Tuesday, July 9, 2024 – Racing as meditation

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Hi Everyone!

Huge congrats to everyone who raced the Muskoka 70.3 Ironman!  Jon McCrea who came top 10 in his age group in a big PB, Carolyn Steele Gray who came 7th in her age group – not sure if it was a PB but looked like a very fast time. And Jason Jacobs who sustained a running injury before the race, but did the swim and the bike anyway. Great perseverance. Oh – good thing I just looked up results – and Mike Greenberg who came 13th overall and 1st in his age group! Way to go crew!

Lately I’ve been thinking about races, and where and how they fit into hectic schedules and busy lives. I think we can often get caught thinking, “I’ll do it when space opens up” or “I don’t have any bandwidth for that right now”. Entering and doing a race can feel like a big undertaking, and when your head and life are swimming with too many other things, it can just feel like more than you want to take on. The start of summer is a good example of hectic schedules, new routines, different obligations popping up. I have felt this way over the last couple of weeks. Like my head has been full and I don’t even know where to start with certain projects and I’ve potentially taken on too much in some areas … And then I went to run a track race.

As soon as I arrived at the track, like magic, everything other than running melted far into the background. Everyone at races wants to support you and wants you to do well. Everyone’s expectations of you are exactly the same: go run a race. No more, no less. My mind and body go into automatic pilot. I know exactly what to do and when to do it. For the next 2 hours, I am in the zen mode of the racing bubble, and no other worries or problems rise to the surface or concern me. It’s not what many people would call the most relaxing or even pleasurable experience. There is some pre-race anxiety, there is the intensity (pain?) of racing, there is the mixed emotions of deciphering your time and effort after the race. But there is also the euphoria and release and camaraderie at the end, and the feeling or rather knowing that everything is as it should be, and everything will be ok.

There is an old Zen saying: “You should sit in meditation for 20 minutes a day. Unless you’re too busy, then you should sit for an hour.” Maybe we should make a similar rule for running: “You don’t have to race if you don’t want to. Unless you’re too busy and stressed out to race. Then, you should definitely race”. It makes sense when you experience it.

On to tomorrow’s workout: Back to hills!

I’m away so you’re all on your own for this one. Beach crew, coordinate w Tanis, Leslieville/Riverdale crew, meet at Pottery when it works for you and just roll into ‘em!

 

Let’s go back to the most recent favourite of: 1 long (400 m), 1 short (200 m), and 4 min tempo. Soon we’ll get back to some straight up long hills with no tempo and I don’t want any mutinees! Just warning… But for now let’s stick with these. The variety seems to elicit more intensity, so when we get back to straight up long hills we’ll have to go back to steady-eddy. 3 sets of these seems like a good number – if feeling great, 4 is max.

 

That is all – I won’t see you so have a great one!

 

xo

 

Seanna

 

 

Tuesday, July 2, 2024 – Appreciating our health

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Hi Everyone!

Happy Canada Day and Happy Pride! I kind of like how we celebrate both of those things together – incorporating the values of Pride with the values of our country feels important. And let’s be honest – it makes the celebration way more fun. Congrats to everyone who raced this weekend! At the Ontario Masters Club Championships (AO’s), Pearce came first in the “true” masters of over-40 and silver overall in the 5K on the track in a new PB of 16:38! At the Pride 5K, we had Bob, Anna, Jeff (sub-19) and Graeme (20:35). Way to go everyone!

What I’ve been thinking about this week has been health. Specifically physical health. Back in December, I pulled a hamstring fairly significantly, to the point where I could hobble, but not run with full flexion or extension of my leg. I finally rehabbed it up to being just about stable, when I threw my back out, and was reduced to less than hobbling – there were a few days in there where I could only take one small shaky step at a time, and maxed out at about 5 before I had to sit down. There were a few moments there where I thought “I don’t even care if I can never run fast again – I just want to be able to run!” My first few shaky runs back involved little steps and some pain, but I was so grateful to be moving. At that point I thought “I can’t even imagine trusting my body enough to run as hard as I physically can”. I didn’t care what time that effort or feeling resulted in – I just wanted to be able to move my body in the way that made it feel fluid and fast. 6 months later I have managed to get back to that state. I have run two 1500 meter races where the training and racing have allowed me to run as fast as I can, with the only limitations being my training and ability. I am a few seconds slower than I was last year (I’m taking one more crack at it, so I might get closer), but my big victory is that I’ve been able to bring my sense of gratitude and appreciation of what my body is allowing me to do, in my workouts and races. In February I never would have believed that I’d be able to get back to putting a full effort into my body while running. So that is what I am focusing on: the feeling, not the times.

Most of us have been through health challenges, and likely almost all of us will go through various health challenges in the future. Some will be more serious or last longer than others. I’m not saying this to be a bummer, but just as a reminder to appreciate what we have when we have it. Are you a few seconds or minutes slower than last year? Maybe. (and maybe not by the way – many in this group are still getting PB’s). But can you train hard, run uphills until your legs wobble, sprint until the lactic acid surges, run so long that your sweat forms salt crystals on your skin, repeat intervals to the point where you can feel your heart beating in your head? If you can do that, appreciate it. Not many people can and not many people do. Does all that work result in a fast enough time for you to be happy with? Meh. That’s not really the point. The point is, you can go for it. Enjoy the ride.

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

  1.       4 x 600 w 1:15 rest. 3 min set rest. 4 x 600 w 2:00 rest. You get the idea. The first set are more aerobic, the second set asks for a little more pace. I’m thinking 10K-ish pace for the first set, 5K or faster if you can for the second.
  2.       If going by time, 4 x 2 mins w 1 min (just to make it easier), 3 min easy, 4 x 2 mins w 2 mins faster.

That is all – see you in the am!

xo

Seanna

 

Tuesday, June 25, 2024 – Joy and Anxiety

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Hi Everyone!

 

Congrats to all who ran in our Ekiden team challenge last Tuesday! Jordan, Chris, Madalyn, Jeff, Carolyn, Cindy, Laura, Sam F, Erin, Elizabeth, Seanna and Amanda! And thank you to all who came out and cheered. It is always such a feel good event of bringing runners and communities together and celebrating by doing what we love. Put the memory of this experience in a little bottle and uncork it in the depths of winter – it will bring a smile to your pale, frozen face.

 

This past weekend I went to see the movie Inside Out 2. It was smart and so well done. This isn’t a spoiler, but the premise is that as she goes through puberty, new emotions show up for the main character to help guide her through life. The big new one is Anxiety. Anxiety becomes a key player, and is in direct contention with Joy. Anxiety and Joy can’t both be in control at the same time. At one point, Joy realizes that growing up means that she has to take more of a backseat than she used to. And Anxiety is also there with the best interest of the main character and is trying to help her succeed.

 

Isn’t this true though. It would be nice if we could go through life with the pure joy of children all the time, but if we were all happy golden retrievers, not a lot would get done. Anxiety is our cue to make plans, undertake hard things, push ourselves into discomfort for growth. But the trick is to try to allow joy back in in points along the way. Anxiety tries not to let that happen because she’s a control freak. She is full of “what if’s …” She would prefer to bottle up Joy and send her far away, because Joy is not helping with the task at hand. How relatable is that. I think the lesson here is that we can’t let anxiety take over. Some of us have to try harder than others to bring joy back in, but she is there, waiting for her chance when we look for her.

 

Running and sports epitomize this very well. When we were kids, we all ran and played with pure joy. Why else would we do it? At some point goals, and identities and expectations and paths to “success” got brought in. I’m not saying these things are bad (again, we can’t remain happy-go-lucky children). But they are just a part of the overall picture. We can’t let them replace the joy we once had. We have to find a way to let them sit beside the joy which brought us here in the first place. I think that one blessing of getting older (way beyond teenage years), is that I find my joy in running coming back to the control panel. Don’t worry – anxiety has a large role in many other areas of my life – but she seems to have played herself out in my running. Or maybe she’s just too consumed with other areas. Either way, I’m happy to say that my joy in running never totally disappeared, even in the years of trying so hard to hit times, and caring what people thought, and judging myself by my results. Races can still bring on some anxiety – that’s natural, and again, she’s working in our interest so we perform our best. But joy elbows her out of the way once her job of getting me on the start line or up for a big training session are done.

 

If you look at picture from our Ekiden, you can see a lot of joy on our faces – whether running, cheering, or standing around. I appreciate this crew for prioritizing and encouraging that. I know we all know anxiety well, and most of us have to consciously work to keep joy at the forefront, but I think it’s worth continuing to pursue. In many areas of life, but especially in running.

 

On to tomorrow’s workout! Let’s do a fartlek on the spit. Meet at our usual Lakeshore and Leslie – 6:05 drills, 6:15 GO.

 

  1. Let’s do sets of 3-2-1 min hard w 1 min bw reps, 3 min bw sets. Range of 3-4 sets. Go by feel.

 

This might be a good time to take an LES team pic so wear your LES singlets or gear if you have them!

 

That is all – see you in the am!

 

xo

 

Seanna

Tuesday, June 18, 2024 – Shaping our memories

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Hi Everyone!

Congrats to Carolyn Steele Gray who came 1st in her her age group in the Guelph Tri! Way to open the tri season. And I think I missed kudos to Madalyn last weekend who rocked a Half IM and came 7th in her AG! Not sure if anyone here raced the Under Armour 10K on Sat. If you do a race, don’t forget to shoot me a note so I can include you in results! We’re back to heat-training and racing right now, so give yourselves some grace as you adapt. You will adapt, but it feels hard and it takes about two weeks. All we can do is just embrace it and be cautious. Take breaks where you need to and slow your pace on longer efforts. Don’t forget: heat training is the “poor person’s altitude”! The adaptations will add to your fitness. Not saying it’s easy.

I came across a quote by Olympian, filmmaker and author Alexi Pappas the other day which I love:

 “How you talk about your experiences will dictate how you feel about them. Reframing our goals and rewriting our stories are powerful tools. Nobody can tell us how to feel about something. We can make our shortcomings into something beautiful if we want to. How we label an experience can completely change how we perceive it.”

This is so powerful and true. The more I learn about experiences and memories, the more I realize they are completely subjective, and the rewriting of them through memory can actually change them. New research has shown that the more we revisit a memory or retell a story, the less “accurate” it becomes to what actually happened. The “memory” is the story we tell ourselves, and that becomes our reality. This is amazing and a bit scary, because who are we if not a compilation of memories and experiences? But it is also empowering because we can actually have a hand in how we perceive these experiences and grow from them.

I ran a 1500m race last week. It was very hot, quite windy, a very bunched up physical race, I was elbowed out of place in the last lap and ran a couple seconds slower than my first one last year. But that is not my story. I actually had a great experience. I felt strong throughout, everyone said I looked great and I did feel like I was running well, I was by far the oldest person in the race – by probably 30 years – and was able to compete seriously with these younger athletes, and I just have to work on my positioning and kick. That is the story I’m telling. I could have absorbed the result and experience negatively or positively. I’ve chosen to tell myself the positive story, and so I’m motivated and excited for my next one.

This isn’t about lying to ourselves or living in a false reality (because it’s not a real memory if we don’t believe it). And it’s not about just putting on rose coloured glasses. It’s about shaping and framing the way we perceive our experiences. It’s about truly finding the beauty and taking control of deciding how we will feel about a situation. I like that.

 

Before we get to tomorrow’s workout, don’t forget the Ekiden is TONIGHT! 7:00 pm start at the spit. I am team captain for team 1 so will run down to pick up the kits by 6:30. If you’re not on a team, come out and jog/cheer! It’s a fun evening of celebrating running – and the longest day of the year!!! (well, almost – 3 more days)

 

On to tomorrow’s workout! Hills + tempo. Let’s put the emphasis on tempo here vs hills. 2 half hills followed by 5 min tempo. Max 3 sets, but people training for marathons (vs summer speed), make your last tempo 10 min at goal marathon race pace. For everyone else, it’s a bit lighter than last time we did hills, but we’re at a point in everyone’s season where the hills aren’t the priority – it’s maintenance.

 

New people to the group, hills are a little less formal. If you’re closer to Pottery Rd, a group meets there, but floating time. Usually anywhere between 6:05-6:20 and people just start in when they get there. If you’re closer to the beach, people meet at the bottom of Glen Manor at 6:00 (Tanis, pls correct if I’m wrong).

 

Have a good one and see a bunch of you tonight!

 

xo

 

Seanna

Tuesday, June 11, 2024 – Hard:Easy ratio

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Hi Everyone!

First up, huge congrats to Chris Fortin who ran in the Buttertart Trot Half Marathon and came 2nd in his age group and third place overall with a 1:25!!! I’ve said before, sometimes the breakthrough in racing and fitness is in consistently running times that used to be unattainable. It’s not in always getting a PB, but more in raising your floor. Some people argue that raising the floor (what you can achieve on most given days) is more significant than one-off results which are hard to replicate. But either way, once you’ve become consistent with what you can do on any day, the ceiling becomes closer, and punching through more likely.

I’ve been thinking about a lot this week, but I’ll start with this one: the hard/easy/moderate ratio. We’ve all heard that only 20% of our runs should be “hard”, and the rest easy to moderate. The reason for this is that running hard is physically and mentally demanding and from decades of experience, this is where science has landed as the pattern that humans can tend to tolerate in running. This is used as the guideline for the ‘maximum’ heavy load we should do. Remember: we can only work hard and improve based on our ability to absorb and recover. I think it’s the latter parameter we’d be better off looking at when devising a training schedule. Not “how hard can I work”, but “what is my ability to recover”. This is a much more fluid and hard to pin down parameter – that is the problem. We like to plan out our work and we devise a schedule and formula which functions on our best weeks and months.Then, when recovery becomes compromised, we have a hard time adjusting. So we keep pushing, and hard becomes harder, easy is no longer so easy, recovery goes even further down, our performance suffers, and we’re left scratching our heads.

I think many of us could benefit from giving ourselves a little more grace on training when life stressors ramp up. I am not saying this just to be compassionate: I am saying this as a coach, in order to maximize your performance. I will tell you one other thing: it is much MUCH easier to maintain fitness than it is to build fitness. You can maintain fitness by doing as little as 50% of what you did to build it. So by not pushing hard all the time, and taking an extra easy day or two, you are not losing fitness. You are absorbing the work you did previously and/or maintaining where you are.

Just speaking from experience here, but here are some things that might secretly be zapping your ability to recover: a bad night’s sleep (this might take a few days to recover from), emotional stress (dealing with parents, kids, poor workplace dynamics), poor nutrition (a day or two of being too busy and missing a meal can really impact your ability to bounce back), mental fatigue (I have been told and repeat: don’t take on a new job and a training goal at the same time), and just plain aging (the formula shifts as we get older and we have to adapt to what we can currently absorb). Digging deep physically and running “hard” through all of these stressors requires a little more planning and extra recovery time.

Luckily, “easy” runs can actually improve your recovery, and keep you in that 50% zone of maintaining fitness. Things that assist recovery: social connection and community, being outside in nature, movement of your body. All of these things also help promote better sleep and a more relaxed autonomic nervous system.

  1. The more and the harder you work, the more you should plan in or allow yourself to enjoy your recovery. Every week should not and probably won’t look the same. Some weeks might allow for three harder sessions, and some one or none. That is still progress. Adapt as needed. Just keep moving.

 

On to tomorrow’s workout! Lakeshore and Leslie: 6:05 Drills, 6:15 GO! (I’ll be out to cheer again but am racing on Thursday so will just be doing a pre-comp warm-up)

 

Let’s do a downwards ladder (credit Annick who helped author this wrkt):

 

1 mile, 1200, 1000 (jog to Carlaw to start 800), 800, 600 (jog to cone to start 400) 400. 2 min rest between everything except the 2 that are 200m shuffle/jogs.

 

We’ve been going pretty hard with our Wed workouts lately, so allowing you to tap into your energy as to what you need here for pace. If you need a little recharge and are feeling flat, start at tempo and you can either keep it tempo or pick it up as you feel. If you’re charged up and brimming to go, start at 10K pace and squeeze them down as you go.

 

If traveling and doing this by time, how about a nice descending ladder: 6-5-4-3-2-1 with 2 min shuffle/jog in between. Effort level as above.

 

That is all – see you in the am!

 

xo

 

Seanna

 

Tuesday, June 4, 2024 – Positive Mindset

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Hi Everyone!!

How great are these long days right now? I don’t know about you but I feel like it just gives me so much more flexibility and more options to run and hang out outside. And I’m loving it! I’m not usually an evening worker-outer, but having broad daylight vs pitch black at 6pm really makes a difference for my energy levels. If you feel the same way, now is time to take advantage and maybe create a new routine! Maybe a walk after dinner or a bike ride after work. OR treat yourself to a sleep-in knowing you can get your workout in later. Sometimes I feel I’m pointing out the obvious, but I think it helps to be grateful for what we have when we have it because we can forget, and it is fleeting.

What I’ve been thinking about this week is in working on my “positive mindset”. Often people will say “stay positive” and I think it’s a bit of a misnomer. To me, staying positive doesn’t mean believing that it will all work out well or that I’ll achieve my goal. Because often it becomes acutely obvious that these things aren’t happening … and then what? You can’t lie to yourself, and fool yourself into believing that it’s all going according to plan and just paste a smile on your face and force yourself to act out the fantasy. So what does working to stay positive mean when things are obviously going in the wrong direction? I think it means staying engaged in the fight. You can know you’re not getting your PB or winning the race or having a good day very early on in some races. Staying positive is not blindly believing you will get those results, but being able to reframe on the fly, and remain tethered to the effort.

This is something I am working on daily, in running and in other areas of life. As I get older, the same effort reveals different (mostly slower) results than 20 years ago. It seems objectively hard to remain excited and engaged as your times get slower, but I’m learning to do that. I reframe based on my effort, my ability to complete a workout I didn’t think I could, by being a role model for others my age who want to keep pushing. I am not always successful at this. Many times I have looked at my watch and thought “it should not feel this hard for this result”. And then it spirals. My body believes the brief message that flashed from my brain, and it goes into survival mode. “This is too hard, there is something wrong, stop engaging”. Signals for muscles to contract are withdrawn, and it becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy. Then it really IS too hard. Now it’s not mental, but actually physical. And you’re repeating over and over: “stay positive, stay positive, stay positive”, but it carries no weight if it’s not connected to a deeper meaning and understanding of purpose. Again, it’s not “positive thinking” as the term would imply. It’s reframing. What can I do now. How do I make this task engaging. How do I dig in vs. shutdown. That is the trick and the strategy to work on.

It is not just running and athletic endeavours which benefit from this ability to “reframe”. We’ve all seen people who have crumbled and shut down with some of life’s difficulties, and others who have managed to keep digging and keep powering through when they are thrown curveball after curveball. I wouldn’t call this latter group “glass half full” people, or that they see the world through rose coloured glasses. I think they have an ability to accept they’re not where they want to be or thought they’d be, and figure out a way to find purpose in working towards where they are now going. As I’ve said to myself and others many times, “what’s the alternative? Stop??” We all know that’s not happening.

I think this is the best any of us can do if we expect to remain engaged and purposeful in our races (and lives!) as we continue on.There will be many objectively great experiences, and there will be many for which we’ll have to call up our “positive mindsets” to get us through. The older I get, the more I seem to need it, but luckily also, the better I’m getting at it.

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

 

  1. 2 x 1 mile w 2:00 rest 3 min rest 4-5 x 600 w 1:30 rest

(miles at around 5K pace, 600’s a lil quicker)

This is a faster type workout again. A good one for people running 5K’s this summer AND for people starting a marathon cycle. I like starting with faster stuff and we’ll get longer and more race specific as we get closer. Will be way easier to do longer reps at a slower pace after a few weeks of these.

 

That is all – see you in the am!

 

xo

 

Seanna

 

Tuesday, May 28, 2024 – With Purpose (Carolyn Steele Gray)

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Hi Everyone!

 

Hope everyone had a great weekend. We’re definitely entering “summer-mode” now – whatever that means for you. For most it means a transition of some sort, so give yourselves some grace while your routines, energy, people around you shift and settle into a new pattern. Congrats this weekend to Brianna who ran the Toronto Women’s 5K and Sam and her daughter Chloe who ran the Toronto Women’s Half Marathon – much of it in a torrential downpour!

 

Today’s post is by Carolyn-Steele Gray – thank-you!

 

With purpose (Carolyn Steele Gray)

I’ve been thinking lately about meaning and purpose. Maybe it’s mid-life. As we approach the halfway mark many naturally start inspecting our choices, so questions around meaning and purpose start seeping in everywhere – work, family, friends, and yes definitely running, sport and competing. I even study the concept of meaningfulness as a researcher, mostly to better understand why people do what they do and why they make certain choices. In studying it as a Scientist I have found it to become a useful exercise in self-reflection. Here I’m connecting the ideas of meaning and purpose – they’re distinct but are also connected. One way you can think of these two things is that meaning is linked to what you value and believe, and purpose is more like intention and action, what you actually do that may be guided by those values and beliefs.

 

Leaving big , “what does anything even mean” type meaning aside, we can ask ourselves what is the meaning that running (and other sports) bring to our lives. For some the answer might feel very easy, but for others – myself included – this might be a harder question to answer than we might expect. And even if we should find an answer it’s likely to shift and evolve as we continue on our journeys as we experience new things, new people, new challenges.

 

But what I’m learning in my research, as well as with my own personal experiment, is that the answer seems less important than the practice. Asking ourselves what something really means to us can help us uncover the purpose of our actions and can become a tool to help us make choices and find balance. Also, it can magically be applied at all levels.

 

What is the purpose of today’s workout? Building aerobic capacity? Getting stronger on hills? Healing my soul with friends?

What is the purpose of this race I’m thinking about? What does this mean to me? Maybe you want to really see what you can do. Maybe you want to reinvigorate your love with running (and we had some just beautiful examples of this with some of our Boston runners this year). Maybe you just need to reconnect with the community so you volunteer for the day.

 

I recently got to put this exercise into practice after having gone with many of the LES crew for a long ride a couple of weeks ago. We had a huge crew, beautiful day, and nearly 3 hours of riding and chatting and general joy. When we got home I was feeling body tired but soul replenished. Until I looked at my numbers and was reminded by my coach that this was not the work I was “supposed to do” to prepare for my season (I know more than one of you have had this exact experience). It was a totally fair point. As I moped around the house a bit, my partner Ian (who had also enjoyed that ride), asked “Well. Was that fun time with your friends on your bike worth like … 3-5 minutes of your bike split on your long race this year?” In answering this question I found myself discovering the need to balance two different meanings of sport for me, which can help me to determine the purpose of that and my next ride.

 

As I have some big goals, I might opt for more structure another day to get ready (connecting to my “find my edge” meaning), but that first ride out was special and connected to my “joy through connection” meaning. Meaning honoured through a purpose fulfilled, and so, yes – 100% worth it.

 

On to tomorrow’s workout – Hills!!!

 

Riverdale/Leslieville crew will do Pottery – Beach Crew Glen Manor.

 

For Pottery, sets of 1 full hill (400m) followed by 1 half hill (200m) followed by 4 min tempo

3-4 sets sounds about right. We shall see how it feels and shakes out!

 

I’ll aim to be at the hill around 6:20. As usual, just start in when you get there.

 

See you in the am!

 

xo

 

Seanna

Tuesday, May 21, 2024 – Talent

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Hi Everyone!

 

Hope you all had a great long weekend! What a glorious one for weather. We deserve this. Whether you’re walking, running, biking or swimming – get outside! This is one of the benefits of having shuffled on ice or struggled on treadmills or sweated in place on trainers – we can now appreciate moving our bodies while unlocking all our other senses. Enjoy!!!

 

What I’ve been thinking about recently is talent. What it means and how it shows itself. Our culture is obsessed with identifying and exploiting early talent. We look for early signs of someone being good at something, and take that as a signal that they will continue to be good and will rise to the top. Sometimes this is the case. But most of the time, the people who become really good at something, have developed or exploited different “talents” along the way.

 

In running, some people (kids or adults) show early success. They can run fast with relative ease, respond to training quickly, and their early success is identified as talent. But when we look at the end game and who has become successful, most often it is those who did not have early success. They wouldn’t have been deemed talented out of the gates. But their talents were there – just less visible. Some peoples’ talent is their ability to train super consistently. This is a crucial talent which many people who see early success don’t develop, but turns out to be critical for later success. Some peoples’ talent is their ability to ride the ups and downs and bounce back again and again from bad races. I was mentioning that to someone recently. I have had more bad races than I can count, and so many times I’ve just wanted to say “eff this – it isn’t worth it”. But something in me has kept me going, and after each one I’ve also had some of my best races. Is being bone-headed a talent? I might have that one. But seriously – picking yourself up after failure is crucial to longterm success – probably more important than early indicators of being able to run fast.

 

 Dakotah Lindwurm made the US Olympic team in the marathon this year. She is 29 years old and has been training and running since she was a teenager. As a teenager she had very unremarkable times. She would not have been deemed talented. When she went to university she joined the team as a walk-on – meaning they did not recruit or sign her, but allowed her to train with the team. Now clearly she had a talent. She is now one of the fastest marathoners in the US and is going to the Olympics. But it wasn’t early speed or progress and wasn’t visible to most coaches or onlookers. Maybe it was determination or self-belief or resilience or just years upon years of training which took that long to express itself.

 

The funny thing is, we know this deep down, and based on data and stats – early performers often aren’t the long-lasting successful ones – but we can’t help but look for and investing in it anyway. The downfall to that for early performers is it can lead to a fixed mindset vs. growth mindset which is limiting and hard to get out of. But those aren’t the people I want to reach with this message. It’s the people who don’t think they’re “talented” or have had a bad race or two and are questioning themselves. I want those people to know that even though your talent may not be imminently apparent, it is there. Keep going. You will discover it along the way. Don’t let society or social media culture or comparison to others throw you off. You’re on the right course. If your talent is outlasting them all until you’re 90, they will all look back and say “she did it the right way”. No one knows until you do the thing. And then they say “that is how it should be done”. So believe in yourself and believe in your talent. We are all talented.

 

 

 

On to tomorrow’s workout! I’m pushing hills back one week to next week. If you can, add some hill strides to an easy run this week, and choose a hillier route for your long run. Tomorrow we’ll meet at Lakeshore and Leslie – 6:05 Drills, 6:15 GO!

 

  1. 4 x 800 w 1:30 rest. 3 min rest. 4 x 400 w 1:15 rest. 3 min rest. 4 x 200 w 1 min rest. Starting at 5K pace for the 800’s and working down.
  2. If running the TO Women’s Half (Sam and Chloe!) – taper workout = 800 at HM race pace, 2 x 400 a lil quicker.

 

That is all – see you in the am!

 

xo

 

Seanna

Tuesday, May 14, 2024 – Racing and art

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Hi Everyone!

 

Congrats to everyone who raced or lined up at the Sporting Life 10K on the weekend! In our group we had Ingrid, Cheryl, Jen, Pearce, Michelle P (trains w us virtually) and myself. Some super fast times, some solid races on which to build, and some learning experiences.

One thing I love – or rather appreciate – about racing, is how it opens us up. We are completely vulnerable when racing, and the full-hearted effort, whether we are happy with the result or not, demands humility and compassion towards ourselves and others.

Often I can go about life a bit busy, a bit task-oriented, a bit insensitive. And I don’t mean insensitive in the sense that I don’t care about other peoples’ feelings – more in that my senses aren’t open. I might hear a song, or see some art, or read a poem, and it slides off me. I’ve been to museums when I wasn’t in the right mood and I try to “understand” it or be touched by it but all I can do is be impressed by the artists’ talent (which I am sure is not the point of creating art). Similarly with poetry. Sometimes I try to read the words in order to understand, and they just don’t penetrate. Or I sit in the car and just flip from station to station, never landing on a song for its duration.

I am not an artist in the conventional sense. But running and racing are my expression of myself in the world. When we are out there – alone in nature or trying our hardest publicly, we are expressing something about ourselves through physicality. I believe that is my art, and it in turn opens me up to appreciating other forms.  

Often it is when I’m in this state of physical expression that I find myself in a mood where I have some cracks, and the other art can come in. I’m not sure why running and racing open this porthole for me.  Maybe it’s the combination of mental and emotional vulnerability accompanied by physical exhaustion, or at least sedation. And then I find myself seeking out the poetry or songs or art that now make sense. Ethan Hawke has spoken about art in this way in his great Ted Talk on creativity. Most people don’t need art in everyday life, until they go through something – grief, heartbreak or even something positive like the euphoria of a certain state or falling in love. And then there is nothing more important in the world than an artistic reflection and recognition of what they are experiencing.

I think some people live their lives open to this state quite a bit – or at least have easy access to it. We call these people artists. Running and more so racing seem to be my entryway. Searching my physical limits, testing myself, immersing myself in contemplation and reflection – pulls back the curtain to a dimension that’s not always available to me. I don’t think I could handle hanging out there all the time. For me, I like feeling like I can understand art every once in a while. And I’m grateful that from these glimpses of understanding, I can sometimes find meaning in my “impossible to explain” experiences and emotions which arise and are expressed through running. It is then that art, poetry and music not only make more sense to me, but they are the only things that do.

 

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

 

Speaking of racing, summer is a great season to get in some shorter distance, less “all in” races between marathon seasons. If you’re racing a marathon in the Fall, I highly recommend doing some shorter distance races this summer. A few reasons: A) We all have some “bad races” in us, and it’s good to get them out of the way before the big one. B) Racing shorter distances puts marathon pace and effort in its place and becomes a mental and physical strength for the marathon. C) Racing is a skill which we can only get better at by doing it.

 

On that vein, we will start sprinkling in some shorter distance oriented workouts:

 

  1. 1 mile progressive tempo (I think this is a good way to warm up before launching into faster speed in the am). 2 min rest. Then 3-4 sets of (600-400-200) – 1:30 between reps, 3 min bw sets. 600’s at at least 5K pace (see if you can get down to 3K pace), then faster for the rest.
  2. If you raced Sporting Life as a through-race and are still sore, do the mile tempo and then feel it out (will vary depending on how sore and how well you’re recovering).
  3. If you raced Sporting Life as your goal race for the build – take a break before re-setting!

 

 

That is all – see you in the am!

 

xo

 

Seanna

 

p.s. Still taking guest entries for the newsletter – please send any random or concrete thoughts my way!