Jamie Ramsay On Mental Health & Running

The wonderful thing about running in the wilderness is that the pressures that come with it are also the driving force that makes you return. If you successfully complete a run adventure, you want to get out there again and see what else you’re capable of. If things don’t go to plan, you stop, reflect and then retry until you reach where you want to be. And sometimes, that might be somewhere completely different to where you intended to be in the first place.  

I think that running takes on a different significance for everyone. For me, it’s my passion, my challenge and my livelihood. Pushing yourself to new levels can be exhausting and sometimes you need to back away to recharge - but not working toward my next goal is as equally challenging for me. The exhilaration of wild running is the fuel that powers all other parts of my life. 

Adventure was, and continues to be, the tool I use to navigate my way through the daily struggles of life. When you're out in nature, you have purpose, routine, and objectives. These are the kind of things I try to factor into my every day. A life without purpose is very hard for me to deal with - I need direction, or I stagnate.  

I’m one of those lucky people who loves running on a treadmill with my headphones or exploring the great outdoors. It’s the constant, melodic repetition gives me a calm that I can’t find anywhere else. I don’t think I’ve ever been for a run and not finished feeling better, both physically and mentally.  

I like the whole routine of lacing up my shoes and not knowing how far I’m going to run. Normally, it's how I feel and what my mental state is that determines how far I go, unless I’m training for something in particular. I try not to put any parameters or pressures on my runs, as that helps remove any chance of feeling like I haven’t done enough. For me, the best runs are in the middle of nowhere, when you stop every few km and work out where to run next. Before you know it, you’ve run further for longer than you intended in the first place! 

It can be hard to take that first stride in running, but I remind myself that running reduces my stress, boosts my mood, improves my sleep and physical health. If that isn’t an incentive, then I don’t know what is! 

For me, there’s something beautifully simple about a running adventure. I know where I’m starting, where I have to get to, and all I have to focus on is running as far as I can each day to get there. I enjoy running into the unknown, and the constant of not knowing keeps me fully engaged in the adventure. 

The biggest lesson I learnt from my 17,000 km adventure through the Americas was never set yourself a daily target. If you set yourself a target of 40 km a day, you could either push yourself too hard or limit what you’re truly capable of. I always say that the first 50km are fine but it’s the extra km that give me a sense of achievement and fulfilment. My best continuous run was 1575km in 28 days with no rest.  

To prepare for longer adventures, I train to be able to run when I’m tired, cold, dehydrated, with niggles or even a stone in my shoe. Having an idea of how I will react to those situations before allows me to be both mentally and physically prepared for the adventure. Before I ran the Cape Wrath Ultra, I went to Mallorca to run 120km over 3 days, just so I could train myself mentally for the challenges ahead. Knowing how I might react mentally is one of my most powerful tools.  

I’ve had so many setbacks on my adventures, including rolling my ankle of day 4 of the Cape Wrath Ultra, my shoulder straps snapping while running the UK Three Peaks solo and unsupported, extreme weather when in Iceland, and even peeing blood while running through Nicaragua. Every time I overcame one of these setbacks it gave me more confidence to overcome anything that presents itself in the future.

I tell myself that obstacles and setbacks will happen on straightforward runs or big adventures. How I deal with them forms parts of my own journey as a runner. A great quote I once read was “a defeat is only a loss when you give up”. That definitely rings true in the world of adventure running. 

In terms of running goals, participating has been an incredibly useful tool for me. Surrounding myself with people who are setting themselves similar targets only helps me learn and grow through other’s experiences. Some of my best runs was with The Running Community. Especially in the trail running world, community is a truly special place (just watch all the social media around trail racing in Mont Blanc!). If you don’t want to race, then there are also great running festivals where runners of all levels congregate just to revel in the wonder that is running. 

If running is your escape and you have no ambitions for PBs or medals, sticking to simple runs can be just as beneficial. Running can be a very personal, and whatever the distance, a useful tool all by itself. 

For additional motivation, you could look at communities like Earth Runs and turn your daily miles into trees, thereby making your efforts beneficial for the environment, too!