Hi Everyone!

 

No races that I know of this past weekend – lots of people are right in the thick of training and doing so well! This is the crescendo of hard work for many – it’s ok if you’re feeling tired and looking forward to the end at this stage – that is normal. You are almost there; just keep putting one foot in front of the other and the pep will come back for race day. Remember: It’s SUPPOSED to feel like this! You’re all doing awesome.

This week, my mind has been swirling with thoughts, and absorbing news, and worrying about the present and the future. This is not a great place for my mind to hang out. So I’ve been super grateful that the World Track and Field Championships have been on. It is in times like these that I find the simplicity and purity of sport so refreshing. There have been some great stories so far of effort and determination and grace. And also the necessary counterparts to those – defeat, disappointment and tears. Many of the victories and medals so far have been surprises to spectators and athletes alike. The bronze medal winner of the women’s marathon didn’t realize she was a medal winner until she was told after she finished! And some of the best in the world have been knocked out of contention in the rounds. It makes for some very good distraction and entertainment for tired brains.

One of the things I love the most about watching sports is the deep respect the athletes have for one another. They represent over 200 countries, and a wide array of religious beliefs. They come from different economic backgrounds and hold many different political beliefs. But the thing that unites them is so much more powerful than all that. Despite probably as many statistical differences as you could list, they are all still more similar than different. And the respect they have for each other comes through. I just watched the men’s steeple chase final (spoiler alert) where the reigning champ was just unsuspectingly nipped at the line. He crumpled to the ground in tears, banging his head with his fists, but was still able to rise and hug the athlete who beat him. This spread of emotions plays out at almost every finish line. There is heartbreak and high high emotions, but there is nothing but love and respect shown for fellow athletes. They go and do battle and then come together and hug. Every single time. They know this is sport, there are rules, and if they’re not happy with the outcome they either have to learn to live with it, or go home, train harder, and try again. There are no good guys or bad guys. No us and them. They are all ‘good’ and they are all ‘us’. At least while in the arenas. I can’t tell you how refreshing this has been for me. So if you find you could use some feelings of unity, goodwill and pure entertainment, tune into the World Track Champs. Thank-you athletes – for allowing the optimism back in!

 

On to tomorrow’s workout: We’ll be dividing into two groups: Fall Marathoners and Everyone else. Everyone else is on hills. I just don’t think the marathoners who are running mostly flat courses need hills at this point in their training.

Hills People – let’s do Riverdale Hills! (that’s the 200m hill for beach ppl, although I think Riverdale is closer to 150). Let’s do 3 sets of 4 x hill followed by 5 min tempo. 4 sets if you’re feeling strong. This gives us a little more hill volume than the one full, one half, which some trail runners could use.

 

October Marathoners:

6-8 x 1K @ HM to 10K w 3 min – group up and decide where you want to do it. Lakeshore may not be the best bet for 1K.

 

I will meet at the top of the Riverdale hill at 6:15-ish.

 

That is all – see you in the a.m.!

 

Seanna

 

Hi Everyone!

 

Huge congrats to Graeme who ran his 7^th Major with the Sydney Marathon and finished in 3:31 which is a BQ! Great job Graeme! And happy back-to-school and back to the office for many. Fresh starts are the best – there have been quite a few people who have written about “the fresh start effect” – and that is not what this newsletter is about, but if you’re interested, look it up. Notably, Freakonomics podcast has a great episode about it. Basically it’s a real thing and we can become more motivated and better at what we do when we turn a page and start a new chapter. So take advantage and reinvent yourself without any of the baggage you don’t want and with all the routines and habits you DO.

What I have been thinking about this week is emotions, and how they can affect our running. Probably an age thing again, but I have been feeling big emotions lately! And it’s insincere to say they have no effect in how we show up for runs and workouts. The trick, I think, is in acknowledging what the emotions are that we’re feeling, and deciding what kind of run they best line up with. Because we are going to run most days regardless, and we are all going to cycle through the emotion wheel again and again, so we’d better learn how to feel and run at the same time. Here are some common ones and some good run pairings to go with them:

 

Nervousness/ Anxiety – Sometimes I’m not sure whether this is an emotion or just a physical sensation, but when we’re feeling it, our brain does try to find a cause. So sometimes it helps to actually do something anxiety producing, lean in, and after you’re done, the itch is scratched. Temporarily anyway. When I’m feeling anxious, I like to do hard runs or workouts which I’m not sure I can complete. This gives a reassuring cause for my anxiety, and a sense of relief (even if short-lived), when the thing is complete.

Sadness/ Nostalgia/ Grief – Ah, this is a tricky one. We need to let these feelings in, but they can really drain your energy and take a physical toll, so you won’t want to run far or fast. Depending on where you are in the process, walking might be where you start. But movement definitely helps with processing, and when you’re ready, bring others along. Silent runs together are ok too. Ask for what you need, take your time, and keep moving slowly and gently. Moody runs while thinking and processing are one of my go-tos.

Anger – Along with other strong emotions, I’m embracing my angry woman phase these days. I like it. I get to think about all the things I’m mad about – dysfunctional systems, injustices over the years, awful people who do awful things – the usual stuff, and I really let myself get worked up. It’s empowering. Just let yourself rage. For this emotion, I recommend a good ol’ progression run. Start regularly, and as you think of more and more enraging things, allow the pace to pick up. By the end you might be flying and raging and looking like a mad-woman, but really, it feels so good. There is nothing like a good rage run and some days it is all that is called for.

Happiness/ Fulfillment – The holy grail of emotions! Sometimes we feel happy, fulfilled and content. When this is the case, just go for a good ol’ happy run. Spread your vibes as far and wide as you can. Wave at the snarling angry runner passing the other way, say “lookin’ good” to the anxious runner sprinting her demons away, and give a smile to the contemplative looking runner in her own world. These are the best runs because you start feeling good and finish feeling even better. And if done well, you’ve spread your happiness like fairy dust along your whole route. It is basically your civic and social duty to go for a run when you’re feeling happy.

There are many more emotions on the vast spectrum, and I’m pretty sure there is a run pairing to complement or support every one of them. The trick is to listen to your emotions so you get the run-solution right. Shuffle things around if you have to, or change up your plans. Because matching the wrong run to your emotional state can feel dissonant, but getting it right can be the best feeling in the world.

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

Two options: Option 1 is for those building for a fall marathon, Option 2 is for those looking for 5K speed and/ or running the Yorkville 5K this weekend:

Option 1:

2 x 1 mile tempo w 2 min rest

2 x 800 @ 10K w 1:45 rest

4 x 400 @ 5K w 1:30 rest

3 min rest

1 mile @ choice

Option 2:

1 mile tempo

3 min rest

4 x 400 @ 5K w 1:30 rest

Finish w feel-good strides

That is all – see you in the am!

 

xo

Seanna

 

 

 

Hi Everyone!

 

 

Congrats to all our racers this weekend! In the TrackSmith5K we had Pearce making his rust-busting return to racing, and despite battling ahead cold, put himself in the fastest heat of the night! Way to put it out there. And down in baking hot Ohio where the water was covered in algae, Leigh Anne did the Ohio 70.3 and PB’d by 30 minutes! Here in Toronto, Tanis, Shauna and Madalyn all competed in the TO Island sprint tri! Madalyn and Shauna came 1^st and 2^nd in their age categories, and Tanis came 2^nd only because she did an extra lap on the bike – otherwise would have come 1^st! And somewhere in the mountains in Quebec Anna undertook a 45K mountain trail race and managed 38K before being pulled off for the cut off time. Way to go for the unkown. It sounds like there were plenty of obstacles challenging all of our racers, and they all did their best at hurtling them and knocking them down to get to their goals.

 

 

That is in fact what I’ve been thinking about this week. Overcoming obstacles. I also raced this weekend – my last 1500 of the season. It turned out our race was 45 minutes late, so we were all standing around in the hot sun waiting for updates which were not forthcoming. But in the midst of this, one of the competitors arrived, and said “thank goodness for the delay – there were two accidents on the highway!” She had been sitting in her car watching her arrival time move further and further back until it said she would arrive at the exact time that the race was supposed to start. So she just practiced deep breathing and prepared herself to sprint from the car directly to the 1500m start line. As it turned out, she did have plenty of time, and ran the race no problem, but another racer saw she wasn’t going to make it and turned around and went home. There were many factors outside of these competitors’ control, but one of the athletes decided to try to overcome the obstacles while the other lost hope and gave up.

 

It’s good to practice not giving up, because often times that is not an option. My daughter is using bike share city bikes to get to work every day at the EX. She’s a bit nervous riding bikes in the city and is also learning how to use the system for the first time. On her first day, she got partway there and realized she’d forgotten her baseball cap which is part of her uniform. She’s a bit of a perfectionist, so this rankled her but she thought she might be able to buy one on her way in. Then the bike port would not accept her bike to lock it at her destination. She tried the only two ports available and they were not working and it said she’d be charged $1000 if she left it unlocked. Her timing for not being late for work was slipping away and she still didn’t have her hat. She called me, very upset, saying she hated all of this and just wanted to quit and go home. But of course that was not an option. She had to take a deep breath, confront one obstacle at a time, and figure it out. Guess what … she survived! A person came to take out a bike and she locked hers into that port. Then the first kiosk she saw was selling baseball caps for $5. And she was on time for work. And isn’t this just how we get through life? It’s almost like a video game where we’re trying to reach our goal but Donkey Kong keeps throwing down those damn barrels! And by the way …they won’t stop coming. So we’d better learn to jump over them or else we’re going nowhere.

 

When we plan out our race schedules and training calendars, we don’t plan for obstacles. No one ever does. But I have never in my life seen anyone get through an entire cycle without at least a few – some bigger than others. Often the immediate urge is to want to throw in the towel and say I give up. Or as my dad would say, “Stop the world, I want to get off”. And as my one and a half year old once declared loudly while still on the runway before taking off on a trip, “Hugo all done airplane!” But try to overcome the urge to fold into the fetal position and pull a blanket over your head. The more we learn to hurdle and swat aside these obstacles, the better we get at it. Unfortunately we can’t plan this type of practice, but every time life serves up hurdles, just think of it as training for the next ones. Because there will be next ones, and we will bet better at navigating them. Just take a deep breath, and start hurtling.

 

On to tomorrow’s workout! I won’t be there, but it will be fartlek on the spit – meet at Lakeshore and Leslie at 6:05 for drills, 6:15 GO!

 

2-3-4-5-4-3-2 minutes on with 2 mins bw all. Start to finish it will take 35 mins.

 

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

 

xo

 

Seanna

Hi Everyone!

Happy August if you can believe it! Many people are now right into their training for fall races. This is the fun time: training is purposeful but there’s still lots of time to add fitness. It’s time to figure out your routines and training systems and try new things and see what works for you. It’s also a good time to get on top of things that might not be working. Along that vein, we have an excellent guest post today by Carloyn Steele Gray. Thank-you Carolyn!

“A nice problem to have”

Runners have a lot of problems. If the signs on marathon courses are to be believed it’s possible we run because we have problems. But pretty much all of us will come up against a problem to solve – an injury, a scheduling conflicts, they changed the shoe we like and why the hell do they look like that now?

A few months back I had a race that didn’t feel quite right. There were a lot of problems I could point to that were likely contributors to the feeling, but there was one I hadn’t thought about – or perhaps didn’t recognize as a problem at all. I wasn’t hungry. In fact, I couldn’t remember the last time I was hungry. No matter how many hours a week I was training or whether I had eaten or not, hunger never factored into my day. In some of my longer bike trainer workouts in the winter a fun message would pop up at the end asking if I was now “dreaming about breakfast” and every time I would say “no – ew gross.”

I was eating. Having read so much about fueling and performance I had a rhythm I generally followed. But would forget to eat because I was too busy, or have meals that were that bar I found in my bag, and would go long stretches without eating. But I didn’t seem to be changing shape at all – in fact I had been feeling like I was puffy all the time. There were also several other things that hadn’t been right for a long time, which I had been attributing to my age and hormones, but some new reading suggested that there was a good chance I had landed in LEA (Low Energy Availability).

If you’re not familiar LEAs (sometimes referenced as REDS), and it can be the icicle stabbing in your performance. Beyond it just being hard to pinpoint, it comes attached to a rich history of social constructions around body image and food. The athlete identity has often been tied to how one looks and what one eats. What we now consider to be under-fueling was previously commended as being the badge of a “real athlete.” While we often think about this affecting female athletes, no gender identity is immune (in a past life I had hoped to do a Masters in Sociology studying body dysmorphia in male athletes because of what I was seeing in my male athletes when I was a strength and conditioning coach). While there has been some amazing progress away from this incredibly damaging rhetoric, often thanks to brave coaches and athletes who are working hard to push back, these social constructions run deep and never really leave you.

There was no world in which I would have recognized LEA in myself – largely as I didn’t fit the visual image I had of an athlete in LEA. But I was tired, and empty on many levels, and nothing felt right. At a family BBQ at my sister’s I was trying to unpack this with her after she asked how training was going – I was explaining how I was feeling and that it was weird I hadn’t felt hungry in maybe 18 months and she said “well that’s a nice problem to have.” Then I changed the subject.

I see what she was saying. Many struggle on the other side of this – epidemiologically more folks sit on that side of the problem. I have historically also been on that side of the problem. I remember wishing to be less hungry – many of us joke(ish) about being ravenous even weeks after a big event, while worrying we’re now eating too much. But it turns out hunger is a critical signal of body functioning. From what I’ve read not feeling hungry means that your metabolism is shifting into into lower and lower gears. As this happens the other symptoms swoop in – you get “puffy” to retain water and protect your organs that are having to work too hard – you get anxious/depressed/angry/foggy because your brain is starving.

So what to do with my “nice problem.” I guess just eat more. Which was/has been harder than I would have imagined physically and emotionally. First, eating when you’re not hungry sucks – I know a few of us who’ve prepped really big events have experienced this before – but forcing calories into your body is not a nice way to enjoy food. Second, my body dysmorphia and history with disordered eating got exceptionally loud and overwhelming. Because of this history I generally don’t weigh myself or count calories, but in talking to my coach the way we had to deal with this was to start counting calories – this time instead of working to be as far under a bar as I could get while staying functional enough no one would notice, I had a high minimum to hit and macros to attend to. We experience lots of kinds of pain as athletes – this one felt like hands reaching into my body and squeezing as hard as they could.

It took about two weeks of, what I’ll call aggressive, eating to feel hungry again. A surprisingly short time considering how long this had been going on. I only counted calories a few days to be able to create a new pattern without getting sucked into the more dangerous patterns of the past. And three weeks after that, this past weekend, I had another race.

Maybe a better story would end with a crazy strong race and podium finish and probably like a long lost aunt/friend/cat who finds me on course to help me push through to the finish where there’s like a slow-clap or fireworks or another long lost cat. But it was just a race – I hit most of my targets and did ok in a deep field – not my best performance but not my worst. Just a race. But it was also a lot of fun. Like – a lot of fun. The day before the race we were joking around sitting out on the lawn of our farm BnB, and Ian paused to reflect this is the least encumbered I have seemed in almost two years. No pun intended but I think he said “lighter.”

My “nice problem” is far from solved, it will ebb and flow and feel good some days and shit others. But I also know this is not a lonely problem and am thankful for the (strong 😉 ) encouragement to share. Because runners have a lot of problems – but we get to have them together.

On to tomorrow’s workout: Back to hills! Beach crew doing Glen Manor, Riverdale crew doing Pottery! Let me know if you need details to meet with either one.

Let’s get back to sets of one full, one half, 4 min tempo. 3 sets is plenty since it’s still pretty warm. Take a few minute walk break before starting the tempo.

That is all – see you in the a.m.!

xo

Seanna

Hi Everyone!

 

Seems like the heat has broken! Whew. Running feels so much easier like this. Enjoy while you can – I’m sure we’ll have a few more heat waves before the summer’s over! (I actually like the heat waves – don’t kill me) But at least now we’re acclimatized and ready for anything.

The other day I mentioned to a friend that I’d been feeling anxious. I’m not sure about what, that’s the problem. It felt like anything I thought about could be the source. So my instinct was to withdraw from what I perceived could be anxiety producing. Which was … pretty much everything. Workouts, races, deadlines, even making plans to go away for the weekend were giving me extra feelings of butterflies. My friend told me what I needed to hear: “Remember, you’re supposed to run towards the danger”. This was wisdom imparted by Sarah Polley in her book of the same name – a book we’d both read. It was advice given to her by a concussion specialist who had told her that in order to get better, she had to do the opposite of what her instincts were telling her. Instead of walking into a room and turning down the lights and lowering the volume of the music, she should turn up the lights and crank the volume. Otherwise her world would just become darker and quieter and smaller and she would never get better. It turns out this advice worked for Polley, and she now lives symptom-free.

I also sometimes feel like I would get relief by backing away from the things that scare me. Like showing up for track workouts with way faster runners than me, or signing up for certain races. But deep down I know that that will only make them seem scarier. And I also feel that anxiety is just a feeling, and will latch itself onto any source you allow it to. None of the things I feel like pulling back from are actually causing anxiety. In fact leaning into them reduces it. Our brains are tricky that way. I think what happens is that as kids, everything is new and kind of scary, and we just become comfortable living life like that. Then as we get older, we don’t have to be beginners or new at anything, and we start to seek more comfort, fewer unpredictable situations, and back away from situations that are scary or unknown. And this becomes a positive feedback loop where the less we do it, the harder it becomes and so on.

So now I’m telling myself that if something seems scary to me, then that is the direction I should go.  And I’m happy to say it does seem to be working. My brain might think it wants me to stay in bed with no big upcoming efforts or obligations, but that won’t in fact make me happy or most likely any less anxious. The only answer is to run towards the danger. I’m still not sure where these anxious feelings are coming from (although I’m sure hormones and life stage play a big role) but while I figure that out, I’m not putting the rest of my life on the shelf. And I’m not saying everyone needs to do this. Many people already have “danger” hurtling towards them and don’t need to launch themselves towards any more. But if you do notice that you aren’t taking quite as many risks or getting as uncomfortable as you used to, you may want to try moving towards a scary challenge. It’s the only way to make them feel less scary.

 

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

Let’s do a mix of 1200’s and 400’s. 1200’s can go to the 600 turnaround and back. So like miles except shorter.

3 x 1200 with 90 sec rest

3 min rest

4 x 400 w 1:15 rest

Marathoners finish with 1200 tempo

Everyone else: we will finish with 4 x good strides

 

That is all – see you in the a.m.!

 

xo

 

Seanna