What I learnt as a health coach running an ultra-marathon

Yesterday I ran in my second ultra-marathon - the Three Castles 50km. Here's what I learnt....

6/2/20243 min read

Yesterday, I completed my second Trail Ultra Marathon - running the excellent Three Castles 50km.

I'm a health coach and I'm always looking for the lessons we can learn about how to make sustainable changes to our health and wellbeing. Running ultras or any endurance event teaches you a lot of things about yourself and others:-

The depth of your own personal resilience:

I won't lie - miles 24 to 31 were really hard, and for most of that time I was running entirely by myself with no other runners in sight. When everything is hurting, and nobody else around, it's just about how you can cope with the battle in your mind between your self-doubt and your determination to succeed.

The importance of thinking small:

Running an ultra is relentless; if you're focussed on mile 31 at mile 5 you're in trouble. Setting yourself small, incremental goals is the key to completing an ultra. Focus on the next mile, the next 5 minutes, or reaching that bridge you can see up ahead... and then focus on the next incremental step.

The power of the human spirit:

It's the same in every endurance event I've every run; I'm always overwhelmed by the encouragement and support you get along the route from others. The volunteers who'd given up their Saturdays to cheer on, direct, feed and water us lunatics. And then the passers by, out walking their dog, oblivious at first to the fact that they were walking along an ultra route, but soon caught up in the moment - cheering on and encouraging us as we ran by. But my overriding memory of yesterday was my last 1.2 miles - I found myself alongside a girl who was doing her first ultra. We were both really struggling, but we got talking and carried each other through the last mile or so. Ultra running is a very solo endeavour, but you cannot do it without the support, encouragement and sacrifice of others.

The need for reward and recovery:

Everything aches today, and focussing on proper recovery and doing the right things to rest and nourish your body is essential. Similarly it is important to think about rewarding yourself when you achieve something significant or hard - it's a crucial part of creating the right reward pathways in your brain.

And as I sit here today recovering and thinking about yesterday, it strikes me that all of the above are powerful lessons for any transformational change.

The need for deep personal resilience in any change is obvious; self doubt is natural, and unavoidable. But I've learnt that the way to overcome that self doubt is to take little incremental steps, each of those steps a vote for the type of change you're trying to achieve or the type of person you are trying to become.

Change is impossible without the support of others. Work out who will be important to you if you're going to be successful. Enlist their support, use them to hold you accountable, value their encouragement.

And then ensure you reward yourself when you succeed. But make sure your reward is in alignment with the type of change you are trying to instil, rather than a nod back to the behaviour you are tying to move away from.

Health coaching is a powerful way of helping you identify how you can make positive health changes in your life, whether that be losing weight, improving your overall health, or running an ultra! A good health coach can support you to make sustainable change, providing guidance, accountability and encouragement.

I coach professional, middlescent men (40-60) to help them achieve their health goals and sustainable change in their lives. Book a free 30 minute consultation via the link on our website to discuss how I can help you.