The Comeback: You Do Not Need The Perfect Day to Begin Again

Coming back to running after a break can mess with your head in a way nobody warns you about. You’re not just rebuilding fitness, you’re facing the memory of what running used to feel like and the fear that maybe you “lost it.” I’m Coach Christine, and I’m back behind the mic after my own unexpected hiatus to say the quiet part out loud: most of us don’t quit, we just lose momentum, and once it slips, everything starts to feel harder than it should.

We talk about why that happens, how the running routine fades one busy week at a time, and why the gap grows when you wait for the perfect moment to restart. I also pull inspiration from the biggest moments in the running world like record-breaking marathons and the simple truth behind them: extraordinary performances are built on years of showing up, layer after layer, not one magical day. The good news is you don’t need to chase a PR for that principle to change your life. You can use it to rebuild your own consistency, even if your next win is a run walk around the block.

You’ll leave with practical mindset shifts and doable next steps to restart running without overthinking: lowering the bar so you can start today, leaning on community for accountability, and making it fun again when “Maycember” chaos makes everything feel urgent. I also share what’s coming next for Extraordinary Strides, including a runDisney series on the vibe of each race weekend, the return of Murder Mayhem And Miles with Cold Cases and Hot Paces, plus a little “The Comeback” playlist gift to help you press play and move.

If this helped, subscribe, share it with a friend who needs a comeback, and leave a review. And seriously, send me a text or voicemail with what you want to hear next and what you’re rebuilding right now.

Transcript

Why Coming Back Feels Hard

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Let's just say this out loud. Getting back into something you used to feel good at is really one of the hardest things to do. Not because you can't do it, but actually because you remember what it used to feel like. And when it doesn't feel like that anymore, it doesn't just feel harder physically, it feels mentally confusing, it feels frustrating, and if we're being honest, it can make you question whether you still have it. Welcome to Extraordinary Strides, a podcast for everyday runners doing extraordinary things. Hello, friend. I'm Coach Christine, and yes, it has been a minute, but we are back, not just in a super dramatic way, not in a new era, new identity way, just in a hey, let's lace up, let's pick this back up, let's keep going kind of way. And that's exactly what we're gonna talk about. But first, let's address the beautifully sparkly pink elephant in the room. In my mind, she even has a sparkly tutu. I know I kind of left y'all hanging. I just disappeared from the podcast world. I want to be clear, I didn't step away from running, I didn't step away from coaching. I've actually been right in the middle of it with athletes, with training, with race weekends, and let me tell you, we've got lots of fun to talk about with race weekends with real life, but I did step away from this space for a bit, and it wasn't even really that intentional. However, stepping away from the microphone gave me a perspective that I didn't quite expect, and I'm gonna share it here with you. What I noticed both with myself and the podcast and the runners I work with or runners that I get the privilege of chatting with or speaking with is that we don't usually just quit the thing. It's not super intentional. We don't decide that day, like, this is it, I'm not doing it ever again, I'm never going to record another podcast. Actually, I recorded quite a few podcasts during this hiatus. We didn't just, we just really kind of lose momentum. And once that momentum slips, everything starts to feel harder than it should. One week became two weeks, two weeks became three, three turned into months. Let's not get into how long it was. But it truly just started to kind of snowball. And I wasn't really sure how to get back into it. And in that process, I hear that from runners and athletes all the time. That you start to lose a little bit of momentum and it starts to slip away from you. Life gets really busy, and one of the first things to go might be running, might be your lifting, maybe that consistency with your nutrition, your self-care habits, whatever the case may be, we lose that momentum, and before we know it, it feels like that person, that identity, that love that we had for that aspect of ourselves is a distant memory. And then there's the fear around it of how do I get restarted? How do I actually get laced up and get moving out there? So that's what this conversation is all about here today. And this is me just coming back out here and letting you know, I know that it's maybe going to be a little bit weird, it may be a little bit challenging. I may even have quite a few tech difficulties in recording this episode and hopefully even in producing this episode. But at least it's a reminder that these things happen in our lives around the world, right? But speaking of the world, while I was taking that hiatus, that podcast recording break, the running world didn't stop, right? I mean, even recently we got to see this most incredible world marathon records breaking. I mean, from the amount of people that are applying to ballots to individuals that are running them. And of course, we have to talk about the legendary, just incredible record-breaking marathon at London with the sub two of the first and second place winners. Now, every time that happens, people talk about how incredible it is. We all even share about it. We're amazed, we think what incredible athletes and humans and how truly extraordinary they may be. But what stands out to me about this is that performance, that sub-two-hour marathon, it wasn't built on just one perfect day. It was built on years of uninterrupted momentum, layer after layer after layer of showing up. Not perfectly, not magically, but consistently. And that's where I think that maybe you're not chasing a world record, maybe you're not even chasing a PR. But the principle is the same of what we feel when you're in the rhythm is the exact opposite of what you feel when momentum is gone. And once we lose that momentum, we start to also get into this pattern of wanting perfection when we get back to it. We keep saying, maybe I'm talking about myself here with the podcast recording. I'm gonna record tomorrow when I have an open block in my schedule, or I want to make sure that I have the best possible production set up, or that I really have an incredible podcast topic to come back with. And maybe that's how we will do with our running, where I'm gonna start on Monday because Monday I know that I'll have more time, or I know that I'm at a fresh start for the fresh beginning, and I'll just keep that rolling from there. And that desire of perfection, of the perfect moment, the perfect day, the perfect circumstances, that becomes the trap that completely steamrolls over the momentum that we could gain by just doing the imperfect thing and getting restarted. So here I am saying I'm just gonna do it. It may not be perfect, it may not be right, but I know that now is the time to just get moving, get started, bring it back. And if this resonates with you, potentially maybe with your own running, your health journey, your strength training, maybe it's something else that you've been working on, I'm here to say this is your opportunity to bring it back, not let that perfection keep you in a prison from getting the consistency and the momentum going again. So, my friend, are you ready for your comeback? Because I'm here for it. Now let's talk about a little bit more about how to get some of that momentum going and maybe some of the things that are happening around here personally. Again, I'm drawing the parallel to the podcast. For me, recording seems a little awkward. It feels maybe like when you set up to finally go out for that run. Maybe it's been a little bit of time, but you get laced up, you get out there, and about 10 minutes in, your legs may feel a little bit heavier, your breathing feels off, your pace isn't matching what you thought it should be. Immediately your brain goes to what's happening? I'm out of shape, I should completely give this up. And again, here I am on the podcast thinking, how do I do this again? How do I add the different buttons and do I need to produce the music? And does this even make sense? And what is the point of it all? But truly, it is just getting restarted. It is a viable, if it costs you, if it's in your heart, which I know running is because that's why you're listening, then I'm here to encourage you to get relaced up, to get out there. Maybe you have even been showing up, but it hasn't been exactly what you've wanted it to have. You haven't been really chasing that consistency because you've been mired in that perfection. So let's get started as to what you can do to get yourself back into it. So for me, it was truly just saying, This is it. This is time. I'm going to step up to it. And really, I love knowledge being power, but I do not want you to get too stuck in it. Again, for me, it was just coming over to the podcast recording area and hitting record and going with it. Not overthinking it too much, really just allowing myself the opportunity to connect with you, to check in with you, to see how you're doing, and let you know where I've been and what I've been up to. So with your running, with your health journey, it's gonna be the same thing, my friend. It doesn't have to feel like it felt before. It doesn't even have to seem like the same as it felt before. But I am going to encourage you to figure out how you can get restarted. And maybe that's calling a friend, because I've done that here several times. I've been calling some of my friends, letting them know that I'm kind of being challenged by this particular aspect of my life right now, and just hearing their encouragement to get back to it and get started. Maybe it's that you need to lean back into community, or maybe you need to figure out a way to make it fun for you again. And of course, that's what we're here for. So I do want to welcome you to come into the community again, drop in maybe some of your own moments of your comeback, what you're doing to help you to get restarted, maybe it's accountability. Again, not waiting for that perfect moment. Because right now we're in May Cember. This is where our calendars look like December, right? There's no break coming, there's no perfect moment to recapture it. Everything is happening at once. You've got work, travel, kids' calendars, school calendars coming to an end. There's events, obligations. And then sometimes this is where we'll start to put all of the things that really matter to us that we know we should have on the back burner. Not because it doesn't matter, but because everything else feels so much more urgent. So let's shift that over to thinking about how we can continue with progress and not letting that perfection kill our momentum. So every single time, if your only version of success is doing everything right, you will do nothing at all more often than you think. Hello, hiatus. That's exactly what happened. So I again want to bring you and challenge you to see how you can get restarted. Now that we've kind of discussed that a little bit, I do want you to know we have had a fantastic, absolutely so much fun. Run Disney season has come to an end, and that is what I'm looking forward to doing here next with the podcast. I have some great guests that are gonna be coming up. We're gonna have a series to learn all about each individual weekend and why you should run that weekend specifically. They all have very different vibes, and this is my first official perfect season here at Walt Disney World. So I can I think I can speak a little bit to it, but I don't want you to just hear from me. I want you to hear from others as to why they love that specific reason. So we're gonna talk about Wine and Gine, of course, Marathon Weekend, get into Princess, and our wrap-up of the year with springtime surprise. In the middle of that, we know that the world isn't centered around Run Disney, even though we do love our Run Disney around here. There's so many other great races that are out there, and these may be what you need to turn your eye to to get you restarted and excited about moving forward. Again, the World Marathon majors have become incredibly tough to get into, but I will always say where there is a will, there is a way, my friend. So we're gonna talk a little bit about that this season as well. But more importantly, what I really want you to do is join me on the podcast. Join me in letting me know what you want to hear more about. So in the description, there's a have questions or want to chat, send me a text, please. Send me a text, leave me a voicemail, let me know what it is that you want to hear more about. I want to hear what you're thinking about, how you felt about the world's marathon record being broken, how you're setting yourself up for a comeback, any of those things that really mean a lot to you, I want to hear about it. So please do encourage you to leave me a note about that, please. And because I can't make a comeback without giving you a little small gift, a little bit of an olive branch, if you will, um, to extend my my apologies for just leaving on hiatus. We have a playlist called The Comeback. I created it just for you. Tagline is we're back on our stride because again, extraordinary strides will always be about this community. And I want to hear what you're thinking. And if you want to add songs to this playlist, I I welcome you to do so as well. So this is your press play, stop overthinking, just move kind of energy playlist. The very first song in the playlist is actually one of my favorites because it's kind of how I felt stepping back up to the mic, where it's been a long time and I shouldn't have left you with an adult beat to step to, my friend. So let's get to it. Now, if you want to know what is next, again, I want to hear from you. I will actively be formulating and working on podcast topics that mean what you want to hear about. But one of the things that we have going, I've already alluded to the Run Disney series, breaking down the vibe of each weekend, helping you figure out where you fit. And yes, for you friends that have been asking about murder mayhem and miles, it is coming back. The series that we are going to kick things off with will be cold cases and hot cases for all of those long runs. So if you don't like a cold case, then my friend, I welcome you to give this a try because I think what we're all gonna be able to do is put on our thinking hats while we're out there for our long runs this summer and be able to maybe, who knows, maybe we'll be the podcast that solves a cold case or two. If not, we'll at least learn quite a bit about it. And I can't wait to hear your speculation on these cases. Because of course we know that sometimes our long runs need a little bit of mystery, besides which fuel should I take next that won't upset my tummy. And I am working on something very special. It's gonna kick off here in just a couple weeks. It's gonna be for the entire podcast audience and community, and I think you're gonna like it. It's gonna be a little bit of a May Sember survival kit, if we will. Now, with that said, wherever you are right now, I want to ask you not to think about perfection, but to think about momentum. So whether it's one run, one walk, one lifting session, one small choice to pick yourself, to get started, and to get your comeback going. So, my friend, press play, lace up, let's get back on our stride.