010 Matt Chittim - Overcoming Weak Ass Reasons Not To Run

Episode Summary

Matt Chittim is a former college basketball player and coach who started running at a young age. Though his running journey was far from typical, after college Matt started taking running more seriously and eventually became fully invested in the running community. Matt is the host of The Rambling Runner, a podcast about and for dedicated amateur runners who are working hard to get better and achieving inspirational results while balancing running with the rest of their lives. Matt believes that storytelling is a powerful tool and that amateur runners have some of the most fascinating stories to share.

Today, Matt talks to Whitney about the work he is doing to help amateur runners reach their enormous potential. He discusses some of the strategies he’s employed with his own running, such as increasing aerobic capacity and putting in more miles. Matt reflects on some of the mental, emotional and physical challenges he’s had to overcome, including injuries and not taking running too seriously. Finally, Matt talks about the importance of having the right mindset as a runner and why we should all strive to focus on controlling the things we can.

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Key Takeaways

03:00 – Whitney Heins introduces today’s guest, Matt Chittim, who joins the show to share his passion for running and what his running journey has entailed

16:31 – Matt reflects on how running injuries led him to launch his podcast, The Rambling Runner

22:13 – The exponential growth of Matt’s podcast and how he turned a side hustle into a full-time job

27:35 – Overcoming obstacles and controlling what you can control

38:33 – Increasing aerobic capacity

42:17 – Getting back to marathoning

45:20 – Not taking running too seriously

50:41 – What Matt loves most about running

56:01 – Whitney thanks Matt for joining the show and lets listeners know where to follow him

Tweetable Quotes

“So I thought, alright, a lot of pros are already getting interviewed. We don’t need another person interviewing these pro runners. I’ll just interview amateur runners who have interesting stories. I love those kinds of stories.” (20:55)

“For me there was the injury piece. I felt like I was always going from couch to race. There was no building upon fitness.” (29:39)

“I look back on periods of my life and I know I didn’t get the most out of my circumstances. Even if my circumstances didn’t change, I did not get the most out of them from a running perspective. And I have regrets surrounding it and I’m trying to remedy that situation now.” (38:14)

“Every long run I did at mile twelve it became a struggle. And I would finish my long runs but I was well aware that I needed to get stronger. And the only way this is gonna happen is if I’m running longer and putting more miles in. And it’s not simply in the long run. I need to do more of this and not just more meaning more per week, but also many more weeks of this.” (38:57)

“When I dwell on the competitiveness and some of the negativity that can stem from it, it makes me the kind of person that I don’t want to be. And that has an impact on all the other areas in my life. It’s easy to reign that in when I’m not taking running seriously.” (48:00)

“It’s the same reason I love all sports; it’s not running specific. It’s people who are working hard to get better at something in the face of whatever challenges that they have, whether those are physical challenges, mental and emotional challenges or situational challenges.” (50:47)