Health
Beating Decision Fatigue as a Runner Over 40
In this episode of the Running After 40 Podcast, host Sarah discusses the challenges of decision fatigue for runners over 40 and offers practical strategies to simplify daily choices. From meal planni...
Beating Decision Fatigue as a Runner Over 40
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Welcome to the Running After 40 Podcast.
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The podcast about all things related to running at 40 and beyond, produced by www.runningwithgrid.com.
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We help you stay physically healthy and emotionally strong at any running pace.
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I'm Sarah, your host, and a wife, a full-time working mom with three kids, three dogs, and
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a lifetime passion for running.
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Whether you are a veteran runner looking to maximize your times as a master runner,
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or a brand-new jogger starting in your 40s, 50s, or any age, this podcast will be there for your journey.
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I want to share stories, secrets, and strategies for success.
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This includes mistakes and lessons learned.
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All related to running past age 40, let's hit the play button together and hit the roads as runners
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with grit after age 40.
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I welcome to episode 126 of the Running After age 40 podcast.
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I'm Sarah, your host, and today's episode is going to be Beating Decision Fatigue After age 40.
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I'm so excited for this episode.
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This information is life-changing for me, and I hope it will be for you too.
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If you like, sometimes life gets in the way of your running goals keep listening.
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We're going to talk about how to minimize decision fatigue.
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So I'll start with just a really personal story about decision fatigue.
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I think that I was very overwhelmed for about two years with everything that was going on in life.
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I was really mentally drained by the time that my day was over.
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One major pain point for me was figuring out what to eat.
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I loved to eat healthy, but I felt like
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keeping everybody in my family fed well was just designing what to cook was the last straw for me.
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So I tended to eat the same thing every day.
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Like I was starting to eat chicken and rice every single day.
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I spent too much time trying to figure out everybody else was going to eat.
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So for me, having a meal delivery service was a game changer.
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I could have these pre-apportioned things ready to go whenever I wanted.
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And I started sticking to healthy eating more.
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So one thing about this, just reinforce that the less decisions I had to make,
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the easier it was to prioritize my fitness and also emotional fitness being there for other people.
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So let's start with a really quick explanation of what decision fatigue is and why the heck Sarah's
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talking about it related to running.
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Did you know this is one of those fun facts?
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The average person makes about 35,000 decisions every single day.
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Yes, 35,000.
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That is from the moment you wake up.
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So it's the what should I wear?
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Oh, should I answer this email now or later?
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What should I eat for breakfast?
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What should I do with the dogs?
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It should I let them out.
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Our mental energy is as limited resources.
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And the more decisions you make, the more depleted you feel.
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That means you're going to be less likely to stick to your running habits or make healthy choices.
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And this is why at the end of the long day,
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you're going to skip your planned run or you're going to reach for the bag of chips instead of
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having an apple.
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It's not willpower guys.
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It's actually your brain running out of bandwidth.
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I think it's especially relevant for us in that over 40 crowd because our bodies just don't bounce
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back quite like they used to.
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And if we stick to habits like getting enough rest,
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running, eating well, it all goes well.
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But our decision fatigue is even greater at these ages because a lot of us are taking care of
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multiple people.
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Maybe your parents, maybe you have a stressful job,
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whatever it is for you.
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That is building on your decision fatigue.
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So what should we do?
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Let's dive into the good stuff.
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We're going to go over 15 practical.
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Some of them are a little creative ways to reduce the decision fatigue as a runner so that you
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can save your mental energy for what matters most.
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And that would be you and your family or your loved ones.
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All right, number one.
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Playing your runs in advance.
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So you need to decide a win and where you're going to run for the entire week ahead.
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You can do this on Sunday.
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If you're like a Sunday through Saturday person.
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If you're a person where you like to do your long runs on Saturday.
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So you like that to be the beginning of your week.
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I don't care.
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You shouldn't care about just pick a day and then decide where and when you're going to run.
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That way you're not going to wake up each day trying to figure out,
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oh, is this going to be a day where it worked out or not?
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Like the decision's made.
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Like you're going to do your run.
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And the where is really important here too.
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I used to do a lot of different places because I would get bored really easily.
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But as some other aspects of my life have become more stressful and I've had more decision fatigue
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in those, I don't like to run different places.
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I like to stick to a similar spot and it's just one thing that I can cut down on.
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I've had a lot of podcasts episodes where I talk about breaking it up and going different
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places. If you are having an overwhelming amount of decision fatigue,
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simplifying the where is a good place to start.
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You can make a lot of progress just by simplifying that little thing.
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All right, the second one.
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There's school uniforms for reason.
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I know that you might have heard Steve Jobs.
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He had, you know, he was the Apple CEO.
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He had a uniform, right?
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He always wore the same black turtleneck.
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So having a standard running outfit seems silly.
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But your favorite shorts, your favorite tank top,
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if you have one that you love guys, invest in a couple of them in different colors and just stick
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to it. Don't be too creative.
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In running in winter, it might be tights in a thermal top.
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And again, you can have it in multiple colors,
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but keeping it really simple, having it in one place.
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You need to have a shelf in your closet for running shorts, running tights,
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and then tank tops, and then long sleeves.
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Whatever it's going to be, keep it simple so you're not trying to figure out what you
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should wear based on temperatures.
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It does not have to be complicated.
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The next one, number three, this is a simple one, and it's an old one that's been around.
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It's definitely going to help you stick to your habit of running.
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And that's just laying up the gear the night before.
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I can tell you, you do not want to waste any time in the morning,
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finding your headphones, finding out that tank top, finding your shoes.
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You need to be able to hit the ground running without wasting any time,
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or energy figuring out where things are.
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All right, getting to a little bit more of a unique one, number four,
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having habit of what you're going to listen to on the run,
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so you're not wasting any time scrolling through options or having to decide
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what you're going to listen to.
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One of the things I wait to do is start my day listening to Groat Day,
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and it's funny, guys, how much that grounds me.
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I don't even have to decide what the first thing I'm going to do.
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I just play it, and it's like, okay, by the time that's done,
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I'm usually a little bit more awake, coherent,
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and it's content that's going to motivate me.
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So find something like that.
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Maybe it's going to be for you.
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A chapter on an audio book is what you like to listen to first.
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I don't know what it is, but having some type of preloaded playlist
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or an idea of your head what you typically listen to is going to help.
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One weird quirky thing I have is for long runs,
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I have a different playlist than I do for other types of runs.
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So I like to listen to music for harder workouts,
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and I've got a playlist for that.
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So keep that in mind too, so you don't have to be making decisions.
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Number five is going to be automating some of your fuel orders,
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and I don't mean fuel for car.
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I mean fuel for you.
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So if you are a runner who does races and you have gels,
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you have bars, you have powders, just set it up for a schedule,
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so you don't even have to think about it,
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and you can't ever have an excuse that you didn't have the right nutrition.
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You don't have to rest off.
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You don't have to go take time out of your day to go to a store,
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get that stuff automated.
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Number six is going to be similar to that.
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Create yourself.
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This is a fun thing to do in the new year too.
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A spot in your house by the door,
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where it's your grab and go station.
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That's going to have your sunglasses,
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your headphones, your sunscreen, your shoes,
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and your socks, and your water bottle.
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Anything else you need regularly, maybe a headlamp,
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you can put there too,
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but that station is going to save you so much time,
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and when you get home, that's where your stuff goes.
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So you don't have to decide to take time later to organize your running stuff.
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It's just all in one place.
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Take time at the beginning of the year,
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or the beginning of the month to do that,
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and get a dedicated spot.
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It's also nice to do this in your car to have a designated spot,
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so you don't have to dig around for that either.
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All right, number seven is going to just be another really simple one.
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Schedule your run time.
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So we talked about putting it on your calendar,
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but this is getting into a little bit more details about what time that is.
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So choosing the consistent time,
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are you going to be an early morning runner?
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Are you going to be an afterwork runner?
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Are you going to be a during lunch runner?
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Decide that.
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This is not a decision you want to make every day,
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trying to decide, okay, I'm going to do my workout,
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my night, do it during the day, or at night.
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That's just going to take decision,
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fatigue up to another level,
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and we don't need to add anything onto that 35,000 decisions we're making.
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Next up is, I told you I use meal services.
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If you don't like that idea,
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play in your meals in advance,
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and use simple and recurring themes,
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you can have Monday be pasta night, Tuesday tacos, Wednesday stir fry,
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and then you can still rotate what it is,
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but at least you have a theme,
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and so it minimizes the amount of decisions that you have to make.
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So keep that in mind too,
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and it also is going to make sure that you stay fueled for your runs.
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All right, number 10 is adopting a post-run meal.
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So this would be having a go-to post-run snack or go-to meal,
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like a banana or a protein shake,
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that you're going to eat within 15 to 30 minutes post-run.
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That is your plan,
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and this keeps you from stressing over what to eat after your runs.
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If it's a cup of coffee and whatever it is,
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then you just stack that with it.
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Number 11, if you are a more serious runner,
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and you have a shoe rotation system, set it up.
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So if you're going to do it and you're going to run it in one
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a couple days a week, whatever it is,
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just write it on the calendar when you write down your schedule
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and you set up your days that you're going to run.
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Write down what shoes you're going to run,
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and then you don't have to make the decisions about that either.
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Number 11 is something that is another good thing to do
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with the new year, which is to declutter your gear.
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So go through your running stuff.
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We talked about really simplifying what you like.
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We should only be running in what we like, guys.
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Like don't be running in this stuff.
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Even if it was expensive, whatever, just donate it,
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recycle items that you don't use anymore.
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Fewer choices mean fewer decisions about what to wear,
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and less app that you're going to make an excuse and not do it.
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So take the time to declutter.
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If you get something new, use the one in one out rule.
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So if you get something new, you got to go through and get run
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on one thing.
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That's just going to declutter your mind and your life.
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All right, we talked a little bit about wear to run.
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So that also means planning out your running routes
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at the start of the week.
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So you can put that in an app.
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You can write it down.
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You can pre-pick if you want some more unique places,
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but that will definitely help.
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Another trick is to use the same warm-up routine
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every time you go.
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And that can also mean for cool down too.
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So pick a sequence that you enjoy, stick to it.
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And then you don't have to decide how to warm up or figure out,
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I don't think I'm ready to go.
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Again, these things are all minimizing excuses.
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Another way to cut down on decision fatigue is to join a running group.
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That will, then they're going to decide, right?
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They're going to decide the schedule throughout the pace.
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It's going to take all the planning and the decision
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making out of the equation.
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All you have to do is show up and enjoy the camaraderie.
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It's awesome.
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All right, so that is a lot of ways
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all very quickly to cut down on decision fatigue.
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We didn't discuss ways to like deal with hydration.
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I think that's another really simple one
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that I'll throw in really quick.
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It's having a water bottle with you cuts out on what you're going to drink.
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Like it's a right in front of you.
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So see how simple these are.
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I would love to hear more from you on different ways
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that you cut down on decision fatigue.
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But again, the goal is to cut down
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and all these unnecessary decisions give you more energy and focus
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for the things that matter.
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We want you to be lacing up your shoes and hitting the road.
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So if you enjoyed today's episode and took anything away from it,
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please enjoy subscribing, leaving a review or sharing it
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with another runner who might benefit from these tips as well.
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Thanks so much for tuning in.
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And happy new year.
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If you're listening at the beginning of the year,
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this is going to be a great year.
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This is 2025.
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And we're kicking it off with cutting out the decision fatigue
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to run stronger.
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Thanks for listening to the running after age 40 podcast.
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If you like the show, please be sure to rate
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and give us a like and iTunes.
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Also check out our website, www.runningwithgrid.com
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for all things related to running over the age of 40.
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We have a special gift guide for the holidays on the site.
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Designed to share, stocking stuff for ideas and gifts for runners
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at pretty much every price.
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Thanks for listening.