Hi Everyone!

 

And now we get the rewards of having run through searingly hot and humid summer days. How good do the lower temps feel! I’m sure we’ll cycle around again a few times and then we’ll start complaining about the cold, but today feels … dare I say it … perfect!!!

 

One thing I’ve been thinking about and noticing lately is how much our mental engagement has a real physical effect. When we’re excited about an upcoming race or effort, we’re able to draw more out of ourselves and it doesn’t feel as hard to push or work towards our goals. When we’re not in that mental state, it’s harder to get the same effort out of ourselves. This is totally fine!!! Just don’t compare your efforts when you’re not training for something to efforts when you are. They will not match up. Your running will serve you for whatever phase you’re in. Let it. You’ll know when you need it to serve you differently. Let your goals come to you. At a certain point you might feel inspired to challenge yourself and go for something. Then your runs will take on purpose and excitement and energy, and you’ll be able to put up with a lot more. But you can’t fake it. And you can’t always be chasing a goal. Maintenance is a very comfortable and great place to be and complements a lot of what else we have going on in life. Just stay off comparing yourself from one phase to another. Comparison is the thief of joy – especially when we’re comparing ourselves to ourselves!

 

Ok, on to workout options for this week:

 

1. 4-5 x 800 w 2 min rest, 4 mins, then 1-2 sets of 4 x 200 w 1:15; 4 min bw sets (marathoners add an extra 800 and only 1 set of 200’s) – 800’s at 10K pace or slightly faster
2. The above but by time vs distance (I prefer this if you’re getting back into workouts and want to keep the head judgement part out of it): 5 x 3 min w 2 min rest, 4 min rest, 6-8 x 30 sec w 1 min rest
3. Hills! If you haven’t done Riverdale hill sprints in a while, I suggest these. So good for power and muscle building. Go glutes!
4. Workout of drills and strides. REALLY love this one, especially if you’re in maintenance phase. It’s what we should always do more of but don’t have the time/energy when we’re in hard training. Do it now – it will serve you well.
5. Tempo: 15-20 min tempo, 4 min easy, 2 x 5 min tempo w 2 min easy

Here’s the sign-up sheet – I’ll follow-up peoples’ leads as to when they’re working out but I will do Option 1. Just to let ya’ll know, the washrooms at Tim’s at L&L open at 6 (don’t forget your masks). It seems there are currently some construction port-o-potties on Carlaw – haven’t checked them out myself yet though so not sure how great.

 

 

Have fun!!!

 

Seanna

Hi Everyone!

 

My thoughts this week have been around the importance of taking breaks or shaking things up to avoid getting in a rut. I do think this has been one of the outfalls of not having races to train for (apart from those training for Boston or other big virtual races) – it’s easy to just keep plugging along and working hard with not a lot of variance from one week to the next. I have been thinking about how amazing it is that our mental state can have such an impact on our physical experience of energy. But it does. If you do become bored or mentally fatigued this can express itself physically. You’ll feel tired, unmotivated, and your runs might start to feel inexplicably harder.

 

The good news; it’s not too hard to reset. Options are: take a break, change your routine or routes, find a new fitness activity so you can “come back” to running. Or commit to a virtual race and take it seriously – with a training cycle, taper and down-time afterwards. Traveling and running in new places often shakes things up because when we return we have a new sense of appreciation for our old routes and routines. But we aren’t getting away as much these days, so the rut potential looms. I also find a change of seasons helps. But for better or worse, that won’t happen for a number of weeks yet, so best to find some other way to change things up.

 

Many of us started new routines in March with a lot of energy and motivation. It makes sense that these same routines might be getting a bit tired right now. So if you’re feeling this, take a week or two off. Don’t worry about losing fitness – what you gain in motivational and engagement energy will more than make up for it.

 

Workout options for this week:

 

1. 3-4 sets of 4 x400 with 100 jog and 400 jog btw the sets (Boston peeps I like this for you)
2. Hills! Any mix or match way of doing them that works for you
3. 2-3 sets of 4 x 200 w 100 jog between reps and 400 jog between sets (for those that want to mix things up)
4. Tempo: 20 minutes – slower than usual tempo – ease in and pick up the pace as you go

I am away so will attempt a mix of hills up here. Have a good one guys!

 

Seanna

 

Hi Everyone!

It’s funny – I always think I don’t have anything to write but then I think: I WAS contemplating something. What I’ve been thinking about this week is self-compassion. I’m not in regular contact with everyone one this list, but based on my sample set who I am more regularly in touch with, I would say we could all use a little more self-compassion.

We are used to being tough on ourselves and strict taskmasters. Let’s be honest – not that many people run marathons, train through the heat whether they have an upcoming race or not, get up at the crack of dawn in all types of weather to push themselves, while simultaneously working and being a support for others in their lives. Most of us in this group do these types of things, and we really do enjoy it. But the trick is to be able to get ourselves to do hard things, while maintaining an element of self-compassion. So many times I hear people being hard on themselves and disappointed in themselves, and I just want to wrap you all in a big hug and say “you are amazing! Be kind to yourself!”

I know many of us have unkind, judgmental inner voices which we direct at ourselves. I would love to be there to deflect these for you, but I’m probably not privy to at least 90% of them. We need to learn to treat ourselves as we would a good friend, or our kids when they’re struggling. Self-compassion doesn’t mean letting yourself off the hook – it means being on your own side. You can still be firm and demanding of yourself, but in a kind and supportive way. You would never get mad at a kid or friend if they failed at something. You would tell them you love them and remind them of all the great qualities they have and of all the times they’ve succeeded. Then, you would probably try to help set them up to achieve their goals next time. And that is exactly how we should try to talk to ourselves: include a good dose of self-love when setting out to do something, and maintain that love whether it goes as planned or not.

Please don’t forget to do that – for me. It will make me feel better because I think you’re all awesome, wonderful people who are doing your best and doing it well, and I love you!

 

Ok, onto workout options for this week:

1. 4×1000 with 2 min rec; 4 min rec; 4-5 x 400 w 1:30 rec (I’ll bring a cone for the 400 mark and leave it there until the last group is done. Each 1000 will look a bit different ie. 800/200, 600/400, 400/600, etc. Might be nice to mix it up that way)
2. Same-ish thing but fartlek style: 4 x 4 min Hard w 2 min easy, 4 min easy, 4-5 x 1:30 Hard w 1:30 easy (Note: this is a good one for water running as well – just halve the rest)
3. Tempo: 3 x 10 min tempo w 3 min easy + strides
4. Mix of hills! If doing Pottery try half your regular amount, then jog a couple km’s to Riverdale and do 3-4 of those. If in the Beach, do some longer then shorter ones. Keeps all those neuromuscular settings awake and firing!

 

Here is our form for meeting for workouts. Let ppl know what you’re doing so they can join. I’m floating back to early start times but not everyone is up for that and it’s ALWAYS easier with others!

 

Hi Everyone!

 

I’m not sure if everyone has experienced runs in the the real heat yet, but if you’ve somehow managed to dodge around the hottest days so far, you will get a taste of it over the next couple of months for sure. I had some toughies this weekend and it reminded me some important things about running in the heat which I thought I’d share with you.

 

First up, a quick lesson on what happens to your body when you exercise in the heat. As your body temperature starts to rise, your body immediately goes into action to cool it off to maintain a safe core temperature. Your blood vessels expand and blood is diverted to the skin and surface areas where cooling takes place through sweating and evaporation. This diversion of blood means there is less available to deliver oxygen to your working muscles. It also adds a strain to your heart as it tries to pump blood to all the areas asking for it at once. This makes running at any pace feel harder than it normally would. On top of this, our cooling system relies on sweating, and in the process we can lose a lot of fluid and start to become dehydrated which further stresses our system and perceived effort.

 

So the first thing I want you all to understand is that running in the heat really IS harder on your body, and your performance WILL suffer. It’s not in your head. There are real physiological changes which are making it feel like you’re running underwater or at high altitude with less oxygen. Your muscles are getting less than they normally do! So don’t look at your pace, assess your effort, and decide you’re out of shape or “having a bad one” and call it quits. It is supposed to feel this way if your body is doing what it’s supposed to be doing.

 

The second important point is that as humans, we are actually well adapted to running in the heat, and our bodies respond to the stress by making physiological adaptations. First, we start to produce more plasma, so that our blood can circulate more efficiently to our skin (for cooling), our hearts (for pumping) and our muscles (for fuel and oxygen consumption). Second, our core temperatures at rest and during exercise become lower, so we are able to take on more heat without danger. And finally, we become more efficient sweaters: we sweat earlier, to start our cooling process quickly, and our sweat itself changes in composition so we don’t lose as many precious electrolytes, but more expendable water.

 

The awesome news is that these adaptations make us more fit and better runners at all temperatures. Many athletes train in the heat specifically for the performance adaptations. So once you’re acclimatized your runs will feel soooo much better and when you run in the cooler fall temps you’ll have a superpower!

 

The not so great news: it takes about 1-2 weeks to get there. Meanwhile, your runs will feel harder than usual. What you need to do in this phase is remember that just getting out the door is training. Let go of pacing goals and go solely by effort. Cut your runs shorter if you have to, and slow down. It’s all fine, you’re getting the added boost of heat training (no, it’s not a metric for your log, but it IS real!)

 

Also a quick word on recovery. After a harder run or workout in the heat your body has to spend more energy on cooling itself down so there is less to spend on delivering nutrients to damaged muscles for repair. This doesn’t mean you won’t recover, it just means it will take more time. So respect that. If you’re feeling rough day after day, you may need to be adding a bit more recovery to your routine.

 

That is all – also enjoy it while we can – remember those absolutely horrible freezing cold runs? Let’s absorb as much heat into our bodies now because winter will come again!

 

Workouts for this week:

 

1. 4×3 min with 1:30 rest @20 sec per K faster than tempo pace. 4 min easy. 5-6×1:30 with 1 rest at 30 sec per K faster than tempo (adjust paces according to heat)
2. 6-10×3 min with 1:30 rest at 20 sec per K faster than tempo
3. 2 x 600 w 1:30 rest; 2 x 800 w 1:30 rest, 2 x 600 w 1:30 rest, option of 1 last 800 to finish.
4. Short Riverdale hills with 10 x squats at top, 10 x push-ups at bottom – SUCH a good one! Option to finish with 3-4 good flat strides.
5. Tempo: 3 x 6 min tempo w 2 min easy jog, 4 min easy, 6 x 1 min tempo (a bit faster) with 1 min rest

 

Have a good one!

 

Seanna