Using the subconscience to reach decisions while running

Sometimes in life we find inspiration and answers in the most unlikely situations. Many people feel as though we would have to do an extensive planning session in order to find answers to problems, but sometimes they just come from just throwing yourself into something else completely unrelated. 

This week I have had some big decisions to make and some that were difficult but that needed to be made at the same time. Coming out the other side is always Gratifying as it is that time where we learn from what we have done and where we are going in life. Only through mistakes can we learn and grow.

Many times I have found that only through indulging in something like running am I able to find answers that sit right with me. It is that sub conscience that gets working and results in us reaching a decision. So powerful but something that is not ever fully explained. 

Running together - while working the sub conscience. Stride for stride on a life changing ride! - Sean muller 

Encouraging fitness through simple challenges

When I was much younger and running on the track (many many moons ago) our coach used to always get us to run one more lap or one more repetition each time. Sometimes this would seem like torture and we would be retching in the rarefied air at altitude but we did it anyway as he was the coach and knew best.

This week one of my friends who I have been helping with his fitness asked me to set a simple challenge for him to complete. After racking my brains a lot I came up with the task of him just aiming to complete one extra session at the gym the following week. I knew he had been attending 3 sessions in the week and felt that was enough, but since I know that he has time to fit in an extra one, I challenged him to do that.

He has accepted this simple challenge and we shall see how he goes next week. Daily exercise is full of simple challenges that we can one another to motivate one another to live a healthy and happy life.

Running together (while setting and meeting simple challenges), stride for stride on a life changing ride!-- Sean Muller 

Improving the balance of the body

I don’t often give product reviews unless I think that something is really top notch, but this morning during my post run gym session I noticed something that had escaped me over the past few weeks.

Doing my normal set of one legged squats off of the gym bench (these help heaps with general stability and quad strength), I realised that both of my legs appeared to have equal amounts of stability and strength in them. Previously my right leg had always been my strongest and most stable (we all have a lead leg) with the left lagging behind a little.

Looking back at why this would be, the only reason that I can think of is the switch that I have made to training and running exclusively in the Nike Free range of shoes. Not only are they lighter in weight, but they appear to have helped with my range of motion and strengthening and stabilising the overall leg and foot. The last time I ran any sort of race in something a bit more stable was Comrades back in June of this year.

Overcoming fear of moving permanently into the Free type shoes was something that I had to contend with more so than the actual transition itself. Once that was conquered I feel so much better and stronger. Perhaps it is in my head, but I am sure that majority of people in the stability type shoes don’t really need them and that provided we are willing to work at keeping the body strong and healthy there is no fear of injuries.

Running together (while improving stability and balance), stride for stride on a life changing ride! -- Sean Muller

CP Ultra magic

So yesterday a little bit of running magic happened in the Eastern suburbs of Sydney with the second running of the Centennial Park ultra marathon.

People came from all over the country to take part in what has become a great part of the Australian running calendar. Many of the usual suspects turned up, along with new faces who soon became friends.

Over catering was the buzz word of the day with people turning up with so much more than any of us could ever eat.

Granted not a big event in number terms, but an event with a big heart.

Community in every sense of the word!

Running together (while fostering a sense of community), stride for stride on a life changing ride! -- Sean Muller

Encouraging that first run

One of the guys that lives in my apartment block always seems to see me going out for my early morning run. He goes to collect his coffee and then later goes to work. He has remarked that it is insane for me to be out running at 6.30am. He only sees me on the way back from my run and not at the start. I have always said to him that he is welcome to come along and join me on the run if he likes. Every time I have been turned down and called things like ‘lunatic’.

This morning I spied him leaving the building in some running gear. He muttered something about trotting around the block and seeing how he went. I shall see how long he lasts and indeed if this is a fad for him or not.

Good on him for giving it a go though and I hope that he sticks with things.

Running together (while in some way encouraging random people on their first run), stride for stride on a life changing ride! -- Sean Muller

Positive changes throughout life

I was reading this morning about a chap who after taking up distance running had used the positivity and strength that he gained through that in order to make other great changes to his life.

Since conquering some distances and adopting a bit of discipline around his training program, he has been able to carry that through to his work and other areas. He had felt that he was being held back by his job in the past and that it was going nowhere, but just didn’t have the courage to throw in the towel (the whole security blanket aspect of things). Now not only has he packed in his old job, but been able to land another one which he really enjoys and where he is finding true fulfillment.

This all happened as he was able to really start to believe in himself and open himself up to opportunities in other areas of life. A truly remarkable story and one that just goes to show the positive power that running can bring about.

Running together (while effecting positive change on things), stride for stride on a life changing ride! Sean Muller

Second anniversary of the Centennial Park Ultra

This coming Sunday in Sydney a good friend and her husband will be hosting the second Centennial Park Ultra Marathon. There is both a 50KM and a 100KM option with runners completing laps of the park.

While many people would question the sanity of those running loops of a park in quest for a distance, there is method in this madness as it provides an ideal and safe opportunity for people to venture into the world of ultra running without getting lost in the bush.

Now it is usually the same little community that attend these events and also volunteer their time, however you always get a few characters who seem to come out of the woodwork such as two young chaps  last year who asked me when they would start to hallucinate and ‘see God’ during the 100KM. As it is a safe ultra, there was no hallucinating or seeing God and everyone finished just fine.

Anyone in the area who is interested should come on down this Sunday. A great community event and introduction to ultra running.

Running together (while building the ultra community), stride for stride on a life changing ride! -- Sean Muller

Hometown marathons

Yesterday was a chance for me to give a little back to the running community through acting as a pace guide for the 3.30 time goal for the Sydney Marathon.

I always enjoy doing some community service and watching new comers enjoy their first steps into the sport. 

A perfect day out with great friends. A world class race that Sydney can be really proud of. Something that I would encourage all runners to consider if they are in Sydney during September.

Running together (while supporting hometown marathons), stride for stride on a life changing ride -- Sean Muller.

Hoping for knowledgeable staff

Yesterday I accompanied a friend (who is a far more accomplished runner than me) into the city to pickup our race packs for tomorrow’s Sydney Marathon. There is always something special about a home town marathon and one that just makes you proud of your city and what so many people can achieve together in a positive way.

Now after negotiating our way to the Expo and picking up the numbers etc, we were just ambling about and decided to pop into a well known mainstream sports shop. In hind sight we must have looked like a right number of rookies holding our race bags and we were descended on by two young sales folks who must have thought us suckers.

We were looking through the new arrivals of shoes and both know exactly what we like and what we don’t like, but we seemed to have this lot insisting that we try on shoes that we would never wear in a month of Sundays. Their knowledge of things was also patchy at best.

As much as we politely refused, they kept insisting. Kudos to them for keeping up though.

Eventually the one girl said - ‘look I am a runner, I know what I am talking about’. ‘So are we’, we replied. ‘Yes but I have run a half marathon’, she exclaimed. At that point my mate looked at me and we just didn’t have the energy to continue with things and left the shop.

Disappointing to see that even though I rarely go into these sorts of shops, they still haven’t bothered to even update staff with even a basic knowledge of what they are selling the customer.

Running together (while hoping for informed views on shoes), stride for stride on a life changing ride! -- Sean Muller

5 year anniversary

This weekend marks the 5th anniversary of my first marathon. It has meant many KMs run between then and now and also plenty of weight has been shifted. Most of all though it has meant the formation of so many great friendships.

If I was in a relationship with myself then I would surely have to reward myself with a gift made of wood (traditional) or silverware (modern). Probably the best silverware would be the medal from this weekend’s marathon.

I sometimes have to pinch myself to remind myself that I am not dreaming and that I have come full circle as if back to my childhood fitness levels and beyond. 5 years ago I stood on that same start line still overweight and not even sure what my body would do at the end of the marathon event. I survived and from then onwards it has really been upwards from here on in. Quite frankly if I have been able to beat back the demons that I faced in the lead up to that day then anyone can.

Running together (lighter - while enjoying life on the run), stride for stride on a life changing ride! -- Sean Muller

First timers

There is not much that beats the excitement of someone running their first real event. Ordinary people doing great things and rising above what they ever thought possible.

Lately I have seen the owner of my local coffee shop out and about running. She is looking great and each time I saw her she seemed to be taking to it like a duck to water. Well yesterday she confided in me that she was running this Sunday’s half marathon in Sydney in memory of a girlfriend who passed on from breast cancer. Now having had friends and family suffer at the hands of this hideous disease I immediately made a donation to her cause. But what impressed me the most is that this lady made a decision on her own that this is what she was going to do to honour her friend and that to do it real justice she had been training well and following a program diligently.

Amazing really what the human spirit can do if we are willing to explore it a bit. Here was a lady - a grandmother no less with no running background at all who had no other expectations other than to set out, complete the event and honour her friends memory. In my humble view point there can be no greater thing for her to do and I reassured her that the way she was running she would surely do her friend proud.

Running together (while honouring our friends), stride for stride on a life changing ride! -- Sean Muller

Seeing real change

This morning while out on my run I happened to bump into a group of people I had randomly met and spoken to while running last year. Those that know me know that I randomly speak to people while out running - builds a sense of community and you get to know others that share a passion for your sport.

One of the ladies in the group had appeared to have lost a fair bit of weight and was looking really good. She commented that me sharing my story of weightloss with her had led her to persevering with the running and joining a spinning group at her gym. Well I am just blown away and extremely humbled that my simple story could have motivated this lady to actually turn her own situation around and get fitter. Her boyfriend even commented that her whole attitude towards things had flipped around and that their friend circle was now based around those interested in keeping fit, healthy and running. They also recounted how they have started entering more events and are finding joy in completing different distances. Again a wonderful achievement by them!

Running together (while hearing good stories of healthy positive change) - stride for stride on a life changing ride! -- Sean Muller

My weightloss journey in book format

Today is an extremely exciting day for me.


It is the day that I officially published my first book ‘The Urban Warrior - More than just an existence’. I have poured my heart and soul out about my weightloss journey and what went into the 40KG loss of weight and the complete life transformation that accompanied it.

‘The Urban Warrior - More than just an existence’ is so much more than just my tale of change. It is raw and frank and asks hard questions of us as so-called modern intellectual westerners.

Why do we struggle to beat obesity when we have the most sophisticated science on the planet? Why are tribes people living without access to all our luxuries so much happier and healthier? Why do we continue to invest so much time, energy and money into pursuits that will only send us to an early grave? All these and more are asked in the book.

While it is exciting to see that I have my first sales already, this book is about so much more than money. If it can reach out to anyone who is overweight or obese like I was and help to motivate them to change then my job as a human being is done.

Running together (while motivating others positively), stride for stride on a life changing ride! -- Sean Muller

Attempts at trail running

This weekend was one of those moments that reminds me why I got back into running. Friends and I headed down to the south of Sydney for The Coastal Classic 29KM bush run.

The course is renowned not only as extremely challenging as it features a number of different aspects of trail running such as single track, beach running and up and down cliff tops, but also what I learnt later in the day, the potential to go the wrong way. This is just something that one doesn’t encounter in road running in that you almost always have someone on hand to point out the route.

From the start I felt good and was running well. Noone was passing me on the flats and very few were coming near me on the uphills either. The downs I have yet to master and how some of the people fly down them like rock rabbits I have no idea. They seem to have some suicidal wishes. 

The 21K mark came and I was lying a good position and hoping to give the last 8K everything while heading after a bunch of blokes just ahead of me.

2.5K into this split of road I thought that something was not right as several blokes were coming back down and saying to us that it was the wrong way. The sign had however been pointing in the direction of the inland trail, but we found out that this had been switched by someone who was out to sabotage the race. I hope that it was not another runner ahead of me, but very disappointing to say the least and not the ideal way to turn any novice like me onto trail running.

Cest la Vie - it happens apparently that in trail one needs to get lost for some reason.

Running together (while getting lost on the trails), stride for stride on a life changing ride! -- Sean Muller