LIFESTYLE – WE ARE DAYBREAK

ABC – Attitude

7th October 20193rd January 2021
by ClaudiS

Asking better questions for better results. Learning by doing. Empowering through journeys and experiences.

This week we’re taking a close look at ATTITUDE.

Read what our community has to share. If you want to be featured and get inspired head over to our brainstorm area:
DB / ABC of Life – topics you would like to see featured or contribute to.
DB / ABC of LIFE – A – your thoughts on ADVENTURE and ATTITUDE.

A… ATTITUDE

“Attitude (over ability) – the mindset you go in to a run or hike or challenge or day out with matters way more than how objectively good you are. The trail doesn’t care about your marathon PB. But it does care how you treat it, the way you step carefully, the way you stop and say hi to the wildlife or pause to pick juicy berries. And years from now, you won’t care about your marathon PB either, but you will care about the runs where you learned something new, where you laughed with your friends or where you found solace from that thing that you might not talk about but that weighs heavy. Not every day out will be fast or easy. But they can still be a good day.”
~ LEAH @poet_on_the_run

“Attitude… means commitment, a lifestyle truly. Be kind, to yourself, others and the World you run in everyday. A mindset. Not every run is great but I think you need to believe in yourself and in the power of going out there and get what you have worked for. Overwhelming days are half empty glasses, but a good run can turn that easily… especially when it’s done with a friendly group of running buddies.”
~ FRANCI @francincbeactive

“When I was a kid, I heard I was “a girl with an attitude” a lot. But that was not something good, most of the times. They were people telling me off for speaking up what I think, defying authorities and being, you know… “difficult”. It always made me mad. So, I love embracing this about myself and flipping it to something positive. I am sooo aware that I wouldn’t be what I am and achieve what I have achieved if I had stayed quiet, replacing my Attitude with another “A” world, acceptance. Attitude is what it takes for us to take charge of our own selves and (another A word) ACT. Attitude is the start of movement. It is personality, it is what makes us stay (another one!) Active. Attitude is what made me persist on long distance running despite a chronic condition and a dodgy ankle. If I hadn’t had the attitude, I would settle for everyone who said I should not do this. Guess what? Here I am, with my attitude, disagreeing again and refusing to settle.”
~ GABI @stripolias

“Attitude is… being fully immersed in the outdoors, forgetting about time, pace or distance records and focus on finding a better rhythm in life.
Attitude is… doing what’s right for you. Knowing when to back off. When to push on. Taking full responsibility for your choices and outcomes. There is no one else to blame and no one else to follow but yourself. Your life, your rules, your rewards. If things don’t go to plan, keep thinking, keep moving. Come up with an alternative solution. Failing is when you stop trying. When you are stuck: get unstuck. Change your thinking. Change your attitude. Change your perspective. Ask for help. Be kind. Everyone is fighting their own battles and reaching out will open more doors than you can ever imagine.
Attitude is… everything.
A flexible mindset will get you a long way. No matter the obstacles or detours, you’ll find a way if you trust yourself and trust the process. Dream with your feet moving. And sometimes just suck it up buttercup!”
~ CLAUDI @claudi8s

“There are many things in life we can’t change – whether the train turns up on time or if there’s a long queue when you’re in a rush – but we can change our attitude to situations we find ourselves in.
For me, the key is to try and adopt an attitude of gratitude. To remember to be grateful for things I take for granted, like my friends and what they teach me, the view from my window, the kindness of strangers, the unexpected smile in the coffee shop and the time others give up, freely, week after week to lead and inspire my running. These are just a few examples of things I’m grateful for today. Even looking at a piece or work, which didn’t work out the way I intended, and taking the learning from the failure, rather than beating myself up about it, is a shift in attitude. Like most things, it requires practice, but it’s worth it.”
~ CATHY @cathywood01

“My biggest slither of learning in recent years is that my attitude is not fixed. It moves around, a bit like the contents of a lava lamp. I am always questioning my attitude heading towards a race, and often trying to rewrite the script. I try and catch myself saying or thinking, I always do this or think that. Where does that attitude come from?”
~ DEREK @tsurumaki2

What are your thoughts on ATTITUDE? Share them here DB / ABC of LIFE – A

ABC OF LIFE

ABC – Adventure

7th October 20193rd January 2021
by ClaudiS

WE ARE DAYBREAK and the ABC of Life. This new series comes straight of our community, a co-created piece of 26 letters and many more thoughts on life, running and the outdoors. Big questions, big goals, big thinkers. Doing our ‘DB thing’ – asking better questions for better results. Learning by doing. Empowering through journeys and experiences.

This week we’re taking a close look at the letter A. So many great suggestions were pouring in and by popular vote we’ve focussed on Adventure and Attitude.

A… ADVENTURE

“Adventure is being disconnected from the city, getting out there in the wild nature and explore its beauty. A Big adventure is waiting in a couple of months: out all day running in the nature with myself and I, exploring a new place. Adventure means adrenaline, positive vibes, rediscovering yourself and what you can find outside your comfort zone…”
~ FRANCI @francincbeactive

“Ha! The adventure of living abroad. I guess adventure can be letting go of the known and trying the unknown. A different commute. A different running route. A different breakfast or a different option in the menu. Even when life limits you, finding the new and fitting in some adventures where you see the opportunity. No money to travel? Gonna take the tube/train somewhere and go for a walk or run there. Not fit to run? Gonna say yes to that friend who invites me to go climbing.”
~ GABI @stripolias

“My favourite Disney films are Pocahontas and Moana. Both bad ass adventurers. Just think what life would be like if it was simply known routine and we were never pushing and testing our boundaries? Let’s hungrily seek adventure, thirsting for knowledge and driving on to see where that shoreline or river leads. Adventure is out there and it’s calling your name!”
~ FIONA @englishruns

“Once I took a glimpse beyond the edges of the valley, I discovered the world. Leaving the comfort of home and learning to create life from scratch.
Adventure is… running an entire race with tape covering my watch screen. Trusting the feel and pacing better.
Adventure is… taking the central line in rush hour.
Adventure is… taking a big group on a night trail run to Epping Forest and navigating us through the maze of trails to draw some Strava art.
Adventure is… to have a plan and ditch it on the run to follow your own compass.
Adventure is… Leaving my running watch at home. Storing memories not data.
Adventure is… Travelling to new countries and exploring on foot.
Adventure is… getting stuck and finding new ways. Physically and mentally.
Adventure is… climbing up a mountain, only discover there are many many more to explore.”
~ CLAUDI @claudi8s

What are your thoughts on ADVENTURE? Share them here DB / ABC of LIFE – A

GOALS

Spotlight – Fiona

10th September 20193rd January 2021
by ClaudiS

WORDS by Fiona.

I have no desire to win races. For many, times and medals and instagramable pictures and being competitive is a huge driver to participating in sport. But it just isn’t for me.

I was once told by an incredible ultramarathon runner I know, that if you don’t stand on the startline of a race not knowing if you can finish it or not, it isn’t a challenge. Not because you haven’t trained hard enough, or put in the work, or aren’t healthy but because exploring your own boundaries of possibility and limits is where we discover who we really are.

When I first took up running I remember finding the idea of running for a kilometre without stopping mind blowing. Now I feel confident running for about 8 hours without needing to walk. As I’ve tested my own boundaries and limits I’ve been consistently shocked by just how much further and faster and higher I can go. Months of training, hard work and a huge amount of dogged determination has seen me complete marathons, ultras, mountain races and even Ironman.

Along the way though I’ve realised that I have no desire to stick at one thing and ‘be the best’. My passion and enthusiasm is in my desire to pursue adventure. Relentlessly. With abandon. Passionately. Adventure is calling.

Don’t get me wrong: PBs are amazing. For me personally as a coach, there are two that are particularly joyous to watch: new runners shocked at achieving things they never thought possible and runners who’d counted themselves out for a long time and suddenly surprise themselves. As we all probably have, I’ve been through both of those. I’ve cried my eyes out at finish lines for achieving times that seemed ‘too fast’ for the runner I assumed I was. And yet, when I look back at my favourite memories in running: numbers don’t feature.

There is the moment in my Ironman where my husband, an hour up the race from me, crossed paths with me and we shared a kiss before heading off to finish our respective marathons. There was the time I paced my Mum, who’d promised me she’d never do any sport in her life, to complete her first 10k at the age of 70. There are the miles and miles I’ve spent traipsing up and down some remote mountain in Scotland with my Dad talking about anything and everything.

Fear of missing out and defining yourself by others achievements is a dangerous and unsatisfying pathway. There is a fantastic old tale of King Solomon, the richest man the world had ever seen who no matter how much wealth he had still felt unsatisfied. Will that medal or time or race really give you the fulfilment you are looking for? Or are you stuck on a relentless cycle of the next challenge, and time, and distance? When you achieve the time you’ve been putting so many hours in are you satisfied? Or do you then change the goalposts and look to shave off ever more minutes?

What if we all put aside the relentless marathon cycles and 5k PB hunts and just pursued adventure? Maybe we’d miss our time goals and what our peers might consider ‘good’ times but instead we might find something our hearts had been yearning for.

John Muir, one of the great advocates for the power of the outdoors in the late nineteenth century, famously said ‘The mountains are calling and I must go.’ I feel that call. Trapped in our city lives surrounded by constant noise and busyness and progress it’s easy to feel the overwhelming rise of fear and anxiety that grips so many of us. When I am in nature, I truly feel I am in a space where I remember what matters: not my job title, PBs, finishing position in some random half marathon but connection, love, passion, joy.

Maverick Race (Trail) in Bath, September 2019

So this Autumn what if you put aside traditional goals and instead reconnected with why you run. What if we pursued being outdoors as passionately as some people pursue qualifying for big city marathons? Give yourself fully still: commit, be passionate, work hard, dig deep. But pursue something less black and white. Measure your achievements in emotions and how well you slept rather than times and medals. Run with perseverance wherever your legs will carry you. Just run. And be. And exist.

Adventure in out there and it is most definitely calling. Let’s go.

Follow Fiona

Fiona is working towards her CiRF (Coach in Running & Fitness) qualification with England Athletics and has lead some of our Tuesday DB / FIRST LIGHT sessions, helped guide our trail runs and is an integral part of our community. When she’s not busy running a theatre company in Islington full time, she’s most likely out in the fells hunting trig points #hillbragging with Graeme or her dad. You may see her as RD at Hampstead Heath Parkrun or swimming in the ponds training for her upcoming Ironman 70.3. 2020 is going to be a big year for Fiona, make sure you follow her inspiring journey!