00:00:00
00:00:01
Tim Goule
263 Plays4 months ago
In this episode Michelle chats with Tim.
Tim Goule is a community member who enjoys running to keep himself fit and active and for his mental health.
He has been running seriously for about 4 years, a commitment that began during the COVID-19 lockdown. Despite not always having the chance to run as often as he'd like, Tim cherishes his identity as a runner, valuing the community, and the sense of accomplishment it brings.
Follow Tim on Instagram here.
Recommended
Transcript
Introduction and Motivation
00:00:00
Speaker
Hi Tim, thank you for coming on to the UK One Chat podcast today. Would you like to say a few words and introduce yourself to our listeners? Yeah sure, thank you for having me. My name's Tim and at the moment I go by run with funds and that's my Instagram page that keeps me motivated and keeps me on track with
00:00:23
Speaker
many kind of running goals that I have or if it's kind of wanting to see what everyone's getting up to, running the London Marathon, running the Manchester Marathon. I know a few people that have done the kind of roads marathon and I use that kind of page to kind of
00:00:40
Speaker
keep keep motivated and keep supporting kind of the running community. I've been running seriously probably about four years since Covid and still consider myself like a runner even though I don't get chance all the time to kind of get out and kind of put my trainers on but I love kind of
00:01:03
Speaker
calling myself a runner because I feel like it's a great community to be a part of so I really enjoy everything that goes with that whether it's kind of looking at running trainers late at night or just kind of seeing the awesome pictures of the kind of the London marathon or just kind of putting my own kind of 5k or 10k on whenever I get a chance to kind of get out which is which is a couple of times a week.
00:01:28
Speaker
Yeah, it's nice that you identify as a runner because I know when I started running, it took me a long time to be able to say, yes, I am a runner. So that's really great that you're there already. What do you think that identity is as a runner? Is it kind of just putting your trainers on and getting out regularly? Is that what makes you a runner or is it something else? I think that's a really great point and I think
00:01:52
Speaker
I think whether you run once a week or kind of every day, whether you do it competitively or whether you do it for myself for mental health reasons. And I think if you are, I don't know, using the trainers, maybe using the app, maybe using Strava or just kind of, yeah, you physically wake up and go, today I'm gonna go for a run. I think you can easily call yourself a runner. And I think that probably for me,
00:02:22
Speaker
happily call myself a runner when I ticked off kind of and got a medal and had that kind of medal around my neck. Made me feel kind of a buzz that I suppose kind of runners get and I think that probably was the switch. Yeah it's a nice feeling isn't it? So tell us a little bit about kind of starting running then. Did you start running and put your trainers on just because we were all kind of in lockdown? Was that what inspired you to get out?
00:02:52
Speaker
I've always been quite active, played a lot of football, a lot of team sports, a lot of walking and I had kind of done a couple of kind of park runs but 2020 Covid kind of locked down. I had a newborn baby literally two weeks before we went into lockdown and I think we just had this crazy couple of months like everybody did
00:03:20
Speaker
And my mental health took a real battering. I'm asthmatic, so I was a little bit concerned, a little bit anxious around the newspapers and the Twitter and the Instagram.
00:03:32
Speaker
around COVID. And I kind of had this kind of thought where, you know what, I'm not gonna, I'm not gonna sit, I need to do something.
Mental Health Benefits of Running
00:03:40
Speaker
And I remember buying myself a decent pair of kind of running trainers online. And because I got kind of furloughed, so I was at home, had a bit more maybe time to kind of use it. And I find myself
00:03:57
Speaker
going out maybe once a day starting off just to see as soon as I kind of like killed over and started wheezing but then worked my way up to kind of a nice kind of 5k route and
00:04:14
Speaker
could see the progress and I could see the health benefits because I wasn't sitting there looking through Twitter or worrying about my friends and family. I was kind of sitting there maybe Googling how to kind of do certain stretches or how to maybe get the best out of your 5Ks or the best out of your pace
00:04:37
Speaker
and it just kind of like little shift in my head where it was like you know what this is the thing I'm concentrating on and that kind of that all the stuff I know it's going on but I'm not worried about it um and I think since then it's been the biggest kind of fad I've had um so it's it's that kind of thing where I thought oh this is going to last a couple of months while everyone's in lockdown
00:04:57
Speaker
but the fact I've continued and I felt the need for it and I felt the want for it, I'm so happy that four years have gone and I'm still using it for the same kind of reasons, which I think for me has been really kind of beneficial. Yeah, so you mentioned mental health there. Talk to us a little bit more about that. So what does it give you and how does it help? I think it's just that little escape or that little kind of
00:05:26
Speaker
30 minutes. I tend to run along the canals because by myself there's a lot of different canal paths and they're really nice to kind of run around you don't have to worry about the road or kind of
00:05:38
Speaker
people maybe come across the odd dog walker or the other runner but it's just me in the path or me and my music and it's just that escape for kind of 30 minutes where you kind of maybe thinking about things that you've just been up to or thinking about things that are coming up in the week, thinking about the work or family, my duties as a dad or a husband and it's just that little bit of
00:06:05
Speaker
thinking time that you and then when you stop and you stop you watch or you kind of look at Strava and you kind of think well I feel great you know what I mean and that kind of buzz you get um the calories it tells you you've burnt calories are great means I can have an extra piece of toast or whatever it is or that little bit of a oh you've you've just hit 1k or 5k kind of goal on Strava it's those buzzes after it when you're like
00:06:33
Speaker
extras so while you're running fantastic but then you look at it and you're like oh i feel great for that um so it's a double kind of whammy for myself the the escapism um and even my partner says
00:06:46
Speaker
you need to go for a run because she can just tell, you know what I mean? So if I'm having a bad day or if I've not been for a couple of days, she knows as well that I'll be better for it. So it's good. That's good that she notices it and that she sees the value it has for you as well, isn't it? We all need somebody in our lives like that who recognizes it and can push us out of the door. I think sometimes because even though, I don't know if you feel like this, even though sometimes
00:07:13
Speaker
you don't feel like going for a run. You still want to go and you know that you'll feel the benefit of it afterwards.
Community and Races
00:07:19
Speaker
Are you the same? Yeah, definitely. There's a million reasons not to go, but there's that one great reason to go and it's that kind of feeling you get after it. Yeah, so you mentioned the canals. I love the canal. I was on the canal myself this morning. I saw the ducks and I saw a heron. I was amazed. I loved it. I said hello to some little ponies as well, which just made my day.
00:07:43
Speaker
I absolutely love canal running. So are you mostly on the canal, do you do road running as well? I do do road running. Where I am, there's a big kind of nature reserve with a few canals and that's just been my kind of go-to maybe. There's a nice kind of 5k route which easily fits in either before work or in a dinnertime if it's a kind of a Saturday or a Sunday and I maybe want to do something a bit bigger.
00:08:12
Speaker
then I do kind of go on the roads because there's a few towns you can kind of go through or there's a few kind of paths that'll kind of take you in a big kind of loop, but it's mainly canals. And like you say, you kind of come across, I don't know, the nature and the ducks and there's a heron quite close to where we are. And when you see them, they're really big. So it's that kind of thing as well where
00:08:42
Speaker
And when you run past another runner, because obviously a lot of people using the canals by me, it's that nod, that kind of little bit of a unspoken nod. So you recognize a few faces and recognize a few kind of people that you know, you pass once and then when you turn around and come back, it's that little bit of a nod, that little bit of a, go on, go smash it, you know what I mean? Keep it up. So you kind of get that little bit as well, which is quite cool.
00:09:12
Speaker
Yeah, that's a really nice community to be part of, isn't it? It's just knowing that there's someone out there who's doing the same as you. I love that as well. So talk to me about, have you done many races? You mentioned a few races. Yeah, so when I first started back in 2020, I did a lot of the virtual races and I did one which was kind of
00:09:39
Speaker
It was kind of the moils for mind. It was a mental health matters run off, did it. And it was kind of challenging yourself to see as many kind of morals you could do in the month of May. So the May 2020, I challenged myself and you had to kind of tick it off by the end of the month and I did. And that was the first.
00:10:01
Speaker
kind of medal I had even though it was for the post but it meant a lot because it was that kind of challenge and to see the kind of the medal and to kind of to put it up on my kind of by my desk. I'd done the Birmingham half marathon which was kind of a big challenge to kind of get get training for kind of get committed to kind of and I really enjoyed it the actual buzz around the kind of city centre and people kind of cheering you on
00:10:32
Speaker
and the emotion I felt at the end of it and I've been watching London Marathon videos all week when they hit the finishing line and they put the medal on and there's that kind of wave of emotion.
00:10:47
Speaker
And for myself, that kind of happened in the Birmingham half marathon because you kind of, you put the work in and you kind of hear the support and you've got the people playing the drums and the music. And as soon as I kind of stopped and I received the medal, that kind of, whoa, you know what I mean? I've done it. And that kind of, that realization that you've actually kind of done it. So racing for me has been really cool to be a part of. I haven't done it as much as I'd maybe.
00:11:15
Speaker
but wanted to and liked to. I did put my name in the ballot for the London Marathon this year. I didn't get successful and I've done it again for next year because I think that
00:11:27
Speaker
in my head I want something to aim for I want something to kind of challenge myself and push for but the longest I've kind of done is a half marathon up until now but I really want to kind of continue that and maybe push on but yeah I've done a couple of 10k's I've done a couple of more virtual ones and I'm looking at maybe doing another half one
00:11:50
Speaker
at the end of july which is kind of the the black country one which is along the canals so it's quite good for me being as that's where i mainly do my training so so yeah racing is good um and i don't compete against the others i kind of compete against myself in the sense of if people are overtaking or if people are kind of quicker than i am that's great i just want to challenge myself um and and
00:12:18
Speaker
If I come away with a really nice t-shirt or a medal, then fantastic.
Social Media and Running Balance
00:12:23
Speaker
Yeah, I think that's key, isn't it? It's making sure that it's good to do the races, but you've got to make sure you're running according to your own abilities, haven't you? And not worry about what everyone else is doing. And this, I think, can we just chat a little bit about social media for a minute? Because I think when you're obviously on social media to be part of a running community, aren't you?
00:12:46
Speaker
do you find sometimes that it's hard to kind of stay true to yourself with your running? Because we see runners doing all sorts of training sessions and selling all kinds of products, don't we? So how do you find that aspect of the online running community? Yeah, I think there's
00:13:07
Speaker
There's pages that I follow, which is very inspirational and very motivating for what I need. But I completely agree. There are pages that maybe portray
00:13:21
Speaker
their running or their training or their techniques better than maybe others. And I think I maybe am a little bit conscious of, I'm not the fastest, I can do six minutes, six and a half minutes kilometers and that's the pace I want to go at. And there's people that post
00:13:43
Speaker
the pace and it's like five minutes and i know it's maybe not done in a way to brag it's just how they're training and there is part of me that is a little bit whoa you know i mean i'm never gonna get that quick i'm never gonna i'm never gonna smash a kind of a 20 minute 5k um
00:14:03
Speaker
but then I have to kind of bring it back and just kind of thinking, well, there's people out there the other end, you know what I mean? Like eight minutes kilometers and they want to get to a 30 minute five K. So I think I'm in the middle to a sense of how we maybe look at each other's kind of paces and how we're kind of getting out. There's a lot of people that get out a lot more than I do. And that probably makes me feel a bit jealous. Yeah.
00:14:28
Speaker
but i try and put a spin on it and i try and look at it as in if there's somebody that's going out all the time and they're running and it kind of gives me a little bit of a you know what tomorrow i'm gonna go for a massive run then i'll try and look at it that way um because life does get in the way um and some people obviously have different things going on um but for myself
00:14:51
Speaker
Yeah, probably there's a little bit of jealousy in some things, but I try and use it more for the inspiring, the motivating, the supporting each other, which I think there's a good chunk of that. And I think that does outweigh especially the kind of the people that are kind of follow, which is great.
00:15:10
Speaker
Yeah, you've got to be picky. I think sometimes having you in who you, who you choose to follow and who you rely on your timeline as well. So yeah, that's good that you've got that balance. So I mean, can you share your typical kind of training week? How do you fit it around? Cause you've got, is your little one four now?
00:15:24
Speaker
Yeah, so I've got a four year old and a nine year old. And they do kind of, they keep you a different, it's a different type of being busy, a different type of kind of being active, as well as kind of fitting in their kind of clubs and stuff.
00:15:41
Speaker
But mainly I play football on a Monday night and I use that for my kind of cardio on a Monday. Quite competitive. It's using different muscles with this kind of the twisting and the kind of the different bursts of kind of speed. Tuesdays I'll probably do a bit more stretching and I'll probably use a little bit more kind of kettlebells when it comes to maybe just using different parts of my body.
00:16:07
Speaker
Wednesday, I try and go out for about 5k, either in the morning or the afternoon, kind of like a steady, just to get out, just to kind of clear your head. I've started playing again football on a Thursday, which has been quite good. And then I'll try and go on a Friday for a run as well.
00:16:28
Speaker
I've only just kind of got back into big runs on a weekend. For me, it's 10K. So I've kind of pushed myself. And again, I wish, and I could go further, but it's time. And weekends for me at the moment is for spending time with the kids and kind of the wife and kind of getting out and doing stuff.
00:16:54
Speaker
And I feel a little bit selfish if I was to take two hours of that weekend. So I do try and kind of get out when I can. But at the moment, it's two to three times a week. I was really lucky because I was working in London this week.
00:17:12
Speaker
I saw some of your photos from city runs. Yeah, it looked good. Yeah, it was fantastic because I thought in my head, take your trainers, take your kind of ear pods and instead of kind of looking around London because it's a beautiful place, go for a run around London. So I got to do a little bit of sightseeing and got kind of 12k in the bag. So I kind of killed two birds with one stone. Yeah, that's fantastic.
00:17:38
Speaker
but it was great just to kind of do that and have the, have the little bit of free time to do that. Yeah. Yeah. It's funny that you mentioned feeling selfish that my husband said the same thing to me last week. Cause I said, you need to go out, you know, go out and have a run or get in the gym. And he's like, but come home from work and feel like I feel bad, like going out and doing my own thing. But it brings us back to the mental health and looking after your physical health as well. Doesn't it?
00:18:05
Speaker
You do need to take some time for yourself, don't you? But I think men do sometimes feel that pressure more to be present when they're at home, not at work with the family, don't they? How do you get around that?
Family Support and Influence
00:18:19
Speaker
It's a tough one. And I've done a little bit of, when I'm taking my son and my daughter to their different clubs,
00:18:29
Speaker
I've gone for a run while they've been in the club. You know what I mean? So my son does a dance club and it's on an evening. And if I haven't had chance in the week through one thing or another, while he's in his dance, I've gone for a run. So it's kind of like, instead of sitting there waiting and wasting time, I've kind of made sure I've used it productively. So there's elements of that where I try and fit in maybe. On a weekend, it is tricky because we do have a busy week.
00:18:58
Speaker
and my wife works on a Saturday, so Sunday's our day, our family day, and I think that's top of the to-do list. And that equally is important for mental health as well because there's so many kind of like, you could be very cliche and create memories for the kids or want to be
00:19:20
Speaker
visible as a dad, but you're absolutely right. If you're having a bad week and you need a run to be the best version of yourself, you know what I mean? There's a little bit of, maybe I do need to be selfish for half an hour. Maybe I do need to be selfish for an hour. It's not selfish, is it? I think it's for the greater good sometimes. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Just want to be the best version of you. And you want to be able to kind of have that for the kids as well.
00:19:50
Speaker
Yeah, and it's a good example to set the kids as well, I think, you know, if they see a dad who's out, you know, bettering themselves, going and just having some time for themselves just to clear the head and get fit and healthy, I think that's a positive thing, you know. Yeah, so how are you going to fit in kind of training for this half that you were talking about in July then? I think, again, it's the inspiration and the motivation for the London Marathon and the Manchester Marathon that have made me
00:20:20
Speaker
want to get that buzz of a race. I'm quite happily doing five and ten k's along the canal but I feel like I want that buzz. I've seen it on Instagram and I've seen it on the news and I'm kind of thinking oh I miss that. It's been a while since I've had that and the one that I've been looking at which I think is the 6th of July and
00:20:44
Speaker
In my head, I know that I can put the time in and I know that if I spoke to my wife and I said, look, I've got nine or 10 weeks to kind of put a little bit more effort and a little bit more time into the training and she would be fully supportive.
00:21:00
Speaker
And I think that it's one that I've not done before. It'd be nice for the kids because it's along the canals and where you actually finish in Birmingham. It's quite nice. There's a nice kind of bars and restaurants and it kind of like turning it into a little bit of a day out.
00:21:17
Speaker
And I think that my son, who was there when I did my half marathon, kind of cheering me on, he would love that kind of thing because he liked going to school and kind of saying that to his friends. And I've gave him a medal to kind of show the friends and stuff like that. So it becomes that little bit of a family talking point. And my wife, who's
00:21:44
Speaker
she does more of a kind of a go to the gym. So she's not much of a runner, but she goes to the gym and does classes. And she's trying to improve her fitness and kind of well being as well. And I've been kind of nudging her to say that she should be doing a race to try and turn it into something that maybe we could do together.
Inspiration and Aspirations
00:22:04
Speaker
So I think, yeah, there's ways away. How's she getting on then? How's she getting on with the running?
00:22:10
Speaker
She did the accounts to 5K the year after, so 2021, because she saw the benefits it had for me. And obviously having just give birth and Covid and kind of having a newborn,
00:22:26
Speaker
She found her own way to get back to kind of the fitness, but she did the cage to 5K and she loved it. And again, it's that, it was that kind of argument of, okay, so who's going to go out for a run tonight? And it's that kind of, so someone's got to stay like after the kids and bath the kids and someone gets to go out and have half an hour run. So it was kind of taking it in turns when she was doing that.
00:22:51
Speaker
and she had a new job and it was a little bit more kind of stressful and she's recently joined a local gym and she's finding her kind of routine and her kind of consistency with that but I do keep trying to conundrum because we've gone through a run together quite a few times in the past and I've kind of slowed myself down to her pace because she
00:23:19
Speaker
doesn't get to go out as often as I do but we've enjoyed the fact that we've done it together. I keep trying to nudge that as well because I think it'd be great for her to experience a race one day. Yeah it's a proud moment isn't it? What would you say has been your favourite race so far then?
00:23:36
Speaker
Definitely, definitely the Birmingham half marathon. My wife wasn't actually there on that day. She was on a Hendo that she couldn't get out of, which was fine. But I had some family and my son was kind of cheering me on. But I think that the next one I do with her being there at the finish line, I think that'll be my new favourite. So whenever that may be. But at the moment, it's the Birmingham Great Run.
00:24:03
Speaker
Oh, that's lovely. Yeah. Oh, I hope she gets, she gets into it and that you can both enjoy maybe a race together one day. That would be good. And I was looking through your Instagram page earlier actually and noticed that you've done the travelator at the National Running Show. How was it? Did you get up here?
00:24:21
Speaker
Yeah I've been to the running show a few times and I think it's absolutely great and we found out that this was going to be there and my son who loves watching gladiators so we know the end of gladiators is this travelator and he said dad I want you to do it and I was like okay and I did it in my jeans and my vans
00:24:42
Speaker
It wasn't the best kind of choice. But I managed to get up. So it's harder than it looks. It's so tricky. It was good fun. Yeah, no, it looked it looked good fun. Yeah, I can imagine it's hard to do. And you also share a lot of your running reads on your Instagram page as well. The books that you've enjoyed. So what's been the best running book that you've you've read recently, would you say?
00:25:08
Speaker
Definitely that the ultra marathon man without a shadow of a dose is so inspirational. Yeah, that's a brilliant book. Yeah. And I'm not usually a reader. I read the running magazine on my kind of iPad when it comes out each week, each month, sorry.
00:25:30
Speaker
I saw this book and I brought it originally to go on holiday with and I read it before we even went on holiday because I just couldn't put it down. But Confessions of an All-Night Runner and the fact that
00:25:43
Speaker
he was running and again it's that family went along in the van and supporting him and the little pit stops he'd have with the kids and when when he got to the actual end of the kind of the the big race he was doing and everybody else went to bed and it was just him and the kids so he'd just done this massive race and he's there being a dad so he's like that kind of
00:26:08
Speaker
do what you want to do you do your kind of challenge but you can't really stop being a dad and it's that it's those kind of little bits that I take from it and I think it's just so impressive and I think on Instagram I mentioned him on Instagram and he kind of messaged me back as well which was amazing because for most people probably don't know who he is but for like people who run and people who kind of read the book
00:26:33
Speaker
very inspiring person. So when he kind of messaged me back, I was kind of telling everybody and they didn't have a clue who I was on about. But for me, it was really good. Yeah, he's such a nice guy. We interviewed for the podcast not long ago, the urban trail runner and he's written a book about just urban running and he had
00:26:56
Speaker
he'd got in touch with Dean to see whether he'd write a forward for his book. And he was like, yeah, no problem. Send it to me. I'll read it. I'll write you an introduction to your book. Like what, what a nice guy. Yeah. Yeah. He just seems really normal. And yeah, like you say, just able to, to keep being, it's the urban trail runner. Cause there was another one. I got it on, I think I booked it on Amazon. I think it's coming tomorrow or the day after. And I can't remember which one it was. Um,
00:27:25
Speaker
And I think he did something with that. Oh, is it Callum Jacobs? Yeah. Yeah. That's the one I'm actually. Oh, is that the one you've got to read? Oh, you'll enjoy it. That's my next one. Callum, if you're listening to someone else reading your book. Yeah. Have a listen back to the podcast that we did with Callum. Yeah. It was a really interesting chat, actually.
00:27:47
Speaker
Because he does mostly, he's not really trail running, he does most of his running in cities and it's fascinating. Yeah, which is hard when I was in London. It's so hard running in kind of city centres. How did you navigate? Did you kind of plan a route or did you think I want to kind of see this and that and I'll just kind of figure out where I'm going?
00:28:06
Speaker
think I roughly had an idea in my head and I kind of thought I'd find myself just going down random streets looking at maybe a building in the distance and when
Injury and Recovery
00:28:19
Speaker
I kind of got over the bridge and I've got by kind of
00:28:26
Speaker
know where it was. I think it was completely the other side of where I was and I looked at my phone to see how far away I was from the hotel and I was about an hour away on foot and I was kind of thinking how the heck have I got this far? So I kind of had to kind of turn around and kind of
00:28:42
Speaker
point in the direction I need to go and just kind of find my way back towards Marble Arch, which was where we was. But it was, I find myself in the quietest roads because obviously London's very busy and it's hard to kind of cross the street and people taking pictures. And some of the back streets, which I've never seen before, there was really nice shops or really nice buildings. So it was a different kind of take on London as well, which was really good.
00:29:09
Speaker
Yeah, I've never actually tried running in London, actually. I never seem to get around to taking running kit with me when I'm there. But I can imagine it's interesting. I miss looking out for kind of footpaths on the trails when I'm out. So yeah, I'm not sure I'm cut out from running in big cities, personally. I mean, if you could run anywhere in the world, where would it be? Where would you like to run? Oh, what a great question. I think at the moment, with this week,
00:29:39
Speaker
I think I'd love to do the London Marathon and I think that just even seeing part of the sights that you see this week when I did my little run, it's that kind of when you get to Buckingham Palace and you turn around and you're running down the mall or whatever they call it, it's that I wanted one down there.
00:29:59
Speaker
I want to run down that bit and I think there's so many great runs that I kind of look at and I've mentioned that I've got a couple of friends who do the roads half marathon each year and they love it and again it's that kind of
00:30:16
Speaker
so many great half marathons or marathons to be a part of, but I think, I don't know if it's a British thing, but just to kind of tick the London one off would be great. Yeah, no, it is a bucket race. I mean, it is very difficult to get in on the ballot. Would you consider another marathon? Because you mentioned you want to go... Yeah, I think I work in Manchester quite a lot, and I know the Manchester marathon is a week or two weeks before the London one, usually. Yeah.
00:30:45
Speaker
And I love kind of working in Manchester, I love the town, I love the people. And I think that would probably be on the list. Other than that, maybe using that website to see if there's one abroad and kind of tying a nice week away somewhere. But yeah, I think if I was to do my first one, it would either be London or Manchester. Yeah, yeah, Manchester's that's a really good race as well. Yeah, the support out there is really good. And it goes through the city centre now as well.
00:31:15
Speaker
get kind of an extra buzz. It never used to. They've changed all the routes on it now. So just tell us a little bit about, because I know you cracked a rib last year, didn't you? So just talk to us a little bit about how that impacted your running and your recovery from it, really. How did you get over something like that when you're used to running regularly? I think the first thing that I had to kind of learn was that
00:31:43
Speaker
to kind of, it's okay to kind of stop, it's okay to kind of take the time out, you have to listen to your body. Because with the rib, and I've had a couple of little kind of injuries in the past, when the doctor kind of advises you to kind of rest up, it's for a good reason. And I think that the fuel that you kind of give yourself when you're racing or you're training,
00:32:09
Speaker
you kind of forget that like your body needs that rest and you need to kind of like ease up or stop. And I think it was hard to kind of, it's hard to stop, especially when you're running for your mental health. So it's kind of finding other ways to either snap out of that kind of having a down day or a bad week. And also maybe doing a little bit of research or a little bit of reading up on
00:32:37
Speaker
how you can recover and what you can get from recovery. The really random one I had was I was playing football and I broke my thumb and it was a really weird break to have
00:32:53
Speaker
But the recovery for that lasted what seemed like forever. And having a plaster on it and thinking in my head, well, I don't use my thumb to run. But being told you shouldn't be exercising, you should be resting just in case you fall over or just in case the brake moves. So it's things that you don't even think of. So you're waking up and you're thinking, well, my legs are OK, so I'll go for a run.
00:33:25
Speaker
rest comes in different kind of formats, you know what I mean? And I think that that's the one thing that I found tricky with any injury is just the fact that to make sure you take the rest, take the time and don't rush it because it could impact it even more. Yeah.
Advice for New Runners
00:33:41
Speaker
So what did you do instead for that kind of mental health boost? How did you get through that? I did a little bit of walking. So again, trying to get out on the same maybe routes that I do.
00:33:55
Speaker
when I'm running, but just walking. And I have got kind of like an indoor kind of spin bike. And I used to really like kind of cycling. So I was able just to kind of put like a film on or put a TV show on and just have a steady kind of cycle and just kind of make sure I wasn't putting any pressure on when I did my film or did my rib.
00:34:25
Speaker
It's hard, it really is hard because when we mentioned earlier on about I run to kind of clear my head and to kind of help my kind of mental health and you almost, it's like you take three steps backwards because you can kind of get into a bit of a worry thinking, oh, bloody hell, I haven't been out this week. I'm not going to go out next week. And it's kind of like you starting again. So when you do put your trainers on,
00:34:50
Speaker
you do feel a little bit at a disadvantage because it's like starting from scratch so when you're first going out it's not only to clear your head it's just to kind of make sure your your legs still do what they did kind of three or four weeks ago
00:35:05
Speaker
And I think so many times and Instagram's another reminder for me is that I feel like I'm starting again. I feel like I've had a couple of weeks off or I'm starting again. And I think it's OK to say that it's OK to kind of start again. The fact that you've even kind of put your trainers on and got out in the first place is is a credit. So I think that anyone that has a big injury or anyone that has an injury
00:35:32
Speaker
It's OK to kind of chill out and kind of have that downtime and it's OK to kind of feel like you're starting again. Yeah, no, that's that's really sensible advice. And I think a lot of people need to hear that, don't they? Because we do feel guilty for it sometimes, don't we? If we can't get out and train like we want to. Yeah. Well, it's been really nice talking to you, Tim. Thank you. Is there anything else you want to you want to chat about or have you got any advice for people who are considering maybe taking up running the first time?
00:36:01
Speaker
I think that I've been lucky enough to do a few calls with my work and a few blogs and the only thing I've added in at the end is just to say that
00:36:13
Speaker
whether it is kind of 1K or like a marathon, the fact that you've got out is great.
Conclusion and Social Media Engagement
00:36:21
Speaker
And I think that life does get in the way and kind of being a dad, being a husband, kind of working full time, just getting out and having that kind of escape for me has been fantastic. And I think that you give yourself a little bit of time to do that and the running community that I've been a part of,
00:36:40
Speaker
kind of gets you through it and keeps it kind of going. So I've been lucky enough to continue that. Whether you say 1K or kind of 100K, you're a runner. And I think that's great to kind of say that and it's okay to say that. So yeah, been quite blessed. But thank you for this afternoon. It's been great to kind of talk to you.
00:37:03
Speaker
Yeah, it's lovely to meet just members of our community, really, and, you know, get finding out more about them. So, yeah. And I think that is the biggest message I'm taking away from today, that we are all runners, irregardless of whatever distance or whatever pace we do. So can you remind our listeners where they can find you on socials? Yeah. So my Instagram page is run with Fonz, so F-O-N-Z.
00:37:29
Speaker
And that's just a nickname I've had for years. But on there, I just kind of put my runs on there, kind of keep myself a record of kind of when I'm getting out and how it's feeling and also hoping to inspire or kind of motivate others. So it'd be great to kind of see others do the same. Yeah. Thank you, Tim. We hope you've all enjoyed listening to this episode today. Thanks again.