How to Train for Nothing at All

I have an idea why I can’t get the song “Making Love Out of Nothing At All” out of my mind. It’s this article I’m writing. And that’s why I’m writing this article now and not later. Because I’ve got to get this song out of my head. If you’re wondering who sings this song… it’s Air Supply. If you’re wondering who Air Supply is then you’re either way younger than me… way older than me… or you hate extraordinarily cheesy songs that are so extraordinarily cheesy that they are dangerously close to simply being extraordinary.

I digress.

The inspiration for this latest article comes from you. Maybe not you specifically. More like you the community. Because I get asked a lot of questions. But the interesting thing is that it’s not an infinite number of totally different questions. It’s more like a fifty questions asked in an infinite variety of ways. And one of those fifty questions is what to do after running a race… or accomplishing a goal… or finishing a training program. And one variety of the question is what to do after running a race or accomplishing a goal or finishing a training program that doesn’t involve training for another race, taking on another goal or starting another training program.

Basically, how does one run for nothing at all?

I love this question! I absolutely love it! Because the question is badass and the answers are even more badass. First, if you’re asking this question that means you want to keep running or start running or start running again! Like I said, badass! In fact, let’s just pause here for a moment. Do you have any idea how great it is that you want to run? Wanting to run is like having a cheat code for life. Think about it! You want to challenge yourself! You want to move! You want to get physically and emotionally and spiritually and mindfully fitter! You have hope and optimism and faith and confidence and humility. How could I possibly know that? They are required ingredients for someone that wants to run. That’s how. So, if you’ve ever asked the question - how does one run for nothing at all - embrace your awesomeness.

Now let’s move on. Geez. How long do we need to hold this story up just so you can wallow in a pool of your own greatness? Back to the question so we can move ahead to the answer. I think it’s important right off the bat here to say that YOU DO NOT ALWAYS NEED TO BE TRAINING FOR A RACE! Yes, I needed to raise my voice. Believe me, there are people reading this right now that will not soak up the stuff I need them to soak up unless I say it loud. That’s why I also need to say that YOU DO NOT ALWAYS NEED TO BE RUNNING TOWARDS SOME BIG ASS GOAL! Okay. That was a little too loud. I apologize. Sometimes I don’t realize just how loud I can get. My bad. But you heard me didn’t you? Then we have success! I just think it’s really important to start by ripping off the band aid… figuratively speaking. (Because if I was being literal I’d tell you that I think it’s totally asinine to just rip any band aid off.)

So many people believe that every run needs to lead to them getting closer to a race day or a fastest time. And so many people think that their runs need to be mapped out if not weeks ahead of time then at least ahead of time. You ask me - (or maybe you’re asking yourself) - if I’m not training for a race then why would I run? You say to me- if my week isn’t mapped out then there is no map and where will I go? I’ll get lost you tell me! I’ll be aimless! It will be chaos! You say to me, Coach, if I don’t have a goal to run towards then I won’t know where the finish line is. I need a finish! I must have a finish line! I hear you. I do. Now hear me.

If you believe all these things you’re telling me then you missed out on some of your best runs. Yup, you did. And if you don’t change your way of thinking you will miss out on some more of your best runs. Now we are at a crossroads of sorts. You can focus on the great runs you missed out on because you thought that you can only run if you are running yourself towards the starting line of a race or some big goal or… you can look at the possibility that your running is about to get even better and more fulfilling and diverse and flexible and exciting… if you expand your view of what running can be and the type of runner you can be.

Do you like lists? I like lists. Not like my wife like lists. She loves lists. There are lists of lists lying around my home. Lists for everything. When I go to the store she’ll ask if I need a list. If there’s stuff to do around the house I’ll get a piece of paper with a list on it. She made lists of baby names before we had kids. She makes lists about future goals and lists about goals completed and lists about goals in progress. I’m sure there is a list she made somewhere that lists out potential lists she could list out someday in the future. Anyway, do you like lists? I hope so. Because I’m going to list out a few ways to and reasons for running for nothing at all. I bet tammie just got goosebumps or heard a bell ring. A new list is getting its wings!

Run Free

This may be the best part of running for nothing at all. You can run any way you want to. There is no speed run that you must do. You don’t need to do a long run. You don’t need to run easy either. You want to run as hard as you can for as long as you can? Go for it. You want to run super duper easy? The road is yours. Maybe you’re running easy and you pass a track and think to yourself… let’s rip a few 400’s. Do it! Trail run or boardwalk? Tempo Run or Hill Workout? 5 minutes? 5K? 5 Miles? I’m not going to say it doesn’t matter… because it does. It just doesn’t matter in the same way that it does when you are training for something like a race. What matters is that you enjoy your decision. What matters is that you take advantage of the freedom you have to run any way you want to.

Training for nothing does not mean nothing matters. Training for nothing means that anything can matter. You decide. Embrace your freedom to choose. Embrace the ownership of your running. Then run the run you want to run the way you want to run it.

Be Consistently Inconsistent

What run should I do? Hmmm. Suddenly that’s a tough question when you’re running for nothing at all. Isn’t it amazing how much easier it is to start a run when your choices are limited or you have no choice at all and are just told what to do? You’d think it would be the opposite. Having the freedom to run any way you want to for any distance or duration with any effort you choose to often leads to no running at all! We can get overwhelmed by all the choices. I struggle at restaurants that serve everything. It’s just too much. Do I get the cheeseburger or the spaghetti and meatballs or the burrito or some shrimp cocktail or… wait… they are still serving breakfast? It’s 7 PM? Pancakes at 7 PM? Hmm. Maybe. Weird. But I dig a little weirdness sometimes. You know what? What am I doing? I’ll just make something at home. Ugh. I’ll need to go to the store. I’m here at this ridiculous restaurant already. Just order something Coach! How many pages does this menu have? How do they have enough refrigerator space for all this stuff? What in the world is poutine? Somebody look it up on their phone. You got it? Let me see the picture… what the fu… it looks likes a cat vomited on some french fries. Forget it. I’m out.

Don’t worry. I’m back on track. My point here is that it’s a part of our nature to be overwhelmed at times by too many choices. That’s why so many of us crave training plans. Just tell me what to do. But only relying on someone else making choices for us atrophies our freedom muscle. Yes, we have a freedom muscle. And we can really give it a work out when we are training for nothing. In fact, there is no better time to work that freedom muscle out. When we don’t have some titanic goal it allows us to have the goal of being inconsistent… consistently. Or maybe it’s consistently inconsistent. Doesn’t matter. It’s all just my confusing way of saying you need to work on mixing things up! Diversify the diversity of your running! Choose to make a different choice. Make up your mind and then give yourself the freedom to change your mind. There are no rules… which is kind of like a rule… so there’s one rule I guess and that rule is that there are no rules!

Let’s Go Crazy!

I figured I’d make up for planting that Air Supply song in your head by washing it out with some Prince. Let’s Go Crazy. I love this song and one of my favorite parts of this song is that it’s… well… crazy. “Let’s look for the purple banana until they put us in the truck, let’s go!” What does that even mean? I have no idea. I don’t care either. Neither should you. Just smile and sing and dance and rock the F out! Go crazy! And that’s the vibe your running should have when you’re training for nothing. Remind yourself that the run you are about to start does not need to make you a faster miler or a stronger 5K runner. The run you are running does not need to build your endurance so you can run a half marathon. The run you are running doesn’t not need to mentally callous you so you can handle the marathon. Your run doesn’t need to do anything which means you run has the opportunity to give you anything. So, what do you want? You want to explore the park or the city you are visiting. You want to listen to some new music? You want to run around the neighborhood? You want to be alone? You want to run with people? You want to struggle? You want to be in control? The run you are running… your run… has not been created yet. You are always in the process of creating it. And as far as I’m concerned the act of creation demands an element of madness. So be a little crazy out there on your run. Who knows? Maybe you’re just out there on the run looking for that purple banana that Prince was talking about.

Nothing is Something After All

If you’ve made it to here… I salute you. And I need to tell you THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS RUNNING FOR NOTHING AT ALL! Because even nothing is something after all. In fact, sometimes running for nothing means everything. You don’t need to define why you’re running. You don’t need to explain why you’re running. You don’t even to know why you’re running exactly. As long you you know that this act… this movement… this running… makes you better in some way. Stronger physically or mentally or mindfully or emotionally or spiritually? Maybe. Kinder? More patient? Joyful? Relaxed? Confident? Maybe.

Maybe the running is where you can be quiet… or loud. Maybe out there on a run you get to be fully you or you get to be someone you don’t feel you can be anywhere else. Okay. The run may be a chance for you to take risks or take on challenges or break out of the mold you feel forming around you. You don’t need a race or a big goal or a training plan for the run to mean any of those things. You can experience all the best parts of running when you run for nothing. You can earn all the best parts of running when you run for nothing. Just remember that nothing becomes something the moment you acknowledge it. So, let’s not just acknowledge it. Let’s celebrate it.

If we can do that then we can make running for nothing something worth running for.