Hi Everyone! 

 

Congrats to Jeff Smith who ran the Robbie Burns 8K in a time of 31:13 for 4^th in his age group! Throwing in a mid-season race is a great way to get some extra fitness in, as well as a good benchmark for where you are in your training. If anyone is not running Around the Bay 30K and doesn’t have London, Boston or Toronto marathons on the sched, let me recommend the Around the Bay 5K! You can run it, and then cheer the rest of us 30K-ers on during your ‘cool-down’. It is not a “Test Race” it is a “Gain Fitness” race. Nothing does it like a race for a little V02max bump. 

 

Last week, the New Zealand Prime Minister, Jacinda Ardern, announced her retirement. She was the youngest Prime Minister in modern history, and her progressive approach to leading her country was successful and inspired many people in what leadership could look like. In resigning, she was honest and genuine about her reasons. Her reason was that she “didn’t have enough in the tank” to do the role justice. I loved this message. She wasn’t going to white knuckle her way through continuing on at the expense of her other goals (her family and I’m sure many other things), until she was a spent husk of a human, just because that was the (mostly male) culture surrounding her role. She wasn’t in it for the glory or for the love of power. She was confident in how to make the best choice for her to be successful in life, and she made that choice. 

 

Annie Duke is a professional World Champion poker player – one of the best in the world and one of the only women who regularly beats the professional men. One of her top strategies is knowing when to quit. She’s written a book about the subject. Professional poker requires nerve, smarts, and perseverance, yes. But it also requires knowing when to quit IN ORDER TO WIN. This takes a huge amount of inner confidence and not worrying what other people think. I mention her gender because this is particularly hard for a woman playing in a “man’s game” where she is being judged on multiple levels.

 

I’m bringing up these two scenarios because I can see this type of behaviour play out in athletes a lot. Some people white knuckle their way through a workout or program because they have learned how to be tough and in some way fear judgement – from themselves or others – if they back off. Others know when pulling back will actually get them ahead. It’s not an age thing – I see some younger athletes who just have that inner sense of confidence mixed with self-compassion which allows them to say “this isn’t going to move me towards my goals today”. They can tell their coach when they need to pull back. They have a clear view of their goals, and know what will move them towards vs away from them. They don’t blindly “grit it out” for the sake of it or because everyone else is. I find it interesting, this pull between Grit and Quit (two great books by very smart and cool women). I don’t think they are in juxtaposition with each other. I think we all need a bit of both in order to reach our goals. I think what is hard is being able to do both and swing back and forth. Knowing when to be gritty and when to be quitty. The strongest leaders and most successful and self-fulfilled people can do both. It definitely takes confidence and self-belief. It’s something we can all work towards. 

 

On to tomorrow’s workout! We’re back to hills but we’re going to do SHORT RIVERDALE hills.  Let’s meet at the top of the hill at 6:10.

 

Most ppl in the middle of a build right now have a pretty heavy week. Let’s keep this one short and peppy – this will complement the tempos and long hilly runs we’re doing. It’s always a good idea to bring a little pep back into tired endurance legs at some point mid-program.  

 

2-3 sets of:  

3 x Riverdale Hill – fast up, easy down – 2 min rest – 3 min tempo (1:30 out, 1:30 back). 

 

This is designed to be a snappier, harder on your muscles than your lungs and mind workout. Reinvigorating our turnover and power. We shall see… 

 

See you in the a.m.! 

 

xo 

 

Seanna 

 

Hi Gang!

 

This week marks getting back into the regular swing of things. If you’re looking for an early season race to kick things off, the Robbie Burns 10K is back. A bit earlier this year – Jan 22^nd. If racing more was on your list of goals this year, here’s a great way to start. They are offering a $10 discount with the code “ROBBIESBACK”.

 

Most ppl are rolling with goals for the spring. I know I still owe some plans and I am on that over today and tomorrow! (any specific immediate q’s please check in with me). What I’ve been thinking about is Momentum. Man, is that ever a thing, eh? When you have it, things just flow so much more easily. When you don’t, you wonder how you ever did the things you’ve done before. Obviously, starting from holiday mode (which we all needed, so let’s not beat ourselves up), we do not have a lot of forward momentum. Getting going and finding the rhythm that works might feel a bit harder at the moment. That’s ok. It’s normal. Starting the boulder moving is the hardest part. Here are a few things to consider during this phase:

 

• Don’t wait to feel motivated. Motivation often follows action. Trust that it will come and your mental energy will catch up to match your physical action. Then you can start relying on your “desire” to get out there. But first, you have to start.
• Start slowly. It is way easier to form habits of easier tasks (drinking a glass of water in the morning) than harder tasks (running 15K every day). All you’re asking yourself to do for now is to just show up. Just start. If you start the workout and it’s going poorly and you hate it – stop. You can. If you start a run and it’s a 20 minute run – that’s great. Just start.
• Finish on a high note. This is “habit formation 101” – we tend to recall how we finished something vs the hardest part of the thing. They did an experiment with two groups of cyclists and gave them the exact same workload, but one group finished with the hardest part, and the other finished with some easy cycling and chatting. Then they had them rate the difficulty of the workout. Those who finished with easy social cycling rated it as easier and more pleasurable. I think this is why the social chatting and cool-downs from our workouts are key. If you’re solo, make sure you finish every hard effort with some sort of reward – 20 minutes to read with a coffee, a bath and a book, your favourite smoothie … whatever will attach a positive memory to the experience.
• Be flexible and allow for nuance. Nothing kills a sense of joy and motivation like a forced, rigid schedule. Some of the most successful athletes are the ones who understand what they are supposed to do from their plan, and then figure out how to make it fit their life. They don’t contort themselves into pretzels to fit it all in “perfectly”. If they’re skiing with family on weekends or have a busy work week or are experiencing some pain – they are ok with mixing things around and making it work for them.

 

Those are my tips for now – I’m there with you all in this. And one thing we can’t change but man it would help – a little sunshine for even 5-10 minutes at one point this month! We’re not asking for a lot.

 

Ok, on to tomorrow’s workout! Back to Lakeshore and Leslie. 6:05 drills, 6:15 GO.

 

1. 1 mile tempo. 2 min rest. 10 x 400 w 1 min rest. 3 min rest. 1 mile tempo (this last tempo only for those with spring marathons or ATB and only if feeling good).
2. People just getting into things or coming back from illness/injury: 1 mile tempo, 6-8 x 400 w 1 min rest.
3. If going by time: 6 min tempo, 10 x 90 sec Hard, 1 min Easy, 6 min tempo.
4. If on the fence, just come out and start. 1 mile tempo is a good place to start.

 

That is all – see you in the am!

 

xo

 

Seanna

Hi Everyone!

 

This will be a short one. Hope you’re all having a recharging holiday – whatever that means for you.

 

That’s what I’ve been thinking about – how do I recharge? For me, it doesn’t really matter where I am. I can bring a mindset with me wherever I go. It’s the feeling of calm focus which eludes us when we’re running around trying to swat balls out of the air that are coming at us unpredictably. For me, recharging doesn’t mean not working – I love what I do. It means more time to read books which inspire my coaching and might help me consider new approaches or philosophies. It means time to reflect on the athletes I coach, and consider what might help them succeed in what they are trying to do. Recharging for me does not mean taking a physical break. In fact it’s the opposite. It’s an open schedule with lots of self-directed movement – whether that’s a x-country ski, nice long run, or even a swim. I find sometimes when I’m not on a schedule I even gain fitness because I enjoy it so much and I’m not “squeezing” anything in. Recharging might be seeing and hanging out with friends and family, or it might mean more time alone. I need a mix of both for sure. And recharging definitely means more sleep.

 

It doesn’t matter whether you’re home or somewhere else. If you can get outside and get your heart beating and breathe deep lungfuls of air, if you can sit and read and think without running around frantically, if you can hang out with people who fill you up, and if you can get a bit more sleep, you are probably recharging. So when the balls start flying again, you’ll be ready for them.

 

For this week, here is a fartlek-type workout to do whenever it works for you:

 

Sets of 3-2-1 min On with 1 min Off, 2 mins easy jog between sets. Just throw it into a run whenever you head out. 3 sets is a great number – 5 sets is the max.

 

That is all – Happy Holidays everyone!!!

 

xo

 

Seanna

Hi Everyone!

 

Well, the cold is back. We knew it would come back eventually. Remember to bundle up accordingly! My weapon of choice this winter is going to be wool socks. Numb feet can make for a miserable run.

 

What I’ve been thinking of recently is accepting the moment we’re in. When we get to January and the New Year, we will all experience the “Fresh Start Effect”. This refers to the psychological effect of having landmarks which can make us feel like a new person and allow us reimagine ourselves. It happens to baseball players when they change leagues (documented by Michael Lewis), it occurs on birthdays and during any landmark dates – and particularly for our culture, January 1^st. There is an energy that comes with this effect, and a renewing of goals and values. Who do we want to be? What do we want to do? How will we get there? It’s exciting and motivating. And in all likelihood we will all experience this to a degree and benefit from its effects in a few weeks.

 

But we are not there yet. We’re still in December. And there seems to be a lot of non-running related energy which is being demanded of us right now. I’m feeling that! And what I was thinking was, it’s ok to be in the moment now. Goals are by definition forward looking. They are living in the future. That is fine, and has a place, but always striving for a goal inherently pulls you out of living in the moment you’re in. We know that is coming. So for now, and the rest of December, it’s ok and maybe even for the best to pay more attention to the present. I find that when I’m locked into a goal I can become selfish in my priorities. December is a good time to devote your energy to others, not put your training needs first, and accept and honour the fatigue and forced rest that comes from non-training things that fill up other buckets. There are currents of energy which happen naturally at various times. Instead of fighting them, we are best off if we can flow with them. If you’re being pulled in many directions right now and have a To-Do list a mile long, that’s pretty normal for this time of year. Instead of fighting it to exhaustion and forcing your usual mileage and workouts and strength, just relax and let the current take you where it does. We know it will release us and change direction in January – as it always does. So it’s ok to wait for that moment before you start paddling and using that energy to your advantage. And isn’t that the basic principle of all endurance sports? Conserve as much energy as you can until you can use it when it will count most. It makes sense!

 

On to tomorrow’s workout – we’re back to Pottery Road Hills!

 

Nothing fancy here. Let’s just get some steady hills in so those muscles remember how to do it. Pick a number that works for you and steady up, easy down.

 

I’ll aim to be there around 6:20-ish, but just start whenever you get there.

 

Beach ppl coordinate w Tanis.

 

Thanks all – see some of you in the am!

 

xo

 

Seanna

Hi Everyone!

 

Hope y’all had a fantastic weekend. I was remiss last week in not mentioning some amazing trail run results: Seema and Val ran 17.5K, Madalyn ran the 25K and Meighan ran the full 50K in deep snowy conditions! Way to go toughies. And speaking of toughies, Zoë raced in the Nationals XCountry race this past weekend coming 4^th in her age category!

 

These races segue well into what I’ve been thinking about this week. That is learning to run by feel and to trust what your body is telling you, and practicing the mental strength aspect of running.  I like the idea of trail races and xcountry races because they force you to do that. When we’re aiming to run a road race (or track race for that matter), we get very caught up on time goals and therefore specific paces in training. Our training becomes focused on running a certain distance at a certain pace. And we have tons of gadgets and devices to tell us whether we’re on track. This can be useful as we ramp things up and get closer to the training specificity for our event. But what’s even more useful and powerful is learning to understand how you’re feeling and what you’re capable of without being told by your watch or the clock.

 

At this particular xcountry course for Nationals, we figured that the women’s times were about 1:30-2 minutes slower than they would run on the roads. This is usually how xcountry plays out because there are hills, mud, grass, lots of turns, … So how do these athletes know how to pace themselves? Every course and conditions are different. They have to rely on their ability to trust their bodies’ cues and just race. I’m quite certain none of them look at their watches for pace feedback. That would only create a negative mind-body reaction. Can you imagine working your hardest and your watch telling you you’re running 1-2 minutes slower than usual?

 

I can guarantee you one thing: your body is smarter than your watch. Many people who have breakout races are not at all aware of the time while they’re running them. They are listening to their bodies’ cues and are in the moment. That’s the only way to achieve something you might not believe is possible. Alex Hutchinson’s famous example from his book Endure recounts how he had a breakthrough performance on the track because the person giving split times was calling out the wrong times (he thinks it was some sort of translation glitch), so Alex believed he was running faster than he was, and his internal feedback told him he was therefore having a great race – and this then became what happened. He was unintentionally freed from the pace/internal feedback constraint and his body did what it was capable of doing.

 

Many of the top runners and triathletes are now training using lactate testing. They test their lactate levels multiple times throughout a workout to ensure they are training in the correct zone. I’m very interested in this and have read and listened a lot about it. What I’ve mostly come away with is this: the science behind it is supremely individualized and very finicky and specific. One person’s levels are not someone else’s levels and things such as taking in carbs, sweat on the skin, altitude and heat can all affect it. BUT, athletes are actually very capable of hitting the right zones/paces when they learn to go by feel. Your body is giving you all the cues you need. In labs the lactate curve is very closely related to the breathing rate and perceived exertion curves. Learn that first. THEN when you’re comfortable trusting yourself, you can add more and more external feedback as your backup. And when you find yourself at your goal race and it’s hillier than expected, or hot or cold or windy – OR you’re capable of a race no one predicted – you’ll be able to perform at your best level on that day regardless because you’ll be a pro at trusting your body.

 

How to do this: set the intention of each run (easy, tempo, long, progression, …) and don’t look at your watch until after. Tell your watch what you did – don’t let it tell you what to do.

 

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

 

The purpose of this workout: accumulate time spent at threshold. To that end, the pace of everything will be the same – tempo/threshold pace. What this feels like: to begin with, not hard. You can talk, probably for the first 5 minutes. The intensity builds as the volume accumulates. This is why we take breaks. We want to give as much stimulus at this level as possible. We are never going “Hard” or feeling that alarm or panic feeling (we will work on that feeling later in the season 😉 ) So this is a feeling at this point, not a pace. The idea at this point is to try to keep it consistent.

 

The workout:

2 x 1 mile with 2 min rest, 4-5 x 800 w 1:30 rest ALL AT THE SAME PACE. Yes, this is higher volume than usual but it is NOT a V02max workout. If you’re panicking at the 2^nd 800 you’ve gone too fast.

Beginners, do 1 x 1 mile and 2-4 x 800.

Finish with 4 x strides

 

That is all – see you in the am!

 

xo

 

Seanna