Advanced Endurance Coaching | Blog Article 04
“Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.” — Philippians 4:6–7
Mental health is one of the biggest challenges of our time. Mental and behavioural disorders are responsible for more years of lived disability than any other category of chronic health condition. Between 2007 and 2017 alone, the proportion of disability-adjusted life years attributed to mental ill-health rose in both men and women worldwide.
Running gets talked about as a remedy. And there is real evidence behind that claim — but the picture is more nuanced than a motivational poster suggests. Here is what a comprehensive review of 116 research studies found.
Running and Mental Health: What the Research Shows
A large-scale scoping review — drawing on over 16,000 initial studies and ultimately analysing 116 — found that running can have genuinely positive effects on mood and mental health. But the benefits vary depending on how much you run, how intensely, and what kind of running you do.
Short runs and long runs affect the mind differently. Jogging affects it differently from sprinting. Trail running carries different psychological weight than road running. There is no one-size-fits-all prescription.
There were also some negative associations identified — most notably the risk of exercise addiction. Running, like anything done compulsively and without self-awareness, can become a problem rather than a solution.
The Mindset Factor: The Connection Between Confidence and Speed
Beyond the clinical research, there is a more practical question that comes up constantly in coaching conversations: what actually makes runners faster?
People ask about speed work, cross-training, weight lifting, nutrition, mileage. And in many cases, the honest answer is: it depends on what you believe will make you faster. Confidence is often the deciding variable.
This is not a dismissal of the physical side. You absolutely need to do the training and create the physiological adaptations. But two runners with identical fitness levels will often perform very differently based on how much they trust themselves.
How to Build Running Confidence Through Smart Training
So how do you build running confidence? The foundation is doing the work. Consistent training over time creates real physical improvements — and those improvements, when you pay attention to them, build genuine belief.
Here is how to structure training for confidence:
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Embrace Trial and Error: Trial and error is underrated. Gather information from coaches, experienced runners, and research. Try what seems sensible. Keep what works. Discard what does not. This process naturally builds confidence with each iteration.
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Finish Feeling Strong: Training for confidence means structuring your sessions so you finish feeling strong, not destroyed. If you go into your hardest run of the week already exhausted from a bad night’s sleep, the run itself might do its physical job, but the psychological toll can outweigh the benefit.
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Prioritize Recovery Before Intensity: Sleep well before hard sessions. Start easy so you can finish strong. The physical benefit of a given workout does not change dramatically based on how you feel — but the confidence you carry away from it does.
Inspirational Stories of Mental Resilience: Kip Keino and Derek Redmond
Two stories worth keeping in mind regarding mental strength.
Kip Keino (1968 Mexico City Olympics): Keino was suffering from gallstones — a condition doctors had warned him could be fatal if he competed. He collapsed during the 10,000m with three laps to go, got back up, and staggered to the finish. Days later, despite medical advice to stay in bed, he changed his mind on the day of the 1500m, caught a bus to the stadium, got stuck in traffic, ran the rest of the way, and won the gold medal by more than 20 metres. What drove that? Not physical condition. Belief.
Derek Redmond (1992 Barcelona Olympics): Redmond tore his hamstring mid-race in the 400m semi-final — after eight surgeries had already defined his lead-up to those Games. He got up and finished the race. He later had to retire from athletics entirely. Today he is a motivational speaker who helps others through exactly the kind of adversity he faced. His story is not one of winning. It is one of refusing to stop.
Both athletes demonstrate the same principle: mental resilience is built through the accumulation of hard choices, made consistently, over time.
How Coaches and Partners Can Support a Runner’s Mental Health
Whether you are coaching, training alongside someone, or supporting a runner in your life, here are some of the most effective things you can do to support running for mental health:
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Listen before advising: Understanding what a runner is actually struggling with — their specific fears, their motivations, what is holding them back — is the essential first step.
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Help set realistic, achievable goals: Break larger goals into smaller milestones. Celebrate each one. Progress that is noticed builds momentum.
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Teach stress management: Breathing techniques, mindfulness, and deliberate focus practices are not soft additions to training — they are performance tools.
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Encourage self-compassion: Runners are often their own harshest critics. Setbacks are part of the journey for every athlete, at every level.
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Foster a love of running beyond competition: When running becomes only about metrics and results, it loses something important. The runner who runs for joy is more resilient than the one who runs only for performance.
And when professional support is needed — a sports psychologist, a counsellor — recommend it without hesitation. There is no weakness in asking for expert help.
A Final Thought: Finding Peace Through Motion
The verse from Philippians is worth sitting with. Be anxious for nothing. Not because anxiety is weakness, but because the antidote — gratitude, honesty, bringing your needs to God — guards something precious: the peace that makes everything else possible.
Running can be part of that peace. Let it be.
God bless you, and remember — take it easy.
Recommended Running Resources
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Advanced Endurance Coaching Podcast — available on Apple Podcasts
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Brain Training for Runners — heikostribl.com
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Mental coaching for runners — hypnorun.com