From 5K to 12K: How I increased my running distance by 140% in just 9 days.
An unexpected challenge – and an even more unexpected result
In September, after the summer heatwaves had subsided, I decided to challenge myself in various ways, but the most remarkable results came from something I had not expected at all: my physical fitness.
For some reason, I had not gone running once during May, June or July. I suspect the exceptionally hot weather had something to do with it, because I normally enjoy a good run. I still consider running one of the most efficient ways to maintain and improve physical fitness and endurance.
You need very little to get started: just a good pair of running shoes and comfortable clothes that allow you to move freely. There is no expensive gym membership or costly equipment involved, and you can run whenever you want or whenever it fits into your day, whether that is early in the morning, around lunchtime or in the evening after finishing work.
Once the hottest weeks of the summer were behind us, I felt like running again and decided to ease myself back into it. I resumed my running routine in August, with the intention of gradually building back up to my usual 5K runs.
At the beginning of September, my running app, which I use to record my runs and keep track of my progress, showed me a number of challenges I could take part in. One of them was a 10K run. I could not remember whether I had ever run 10K before, but I felt like taking on a proper challenge, so I accepted it. After all, I had a whole month to work towards it.
As it turned out, I completed the challenge much sooner than I had expected.
On 6 September, I completed the 10K and was genuinely stunned that I had gone from my usual 5K run to 10K in one go. That was a 100% increase in my running distance.
I had approached the run with a different strategy and a different focus from usual, and the result surprised me so much that, the following week, I decided to raise the bar once again. On 13 September, I completed a 12K run in one go. Compared with my usual 5K distance, that meant I had increased my running distance by 140% in just nine calender days.
Six things I did differently
So what exactly did I do differently this time?
1. I did not make a big deal out of it
The first thing was that I did not make a big deal out of it. I did not turn the 10K challenge into some enormous mountain I had to climb. Looking back, I think reframing the challenge in my mind was one of the most impactful aspects of this new approach.
2. I made a decision
I also made a very clear decision to do it. Not to try it, but to DO IT. There is a subtle but important difference between the two. When you decide to try something, there is still an implicit possibility that you might not succeed. I had made the decision that I was going to run the 10K.
3. I believed it was possible
At the same time, I felt in my heart that I could do it. I felt that this was possible for me and that the goal was within my reach. Somehow, I simply knew that the achievement was already done.
4. I stopped focusing on the gap
I then deliberately took my mind off "getting there", "reaching the milestone" and "achieving the 10K run". In other words, I stopped focusing on the gap I needed to bridge to get from HERE to THERE.
Instead, I focused on managing the resistance that arose while I was running and staying with the process itself. Looking back, this was probably the part that was most within my control. It was what kept me going and, perhaps even more surprisingly, allowed me to enjoy the whole run. It was also what enabled me to stick with it.
Managing the resistance meant paying attention to the voice in my head that kept feeding me stories about how hard and difficult this was. That voice came up with all sorts of excuses to make me stop running and abandon my goal. At the same time, I had to deal with the aches and pains I was experiencing in my body.
5. I deliberately changed the story in my head
Instead of simply listening to that voice, I consciously and deliberately told myself a different story. I told myself things like, "I love running", "I really enjoy all the smells in the park", "This is going so well", "I am really enjoying this workout" and "I still have so much energy left."
None of this meant pretending that the run was effortless or that I was not experiencing discomfort. It meant choosing where I placed my attention and which story I was going to reinforce while moving through the challenge.
6. I focused on doing the reps
The final thing I did differently was that I did not focus on the result or the goal itself. I focused on doing the reps. I committed to doing the work.
Setting a goal or an intention is incredibly important because it gives you direction. You need to know where you are going. But achieving that goal becomes much easier and feels much more natural when it becomes the by-product of consistently doing the steps necessary to get you there.
The biggest surprise was not the 140% increase
The most remarkable part of this experience was not even the 140% increase in my running distance. What surprised me even more was that, the following day, I did not experience severe muscle soreness in my calves or pain in my joints, particularly my hips and knees.
This experience made something very clear to me. My body, even though it is getting older, still has an enormous capacity for physical growth and challenge. What creates much of the resistance is not necessarily a physical limitation itself, but my mind and the stories it tells me about what is possible and what is not.
Perhaps this is one of the reasons why we so often underestimate ourselves. Our minds like to work with what is familiar. They draw on previous experiences and use them to predict what is likely to happen next. And when we are about to enter unfamiliar territory, they can very quickly start producing reasons why we should not go there.
That does not mean those thoughts are necessarily true. Sometimes, they are simply resistance.
What if you are capable of more than you think?
Since this experience, I have started applying the same strategy to other areas of my life, and I have been amazed by the results. Not only am I achieving the results I set out to achieve with greater ease, I am also enjoying what I am doing much more. And that, for me, is perhaps the most valuable part of the whole experience.
It made me realise that our innate or developed capacity to accomplish something can be much greater than we realise, and certainly much greater than our minds sometimes try to convince us it is.
So perhaps the question is not always, "Can I do this?"
Perhaps a more useful question is, "What happens when I stop focusing on the gap between where I am and where I want to be, and instead focus on managing the resistance that arises along the way?"
What goals have you had in the back of your mind for years that you might approach differently if you applied this strategy?
You do not necessarily need to take on a 10K run. It could be something much smaller, or something that has nothing to do with physical health at all. The principle is the same: make the decision, believe that it is possible, stop turning the goal into an insurmountable mountain, and bring your attention back to what is right in front of you.
What if something deeper is holding you back?
If you recognise yourself in the pattern of repeatedly setting new goals, feeling motivated and enthusiastic when you start, only to lose momentum and abandon them shortly afterwards when the inner resistance becomes too great, I would encourage you to look beyond what you might perceive as a lack of motivation, discipline or perseverance.
Sometimes, what keeps us from moving forward has very little to do with the goal itself or our actual ability to achieve it. Beneath that resistance, there may be deeply ingrained beliefs, fears and survival patterns that have been with us for so long that we no longer even recognise them as such. They may have developed much earlier in life, as ways of coping with difficult or emotionally unsafe circumstances, and can continue to influence our choices, behaviour and sense of what is possible for us today.
These patterns are not always easy to recognise on your own, let alone understand where they originated or how to dismantle them. And simply telling yourself to try harder, stay motivated or be more disciplined will not necessarily change anything if the real obstacles lie much deeper.
In my 1:1 coaching work, I help clients explore precisely these underlying dynamics: what is driving their resistance, which beliefs and survival strategies are keeping them stuck, and what needs to shift internally for them to move forward in a different way. Through trauma-informed coaching and systemic work, we work towards creating the clarity, inner trust and freedom you need to stop repeating old patterns and start making choices that genuinely serve you.
If you are tired of repeatedly getting in your own way, of starting with good intentions only to find yourself falling back into the same patterns, perhaps it is time to explore what is really going on beneath the surface.
I warmly invite you to book a free, no-obligation introductory call via email, so we can explore whether a 1:1 coaching journey could help you break through what has been holding you back and move towards the goals and changes that genuinely matter to you.
Sometimes, we only discover what we are truly capable of when we stop letting the familiar define the limits of what is possible.
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