I’ve been running for more than 20 years, so at this point, you’d think I would have running pretty well figured out.
But it turns out, there’s still a lot to learn. There is always more to learn!
I picked up Deena Kastor’s Let Your Mind Run after seeing it recommended by runners over and over again. I knew who Deena was and knew she was an incredibly accomplished runner, but I honestly didn’t know much about her story or the journey behind those accomplishments.
I wasn’t expecting to be as pulled into the book as I was.
The writing kept me completely engulfed in her story. I loved following the progression of her career—the breakthroughs, the huge accomplishments, the setbacks, and the moments when it seemed like her relationship with running itself was changing.
What struck me most was that through all of those different seasons, she kept finding her way back to running and that is something I could relate to.
My own relationship with running has changed a lot over 20-plus years. There have been incredible highs, plenty of lows, big goals, injuries, breaks, comebacks, pregnancy, and now a season where I’m waiting (not always patiently) to run again.
There were endless lessons throughout Deena’s story, but a few stuck with me long after I finished the last page.
Every Runner Has Seasons
One of the biggest things I took away from Let Your Mind Run is that no runner stays in the same season forever.
There were times in Deena’s career when she was winning, breaking records, and establishing herself as one of the best runners in the world.
There were also disappointments. Setbacks. Times when running didn't look the way it once had and she had to reconsider what she wanted from the sport. But she kept coming back.
Looking back, my own running journey has had plenty of seasons too.
One of the biggest was my pursuit of a Boston Marathon qualifying time. It took me three marathons over two years to finally qualify. I put a tremendous amount of energy into that goal, and when I finally did it, it was one of the proudest moments of my running life.
I've tried to qualify again since then and I haven't.
During one of those training cycles, I pushed too hard. I overtrained and ended up with a broken leg a month before my goal race. I was devastated. Months of training were gone, and there wasn't anything I could do about it. My body had made the decision for me.
Then came an entirely different season: running through pregnancy.
Suddenly, everything had to change. I slowed down, I walked, I adjusted workouts, I stopped caring about what my pace looked like and started paying much more attention to what my body was telling me.
And now I'm in another season entirely as I'm waiting to return to running postpartum.
As someone who loves running, waiting is hard. I want to lace up my shoes. I want to make training plans. I want to chase goals again. But that's not quite the season I'm in YET.
Reading Deena's story reminded me that none of these seasons make us any less of a runner. Sometimes we're chasing PRs. Sometimes we're building. Sometimes we're rebuilding. Sometimes we're recovering. And sometimes we're simply waiting.
The season you're in today isn't necessarily the season you'll be in forever. There is something incredibly reassuring about that.
Recovery Deserves More Respect
This one hit home.
Runners are really good at running but we're not always quite as good at not running.
Give us a rest day on a training plan and somehow we convince ourselves that an easy three miles probably doesn't count.
Even Garmin gets ridiculed when it recommends some seemingly ridiculous recovery period after a hard effort - "72 hours?! Garmin, I'm fine." Maybe Garmin deserves an apology.
One thing that stood out to me in Deena's story was how seriously she treated recovery when she dedicated herself fully to running. Her job wasn't simply to run. Her job was to run and recover.
Obviously, most of us aren't professional athletes. We have careers, kids, errands, responsibilities, and approximately a million other things competing for our time. We don't need to structure our entire lives around maximizing running performance.
But I think there's something important we can take from that mentality.
Training stresses our bodies. Recovery gives our bodies the opportunity to adapt to that stress.
Our muscles need time to repair. Our bodies need time to rebuild. And if we constantly stack hard workout after hard workout without giving ourselves that opportunity, eventually something gives.
I've learned that lesson the hard way. That broken leg a month before my marathon didn't happen because I wasn't working hard enough. Quite the opposite.
Learning when to push is important.
Learning when not to push might be even more important.
Recovery isn't wasted training time. It's part of the training.
And sometimes the hardest workout on the schedule is the one that tells you not to run at all. We need to be better at listening to that! I’ll be the first to admit that I am not good at recovery.
Perspective Changes Everything
If there was one theme throughout Let Your Mind Run that I kept coming back to, it was the power of perspective. That isn’t toxic positivity or pretending hard things aren't hard – it’s choosing what we focus on.
Running gives us just about a thousand opportunities to complain: It's hot. It's cold. My legs hurt. This hill is terrible. Whose idea was speed work? WHY DID I SIGN UP FOR THIS?
We've all been there. And most of us probably started our running situation with some level of aversion to running… seriously, does anyone like running when they are starting out?
Running is meant to be uncomfortable when you start - You breathe hard. Your legs get sore. Distances (that eventually become warmups) feel impossible. But we push through some of that crap, and somewhere along the way, it changes.
We find something in running that makes us happy, then maybe we decide to do something a little crazy… like sign up for a race.
There's a reason runners joke that everything changes when you sign up for the race ( I say this ALL the time).
Because suddenly each run has a purpose. You've made a conscious decision to do something hard. You're working toward something that, at one point, you might not have believed you could do.
And that's where perspective becomes SOOO powerful.
Hate speed work? That body of yours is capable of doing it!
Dreading your long run? Guess what?! YOU have the opportunity to spend a morning working toward something you chose because it matters to you.
A run doesn't have to be perfect for there to be something good in it.
Changing the question from "What's wrong with this run?" to "What's good about this run?" can completely change the experience. It doesn't make the workout easier, but it changes how we experience the hard.
Confidence Is Earned Before Race Day
When I think about the races I'm proudest of, there is a common trend - I knew I'd done the work.
I showed up to race day knowing I'd trained to the best of my ability. There was very little left on the table, and that gave me confidence before I ever crossed the starting line. I trusted the training FOR SURE.
I've experienced the opposite too. I've gone into goal races knowing my training wasn't what I wanted it to be. And almost every time, I performed below my expectations. And maybe some of that was physical, but I think a lot of it was mental.
It's hard to fake confidence on race morning.
Real confidence comes from all of the ordinary training days that happened before it. Like the workout you didn't want to do, or the long run you finished, or the easy run you actually kept easy… oh AND the recovery day you actually took.
Some of my most joyful races, though, came during a season when I wasn't remotely close to my fastest – like pregnancy. Those races completely changed the way I thought about accomplishment. I wasn't chasing PRs. I wasn't trying to prove how fast I could run. And I was amazed by what my body was already doing. I could be building a human life, staying healthy, continuing to move my body, and still crossing finish lines.
Freaking incredible. My goals and pace looked different, but I still found the joy. It reminded me that our best races don't always have to be our fastest ones.
Twenty Years In, I'm Still Learning
When I finished Let Your Mind Run, I didn't close the book feeling like I needed to train harder.
I felt motivated to look at running differently - To pay more attention to my mindset, to look for something positive when a run doesn't go according to plan, to take rest and recovery more seriously, to appreciate the season I'm in—even when I'd really prefer to hurry up and get to the next one, and PROBABLY most importantly, to remember how lucky I am to have running in my life at all. After more than 20 years, running has given me some of my proudest moments… but it has also broken my heart a few times…
I've qualified for Boston. I've broken my leg chasing another qualifying time. I've run while pregnant. I've walked when running wasn't an option. I've had seasons when running felt incredible and seasons when it felt so hard.
And yet, just like the thing that struck me so much about Deena's story, I keep coming back to it.
Our relationship with running doesn't have to stay the same for us to continue loving it.
We can change. Our goals can change. Our bodies will change. Our definition of success can change. And there will still be another mile waiting for us when we're ready.
Book: Let Your Mind Run: A Memoir of Thinking My Way to Victory by Deena Kastor with Michelle Hamilton
Would I recommend it? YUP! Whether you're chasing a big goal, struggling through a tough season, coming back to running from a hiatus, or simply looking for a reminder of why you started, there's something in this one worth carrying into your next run.