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Sarah Richardson – Book Journeys Author Interview – Apr. 20, 2017

On this episode of Book Journeys, Vice President for The Author Incubator, Jenn McRobbie, interviews Sarah Richardson, author of From Sidelines to Start Lines: The Frustrated Runner’s Guide to Lacing Up for a Lifetime.

Sarah was a special education teacher for fifteen years and has been an avid runner her whole life. She received an injury in 2014 which sidelined her from running, and at the same time she experienced such changes in her life as moving to a new state and getting a new job, so she wasn’t able to run for “a little while,” which was fine with her, as she intended for her body to heal. Although Sarah had experienced hiatuses before, this particular hiatus proved to be different, as that “little while” became a year, in which time she gained a lot of weight, needed to take anti-anxiety medicine and had difficulty getting back into running. Wanting to figure out what to do, Sarah changed careers to become a health coach, and as it turned out she attracted runners to her business. She then focused on becoming a running coach and got her certification in Chi Running along the way.

Sarah pointed out that it’s easy for runners and would-be runners to find information on what she calls the “outer game,” which includes what gear to wear and use and what running competitions are available. She notes that a lot of runners get frustrated, when they focus on the “outer game,” as they then get caught up in a start-and-stop cycle which is caused oftentimes by injuries, as these runners don’t tap into what their inner needs are. She also points out that most programs are “one size fits all,” and that there is a need for runners to create their own programs customized for their own individual needs, pointing out the need for runners to create long-term goals, rather than short-term ones (such as running the next 5k). Sarah notes that undertaking these goals in such a way that a pleasant experience is had – such as going to different places to participate in runs – is a good way to ensure that a runner will want to keep on running, as he would want to recapture that pleasant experience.

Sarah remarked that she didn’t have everything already laid out when she started writing the book, and that writing the book actually brought clarity to the process she was using as a running coach. She noted that having an ideal reader to write to helped her out greatly, and also remarked that, while her ideal reader was a woman, the first client who came to her, as a result of reading her book, was actually a man. She focused on writing the book and not looking back on what she had written until she got to the editing process, noting that one doesn’t run the first kilometer of a 5k run and then do that first kilometer over again if one is dissatisfied with the way one ran it. And with regard to her editing process, Sarah holed up in a cabin to complete that task.

Sarah is presently running a ten-week course, “From Couch to Consistent,” and can be reached at [email protected].

 

Listen to the Sarah Richardson Interview on Book Journeys Radio

(Transcript) Sarah Richardson – Book Journeys Author Interview – April 20, 2017

DOWNLOAD the PDF: Book Journeys Author Interview – Sarah Richardson – April 20, 2017

Watch out for Book Journeys interview with another exciting author.

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