Hey Gang!

 

Congrats to all our racers this past weekend. In the Barrelman Half Ironman we had Mike Greenberg who came 1^st in his age group and 11^th overall, Carolyn Steele Gray who came 1^st in her age group and 9^th overall, Carol McFarlane who came 5^th in her age group and 30^th overall! Also, Anna D ran a 200 mile race!!! My brain doesn’t compute. Flippin phenomenal.

 

Another event that happened across the country this weekend, and which I know many of us participated in either by running, volunteering or donating, was the Terry Fox Run. I’ve been thinking about this run and its significance to Canadians. In particular I’ve been thinking about the name: Marathon of Hope. It’s not the Marathon of “Muscle Through” or the Marathon of “I know I can”. There is something about hope that keeps us striving and pushing and engaged in the effort.

 

I was listening to a podcast discussing this effect in distance running. The phenomenon when athletes are trying to come top 3 in a race to make a team, and in the key race, when it seems obvious to them that it won’t happen, it’s like a bear jumps on their back. The effort becomes way harder when hope vanishes. It’s not a case of giving up – it’s the deep algorithm in the brain that says “this is too hard if it’s hopeless”. When there is no hope the effort is untenable. The athletes who can convince themselves that it’s still possible, and don’t let go of that last shred of hope, are the ones who can push to the end and sometimes make miraculous comebacks. Because despite all odds and current evidence, you just really never know what will happen, and it could turn around. That is the power of hope.

 

Hope is not grit, and hope is not confidence. It is the belief that your efforts might make a difference. And it is so powerful. I got emotional running by all the Terry Fox runners and volunteers on Sunday. People do still have hope that we can have an impact on fighting cancer, and many of us are still trying. That’s what Terry set in motion 44 years ago. Hope is extremely powerful, but very ephemeral. It is hard to hold onto and is easily dashed. Luckily I think it is contagious. We can try to share it with each other to keep each other energized and engaged and trying our best. That’s what I saw out there on Sunday. Let’s try to keep it alive. For cancer research, for homelessness, for mental illness, for the climate, for social harmony, for individuals we know who are struggling, and for ourselves – even if it’s “just” a race outcome. It might all work out, or it might not. But only hope will keep us going.

 

On to tomorrow’s workout!

I think this is the last one we can do as a fartlek on the spit because of diminishing light. We may even need to start with a light, so bring one if you have one. Meet at Lakeshore and Leslie – 6:05 drills, 6:15 GO.

 

1. 6 min tempo, 2 min easy, 3 x 2 min faster w 90 sec easy. 3 min easy. Repeat. Then, option of one more 6 min section at either MP or a lil faster. I would suggest MP if you have a marathon coming up (Berlin, Chicago) and you want to practice nailing the pace. Toronto and CIM runners can choose.

 

2. If on a recovery week, if batteries need recharging, don’t do the last 6 min.

 

Remember, this is a longer workout. If coming from 4K or more away, you can consider driving down and warming up down there.

 

That is all – see you in the a.m.!

 

xo

 

Seanna

Hi Everyone!

 

Happy Back-to-School for those who celebrate! Funny how what used to seem like such a great relief when our kids were younger now feels more nostalgic as they get older. But regardless of whether you have kids or not or how old you are, Back-to-School does represent an energy shift. Let’s be gentle with ourselves and those around us as these  transitions can rev up our emotions. Give yourselves and those around you some time to adjust. We all will.

The other day my dad had yet another attempted “intervention” telling me that I run too much and it can’t be good for me. This was in response to me telling him how I’d run all across the city on the route we were currently driving. I really should introduce him to some other people on this list because I pale in comparison to many and am not a serial marathoner. However, we discussed how much more people run in general now than they used to. He remarked about how foreign this concept was in his father’s day. Absolutely no one ran. Then when my dad was a young adult, some people did, but it was still fairly fringe. Now it seems that everyone owns a pair of running shoes and even if they don’t call themselves “runners”, they do have familiarity with it and head out for the occasional jog. Or they go to the gym. I was struck the other day walking through my neighbourhood by how many gyms there are in the area. It is an odd concept when you think about it. If you were an alien trying to understand our species, it would be hard to come up with a theory as to why so many people expend so much energy, creating nothing at all.

 

There are psychological experiments where subjects are influenced to make certain decisions by forces they’re unaware of. When asked why they made the decision, they come up with clear answers which they believe, but which weren’t actually responsible for their actions at all. We tend to act, and then rationalize why we acted a certain way with a story that fits. I think it’s this way with exercise. We will come up with a reason as to why we do it, but most of us don’t really have a satisfactory answer because the reason is hidden deep within our cells. We evolved as a species which survives by moving. I explained to my dad that his father’s generation, and even his own, moved on average way more in every day life than most of us do today. They didn’t run because their deeply wired genetic instincts for movement for survival were satisfied. They were using their hearts, lungs and muscles enough that the alarm bells didn’t go off. But most of us in current times don’t. We don’t move for very long distances under our own power, or carry much weight from place to place, or use our bodies for survival in any way. This is good as it allows us to do so many more interesting and socially and intellectually important things. However, we haven’t changed our genetics and we are still animals. So as our lives have become more sedentary, more people have heard the deep call from within their cells and have started running and more gyms have popped up. This is not because people are more self-disciplined or better educated about the benefits than they used to be. Human behaviour doesn’t work that way. It is because we are following our instincts to move. We may tell ourselves and others it’s for a million different reasons. But in the end, I think we’re just living out what our programming is telling us to do. We think we’re a lot smarter than hamsters on a wheel, but that’s just storytelling – we all just playing out codes from millions of years of evolution.

 

On to tomorrow’s workout! We’re back to Lakeshore and Leslie – 6:05 drills, 6:15 GO!

 

About 8 weeks ago we did a benchmark workout of 800’s. For those who were just starting training blocks it was a little data point to see where we were starting off. Let’s repeat that workout to see where we are. For those doing later marathons (CIM), this will be our starter benchmark workout and we’ll do another check in in a few weeks.

 

1. 6-8 x 800 m w 1:30 rest. Take note of the times you ran last time (not paces – times). See if you can match or go a little faster this time. “Lasso 800’s” tend to be an indicator of what time you might potentially run a marathon (if you’re in marathon shape). So for example, if you average 3 minutes and 20 seconds for your 800’s, it indicates that you are in 3 hours and 20 minute marathon shape. No science behind it – just a weird correlation pattern discovered by Bart Yasso. However, we take less rest than the indicator workout suggests, so you could probably run a little faster. Although they tend to fit in the range for me.
2. If you are just working your way up in speed or not running a marathon, feel free to do 600’s instead of 800’s. OR do the lower range of 5-6 of them.

 

That is all – see you in the am!

 

xo

 

Seanna

 

Hi Everyone!

Congrats to Monica and Bob G who raced the TrackSmith 5K on Saturday, both breaking the 20 min mark! That was run under very humid conditions, so way to go guys. We’ve been battling through a lot of heat and humidity, and every now and then we get a break, and boy, you notice it! Whenever running feels so good with a cool break, I am always grateful for having trained through the hot bits – otherwise it wouldn’t feel like such an advantage when it gets cool. Just another reminder that we need the polarities in life.

What I’ve been thinking about this week is experience – and how we can undervalue it, but how much it counts for. It’s funny. We can look at data and metrics and potential and think: with these abilities, this person should be able to accomplish this. And sometimes they can and they do. But usually, not right off the bat. There is a reason why teams send young athletes to international and Olympic competitions when they likely won’t medal. It’s so that they can gain the experience they will need to become more successful later. Experience is not something that can be coached or read about to be learned. As the name implies – it has to be lived in order to be obtained. I often think about this when I coach. Athletes can follow a plan and become fitter and get faster. If there were some big, obvious gaps from where they were to what we’re adding, results will come. But often, what they really need is just some time and experience doing the thing. Understanding what it feels like to run at a certain effort for a certain amount of time, or what their bodies can do when they line up to race. These things aren’t given based on metrics. They take going through the process again and again in order to get better at it.

I’m currently helping to teach my teenager to drive. It’s an eye-opening (and mildly terrifying) experience. He’s read the books, taken the tests, watched others drive for many many hours. But he lacks practical experience – and the only way to get it is to do it. He is stronger and faster than me, has better eyesight than me, quicker reflexes, and is very motivated. But still…. he’s a way worse driver. Things that I thought were intuitive –like noticing break lights 5 cars ahead and starting to slow down – are obviously not, as he continues to accelerate towards the oncoming lurching stop. I’ve been driving for over 30 + years. I forget what I once didn’t know and forget that these things have to be experienced in order to be learned. He needs to spend time accumulating data through imperfect and sometimes perfect execution.

The same is true for runners. Every experience becomes a data point which informs us. Bad races are a data point. Good races are a data point. Training too hard, not getting enough sleep, running well rested, running in the heat, running in the cold, running after strength training, getting injured, running in a body that’s ageing… We are all continually learning and becoming more experienced. We are becoming experts at running in our bodies. None of this is intuitive. Every experienced runner will have to go through all of these things. Are we all becoming better runners? Depends what we mean by better. We’re not all getting faster, that’s just impossible after a certain point. But I do think that the more we do it, the better we get at understanding what brings out the best in us. If that’s a race result, the experience of joyful running, the ability to make running complement our lives… we’re getting better at all of that for sure. If you’re newer to this running thing, be patient with yourself. It takes time to figure it all out. Try to go into each experience with an open and curious mind, and try to embrace the good and the bad, the hard and the easy, because it is all just making you wiser and better.

 

On to tomorrow’s workout: we’re back to hills! Pottery Road for the Leslieville/Riverdale Crew, Glen Manor if you’re closer to the Beach. (unless you’re racing in the next week or two in which case I’ll give you your own workout – msg me if any q’s)

 

Pottery Rd hills – we meet anywhere between 6 and 6:30, and just start doing them when we get there – less formal meet up time.

Glen Manor hills – meet at the bottom of Glen Manor at 6:00 am.

 

The workout: back to sets of 1 full (400m), 1 half (200m), 4 min tempo. 2-3 sets. Note: 4 is a LOT. If after 3 you still have some mojo, you can add any combination for the end (ie. Just a full or half or tempo).

 

That is all – see some of you in the am!

 

xo

 

Seanna

 

Hi Everyone!

Hope everyone had a great long weekend. No races locally that I know of. Just of course the Olympics!! Some very inspirational stories happening there if you’re tuning in.

I came across this quote the other day and it spoke to me:

“Courage is knowing it might hurt, and doing it anyway. Stupidity is the same. And that’s why life is hard.” — Jeremy Goldberg

It’s funny because it’s true. I find myself often questioning whether something is hard and good or hard and dumb. Usually it’s only after the results are in that we discover which it was. There is so much upside and reward and growth in pushing and challenging ourselves. But we have to keep an eye on not letting that rule us or get out of control. There is also society’s judgement. We hear people saying “that’s crazy – why would you do that?” But the same activity will get someone else to say “you inspired me to believe I can do it to”. Which voices do we listen to? Endurance athletes are by choice doing hard things and pushing boundaries and comfort levels all the time. Is this courageous or stupid?

I think the answer lies in being able to accept nuance, gray areas and no hard rules. We have a tendency to want to know the formula. Just tell me exactly what to do, and I’ll be able to put my head down and do it. Give me the roadmap and I’ll follow it to success. I see this thinking in teenagers as they discover how the world works and who they want to be. The world is still black and white to them. It’s either hard work or laziness. You have to be either intense or chill. You’re either aggressive or a wimp. They haven’t learned yet that you have to embrace all the sides in order to maximize what you can do in life. And that is not easy because you have to keep evaluating every situation as you go. There is no one right answer or correct formula. You have to be ok with a little bit of unkown and trusting yourself and making mistakes.

I will draw here on a post I saw recently from coach and author Steve Magness:

Elite Performance (and I will add here, all high performance) is about balancing opposing forces:

1. Riding the wave of adaptation and exhaustion
2. Being meticulous without being neurotic
3. Caring deeply but being able to let go
4. Being aggressive without being destructive
5. Giving your all while being relaxed
6. Being confident without being arrogant

 

You can see how this is a challenge, and takes some deep confidence and knowing of yourself. It is about finding the harmony between push and pull. Again, this is not something that can be taught. It has to be experienced. I hear teenagers say things like “people who do X are Y” or “people who don’t do A are B”.  They like rules and boxes and labels. Nuance and the unpredictable are scary and confusing when you’re trying to figure out the world and your place in it. And I just sigh and think, it’s not that simple. In fact, it’s really really complex. But embracing the complexity is the only way through to success. So be gentle with yourselves when you get the balance wrong. I still do often as the field and goalposts are constantly shifting! And keep doing courageous and sometimes stupid things.

 

On to tomorrow’s workout. Let’s do a fartlek on the spit! (I’ll be doing mine virtually alongside you as I’m away AGAIN, but will be back next week). Meet at Lakeshore and Leslie at 6:05 for drills, 6:15 GO. (jog to the lights beyond the streetcar barn to start).

 

1. 6-5-4-3-2-1 min Hard w half the time as rest (so 3 min, 2:30, 2 min, 90 sec, 1 min). Starting at goal marathon pace for the 6 min, then HM for the 5, then 10K, 5K, and hold there or faster for the 2 and 1 mins. Take 3 min rest. Marathoners, finish w another 6 min at MP. People doing tri’s or the TrackSmith 5K, finish with another 3 x 1 min on, 1 min off.

 

Have a great one and I’ll see you next week!

 

xo

 

Seanna

Hi Everyone!

 

Congrats to Pearce who ran the Rev n Run 5K on the weekend finishing first in his age group with a PB time of 16:36! And last week I’d missed that Miguel had completed his first ever triathlon – way to go Miguel! And Bob raced the TTF 10K (and I can’t find the results now, but I know it was a solid one!) Great job everyone.

 

This week we have a guest post by Cheryl Whittam (thank-you Cheryl!)

Setbacks

 

“Setbacks are just a setup for a comeback” ~ Shalane Flanagan.

 

Recently a very unexpected medical situation completely derailed my training for the Berlin Marathon.  What I thought was a simple stomach bug turned into complicated appendicitis, hospitalizing me for a week of IV antibiotic treatment, and now I am awaiting surgery.

 

Needless to say I am heartbroken as Berlin was a dream race for me.  As I am sitting on the sidelines waiting to get back to running, I am finding the following principles helpful in processing this unfortunate setback:

 

1. Patience:As runners, this can be a tough one.  I recently learned that before Shalane Flanagan won the 2017 NYC Marathon, she had a major injury that set back her training.  In an interview with Forbes magazine in September 2018, Shalane said that the injury gave her mind and body the rest she needed and fueled her to come back stronger.  I found this information very comforting as I am trying to cultivate my own patience during this time.

 

2. Persistence:  Building back endurance takes time and can be extremely frustrating. During this difficult time, I have been trying to remind myself to run (or walk right now) the mile I am in. Ryan Hall in his book Run the Mile You are In, talks about the fact that “when you give all you have to a goal or a pursuit, it’s normal to feel an overwhelming sense of disappointment when it does not happen.  But it’s important not to get stuck there.  In this moment of pain, you need to take a hard look at your life and change your goal to something within your control”.  As I await my surgery, I have changed my goal to going for a walk or getting on my Peloton bike each and every day.  This is helping me keep both my body and mind healthy and moving towards healing.

 

3. Perspective:Running is such a big part of my part of my life.  It brings me so much joy and it’s something I want to be able to do for a very long time.  However, I keep reminding myself that I only get one body and there will always be another marathon.  I also have two young boys, and want to stay healthy and well for them for as long as possible. In addition, recognizing that this setback is only temporary (and not catastrophic) has allowed me to maintain perspective on this situation.

 

On some days it is easier than others to remind myself of these principles.  I am still very disappointed that I won’t be able to run through the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin on September 29, 2024.  However I thought I would share these principles in the hope that someone else might find these helpful no matter what type of setback (running or otherwise) they may be facing.  I look forward returning to running with the LES crew once I am cleared.  You are all my type of people :).

 

Long may you run,

Cheryl

 

 

Thank you Cheryl for finding some optimism and gratitude in a trying time and sharing it with the rest of us. I know many of us need reminding of this more than you’d think. Get well soon – we are here for you when you come back!

 

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

I am away, Brianna is away, Kerry is away and Tanis is away. So whoever can and wants to take charge and get everyone going – please do!

1. For those building strength and volume for longer distance stuff: 1 mile @ tempo, 2 min rest, 800m @ 10K, 1:30 rest (or jog to 600m mark), 600m @ 5K pace. 3 min rest. Repeat.

For those who are doing a later season Olympic distance tri  or still training for shorter distances with a bit more pep, the second set is 800-600-200.

2. If traveling and going by time: 6 min tempo, 2 min easy, 3 min @ 10K, 1:30 easy, 2 min @ 5K, 3 min easy – repeat. OR make the second set 3 min, 2 min, 30 sec.

 

That is all – have a great one and see y’all soon!

 

xo

 

Seanna