Anna Sitar: How to Build Running Confidence | Start Before You Feel Ready!

How do you actually build running confidence?

This week on The Runna Podcast, Coach Ben sat down with content creator, Anna Sitar, to discuss her journey from beginner runner to tackling marathon training for the World Major Marathon in New York back in November.

Anna didn’t grow up a ‘runner'. She started in the pool, signed up for a sprint triathlon on a whim, and soon found herself standing on the start line of her first marathon in Honolulu. What started as a goal to simply finish, became a deeper commitment to training, performance, and proving she was capable of more than she thought.

Ahead of her marathon in New York, Anna reflected on the importance of pushing herself to do hard things before she feels ready, and navigating doubt, discomfort, and running motivation along the way.

Highlights Include:
🧠 The Confidence Trap: Why you don’t need to feel ‘ready’ to start running
🏙 London Marathon Lessons: Surviving the ‘bonk’ and building resilience
🎯 Training for NYC: How to balance ambition, fear, and fun during marathon training

Whether you’re training for your first 5K or chasing big running goals, this episode is full of inspiration to keep you showing up, one run at a time.

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⏱️ Timestamps
00:00 Who is Anna Sitar?
01:10 Building confidence through sports
03:30 Swimming vs Running: Transferable skills
05:20 Recovering from ACL Injury & Zumba
07:30 Triathlon Training for beginners
09:50 Open-water swimming fears
12:30 Falling in love with running
14:45 Signing up for a marathon with zero experience
17:10 Honolulu Marathon: The first runner’s high
20:30 Intuitive training vs structured plans
23:00 London Marathon: Hitting the wall (The Bonk)
27:30 Running for fun vs performance
31:30 Managing Race Day Nerves & Ambition
35:00 Beginner Running Tips (What she wish she knew)
38:30 Running Motivation vs Discipline
41:00 Dream race & future running goals

#AnnaSitar #MarathonTraining #RunningMotivation #NYCMarathon #TheRunnaPodcast #RunningConfidence