The Art of Running

When you lace up your shoes and step out the door, the world and you often sees your run in numbers. How many miles or Kms? What pace range? What heart rate zones? Metrics can be powerful tools, and in fact in today's world, easy to come by - but running has an intangible beauty that transcends data. The art of running is about feeling—trusting yourself, pushing boundaries, and embracing the journey that leads to your best performances. Let's delve into this art and why it’s central to my approach as a coach.

This article title draws inspiration from my friend Rodney Farrelly’s Facebook page, where he creates personalised running portraits that beautifully capture the essence of a runner’s journey. His work reminds us that every run is a unique masterpiece. Check his work out.

THINKING Beyond the Metrics

Training plans and performance evaluations often revolve around numbers. I pay a lot of attention to my own in planning, during runs and as part of evaluating, as well as my athletes. Strava segments, VO2 max estimates, and race splits can dominate our thinking and perception of progress. And while these are useful signals of progress, they don’t capture the whole picture. What’s driving you to run? How are you feeling during your running? For many, it’s not the numbers but something deeper: the joy of moving through nature, the freedom of a long solo run, or the thrill of chasing a goal, or just pushing to see what's possible.

Trusting How You Feel

Learning to trust how you feel takes time and experience. Every mile or year on the clock is more experience that you gain, often subliminal or unconscious about you and your relationship to running, training and racing. The first steps are to actively listen and observe. How do you feel during an easy run versus a steady session? How do different paces affect your body, including form and your mind? Over time, you’ll start to recognise the signals your body sends and what they mean now, and can mean in the future (including later in the same run and race)

Renowned coach Steve Magness often emphasises that self-awareness is a vital skill for athletes. By paying attention to perceived effort and emotional states, you can develop a deeper connection to your training. Numbers might tell you that a session was technically successful, but how did it feel? Did it leave you empowered or drained? Those feelings often hold more value than your splits.

Redefining and reframing Limits

Sometimes, you’ll encounter numbers that feel limiting. Maybe a pace goal seems out of reach, or a target distance feels daunting as you've never ran that far Here’s the thing: you are not defined by those numbers. Your limits are often mental barriers of a fixed mindset rather than physical realities. Occasionally, you need to step outside the metrics and see what you’re capable of. Alan Ladd, who produces an excellent podcast called "The Running Rules" has spoken about the limitations of the "fixed mindset" and its true. Tell yourself you’re going for a 10 mile run and at mile 9 you’ll be fatigued. Tell yourself you are going for a 12 mile run, and mile 9 probably won’t feel too bad.

In training, this could mean running without a watch if you know the rough distance, covering it up, or stepping outside your prescribed pace zones to see where your body’s natural rhythm at an effort level you know or right, takes you. By doing this, you allow yourself to explore the outer edges of your potential and break free of mental constraints.

Holding the Paintbrush

A well-crafted training plan is like an outline sketch for a painting. We know what we want to see at the end - It provides structure and direction, but you hold the paintbrush. As a coach, I design plans on four-week cycles, tailored to athlete progress and feedback. These plans are designed to evolve, allowing room for interpretation and adaptation. Think of it as my pencil sketch, but the athletes really create the finished segment of the painting.

Don’t be afraid to feel your way through training. The intent behind a session—its purpose and stimulus—is often more important than hitting exact splits or repetitions. The day you choose based on your recovery and knowing what your week ahead has in store both in and out of training, is more important than sticking to Tuesday and Thursday evening for key workouts. For example, if the goal of a session is to simply build aerobic capacity, through based mileage. running slightly slower or faster than planned or having some fun trying to catch a slightly slower runner in the distance, won’t derail your progress as long as the broader principles of your training are intact.

Art vs. Science

When confidence is low, or fear of failing a workout creeps in, shifting focus to the art of running can be transformative. This happens with me all the time. If I know I have a long tempo in store, where I may not be feeling the freshest, or the distance or duration feels really challenging in that given day, I would often turn off the pace clock off. I will then just try and settle into an effort level, focussing on form and rhythm.

I'm a big fan of the Flowstate Podcast and Adam and Luke’s discussions on the Flowstate Podcast often highlight the mental freedom that comes from balancing art and science and knowing how they should feel, and working with themselves, not the data, to get there, is so important. This reminds all of us that running isn’t just about executing a strategy perfectly; it’s about finding a rhythm that aligns with your mind and body. After all, we do this for ourselves, so we should do all we can to support, and not counter, our own needs.

Science Meets Art: A Comparison

Science-Based Aspect	Artistic/Intuitive Equivalent
Training zones based on heart rate	Running by perceived effort
Precise interval repetitions	Adjusting reps based on how you feel
VO2 max testing	Recognising moments when you’re in "the zone"
Strict mileage goals	Embracing the joy of running for its own sake
Periodisation schedules	Listening to your body’s need for rest or intensity, but knowing that growth comes from dealing with fatigue

How I Approach Coaching

My coaching philosophy very much intertwines art and science. While I lean on evidence-based principles to guide training plans, I also encourage clients to tune into their feelings. Plans are reviewed and adjusted every four weeks based on feedback, progress, and intuition from clients and myself. My main goal is to help, over time, the athletes become their own best coach. When you trust yourself, you’ll not only perform better but also enjoy the process. Running becomes a form of self-expression—your art.

Embrace the Art

The art of running is about trusting yourself, exploring your limits, and finding joy in the journey. Whether you’re a data-driven runner or someone who thrives on feel, there’s huge value in blending science with intuition. So, lace up, hold the paintbrush, and create your masterpiece one mile at a time.