my opinion: inspiration, information, application.
• 14:22
  SPEAKER_00: I've mentioned this before, and if you looked at it from a you know Pareto 8020 point of view, it's probably going to be 10% inspiration, 10% information, 80% application, and get the work done.
• 14:33
  SPEAKER_00: And then that's the only way you're going to learn is by applying and then learning and then speaking to experts who've got a vested interest in you getting you the results you want.
• 14:40
  SPEAKER_00: So there you go.
• 14:41
  SPEAKER_00: The worst advice is advice.
• 14:43
  SPEAKER_00: Thank you very much for listening.
• 14:44
  SPEAKER_00: I appreciate it as always.
• 14:45
  SPEAKER_00: Don't forget to head over to 12 months to Marathon and follow me on Instagram for all your free daily content and tips, which will help you no end in terms of your overall journey, hopefully.
• 14:54
  SPEAKER_00: And if you want to reach out about any coaching, feel free to do that.
• 14:56
  SPEAKER_00: Hop over to Instagram 12 Months to Marathon and drop me a message with or comment with 26.2 and we'll have a chat to see if and how we can help you further.
• 15:04
  SPEAKER_00: Thank you very much for listening.
• 15:04
  SPEAKER_00: I do appreciate it as always.
• 15:06
  SPEAKER_00: Don't forget to like and share this podcast wherever you get your podcast from, and also subscribe to it as well.
• 15:11
  SPEAKER_00: That's all appreciated.
• 15:12
  SPEAKER_00: And if you want to share it with any of your running friends who you might who might find this valuable, again, that'd be a massive thing for me, which I appreciate.
• 15:18
  SPEAKER_00: Thank you very much, and I'll speak to you all very soon.