Starting to run? Let’s bust a myth: you don’t need to be fit to start running when you’re a beginner

In this episode of Your Running Coach with GMacSpurr podcast, Coach G debunks one of the most damaging myths in running culture. You have to be fit to start running.

How to start running when you’re a beginner. It’s a challenge most new runners face. If you’ve ever thought you need to “look like a runner” before you lace up, this conversation is for you. Coach G unpacks the toxic messages we absorb from fitness culture. She reminds you that you are allowed to begin, exactly as you are today. She walks you through the common fears and doubts that show up at the beginning of a running journey. This episode offers powerful mindset shifts to help you start with confidence and compassion.

Running isn’t about speed or stats, it’s about showing up with consistency and courage. With personal insights from her start in 2014, Coach G will help you celebrate what your body can do now, not what it looks like. Because the start line doesn’t ask for perfection – it asks you to show up.

Listen to the episode right here, and then read on for some great journal prompts. These will inspire you to start your running journey your own way. And why not check out the Runner Mindset Workshop recording at the end of this blog. This will help you understand – and update – what you are telling yourself about you as a runner.

Enjoyed this episode? Share it with a running friend who needs encouragement, and don’t forget to subscribe to Your Running Coach with GMacSpurr podcast for more running mindset tips so that you don’t miss an episode.
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Journal Prompts

Here are some great journal prompts to help you as a beginner runner:

• Where did I learn that I need to be fit before I’m allowed to be a runner?
• What fears or insecurities are holding me back from starting?
• What would shift if I believed my current body is worthy of movement and progress?
• How would I show up today if I treated movement as a celebration of what my body can do, not as a means to changing it?

After you’ve used these prompts to delve deeper, come over to the Your Running Coach with GMacSpurr community to continue the conversation.

Here is a fantastic and free Runner Mindset Workshop to help you reclaim your runner story and spot the mindset stories that are holding you back.