April 6, 2021 – The confidence to do less

Hi Everyone!

Hope you all had an amazing and chocolatey weekend.

What I’ve been thinking about this week is confidence. But not confidence as it applies to “going out and getting it”, but confidence as it applies to being able to step back and slow down. And yes, that does take confidence – in yourself and your ability to be able to pick back up when you’re stronger and ready.

When this pandemic hit us all over a year ago, I was included among those who felt vulnerable and insecure. How would I keep going without all of my usual supports and structures and tethering events, people and places? Well, I could just put the pedal down and make sure I didn’t stop. Because who knows what would happen if I stopped?

Many of us apply the same strategy to other areas of life. Just don’t stop moving. Be busy. Keep getting stuff done.

I came across a quote a while ago: “Being busy isn’t the same thing as adding value.”

When we are feeling insecure and lacking in confidence, we can easily mistake the two things.

In running, there are times where you have to trust yourself and have the confidence to take a break. Whether that’s a day or two off a week or a week or two off every now and then, is up to you and your needs. But you have to KNOW it won’t make you slower or lazy or less of an athlete. In fact it’s the opposite. Running more doesn’t always add more value. The most confident and secure runners know this and live by it. The most successful runners are not the ones who do the most and the hardest workouts. And let me tell you – it takes a huge amount of confidence to watch someone else do more than you and yet stick to your plan. But I have seen it play out in race results time and again: very often what looks like less can actually give you better results.

Similarly, it takes confidence to slow down in life and take time for yourself without always having to “be busy”. We all know “busy people” who can’t sit down. They don’t exactly imbue a sense of confidence. They are being driven by perceived judgement – of themselves and others. Yes, there is always something to be done – just like you can always run more miles. But maybe pausing and thinking about what real value you are adding can help you more. Very often we are “adding value” without producing anything tangible. That takes confidence to see and be content with.

I think at this point in the pandemic, we should all stop clinging frantically to movement and forward motion and task completion, and remind ourselves that we’ll be ok – even better – if we embrace a pause. Take a week or two off running. Be the person who has time and presence to be available for others. Spend an hour or two on a contemplative walk. And don’t consider these things “cheating” or extravagances. Consider them investments in yourself and those around you. We won’t fall into a pit of inertia. We won’t stop and never start again. Try to find the confidence to pause, take a break, and come back recharged and stronger with the mental, physical and emotional energy that add real value where you want it.

Onto workouts for this week!

Hills if you haven’t done them in a while. I snuck in a few on the weekend and my butt is now reminding me that it had been a while. Just steady up and down and add some shorter power hills at the end if you have time!
If you did do hills on the weekend, let’s do a Lakeshore wrkt: 1 mile (2 mins), 4 x 800 w 1:30, (2 mins) 1 mile – miles at HM pace, 800’s at 10K. Let’s keep this one restrained pace-wise
If doing tempo style: 7 min, (2 min easy), 4 x 3:30 on, 1:30 off), (2 min easy), 7 min
If doing ATB this weekend! Taper workout: 2 x 800 @ race pace w 1:30 rest, 4 x 200 w full recovery – just relaxed and fast

Enjoy and see you on the roads!

Seanna