This article is an extract from ‘La stride’, EL PAÍS’ newsletter about running beyond times, training and improvement. If you want to receive it, you can sign up for free here.
“I almost compare it to a withdrawal syndrome,” says Argentine runner Mai Coletto when she talks about the feeling that sometimes overcomes her when she can’t run. “I’m trying not to beat myself up so much and I calm myself down thinking that, in truth, I run because I like it, I enjoy it and it makes me feel alive, not to have a bad time and punish myself for not having gone out. And that changes the perspective a lot, because when I know that I am not forced to go running, I end up enjoying each workout much more.” Coletto is only 17 years old, although she has the added pressure of being among the best: she has been trail world runner-up in her category and also Argentine national runner-up. Even so, what happens to him is quite common among athletes. And for me, twice the age of the Argentine, it is still difficult for me to make that reflection that she has so clear and that we should engrave on ourselves: “Running because you like it, not to punish yourself for not having gone out for a run.”
The guilt, sadness or melancholy that some runners feel when, after a few weeks of running, they stop for some reason is something that occurs in athletes of all levels. “It starts with anger, a kind of internal voice that reproaches me for how inconsistent I am,” Javier Marmisa, a 34-year-old colleague of mine at EL PAÍS, tells me who started running a year ago and is beginning to prepare and complete his first races. “Not only does it affect my training that day, but it can also cause discomfort that affects the rest of my training sessions during the week,” he admits.
This isn’t something I deal with on a day-to-day basis, but something similar happens to me from time to time, especially if the reason I don’t go running is 100% my decision. If, for example, I have a peak in work or some setback and I don’t have time to train, it annoys me but I can manage it. However, if the reason is that I have been lazy, tired, or have gone crazy playing the console (it has happened to me), that is when the guilt comes.
Although something similar may have happened to you at some point in your sporting life, you should know that this is not good. “There are people who become very rigid with sport, almost obsessive, and this is not healthy,” says sports psychologist Meritxell Bellatriu by phone. “It’s one thing to follow a training plan and have goals, but you don’t have to become a slave to the sport. “Sport has to be at the service of the person, and not the person at the service of sport.”
Keys to avoid ‘runner guilt’
Bellatriu affirms that this guilt “is not something related only to runners, it is something generic that happens in all sports” and also at all levels, from amateurs like us, high performance athletes. But how to deal with it? What can be done to avoid that feeling or make it more bearable? I have asked Bellatriu and coach Marc Bañuls, author of several books on running and the podcast runner’s manual, Give us some keys:
- Learn to listen to the needs of your body and your life. “It is good to incorporate running into your life, create a routine and for sport to have its space, but you have to know how to listen to your body and also what life asks of you,” Bellatriu considers. “We have work, family and relationships, and we cannot be rigid or believe that if we don’t do everything it won’t be right. There are many people who think about the 0.1% of times that they do not comply instead of the 99.9% that they have.”
- Celebrate small achievements. “An effective strategy is to maintain realistic expectations and celebrate achievements, even if they are small,” says Bañuls. “This helps maintain motivation and maintain a positive attitude toward future training.”
- When to be more alert: the weeks when there is a race. Bellatriu says that this feeling of guilt can arise more strongly when a race or competition that we have prepared is approaching, both due to nerves and accumulated physical and mental fatigue. “On those days, what we do not have control over, what is beyond our control, can make a little more impact,” he says.
- Better a little than nothing. It may have happened to you that one day when you were thinking of going out to do a certain workout (50 minutes of running, or some series…) you end up not doing it because you see that you are not going to be able to complete it: because you are a little tired, because you don’t have of so much time… On those days, Bañuls recommends going out for a run, but whatever you can: “Simply going out for a run for 20 minutes will be much more effective than not staying at home with those negative thoughts. This helps maintain motivation and maintain self-confidence, even when setbacks arise.”
- It’s okay to not train for a day. “The reality is that for a runner following a training plan, skipping an occasional day does not usually have significant repercussions on their long-term performance,” says Bañuls. “Consistency is important, but a missed day should not drastically affect results if training is resumed regularly. “Long-term consistency trumps the importance of a specific day of training.”
- Establish a healthy relationship with sport. “It is so important to maintain a commitment to oneself, to set goals, and to have the flexibility to know when to skip that commitment,” says Bellatriu. “In the end, making small exceptions is much healthier than being completely rigid and insisting on 100% compliance.”
The summer months are approaching, with them the festivals of many towns and neighborhoods and with them, also, their popular races. I would love to dedicate a newsletter to those races that from town or neighborhood. Which, for me, are the best. Do you know any town or neighborhood races with an incredible atmosphere? With a spectacular runner’s bag? Have a popular meal or memorable party after the test? I would love to meet her and talk about her here: write to me at [email protected] and tell me about her!
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