Hi Everyone!

Huge congrats to those who ran the Holly Jolly 5K! Colette and fam, Michelle Pitman (trains w us virtually) and son, Monica and Jeff! Some fast times and such a fun, festive, feel good event. Put it in your calendars for next year – I am!

I’m now in taper mode for a marathon coming up in a week and a half. I ran this marathon 24 years ago. There are so many differences in how I’m training and showing up at 49 vs 25 years old. I’ve been reflecting on some of these. One of the biggest differences is the amount of gratitude I bring now, for just being able to do it. Back then I took so much for granted. I had endless amounts of time ahead of me, so nothing felt too precious. I didn’t feel grateful for being where I was – I expected to be there and I expected results. Back then, when I would get injured, I’d view it as a huge annoyance and inconvenience, and I would almost feel irritated at my body for not allowing me to push it as hard as I wanted.

24 years ago, many of my friends were runners (that hasn’t changed). But back then, we were all young and expected to be able to run hard forever. We hadn’t really come face to face with the fragility of the human body, and we expected and assumed that every year we would become faster and stronger and better runners. We were reckless and hungry and demanding. Gratitude was not something that ever crossed our minds. We deserved everything.

Today I’m racing with way more appreciation and thankfulness for what I’m able to do, and the understanding that I can’t take anything for granted. Nowadays I work with my body, not in spite of my body, and am grateful every day that I can train hard and feel good doing it. I have seen friends and training partners not make it to the start line. I’ve seen life circumstances, accidents and physical limitations sideline people in my circle. I guess it’s one of those times where the longer you’re around, the more you see. But I’ve seen enough to know that I don’t take one day that I can do this for granted anymore. I don’t feel like I deserve any of the running days or race experiences that I have. I feel like they are gifts. And that is the attitude that I have going into this marathon almost a quarter of a century later – I am so full of gratitude for the training I’ve enjoyed and for the ability to be able to line up and race a marathon. This time, I will let go of performance demands and I will run with that sense of gratitude at the front of my mind. For my training partners who are there with me, for those who are cheering from home, for the ability to express myself in doing what I love. Who says you can’t teach an old dog new tricks?

On to tomorrow’s workout – Lakeshore and Leslie – 6:05 Drills, 6:15 GO!

1. Anyone racing an upcoming marathon or who wants to do a benchmark workout before a build: 8 x 800 w 1:45 rest. Usually these land somewhere between 8K-10K pace. Try to keep them even paced.
2. Anyone not racing, 5-7 of these is a great range.
3. If your pace for these is not faster than 4:45/K, do 600’s instead. That is the correct effort for the same amount of time. Try to get your pace per interval down before extending them out too much at this effort.

That is all – see you in the am!

xo

Seanna

Hi Everyone!

Pretty sure there were no races last weekend. Lots of good training and more beautiful weather though! It’s getting cool and dark, so don’t forget to wear your lights!! (and your gloves – brrrr…)

As my personal training ramps up and becomes more focused, I’ve been thinking about what it takes to be successful when we have a big goal. I think that part of what it takes is a degree of self-focus. I was going to call it selfishness, but it’s not that. It’s not self-focus at the expense of other people. But it is looking at the big picture, including our goals and objectives, and figuring out how to commit to those fully. I think most of us are very used to putting other people and other peoples’ priorities ahead of our own. In fact we’re so used to it that we don’t even know we’re doing it. When we receive multiple demands on our time and energy, we figure out how to compromise so that we’re doing our best not to let anyone down. But sometimes that can leave our goals at the bottom of the priority list, and we’re not sure why we’re struggling.

Some examples of what will always help us achieve our goals: good overall general sleep, good nutrition going into a workout, good nutrition during a workout, good nutrition after a workout, positive vibes and mental space during a workout, a nap after a hard workout, if not a nap, the space to mentally and physically fully come down and recover after a hard workout. We can get in the mindset where just doing the workout feels like taking enough time for ourselves, and all the other stuff is nice if it happens, but not a priority. When I’m just training to train, that’s how I govern my life and it works. But when I’m training to compete, I create more space for the other stuff. And that means saying no to some things. I’m really not very productive during the day after long/hard runs, and I’ve let those expectations go for now. If a group run is too early for me, I will bow out, even though I love the social time. I just know I need the sleep. I grocery shop A LOT instead of just winging it and getting by on whatever food is available. I don’t leave the last banana because someone else might want it. I no longer don’t eat the food that other people in the house like because I’m saving it for them. I include my needs in with those of my household. Imagine! It’s funny that the shift I’ve made to be able to do this is not to think “I like it so I should have it”, it’s “I care about my training goals so I should have it”. Like many people, I’m pretty fine with going with less or without if everyone else is happy, because it’s just easier. But I can become savagely protective about my goals when I’m working towards them. I mean, otherwise, you’re not really working towards them are you?

So, call it selfish if you like. Again, I prefer self-focused. But when you’re putting everything you have towards something (and it doesn’t happen all the time), you can and should be putting yourself first in order to make it happen. It’s a healthy perspective and one which I also think is good to model. We don’t have to be martyrs and we shouldn’t have to suffer because we care about other people. It’s ok to sit out the family hike the day of a hard workout, or to say no to your buddy who has to workout at a time that doesn’t suit you, or to cocoon a little bit socially when you’re in “the zone” or to include massages and physio appointments as part of your weekly schedule. As I told my daughter, for whom I am trying to model putting her needs at least on the same level as other peoples’: “No is a full sentence”. (She had been asked to babysit late on the same day they wanted her and she was exhausted but didn’t have an “excuse”. I told her she didn’t need one and could just say “sorry, I can’t”). It was revelatory to her that she could consider her needs equally to someone who “needed” her. I realized I hadn’t modeled that very well. So go ahead and put yourselves first when you need to. It’ll shift back when you don’t have big goals, but while you do, why not give them the respect they deserve?

On to tomorrow’s workout – Hills! But shorter hills. We’ll do Riverdale hills vs Pottery (200m vs 400m).

Let’s do 2-3 sets of 3 x hill followed by 1K loop (Riverdale crew does the block from Broadview to Logan along Riverdale and Withrow). This is designed to be a little less “grindy” than the long hills + tempo. A lil peppier to complement people doing long work on the weekend. Also Boston people who want/need hill training and wouldn’t mind mixing up the stimulus. I’ll aim to be there (Riverdale clubhouse) around 6:10/6:15.

xo

Seanna

Hi Everyone!

Huge congrats to Mike Greenberg who competed at the Ironman World Championships in Kona Hawaii!!! Mike had an awesome swim and bike but was hampered in the run by an injury. So awesome to be there and go for it! And congrats to Cheryl, Karen and Adam (and Seb) who all ran the Day of the Dead 9K (Cheryl in full costume) and came 6^th, 3^rd and 2^nd in their age groups respectively! Way to go crew.

I had an experience this past weekend which made me appreciate the value of belief. I had written an ambitious workout for myself and a crew I’m training. I’d never done this workout before, and wasn’t sure how it would feel or whether it was possible. So I gave us a range. It turned out I had to do it later than most because of other commitments, but I could see their updates coming in, and could see that they’d all nailed it. So when it was my turn, I knew it was possible. Halfway through the workout I had serious doubts, and wondered if it was too much, but then I thought about my teammates and that gave me not only the confidence, but the belief that it was do-able.

I had the realization that if no one had gone before me, I would have had way more questions and doubts. I think this is one key as to why performances and records keep getting broken. So much of what we are capable of doing is limited or unblocked by what we believe we are capable of. I think this is the reason we see teams or training partners getting faster together. I also think it’s a super power for twins (I know a large number of twins who mostly happen to be very good athletes). You see one doing something and you KNOW you are capable of the same. And each person is pulled up to the other one’s best day.

We have witnessed a large number of running world records go down in the last little while. The women’s marathon record was shattered in Chicago, and the men’s half marathon record was just broken this past weekend in Valencia. There might be a number of reasons as to why and how these athletes are running so fast now, but one big one is that they believe they can. And every time a mark is set, everyone else learns that it is possible.

This doesn’t mean we should expect ourselves to be able to replicate other peoples’ marks or feats. That is not how to train or to live. But when someone leads the way or breaks a barrier, it can help remove the barrier in front of us as well. I am so grateful for all those who go before me and show me what is possible. It is risky, and doesn’t always pan out, but when it does, we all win.

On to tomorrow’s workout! Lakeshore and Leslie – 6:05 Drills, 6:15 GO!

Let’s do some straight up miles. 4-5 of them with 90 sec rest. Let’s start at tempo for the first one and work them down if feeling good.

If your pace for these is over 5 min/km, consider doing 1200’s instead. Otherwise you will be running a lot more time at that effort. I will bring a cone.

That is all – see you in the am!

xo

Seanna

Hi Everyone!

Happy Thanksgiving to all!  As I hope you all know, I am so grateful for this crew!  Some awesome results from the weekend. In Chicago we had Roz Salter and Leigh Anne Jacques who both ran PB’s and BQ’s!!! Then in Nova Scotia, Amy and Sam both ran stellar Half Marathons –Amy’s in the middle of a big marathon training build, and Sam’s after the Berlin Marathon! Very inspiring.

What I’ve been thinking about this week is limits. We all have them in all areas in life; real or imagined, self-imposed or inescapable, moveable or impossible to get past. In training, our goal is to discover these limits, and see if we can either shift them or work within them. This is rewarding because it requires curiosity, self-discovery, adaptability and strength of will. I think some people are wired to this way of thinking. At least one of my kids definitely is. There has never been a limit presented to him that he hasn’t had to push and test again and again. Usually the limit moves. Sometimes it doesn’t and that leads to tough consequences. This is not a mellow way to go through life, but I guess those of us doing what we’re doing are not signing up for mellow.

Testing limits is a risk and can come with potential damage. When we’re driven to find limits, we can ignore the little signs that tell us we’re getting close. We want to bump right up against the hard limit, otherwise we feel we haven’t really reached it. This way of behaving can lead to great success or total catastrophe. Luckily, with practice, we can learn to listen to the signals that tell us we’re getting close. This takes wisdom and discipline (two things, unfortunately, that my teenager hasn’t yet mastered). In training, we tend to think “more is always better” because it makes logical sense. However, it’s only absorbable work that counts. Absorbable means it’s the right amount of stress so that our bodies can say “ok, that was hard, let’s get stronger so we can deal with it better next time” – and then has the resources (sleep, food, relaxed state) to rebuild. There are many factors which can bring this formula from being just under the limit to over the limit. We know them: sleep, fuel, stress, previous load you’re carrying, mental state, hormonal state, motivation… these things all define our limits and they are all in flux all the time.

So what are we to do? Continue striving, searching, and testing. That is fun and rewarding and leads to growth. But without the recklessness of teenagers. Let’s do it wisely, listening to the signals and trusting ourselves over the inner voice saying “more, more, more”. That voice is a hungry ghost which will never be satisfied and it’s not working in our own self-interest. Let’s explore our limits, but with the discipline of not self-destructing in the process. And we’ll be self-compassionate and supportive of each other when we do go over – we all will at some point. That is part of the learning. Onwards!

Tomorrow’s workout will be back at Lakeshore and Leslie: 6:05 drills, 6:15 GO!

1. Straight up 600’s. 1:15 rest (not too long so we don’t go too fast). 6-8 of them depending on where you are in your build/ recovery. I would go to 10 for those of us training for CIM except that it’s a recovery week (limits!) If anyone not on a recovery week wants to try for 10, go for it.

That is all – see you in the am!

xo

Seanna

Hi Everyone!

Wow – where to begin on this past weekend. Let’s start with Berlin: Elizabeth (PB, BQ!), Samantha (PB, BQ!) and Eleanor (BQ!) all had amazing races. It’s rare that a marathon day comes together for everyone – I think the positive team energy helped for sure! In the Night 10K, Karen and Adam Nicklin braved running a dark and what sounds like an endlessly hilly route – way to go guys. And in the Oakville Half, Jason and Zoë both ran very solid marathon-prep races. Great job everyone!

What I’ve been thinking about lately is about how inspiring many of this crew and my training buddies are in terms of getting shit done and making things happen. I think we might take for granted that if someone signs up for a goal 12 weeks out that they’ll have the motivation and grit to follow through. But this is not easy and it is actually not in everyone’s character to stick doggedly to something when it gets hard or other life events come up.

I am in a position in coaching where I can see a lot of different patterns in how people run their lives. I can see different arrangements and big pictures and it is an interesting observational vantage point. Many of the young people I coach tend to say they have goals and want to do well, but somehow life often gets in the way of training, and there are lots of (often very valid) reasons why they couldn’t get to training or had to cut it short. As a coach I can’t argue with why they couldn’t make it – they are running their own lives. But I juxtapose that with so many of my LES crew and training partners. This crew is made up of people who I would describe as “high achievers”, and so it is no surprise that they have the mindset of removing barriers and getting things done. They also often have very valid reasons for not getting training in, but somehow they mostly still get it done. I have seen people plan out sleep overs for their kids on a weeknight so they could make early morning workouts, run around their block a million times so they could be close to home in case the kids need them, wake up at insane hours to get their long runs in, do their 30K runs on hot, hilly, buggy cottage roads because it’s that or nothing, and continually look ahead, foresee the oncoming obstacles, and plan around them. I don’t think people who do this are more obsessed with running than anyone else – I think they’ve just figured out how to navigate their lives so they’re not full of road blocks and excuses. It occurred to me that this way of thinking is probably why these people are high achievers in many areas in life. It also occurred to me that if young people are taught to think this way, it could serve them far beyond just running.

I do understand that training is a privilege, and not everyone is in a position to take it on. Those of us who train are not struggling for calories. We have “some” time in the day. We have the financial resources to be able to ‘enjoy’ self-imposed hard things. But that doesn’t mean it’s easy. And it doesn’t mean we’re not making sacrifices and often struggling to make it work. For those of us lucky enough to take on these goals, there are still many obstacles, detours and set-backs. And I have the privilege of watching those of you who don’t just roll over and curl into the fetal position (as much as we feel like it some days!) but who move mountains to get shit done. Thank-you for that inspiration. As a coach, I will try to inspire others in the same way.

On to tomorrow’s workout! Back to Hills!

1. People running Chicago or Toronto, I’ve given you a different workout in your plans. 4-5 x 1 mile w 90 sec rest. Start at HM pace and if feeling good, can get down to 10K pace.
2. People running CIM or other later marathon (even base training for Boston), let’s do a solid but possibly less intense version of hills + tempo: 2 x full hill followed by 6 min @ marathon pace (not tempo!) Repeat 3 times. This will give us some solid grindiness in our legs which should complement the bigger miles we’re doing a little better.

I will aim to be at Pottery around 6:15. Beach crew coordinate for Glen Manor as you do.

Have a great one and see you soon!

xo

Seanna