Emily is a fourth-year University of Guelph Marketing Management student (that’s how we met!)

Recently Emily mentioned to me that she regularly runs 10km. I was impressed and immediately wanted to know more about her running journey. So I asked her a few questions and put together an Instagram post – but I was still curious. Yesterday we met over a video call, and I asked her all sorts of questions, from why she runs to how she motivates herself to what her running goals look like. Want to know how Emily runs 10km every day and how you can too? Check out everything we talked about below!

Why does Emily run?

In high school, Emily ran with a club; in university, she ran at the gym, and then during COVID-19, she ran outside. In high school, Emily ran to build relationships; in university, she used running as an escape; and in quarantine, she ran out of boredom.

In the months following Canada’s lockdown, Emily began to run regularly. She ran as a way to get out of the house and to fill time. Eventually, her summer courses started up, and Emily secured a job, and her days became busy. But despite her time being filled with schoolwork and online meetings, she still found herself itching to run. Not only had running become fun, but Emily had started to see the physical results and wanted to see more.

How did Emily get all the way up to 10km?

Emily’s running journey began with walking. During the months when coronavirus rates were the highest, Emily walked around her neighbourhood because she just couldn’t stay inside. The more she walked, the more she got the urge to run, and eventually, that’s what she did. She started small and increased her distance little by little until she could run her entire 5km route.

You might be surprised to know that Emily doesn’t run her entire 10k in one go. She actually breaks it up into two runs throughout the day. So, most days, Emily will run 5k in the morning and then another 5k in the evening.

How she finds the motivation to run

Emily runs almost every single day, and she genuinely enjoys it. She feeds off the positive feelings that happen afterward and is motivated by looking back on how much progress she’s made. But she hasn’t always felt this way. In the beginning, running was difficult for Emily. It wasn’t fun, and she struggled to motivate herself to keep going. She clung to the possibility that if she continued, she might see some sort of positive change in her body, and in the end, that’s what motivated her to stick with it.

Her running routine

In the beginning, Emily ran whenever she had the time and whenever she could muster up the motivation to go. But now she looks forward to running and tries to go every day, either in the morning or evening or both. Emily doesn’t have dedicated rest days, but she listens to her body and what it’s telling her. If she needs a day off or if she’s got a lot going on, she’ll skip it.

How does Emily pace herself when she runs outside? Any tips?

Emily tracks her runs using Strava and keeps a fairly steady time of 30 minutes for each 5k loop. She recommends running during the cooler parts of the day, such as in the mornings or at night and frequently reminding yourself that you don’t have to show off for your neighbours. She tells me that it’s easy to feel like people are watching you or that you’re in competition with the runner on the other side of the road, and this can offset your pace by causing you to burn out too fast. Emily also takes walk breaks during her route to help her keep a steady pace when she’s running. She has assigned designated points in her route where she allows herself a quick walk break before running again. These checkpoints keep her motivated to keep going, at least until the next one.

What does she listen to while she runs? Music? Podcasts? Nothing?

Emily blasts music during her run. She starts off at a regular volume, and then one street, in turns it up to the max. Her go-to running music is anything by Niki Minaj.

Anything specific Emily eats before a run?

Not particularly. There are some days where Emily eats breakfast before her run and then other days where she saves it until after – it depends on how she’s feeling and what her body’s telling her. However, Emily makes sure to never eat dinner before her run. She tells me that if she eats dinner and then runs, she feels like she’s going to puke.

Emily also doesn’t bring water with her on her runs. She likes the feeling of getting home and drinking a whole glass of cold water.

Running goals?

Emily has two main running goals as of right now. 1) She wants to be able to run her entire 5k loop without taking breaks. 2) She wants to sign up for a 5k run, finish, and be proud of how she did.

Emily’s advice

Emily advises new runners to start slow. Don’t expect to be great right away.