meta_pixel
Tapesearch Logo
Log in
An Irishman Abroad

Irishman Running Abroad with Sonia O‘Sullivan: ”Why Running Easy Is So Hard” (Sonia‘s Guide To Getting Your Pacing Exactly Right)

An Irishman Abroad

Jarlath Regan

Society & Culture, News, Health & Fitness, Society & Culture:personal Journals, Personal Journals, Politics

4.8834 Ratings

🗓️ 30 November 2021

⏱️ 37 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Why do 99% of runners, including Sonia O’Sullivan, go too fast on their easy runs? Experts believe that 80% of your running each week should be done at a very easy conversational pace in order to build stamina and recover properly from harder sessions yet very few people actually stick within this pace window. Most will go a little too fast, some (like Jarlath) have gone so fast on their slow days that injury is just around the corner. This week Sonia explains why this simple piece of advice is so hard to take for so many people. How do you establish what your pace should be, why is Jack Daniels involved and is there anything to be said for listening to your heart and not the clock? This is a humdinger of a chat that will resonate with runners of all levels. There’s also a classic tip of the week, a trip around the parishes on Strava and a great listener letter about returning from injury.   To hear every episode in full and to gain access to the entire back-catalogue of over 500 Irishman Abroad episodes that are not available on iTunes for just the price of a pint every month visit www.patreon.com/irishmanabroad    Join our running event on strava.com/clubs/irishmanrunningabroad and help raise vitally needed funds for our chosen charity partner jigsaw.ie and all the work they do to support young people in Ireland. Why not join Jarlath in raising money for Jigsaw by signing up to the Irishman Abroad challenge over at https://www.idonate.ie/event/2576_.html   Supplementary research provided by John Meagher.   The Irishman Abroad Liveline is now open. You can now get in touch with us and feature on our shows by sending your WhatsApp voice note to 0044 7543 122 330. Why not pose a running question to Irish Olympic Legend Sonia O'Sullivan or ask our America Correspondent Marion McKeone her thoughts on a current talking point Stateside? Of course, if you have an issue with traffic or elephants on the loose in your area, Jarlath can do his best to sort that out too.   Our charity partner is jigsawonline.ie. In these tricky times, Jigsaw provides a range of resources, advice and care for your people to help them strengthen their mental health and the skills needed to navigate life. Please visit their website and consider making a donation.   For updates on future episodes and live shows follow @jarlath on Twitter, visit www.jigser.com or email the show directly on [email protected].   Disclaimer: All materials contained within this podcast are copyright protected. Third party reuse and/or quotation in whole or in part is prohibited unless direct credit and/or hyperlink to the Irishman Abroad podcast is clearly and accurately provided.

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0

You know, I like to be fit and healthy, so the best way I know is to just get out there and run.

0:09.0

Running was an outlet for me to, I guess, feel good about myself and take out some of the angers that were going on in my life.

0:15.0

Sonio Sullivan is going to take the world title back to Ireland.

0:20.0

It didn't matter how many times people told me I was running too fast on my easy runs.

0:26.7

I kept doing it.

0:28.8

Sonia told me it was the most common mistake people make in running, multiple times.

0:34.2

And I went around telling people it was the most common mistake that everyone makes.

0:39.7

Our members, my physio. They all said, you might be running a little bit too hard there on the easy

0:45.6

days jar. And yet, I continued to do it. Apart from how stubborn and oblivious I am a lot of the time,

0:53.3

why did it take 15 months of podcasting

0:56.8

about running for this to go in? Today on Irishman running abroad with Sanya Sullivan, we take a look

1:03.6

at why this simple piece of running advice, run easy on your easy days, is so hard for people, specifically myself, to adhere to.

1:13.7

Whether there is a deeper issue with fixed and limited mindsets and how we can change that for

1:21.1

ourselves and others if we're coaching them.

1:23.5

But before we get to that, let's say hello to Sonia in Portland.

1:26.4

How are you, Sonia?

1:27.2

How are you doing? And happy birthday.

1:30.0

Oh, thank you. This is the long weekend birthday. I think it's been going from Friday to Monday.

1:36.4

Probably because I'm so far away from the rest of the world here, being eight hours behind Europe and, well, Ireland, nine hours behind Europe.

1:44.1

And so far behind Australia,

1:45.9

like they're always in the next day by the time we talk to them. But yeah, it's been a good

1:50.8

weekend. And it's actually my last weekend here in Portland. I'm heading to London, actually,

...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Jarlath Regan, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of Jarlath Regan and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.

Copyright © Tapesearch 2025.