Tell me, what do you think will happen when you get home this evening? Or if you are already at home, what will happen when you reach work tomorrow morning? You have an idea  more or less. You have a inclination as to what the mood will be like  and what does this have to do with running  wait  you guessed it  the – 

Yes, and that is spelt H E I K O  German name, but as you can tell if you listenend to any of our podcasts: the accent  yes guilty: South African. But South Africans would be lying, so you’re German technically yes, but I grew up in Pretoria. Got worse once I lived in India,or when I was working in Mexico or in Spain dealing with people from different cultures and heritage  .It gives you or I am sure if you lived abroad, it helped you pick up on signals.It helped you developed what a mood is like, what the current level of state of combined minds are   Especially if maybe like me you lived in a country where you hardly spoke the language  you know you struggled   Spain with limited Spanish skills  you pay attention to what they might be saying  and then you are guessing the direction the topic is taking  especially if in regards to running you hear the word  mas Rapido  you don’t need to know what the word vamos means  you understand it from the vibe, from the tense look on the runners faces. 

Or whilst speaking to someone in India, and the yes is accompanied with the head movement of No.

You understand it And that develops your skill of paying attention. Really not just reading, but observing, being present.

Being present then allows you to picture a possible scenario, and then in our minds  they have the ability to project a possible outcome.  And that projected possible outcome is what makes you look for more clues, basically like a detective searching for evidence to back up. Case. Reminds me of the series MONK. You remember that  oh my goodness that was a clever tv blog.  I couldn’t watch it on a regular basis, the role he was playing with that OCD really got to me  but the point is. The cases were solved even though the viewer had no idea who it was. Even though it was clear that one of the other persons in the 45 minute blog committed a crime. But Monk That guy paid attention to every detail.

Listen if you weren’t into Monk it might be Agatha Christie for you doesn’t matter at the same point. And if you don’t like Detective stories then let’s just move on  

And that by “paying attention”   the learning to pay attention you have that skill inside of you. It is there.But you know what? Some runners cannot access it. For their running. It’s like it is buried under thoughts. But it is there   that actually you can or runners should focus on developing your own skill of paying more attention to your own thoughts, feelings and how you behave. 

Do you wear a fancy run watch? Hey I do, so come on do you? OK. Do you wear some or other smart compression t-shirt, where you don’t remember what the unique selling point was. You remembered the usp long enough to justify the purchase though. Don’t worry  We are getting to the running part more and more  See I am sure you had such a run-moment. You can recall one. To a runner that has experienced a run where you felt  “whow”  that just was perfect. 

I had a run like that yesterday actually. Just wanted to go on a short run  flat out and back, nothing special, legs felt a bit tight, hips even tighter  But before going out, I prepared a bit mentally. No nothing special, no sitting in Lotus position and starting to hover, I just went through the run  where I wanted to go, and pictured myself  running there  that trail.

Just a couple of seconds  ok maybe a minute, or two   and then off I went.Now, as it usually happens  during the first 1 kilometer, (and maybe you can relate to this)  the whole setup in my mind changed. Like when you are in the movies  remember those  and you have been watching ad’s for what feels like hours  and then  finally  is this it ? Might this really be the start of the movie? Yes, that happened.

Relief, because I had envisioned that feeling. I knew it was going to be that type of run. Not that type, but that running. Yes, that’s a better way to put it. I anticipated it would be that kind of a run. Exactly.Of course numerous factors come into play here  It was hot, yellow rapeseed fields, intense blue sky  no wait make that it was very hot (for may) and by being focused on the whole setup the strides, the breathing  that made the whole run extremely intense and of course pleasurable  But that was my run. What about yours? 

Listen  whatever you do  you need to collect and store these types of memories (well that’s step two actually.) Step one is like when you enter a room, and your friends are just having an argument  and you can already imagine what’s going to happen. That crime novel you know the person who did it is there RIGHT NOW, and you start guessing.

Start doing that for your run. You need to realize that a great run in perfect weather conditions. Maybe you love running in the rain  or early morning whatever your “sweet spot” is. You need to be able to really pick up your state of mind, your thoughts, and observe what behavior this leads to.

And what comes next is  again this is something you need to DO to experience any kind of effect. Just reading this blog is not going to help you. DO Take any sheet of paper you have right now. We often think we need a black leather clad notepad. A old oak desk, with a view  a dim lit light, perfect setting  to write:

No just grab any sheet of paper. 

Draw a horizontal line and vertical line through the middle. There you have 4 squares, correct. Well start top right  your strengths  running strengths  only got three points ? Come on  at least 5 ok  if you only have three come back to it later. Second square  weaknesses  write it  weaknesses  might be the moment of truth is a bit hard to grasp  but it shouldn’t be If the first thought that came to mind was  weak on trails. Write it down.

Quick  next one Opportunities  hey this should be overflowing with ideas. New route. New run streak, new distance, new times  oh my goodness  signing up for a online race, or making your own race Last one  the threats  see  here I know it immediately. stretching  if I don’t pay enough attention and invest in those minutes to really stretch  we all know what’s going to happen  so there you done? Congratulations  

Now the simple part: how can you build your strengths? Expand them further? And ponder on that for some time. Maybe take the sheet of paper with you during the next two days, look at it. Just feel it inside your back pocket  that will remind your subconscious mind to come up with an answer.

How can you exploit Opportunities? Which of your opportunities are you going to use NOW within the next few days?

What are you going to project on your weaknesses and threats? Especially if you leave them unattended. Or if you ignore them? 

Use the same skill of projecting. The answers to your big questions, the doubts, the negative thoughts you may have or the limiting beliefs. Be it about a race distance or a time. Hey some runners, they are so caught up in the moment that they don’t want to enter a race. The thoughts of what might be  that has already been framed in such a way that it is impossible for them to enter the way you might do it. You know, like me, for example, I just signed up. But for some runners  that’s not the way to go about it.

If this is you  you have an option. You know what I am saying? I mean the things that are stopping you or limiting you can be overcome.

You can just ask yourself  take the same sheet of paper  4 Points, or 4 quick questions for you 

It’s called   or referred to: Open self  what do you know about yourself, that is also known by others That’s why it is called open self.Then what is unknown to you, but is clearly visible to others? 

What is it that you have kept from others, basically hidden, others don’t know about it? And the last unknown self is not known by you, and also not known by others?

To dive a big deeper, you know if you want to become a better runner  just answer this question: Who am I  no not like the bourne identity  remember that: who am I wie bin ek lol  you might answer, I am a brother or sister  father mom, then you get a bit more specific  what word do you choose  a runner  hmm no that doesn’t sound right, a fun runner  no a marathoner focus on what you might have overlooked, or where you have perhaps exaggerated?

And training does exactly that. Training is preparing yourself for what you cannot do today but will be doing in a future moment in time.

Now if all this sounds still too complicated for you. Just do this. Go for a run without a watch. Whaaat  seriously? Yes, absolutely. 

Look, I am sorry I have to share this with you but nobody cares. Honestly. Sorry that I have to tell you this. Sorry to be the bearer of bad news. 

Don’t blame me. I didn’t invent social media, or Strava nike adidas, all types of running apps, that supposedly help you connect with other like-minded people aka runners. What did we do before we had apps, and social media? 

Was it like we were all running on our own. No running clubs? 

Everybody just ran and if you saw another runner it was like  woooow. There are two of us  lol The oldest running club is in the UK from 1868 btw  well before Instagram. 

Means   again  the ability to project and gain confidence is inside of us. But the difference is in how you view yourself. And as a runner, there are so many companies that want your attention. they want your money, your loyalty, but for that they start with getting your attention.

And no, don’t become a digital nomad. Select a smart watch you really like. My favorite one is blue by the way  But allow yourself moments where you build your confidence.

Those moments are not found in the newest compression socks. Nor in that really awesome looking pair of sunglasses, that  I don’t know what I remember  they were runners sunglasses that were designed to ensure no sweat comes into your eyes. LOL seriously  no sweat  and of course THE BEST position. Don’t get lost in that world.

Leave your watch at home. Just take a bit of time before you head out a picture and really see it in your mind’s eye  and then  go run. If you have some work to do in the area of self awareness  it is most likely you are comparing events, times, and are too much in the sensation of the immediate present moment in time.

And this by the way has been researched. An athlete, in our case a runner  with a high level of self awareness, perceives experiences very intensely. That and having the ability to self regulate  Are more adaptive. Understand what their body is capable of  just relying on a feeling.

And feeling good is a feeling I can harness. I can grasp it. I can project it forward into the future and aspire to reach it again. 

Timothy Noakes, a fellow South African  famous coach MD, the author of Lore, concedes that the chapters that most readers like best are ones that describe the lives of the great runners of the last 200 years, and how they trained. I suspect most readers feel they’ll derive more value by absorbing the wisdom of those great role models, than by rationally understanding the science of VO2Max.

Charts and statistics, yes they have their place. But that’s not what gets us started. That’s not the reason you ran 2 hours on a muddy trail, even though you just wanted to run ½ hour. It’s a great feeling. Actually I can’t wait to go out and get my 30 year old Golf blog mobile right here at a place at the edge of the forest. And you know what  I see myself running up there actually  yup 

See  I told you  It is the projection, a glimpse of what it will feel like that triggers a series of events. Of course, knowing your strengths and weaknesses is a help. And hey it states in Corinthians  Examine yourselves  to see whether you are in the faith 

So what are you waiting for to test yourself? Oh and wait  tell me do you have a listenable account, or are you on AMAZON? Well do have a look under my name  Heiko Stribl  if some of the content is of interest to you. Look if you like this blog, this is just the tip of the iceberg. This topic is my passion, coaching runners’ getting procrastinators going, or runners going further than they thought they could. As an endurance coach, I specialize in mental techniques for runners. explained in such a way that you can actually USE the material that is talked about, lol.  

And just to go down a rabbit hole  that is actually what inspired me  that the complexity in which mental techniques here explained  ever read a clinical study  due to the rules that require clear references, sometimes you need to read a paragraph 10 times because I didn’t get it the first time as the references threw me off guard. 

Not only that but also the low level motivation, seems like audiences prefer light hearted information  but you kn0w that that’s not going to make you a better stronger and smarter runner. Share this blog, give me a review, if you disagree send me a mail makeeverystep@gmail.com. 

Make Every Step Count, a running guide that changes your attitude?

And if your first thought is “I doubt it” then definitely you should get the book.

Doing the basics, is the best place to go to once you are in a negative rut once your minds cruise around the same negative thoughts. Make Every Step Count keeps you focussed on what matters.

And if that doesn’t help, then do what it says in the bible
Colossians 3:2 Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth.
Today I had a lot on my mind. Thanks for your patience. Thanks for your interest. Do leave me a rating and share the blog to someone who needs to hear it. My name is Heiko thanks for reading.
God Bless You and remember, take it easy.