Tuesday, Jan 16, 2024 – Passion and acceptance

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Hi All!

 

Looks like winter has finally arrived. Good news for people who like to do things on snow – not as easy a time for people who run outside. We’ve been here before and know how to do this. Dress warm, slow down where you have to, and keep getting out.

 

This idea sort of segues into a conversation I had with a friend recently where we were talking about accepting the slowing down of race times as we age, but maintaining the fire and drive to do our best just the same. It’s a specific harmony we need to reach: acceptance PLUS drive. This is a fine balance.

 

When I look at the energy and passion of young people, I see a lot of drive, and not much acceptance. Or maybe the word I am looking for is equanimity. Equanimity is defined as “mental calmness, composure, and evenness of temper, especially in a difficult situation. Accepting the good and the bad with the same response”. I have mentioned that I am coaching young people at a university now. In observing them it has occurred to me that this is a stage in life which does not embrace equanimity. I’ve witnessed tears (so many tears), shouts of anger, whoops of joy – all associated with race or workout results. I can remember this phase of life – you care SO much about results. You are carving out your self-identity and learning and showing others about who you are. It feels like high stakes. There is very little acceptance.

 

I think as we age, experience just smooths out some of those sharp emotions. We have learned, hopefully, that our single results don’t really matter in the long game, and that we no longer even think about experiences which once drove us to such distress. But then the question I have asked myself is this: can we still maintain the fire and drive, notwithstanding acceptance and equanimity? I don’t actually have the answer here. I do think it raises a good question about masters athletes and the performance curve. Of course there is a physical component to it, but I think a lot of it also represents a certain mental peace we’ve found. Most of us are not approaching this with the high stakes we may have once felt in our 20’s. I think that’s ok. I draw the parallel to social and political causes we care about. We have to work to find the place where we care and can engage and make a difference, without torturing and burning ourselves up in the process. That’s not easy. Accept without checking out. Accept and keep working and caring and trying. I’m going to keep trying to find that balance – in running and in life.

 

Tomorrow we’re back to hills! Boston, Around The Bay and NYC Half people need these for race specificity. The rest of us need them for good ol’ strength and fitness.

 

Let’s do Pottery – I like the mix of full and half. That’s a 400m and 200m hill for those in the Beach. More emphasis on the fulls for effort. That might mean equal number or a few more fulls. So like 6 or 7 and 4. Start where you left off last time. I will aim to be there around 6:15. Just roll into them when you get there.

 

That is all – see you in the am!

 

xo

 

Seanna

 

 

Tuesday, Jan 9, 2024 – Choosing our hard

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Hey Gang!

 

Is it just me or did the return to “real life” after the Christmas break blast in at a pace we weren’t ready for? Wow. Well, hopefully our batteries are all recharged and it won’t take long to get back into the routine. And now we have lengthening days to look forward to. It’s all getting lighter and brighter…

 

About ten years ago I made a career change, and started a new job in a new industry. When I just started, I went in every day completely unsure of what I was supposed to be doing and what was going to come at me. I can remember very clearly one morning at 5 am on one of these days, charging up Pottery Rd hill as hard as I could, multiple times. There was something comforting about the knowledge that I would very likely encounter nothing harder than that all day. No one could give me anything harder than what I’d already given myself. It was a big confidence builder and what I needed to face the unknown.

 

There is much empowerment in knowing we can handle hard things. Athletics are a great way for us to practice doing this for our own growth and self-confidence. And it’s safe because we get to choose the “hard”. Sometimes however, life throws you “hard” that you don’t choose. And that is the real test. You have to decide: can you embrace this unwanted challenge with the same attitude and openness with which you approach Pottery Road hills? Was the point of those hills so that you could in fact be equipped to face this un-asked for ‘hard’? So you don’t quit or give up or succumb to self-pity or curl into the fetal position under a blanket in defeat? (that last one sounds so appealing sometimes). I think that is the point of all of our self-directed challenges. They are safe, controlled environments but they are training us for the unforeseen challenges that we call Life.

 

My daughter set off for swimming again this morning in the cold, dark early morning. Every morning I give her the choice: Do you want to go? I love that she is self-directed in this because it means that she is building the confidence to turn towards the hard things. I really hope she doesn’t get a lot of very hard things thrown at her, but this is life and she definitely will face her fair share. And when she does I hope she brings that confidence of turning towards them, facing them down, and moving through them. I am continuing to try to do the same.

 

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

 

  1. Start with a 2 mile tempo. Yup, that’s long. 4 back and forths. Just keep it tempo – we can build into the pace as we go. Then 2-3 min rest (regroup) and 4-5 x 600 w 1:15 rest. These can be between 10K and 5K pace depending on how you’re feeling.

 

Reasoning behind this: it’s good volume and solid work, but we don’t want to do TOO much fast stuff at this point in the season. It’s good to go into our faster stuff a little pre-fatigued so we’re not tempted to go too fast yet and so we don’t do too much. Just little sprinkles of everything.

 

That is all – see you in the am!

 

xo

 

Seanna

Tuesday, Jan 2, 2024 – Hope

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Hi All!

 

Happy New Year! A few from our crew ran the Hair of the Dog 9K on New Year’s Day: congrats to Erin, Chris, Cassidy and Nir! A few more of us started the year by Polar Dipping in the lake. Not sure whether that deserves congratulations or a concerned look, but it’s become a bit of a tradition.

 

Of course a new year brings with it reflections on the year that’s passed, and thoughts about how we want to approach the next one. I’m not personally going to do any “resolutions” because I find for myself they tend to serve as more of “to do” lists. I have enough of those. But what I do want to do is to embrace an attitude or mindset this year: that of having hope.

 

Hope can sound passive and not action-oriented. “I hope this works out” or “I hope I succeed”. But it is the opposite. Hope is actually the great human motivator. Jane Goodall writes about this in her Book of Hope. Goodall continues to believe in the good of humanity and the future of the planet, despite continually encountering evidence which might point her to despair. It is her hope and belief that have allowed her to continue to fight and advocate and make a big positive difference for the animals and the earth that she loves. Viktor Frankl also spoke about hope as being the crucial flame to keep you going when nothing tells you that you should. It is an internal resource, and if you can keep it alive you will have your own battery of will and motivation. If you hold out hope that things can work out and that you can succeed, then you have a reason to work to make that happen.

 

Hope is not blind optimism. Optimism is passive belief. It believes things will work out whether or not we are part of it. Hope requires our participation. There is much in this world right now that can use our collective hope. And while we maintain this flame, we are not giving up.

 

I am beginning this running year a little bit injured. I’ve been wondering why I’m not more down about it than I could be. I realize it’s because I have a lot of hope that it will heal up. So meanwhile I’m doing what I can to remain in so-so shape, and working on strength, and signing up for races. I might be lowering my expectations on race results, but I’m holding out hope and belief that I’ll be back soon. And that mindset keeps me excited and looking forward instead of down and dejected.

 

So here’s to a hopeful 2024. We have to work to keep that little flame alive – my goal this year is to keep stoking it so it remains bright.

 

On to tomorrow’s workout! Let’s meet at Lakeshore and Leslie at 7 am. I think most people have a more relaxed schedule this week. I’ll be jogging, not joining again quite yet. (if you have to go at 6, see if you can group up – I think there will be some on that train)

 

  1. 3-4 x 1 mile tempo w 2 min rest. Just keep them tempo – building that strength. If you feel like picking it up for the last one go for it, but nothing crazy yet – we’re building volume.

 

That’s all – plain and simple.

 

See you in the am!

 

xo

 

Seanna