Paul Schmidt-Hellinger: Professional Runner, Aspiring Doctor, Family Man... How does that work?

Hey Paul, tell us a bit more about yourself and your history first.

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My name is Paul Schmidt-Hellinger, I am Professional Runner, Husband, Dad of 2 Children and also a Specialist Doctor for internal medicine with the additional title sports medicine and the qualifications nutritional medicine. I have been running as a sport in a club or professionally since 1997. It all started with a classic track and field career up to the U23 national team in the German Athletics Federation in cross country skiing and then slowly developed into road running with a best marathon time of 2:19 h, half marathon best time of just under 65 minutes and a German ultra running record of 50 km in 2:49 h.

How do you always manage to balance work, family and running?

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It isn't and wasn't always easy, of course, but I've always consistently driven my own mode, which worked best for me personally. Essentially Do I really focus exclusively on the things I want to do and have to do in a certain way and get rid of everything unnecessary.

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In life, I really focus exclusively on the things I want to do and have to do in a certain way and borrow everything unnecessary.

Paul Schmidt-Hellinger

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A decisive point in my life was an insight I gained in 2004. Back then, I had calculated that I would need about 3.5 hours of time to participate in track and field club training, including travel time and moving and so on. Basically, a few specific motor exercises and a 10km endurance run were done there. I didn't think twice and found it more relaxed back then to simply run 10 km “quickly” from time to time and incorporate the exercises into everyday life.

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Over the years, running has also become a means to an end for me, or in other words; the simplest and healthiest way to get from A to B. Today, 80% of my running training is either my commute Or taking care of our children taking a nap in a baby jogger. I believe that if more people would consistently abolish their cars, they would no longer have to worry about a certain number of steps or training time. The solution is often very close and simpler than you think.

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Personally, I even use my running time “twice” in a certain way. I not only train my physical performance, but I can even do something else with my head in parallel. Of course, this is not possible with the hard units, of which I actually do relatively few. That's when my favorite music helps me to motivate and pull myself through. But during most runs, I either clear my head or consciously use the time here again to focus on something, such as studying for exams, listening to and answering voice messages, or even making phone calls. For example, this blog here with Raphael from TRAIT was created during a run;).

Are you currently pursuing personal goals? In life, as in running?

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For me, running is almost one of my basic needs, such as eating and sleeping, i.e. that will always be a part of my life.

I set myself new goals from time to time. These days, in particular, they have to fit in with my general goals in life. I am currently in an intensive parenting phase with young children, where I am holding back the really big running goals a bit. But I keep fit and know from experience that the peak of performance on ultra-long distances often only occurs in the early 40s. I'm still thinking of maybe attacking again and achieving top performance.

Privately, I am currently striving for my second specialist in pulmonology and would also like to obtain the additional title of intensive care medicine. In the future, however, I am not the kind of person who wants to pursue a career as a doctor. I have set other priorities at some point in my life and can well imagine settling down as a doctor in the Berlin area in a few years and enjoying time with my family.

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Do you sometimes struggle with the fact that you are falling short of your options at career or sport level and think that you could or should have done more in certain areas?

In life, you always have to make a decision and I have these moments too, of course. Psychologically, I would describe this as a conflict of appeal and I also often wished that my day had significantly more than 24 hours.

But I've always very consciously built my life in such a way that it is based on many different pillars. If things just don't work that way on one pillar, then there are still the other pillars that you can lean on. Of course, this should not become a basic evasive tactic and I too am convinced that you always have to fight your way through one or the other unpleasant situation in order to maintain a certain balance. But in essence, my basic attitude has always been that I always have an alternative that I am happy about and from which I can gain fulfillment for myself instead of struggling with stagnation or disappointment.

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What would you like to give to people who want to start running but often have problems taking time to do it regularly or pick it up?

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So my absolute recommendation for anyone who doesn't work from home would be to use the Commute. It requires a certain initiative logistical change, which, once set up, works irrefutably, as you simply have to come back to work every day. At some point, you won't even think about it much longer. Depending on the situation, you can plan both the way there and back and effectively waste no time.

To all people who work from home, I would recommend looking for a similar mechanism. Simply tie running to a fixed and regular event. This can be a fixed lunch break that you fill with running or maybe even a meeting that you actively organize together with others.

From the point of view of motivation, things get a bit more complicated here, because a lunch break is quickly postponed, but a meeting is quickly held at a desk. I can only say that it can be extremely strong to find other running buddies or like-minded people with whom you make mandatory appointments. When effective training is added, i.e. the question of what exactly the right training would be on day X, the hurdle to picking yourself up and going for a run is only very small.

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What does “proper” training mean to you?

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That is a good question.

On the one hand, proper training means, of course, that you achieve your goal, i.e. the desired training effect. On the other hand, it is of course also important and “right” that you feel comfortable in your body most of the time and are not constantly too tired or exhausted.

In the end, both are relevant. One more in the short term, the other more in the long term. I can “go over” a bit in training in the short term and thus “force” stronger progress, but in the long term this will challenge me too much (physically or psychologically) and I will probably drop out completely at some point.

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