Ingrid Kristiansen: 'I want to be an antidote to the training hysteria'

I have to admit, my heart warmed a little when I spotted her in the streets the other day. There's something about that calm gaze, that particular sense of peace that only someone who has won it all, yet lost a bit of themselves along the way, possesses. Ingrid Kristiansen. For many of us who grew up in the eighties, she's more than a former runner. She's the very symbol of the Norwegian will to suffer, the one who would run from Moscow to London without batting an eyelid.

Now she's back in the public eye, and I have to say, the message she's bringing hits the nail right on the head. Because this isn't about chasing new personal bests or dissecting your resting heart rate down to the last decimal point. Instead, Ingrid Kristiansen is positioning herself as a clear counterbalance to what she calls "training hysteria." And let me say this straight up: it's about bloody time.

I've followed Norwegian sport for years, and I've never seen a sharper divide between those who train to live, and those who live to train. Especially in the running scene here in Norway, a culture has grown over the last few years that sometimes feels more like chasing a career than enjoying a hobby. Heart-rate monitors beeping, algorithms dictating your rest week, and that underlying performance anxiety lurking behind every single set of activewear.

Ingrid Kristiansen knows what she's talking about. When she set the world record in the marathon in 1985, it was with a pain threshold most of us can barely imagine. But she's also felt the other side of the coin. In a candid moment, she's previously spoken about the feeling of being misrepresented, of being reduced to just a machine that churned out races. Maybe that's why she comes across as so genuine today. She's been right up there and realised that it's not necessarily where most of us should be striving to go.

Let joy take the lead

It's easy to get swept up when the whole Instagram scene is shouting "just do it!" and showing off perfectly timed interval sessions at sunset. But what Ingrid Kristiansen reminds us of is something as simple as this: exercise should be a source of energy, not a source of stress. She talks about listening to your body, not just the watch. About daring to take a day off without feeling guilty. About remembering that we started running because it gave us freedom, not because it was meant to be another line on our CV.

To be perfectly honest, I think this message hits even harder because it's coming from her. If it were anyone else, you could dismiss it as whinging from someone who can't keep up. But Ingrid Kristiansen has credibility. She owns the world record. She can afford to say "enough is enough" without anyone accusing her of being lazy.

• Listen to your body: Are you sore anywhere? Are you tired? Maybe the smartest thing you can do today is go for a gentle walk, not push yourself through a session.
• Ditch the heart-rate monitor sometimes: Get a feel for what it's like to run without being measured. It can be an incredibly liberating experience.
• Remember why you started: For most of us, it's about health, well-being, and feeling the wind in your hair. Don't let it become another demanding job.

There's something refreshing about the way she conveys this. She doesn't come across as a moralist pointing a finger, but as an older, wiser sister who's seen it all. She doesn't want us to stop running. She just wants us to stop ruining the joy of running.

A voice we need

In a time when young people struggle to find balance, and when more are dropping out of sport because it's become too "serious," a voice like Ingrid Kristiansen's is worth its weight in gold. She represents what's genuine, what's down-to-earth. She reminds us that behind all the records and all the titles, there's a person who also felt the pressure, who also knew what it was like to be on the outer when the shoes had to be put on the shelf.

So next time you tie your laces and feel that anxiety about not performing well enough creep in, think about what the marathon queen herself says. It's okay to take it easy. It's okay to enjoy yourself. And it's okay to be an antidote, even if the whole world around you seems to have forgotten that.