Sticks & Balls

Once the list of balls is made, the next step is deciding which balls are glass and which ones are plastic. And on the days it all feels too much, all that matters is that you keep hold of those glass balls. The plastic ones can fall to the floor and roll into the corner for now – they’ll be fine there, and you can pick them up in a day, in a week, a month. You can leave them there until a safe pair of hands comes along and offers to hold your glass balls for a little whilst you retrieve some of the plastic ones. At different times in your life, different balls will be glass and therefore undroppable – but YOU have the power to decide which ones fall into which category – and you have the power to swap those balls back and forth as often as you need.

In November 2021 I threw my whole life in the air. At that moment my glass balls were my girls and Fearless. So I caught them, I wrapped them up in love and kept them safe. Running rolled away into the corner and it sat there, pretty much undisturbed for 4 months. I picked it up and had a little look at it now and then, but there just wasn’t room in my hands to hold onto it for longer than an hour or two – my glass balls were taking up all the space.

And you know what? My little plastic running ball was fine. Just like the socialising ball, the cooking everything from scratch ball and the need to post everyday on social media ball. They sat on the floor quite happily and life went on. And in the time those plastic balls were on the floor, I grew stronger. Unburdening myself a bit meant that I could focus my energies on just a few things, and seeing them thrive gave me confidence and strength.

At the beginning of this month, March 2022, I felt like I finally had the space in my hands to pick my training back up and, because the time is right, it feels really good. Don’t get me wrong, the running itself feels pretty dreadful at times, but, because I’m in a stronger place I feel prepared to deal with the struggle of a difficult run – knowing that it will benefit my fitness and knowing how good it will feel when I conquer it, almost makes the struggle enjoyable. Because it’s a managed struggle, one that I have opted to partake in, one which I am in control of.

This week I shared a Transformation Tuesday post on social media. I’ve linked it here in case you haven’t seen it. It’s honest and it wasn’t easy to write but I hoped that my words might resonate with anyone who’s ever given themselves a hard time over paces and personal bests.

I have had so many tough conversations with coaching clients about their relationship with their training and their plan. And, whilst everybody’s situation is different, for most of us, running is something which brings us joy. Yes it may also bring feelings of frustration, exasperation and, occasionally, outright loathing… but, for the most part, it’s our hobby. The thing which is meant to be the antidote to the stress in our life.

Of course, for some of us, there might be times in our life where running and training becomes a glass ball. A glass ball which you’ll fight to keep hold of at all costs. And we shouldn’t feel any sort of guilt about that; as I mentioned earlier, they’re YOUR balls and you have the power to choose. It could be during a marathon training cycle, it might be whilst you’re undertaking couch to 5k or it might be whilst you’re desperately chasing that sub 2 hour half.

But what I hope, irrespective of how big your goal might be, is that you don’t ever allow your training to become another stick to beat yourself with. There are already more than enough sticks. The desire to be successful in our jobs. To raise well balanced, independent children who can speak several languages and play at least one musical instrument. To reduce our impact on the environment. To stay informed about current affairs. To do enough for our aging parents and support our friends through hard times.

Every single day, we choose our weapon, we pick our stick. Often the selection process is influenced by social media – comparing our over flowing laundry baskets and chicken nuggets and chips to someone’s carefully cultivated Instagram life. Before we even get out of bed in the morning our newsfeed has practically put the stick in our hands.

Let movement, exercise, walking or running, be the opposite. Let it be your time to pop your glass balls down somewhere safe. To leave the sticks leaning up against the wall. Let it remind you that you are enough, exactly as you are, right now. It might mean some serious brain retraining – because one of the sticks that I’m asking you to leave behind is the comparison stick. Comparison to others and unhealthy comparison to previous versions of yourself. It might mean resetting your Garmin. It might mean running without a watch. It might mean running with the soul aim of reminding yourself that it brings you joy. My training plans feature lots of conventional runs; intervals, tempo sessions, hill reps for example. But they also often feature muddy feet challenges, new trail challenges or instructions to run at sunset. Because what matters is that you love it. That it brings you joy. And that it gives you time to remember that you are enough.

If you’d like to have a chat about coaching, or Fearless, please don’t hesitate to get in touch. I’d love to hear from you.

Lots of love, Laura xxx