Overcoming Setbacks in Running: A Personal Journey. 

"my body is a mess - bless it " Man, i really needed to hear this today. I appreciate you

These are such important lessons to learn, and preferably master too, and sooner rather than later as well. At 59 my fastest runs are obviously many, many years behind me and instead the challenge has become to maintain what I have for as long as I can, avoid injuries, and prioritise recovery. Easy to say but hard to do and the older we get the harder the price we have to pay for stepping over that invisible line of what our body can cope with. Learn to listen to your body, and understand what the different signals mean, so you can continue to take it to the limit for many years to come, but not beyond where things start to come at a high price.

Joy of running is what it's all about!

I believe that sometimes our egoic attachment to a desired outcome can become a hindrance because it prevents us from following our heart and allowing ourselves to have fun with what we are doing, it also prevents us from doing something new and doing what’s necessary to progress. We become fearful to let go of what we have and try something new incase we lose our progress which we often equate to our own self worth. In my personal experience when I’ve let go and allowed my self to have fun again I find the progression starts to increase once again. It’s worth mentioning fun doesn’t mean being lazy and doing nothing it simply means listening to our heart rather than our ego.

I turned 40 this year and working on mobility and flexibility more than I have ever before and feel all better for it. I just ran 2:40 my last marathon and looking forward to getting under 2:40 again within the year.

Last year or so I’ve been that bloody hot mess. Running but just not moving right… part of it is it’s almost my 40th year running and 58, the reality though is I’m not doing everything else it takes to perform outside of running. Just had my rear molar fixed … was giving me lots of issues. Good luck as always!

Everything you said in this video totally nail it for a lot of struggling runners. The brick and cement analogy truly hits home for me as I need to free myself from all these unnecessary weights in order to start fresh and train better. Thank you so so much for hitting that light bulb 💡 on my head.

Best running content and philosophy on RU-vid 🔥

Steve you talk pure sense and explain in an easy to understand manner best advice from a world class runner

Bless you and your honesty... similar-ish here, although im 53 and was pushing maybe a little to hard. covid 7 weeks ago, 5 days was no contagious but HR was an issue as well as chest infection so no running just hit the gym, rested from running for 5 week and now back running but that time off even though through illness was a godsend, a time for evaluation and re-evaluation. oddly 7 week of predominantly the gym at least 4 times a week I feel stronger than ever, proud of my body, to be as lean as you at 53 is something I'm proud of. The mind also needs to rest from the run routine. your 18 mths off as previous is maybe not needed for you this time just a time of gym work, yoga, stretching and reset the elasticty of the entire body. and most importantly a reset of the mind, a hard re-boot. Love ya brother 🤟🍀 PS from a fellow ADHD fruit bat, and as you can tell by the writing Dyslexic to boot, we are a different breed LOL...

Best of luck I have struggled before with teeth and it effects every part of your life. Its hard to eat and sleep and everything. Best of luck Stephen

sculli at the kerry way ultra!!!!! lets gooooo would be nice to see u there!

Hey Stephen, I'm not sure if you read your comments or not, but just in case you do I want to say thank you to you for all your great videos, I'm just an average sub 4 marathoner from South Africa, I am training for my 3rd Comrades Marathon and your videos have really helped me, sometimes when I'm training and it is really hard I can hear your voice saying "It's just another Sunday" and I get through it :)

I had insane a tooth abscess and it really impacted my health and running as I was pushing through it, not knowing how the two were related. Treat your teeth people. I also needed to get the tooth extracted. As soon as I was cleared to do so, I started running and it hadn't felt so good in like 8 months.

Thank you, just what I needed!!

Absolutely love these videos. Thank you!

Thank you for sharing your experience. It’s really helpful under many points of view. Have a nice recovery legend

I definitely feel this one. I've got Edinburgh marathon next Sunday and my right ankle is in all kinds of trouble. Achillies is sore just walking I've got planter facsciitis and a superior extensor issue all on one foot. I'm going to manage it for the marathon but then a rest phase and strengthen and rebuild after I've that I'm hoping to come back better than ever.

Thanks Stephen. Stickin' out content as usual

I hope Stephen considers taking up ultra running.

Man I think you have a solid game plan going forward! Have you ever looked into Ido Portal hip mobility? I believe it’s titled squat clinic and squat clinic 2.0, iirc. Excited to keep following you and see how you come out the other side mate!

I had a tooth out due to infection too. Really helped. Good luck to you!

Hi Stephen, loving your page and have recently started to implement your strength routine. Do you train upper body too or just the lower body?

Hey Stephen thank you for this video. I can relate. I've really been on the struggle bus with one injury after another. It's so frustrating to not be able to run pain free. Any resources you could recommend for getting over Plantar Fascitis?

Try hyperbaric chambers for recovery and double runs or double activities a day, more duration working, more recovery modalities. Rest and hydrate stretch you got this man go after a higher build-up don’t focus on paces for every workout. If that affects you cross train once a day

Take care! I hope to see you soon again in a new video. Keep it up! ❤

Gute Besserung! Get well soon, Stephen. We appreciate your content, teethless or not!

I have the type of long covid that reactivates when I get a common infection. 2-3 times a year I’m sick for 6+ weeks and my aerobic fitness gets reset to pretty much zero. I have to let go of goals. I have to run just for the joy of it.

Try canned cod liver in its own oil, way more potent than cod liver oil supplements. I mix that in with other things to mask the texture, half a tin every so often. Idk if it's doing anything, but it's packed with nutrients and vitamins. 🤷‍♂️

I've just been listening to your advice and I've not got as many pbs this year as I did last year. Last year was a big upwards curve because it was my first year or so in training. I've has pbs this year so far in 10 miles 5 miles and 3.8. My 10k is trailing however. Its actually made me upset and feeling not good enough. I guess like you've pointed out fitness isn't linear.

58 old runner here and my left leg fails at the beginning of the run warm-up and lying on my back I can't get it by tensing my front thighs straight. It is little stiff😁. I force it straight(no pain) and it is better now. Sometimes streching is okay🏃

How is the Flow Velociti 2 compared to the one? Just wondering what your thoughts are

I'm huge on Tony Holler's Feed The Cats, huge truths for the distance running community from the recreational to the elite level. In fact Mr. Holler did a couple of videos on the subject, highly recommended. Also I think the vast majority of non-East African people are pretty much fighting a genetic losing battle when it comes to distance running. It's a sport only very few are born to do well in.

Do you think endurance athletes are at higher risk for dental decay because of all the sugary drinks?

Would you ever take on a Hyrox Stephen? I genuinely feel you would be in the elite category quite quickly.

I remember hearing a story, might be true or not, but Sir Alex Ferguson would send Brazilian signings straight to the dentist because their oral hygeine was poor and that inflammation would hinder recovery.

That's one of the worst pains ever... and I let my tooth abscess go so long it was making me sick, with flu like symptoms every few weeks or so (before the severe tooth pain even showed up). I believe it left residual phlegm in my lungs and airways, which running has seemingly cleared up.

Do you offer a Half Marathon plan?

With recent experience of a tooth extraction I just want to say be very very cautious for a few days afterwards - you definitely don't want to dislodge the clots.

Damn man. I’m Glad I listened to this video. I just came home instead of running bc I was listening to my body. I wanted to run but my body was like…please rest. I have multiple injuries and constantly fighting myself psychologically and trying to recover. So today, I told myself rest, do with what you have, and everything else will solve itself (patience…yeah I fight with her too). Thanks Stephen

Jeah your immunesystem can only do so much. Fighting infection, repair wear from training, build up from training, and medicine all have their load. It would be interesting to see you at Next Stage Injury Therapy. It's a channel of a physio here on YT that helps people to get moving and to get pain free. Tightness and soreness can hide the good work of training as friction in the body increases.

Hi @steve scullion - just a quick question I am building a website regarding sport psychology - not running related so I wont be stepping on your toes. But your website 'the jogging room' is a beautiful example of a web site for that kind of thing - can I ask who built it?

Besides dental implants, studies are being done with regard to regrowing natural teeth! Clinical trials are being done, worth looking into as we're not too far away from getting this option.

I would love to see you in Canova’s group or Ryan Hall’s crew. You need guidance

Why would you change your training, while you've increased your marathontime from 2:21 to 2:09? This doesn't make sense to me. I've learned to stick with your TP, untill (!) you don't progress anymore.

Maybe we are just getting old and have reached our potential. We start stiffening up, getting more tired, taking longer to recover and so on... I tend to run more for adventure now. Never run just for running anymore..

Yeah man chip away that concrete! Have you thought about doing a couple months in thailand? Thai massage is like loosing a wrestling match at first but it gets your body really balanced if you stick with it and there's a real culture and love of running.

Warm water epson salt runce relax

I appreciate the sentiment, but would it really be so bad to not hold on to what you have for a bit? Maybe your body wants you to lose a little fitness so it can heal.

Nice one get them teeth out ✊ Just in case you don’t know Pineapple 🍍 really good food for inflammation stuff.

Floss/waterpik and chewing gum everyday should help with the teeth. Hydroxyapatite toothpaste too

Get a TUE to use testosterone

Unfortunately, age becomes a factor for everyone.

Have you thought of going carnivore?

I am here to say it again… hot yoga

it's really stupid to exercise if you have an infection in your mouth. myocarditis may occur or the valves in the heart may be destroyed. Do not under any circumstances train with an antibiotic course either. Let the bacter died first. I know two cases one died and other couldn't train 6months.