Managing your mindset

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Hi Everyone!

 

Huge congrats to Amanda Bugatto who ran the Donna Half Marathon in Florida over the weekend in a “training through” time of 1:40 for first in her age group! Way to represent and help put a spotlight on breast cancer and celebrate its survivorship. Wohoo!

 

I have teenagers living in my house. They’re mine. What a whirlwind. Sometimes it’s just storms I know we have to weather. And I feel badly for them and the emotional volatility which they seem to be subjected to and haven’t yet learned to manage. When they’re in a bad mood, the world is obviously against them and they become the victims of their own stories. I often think “just work on changing your mindset and everything will be SO much easier!” It’s a real magic trick once you realize that reality exists in your mind and you have a hand in shaping it. But these are things we have to learn through experience and time.

 

But once we know how to manage our own mindets, do we always do it? Sometimes it just feels easier and indulgent to succumb to the weather of our minds. I was thinking about this as I had a long run to do on a Monday morning. I have enjoyed long runs, and often look forward to them. But I wasn’t particularly excited about this one. I wouldn’t say I was dreading it, but I was tentative and giving myself some soft goals and “outs”. It’s still cold and icy, it would be dark, I’m not feeling super peppy, I have other commitments I need to get to and it doesn’t fit in perfectly… Then I thought, ok, I have a day to work on getting myself into a positive mindset and excited about this. So I went to work on that. I had a physically relaxing day in preparation, I ate lots of carbs, I bought my favourite gels, I read stories from runners who had passion and were working towards goals (currently reading Good for a Girl by Lauren Fleshman – highly recommend). I replayed in my mind what I love about long runs, being alone with my thoughts and the physical challenge of doing something I’m completely in control of. Instead of working on my grit and ability to just tough it out, I worked on changing my perspective so that I would look forward to it and get into it. And it worked. By the time I stepped out the door I was in a good mood and excited for the experience.

 

I’m not saying we should have to do this for every run – sometimes it feels indulgent to act like a teenager and drag your bad mood along with you. I’ve shown up for runs with my grumpy bad mood for sure. But just know you can change it if you want. Your first reaction to a situation or workout or challenge is not a given. Instead of focusing only on training our bodies to do what we want them to, it might serve us better to work on what’s going on upstairs. You have the ability to make it enjoyable and fun. Really, you do. You really don’t have to struggle through anything. Unless you want to. I think my teenager actually seems to enjoy it sometimes so I’m like “have at it – keep hitting yourself over the head with a hammer”. It’s hard to watch, but I guess it’s just a rite of growing up and learning.

 

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

 

  1. Sets of 600-400-200 with 30 seconds bw reps, 2 minutes between sets. Up to 5. I think 6 will feel like too much. Let’s see. The idea here is “broken 1200’s”. If we were to do 1200’s straight up it would just mimic our tempos. We want to encourage a little more speed and pace by taking small breaks, but not turn it into a V02 max wrkt. So don’t treat these like stand alone 600’s, 400’s or 200’s. They should start at around 10K pace.

 

  1. If getting into it and trying to encourage a faster pace and faster turnover (ppl not training for longer Spring races), same workout but longer rests and not as many reps. So 600-400-200 w 1:15 between reps, 2 min bw sets, and do 3-4 sets. Focus on fast turnover and good form.

 

  1. If doing this by time: 2:30-1:30-30s at 10K pace w 30 sec easy in between. 2 mins, then repeat up to 5 times.

 

That is all – see you in the am!

 

xo

 

Seanna

My shadow companion

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Hey Gang!

 

Ooh, it’s cold again. I guess we knew it would finally come back. It is basically February. There’s just one month of this. We can do it.

 

I’m training for a longer race, so have been doing longer runs, and so have had more time with my wandering thoughts. The thought occurred to me on one of my more recent runs, about who I bring along with me, sitting on my shoulder throughout my runs. When I was a teenager and in my early 20’s, trying to prove myself in competitions, it was always my competitors shadowing me. I could picture them out training too (I knew they were – somewhere), and I was always trying to run a bit faster or do one more rep, which I thought would give me the leg up. I wanted to do more than them, faster than them, so I could beat them. That was the whole point back then.

 

As I got older, and was no longer running for a team or points, it became the shadow of my old self sitting on my shoulder, accompanying me on my runs. What did I used to do? Can I still do that? Surely I’m tougher now than I was then. I was always trying to outrun or at least keep up with the past me, fearing any signs that I might be “getting weak” or slowing down. I could literally picture my younger self running beside me and would constantly try to stay one step ahead of her.

 

I’ve recently updated who I bring along on my shoulder. Now it’s an unknown to me woman of similar age and life circumstances, doing the same thing. She’s a companion, not a competitor. She’s doing her best and wants me to do my best as well. I think about her when I’m doing an early morning long run in the cold, or a hard workout, trying to keep up. She’s not superhuman. I don’t have to beat her. She’s just out there doing the same thing somewhere. She’s getting older at the same rate, and also has good days and bad days. But she always seems to be out every time I have a run to do. I could easily bump into her on a race start line somewhere. And we’ll both try our hardest, and probably neither of us will get a PB, but we’ll both will wish the best for each other.

 

This is my favourite companion shadow. She motivates me in a good way. I’m not scared I won’t live up to her standard or achieve what she is. She wants me to come along with her and push her too. And maybe I’m even on her shoulder for her runs – I hope so.

 

On to tomorrow’s workout – bundle up – you can always shed some layers. Lakeshore and Leslie – 6:05 drills, 6:15 Go Time!

 

  1. 2 x 800 @ tempo w 1:15

2 x 800 @ 10K w 1:30

2 x 800 @ 5K w 1:45

2 x 800 @ tempo w 1:30

We are working on pacing here. This is a skill and something we can train our bodies to learn. Running faster as you fatigue is a good habit to wire into your body and brain. And then finishing with some tempo is just good for toughness and fitness. You can plug in your paces beforehand or go by feel, but take note of the times you run so you can record them and look at them later.

 

  1. If training for shorter distances and/or trying to dial in faster paces:

2 x 800 @ tempo w 1:15

4 x 400 @5K w 1:15

1:30 rest

2 x 400 a little quicker w 1:30

 

  1. If doing the workouts by time:

2 x 3 min @ Tempo w 1:15, 2 x 3 min @ 10K w 1:30, 2 x 3 min @ 5K w 1:45, 2 x 3 min @ tempo w 1:30

OR

2 x 3 min @ Tempo w 1:15, 4 x 1:15 Fast w 1:15 rest, 2 x 1:15 a little faster w 1:30 rest

 

That’s all folks – see you in the am!

 

xo

 

Seanna

Grit vs Quit

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Hi Everyone! 

 

Congrats to Jeff Smith who ran the Robbie Burns 8K in a time of 31:13 for 4th 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 

 

Resistance and Acceptance

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Hi All!

 

Hope everyone enjoyed the sunshine this past weekend – it was glorious! Looks like it won’t be out again here in Toronto for a while. Don’t forget to take your vitamin D!

 

We were also hit this weekend with one of our first blasts of really cold temps. I think Saturday was – 11C with the windchill making it feel like -18C. These are pretty normal mid-winter conditions for us. But what I found interesting was my (and some of my running mates’) initial reaction to it. It was resistance. There was a feeling of “I don’t like this – I want it to be different”. And I thought – that’s an interesting thought to have near the end of January. Usually by this point in the year we have moved on to “acceptance”. But it’s always that first introduction to something which makes it harder because we haven’t just accepted it – we’re somehow trying to fight it. By the 4th or 5th run in the low negative temps, it just is what it is. We stop giving too much thought to it and that just makes it so much easier.

 

I went for my first long run (what I would consider a long long run) in a while the other week. I hadn’t run that distance in a while, and my brain was not used to it. In fact, I felt I was resisting it for the first 18 kilometers. That is a long warm-up. But finally, at about that point, I think my brain finally went into “acceptance” mode. Ok. We’re doing this. And it suddenly felt so much easier and more enjoyable.

 

The same phenomenon often happens to me and others before a race or big workout. Do you ever feel heavy and tired in a warm-up? I almost always do. Most of us know there is no correlation between how you feel in a warm-up and how you feel in a race. In fact, some of my more seasoned running friends swear that the worse you feel, the better you’ll race, and that feeling great in a warmup is a bad sign. I’m not sure I’d go that far, but what I do believe is that your brain is aware of a big effort that is to come, and is somehow putting on the breaks and trying to resist it. As soon as the race or workout starts however, acceptance sets in and you feel supercharged and energetic again (until of course you don’t).

 

My takeaways from all this is that starting is always the hardest part because there is so much mental resistance. Once you move from resistance to acceptance, it all just flows so much more smoothly. I’m sure this applies to many areas of life as well. What is the old Buddhist saying.. “Pain is inevitable. Suffering is optional”. I’m no Buddhist expert, but I believe this is saying that the experience will happen – it’s whether we are able to accept it or whether we fight it the whole way which determines whether we’ll suffer through it, or just experience it. Sometimes it takes our brains a while to catch up to where we want them to be (like 18K!) but the goal is to get them to stop kicking and screaming and just enjoy the ride – even when it’s cold, intense or uncomfortable. Accept, and go.

 

Onto tomorrow’s workout – back to Lakeshore and Leslie! 6:05 drills, 6:15 go time.

 

Let’s do cut-downs. For ppl training for longer events, we’ll do some bigger volume again. I like these because they force us not to go toooo fast and the cut-down format allows us to accumulate more work at an effective pace (if you want to nerd out on the science of this check out this article by Alex Hutchinson: Why Ladders are the Best Interval Workouts)

 

1.5 miles (three lengths), 1 mile (two lengths), 1200, 800, 600, 400. Rests are 2 mins, 1:45, 1:30, 1:30, 1:15

 

If you’re not training for a big race, are a newer runner without big mileage under your belt or training for 5K’s -10K’s, start with 1 mile (leave out the first 1.5 miles).

 

If doing this by time: 8 min – 6 min – 4 min – 3 min – 2 min -1 min with the same rests as above.

 

That is all – see you in the am!

 

xo

 

Seanna

Building Momentum

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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 22nd. 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

Gradual Growth

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Hi Everyone!

Happy New Year!!!! I’ve seen many of your goals coming in, and I’m really not just saying this – I smile so wide when I read them. I just love seeing the energy and enthusiasm and passion come through. I also see a lot of self-reflection in them, which I love, and this is what I wanted to chat about.

Obviously the New Year is the biggest of Fresh Starts that we tend to experience. Although, it’s definitely not the only one. We can channel the Fresh Start Effect on birthdays, changes of season, beginnings of the month…  January is a large collective one though, and the energy is big.

One thing I’ve been thinking is important when we look ahead to set goals, it to first look back and reflect on everything we’ve accomplished this past year. A year is a long time. It’s easy to quickly forget all that we’ve done and accomplished. If you keep a log, take a look through the past year – you’ll probably feel a little sense of awe at all that you’ve done. Or swipe through the photos on your phone starting from last January. Sometimes it’s amazing all the experiences we pack into a year. So take a second, and look back and be happy for what you’ve done.

Now, in looking forward, don’t reinvent yourself. Add to who you already are. You’re not “starting from scratch” as much as it sometimes feels that way. You’re bringing every win, every failure, every injury healed back stronger, every tough workout and race, all the conversations you’ve had, relationships you’ve built, books you’ve read – along with you. These are now all part of you going forward. Like a tree, we’ve added a ring of experience. And that will always be there as we add more and more rings. When trees experience tough conditions, like drought or disease or big temperature variance, the stress is reflected in the size of the rings those years. But those are still fundamental parts of the tree, and bigger, stronger rings can grow around it the next year.

The other funny thing about trees is that they grow so imperceptibly. Looking at them, they appear completely static. One day looks exactly the same as the last. But over the course of a few years the change is astounding. I had a little twig on my front lawn 7 years ago, and now it’s a beautiful big tree which dazzles us with shapes and colours over three stories of our house. I think for lasting changes within ourselves we should look to a tree’s timeline. If you think you’ll be noticing a big difference in a week or a month, you might be starting out of the gates a bit quick. Don’t worry – you’re growing. Another ring will be added this year. Just make sure you’re pointed in the direction you want to go and take it one little day at a time.

 

Tomorrow we’re back to hills!!!

 

For those of us training for Around The Bay or Boston – we need these. For those training for flat courses – it will still help!

Let’s start to layer in some running off the hills again. If coming to Pottery:

3-4 x full hill, 2 min rest, 5 min tempo. Repeat.

If meeting in the beach or elsewhere, same idea. 3-4 x 400m hill, 2 min rest, 5 min tempo. Repeat.

I’ll aim to be there around 6:10/6:15. Start when you get there and hope to see you on the hill!

 

xo

 

Seanna

Recharging

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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

Gratitude and Growth

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Hi Everyone!

 

Hey, guess what? Tomorrow is the shortest day of the year – the Winter Solstice. Pretty soon we will start noticing days getting longer and a little more sunlight hitting our eyes. And some people even love the dark! It brings about changes of energy which sometimes we need in our lives. More sleep and fewer activities can have a regenerating place. We are on our way back to more light and less quiet indoor time, so let’s accept where we are for now. Meanwhile, keep wearing your lights and taking your Vitamin D. Those are the two best counter measures to the dark that I know.

 

What I really wanted to mention today is how grateful I am for this crew. Thank-you all so much for the super generous gift. Wow. As I mentioned to those of you who were there when you presented it, I think I get too much credit for this group because I’ve just been lucky that inspiring, hardworking, generous people have invited other people of the same nature. I truly believe that the biggest benefit of being part of this crew is the connection with everyone else. So thank you for being those people!

 

Also, thank-you all for trusting me and following me on this journey. Last year I decided to go “all in” with coaching, and I am truly loving it. Everyone is such an interesting and unique puzzle or story, and I love figuring it out and being part of it with you. I recently took a personality quiz as part of an Athletics Canada coaching program, and after a bazillion questions, my main personality type was revealed as “Growth Seeker”. I feel that captures me well, and again, I am grateful for all of you guinea pigs who willingly take on the new things I’ve learned about or want to try! I will never say “I have all the answers”. But I will always say “Let’s try this…”. And I’m always happy to be challenged, questioned or used as a sounding board. We all only want each others’ success, and it’s so much more fun and rewarding to go for it together. So here’s to another year seeking growth and learning together!

 

Tomorrow – last workout before I’m on holiday for a couple of weeks. (I’ll send you guys options when I’m away): Lakeshore and Leslie – 6:05 drills, 6:15 GO time!

 

2 sets of 2 x 400 medium fast-ish (8K/10K-ish pace) – 400 cruise (tempo-ish). 1 set will be 1 mile. 1:30 between sets

            Jog down to 200m

            2-4 x 200 fast/200 cruise

 

If doing this by time:  2 x (2 x 1:30 fast/1:30 medium) – 1:30 between sets

                                    4 min easy jog

                                    2-4 x 30 sec fast/30 sec cruise

 

This workout gets our speed wheels turning without straining for too long, while also keeping it moving to touch on a threshold stimulus. Just touching on a bit of everything to maintain access without too much strain for now. (I also have a feeling this workout will creep up on us)

 

See you in the am!!!

 

xo

 

Seanna

 

 

 

Going with the Flow

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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 1st. 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

Falling in love with the process

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Hi Everyone!

 

No races were run this weekend from our crew. However, for those of you who haven’t seen the running news, the Australian marathon record was just broken by Sinead Driver (2:21:34) who happens to be a 45 year-old runner who took up running at the age of 33! If you needed a lil’ dose of inspiration there it is.

 

For most of us right now I believe there’s a little fallow period of competition which is a good thing. Time to recharge the batteries and do what energizes you vs. what you “should” do. Sometimes those two things align and sometimes they take some effort. For now, just do what makes you feel good and start gathering up your mojo for the new year.

 

This is also the time of year we should be thinking of falling in love with the process. The goals and structure will come, but it is so much easier when you layer them on top of a routine that already comes easily. Whether I’m “training” or not, I will always meet friends for social runs. I will always show up to workouts – whether to jog and cheer or join in at varying levels – depending on where I’m at. I will pretty much always say yes to a running invitation to catch up with a friend. I love all of that and doing those things is a natural riverbed of routine. I can scale up and intensify when I’m training, but it’s a matter of degrees vs. all or nothing. I’ll be honest – I’m also enjoying sleep a little more these days, so much of my routine has shifted to a little later in the morning. I’m liking this new process as it leaves me feeling a little more peppy and energized in my runs. As I start to lean in in the months ahead, I’ll probably hold onto this routine.

 

I may have written earlier about my struggle to enjoy the process of swimming. I signed up for a race in the summer in the hopes that if I forced the routine and had a goal I had to train for, it would become natural and I would grow to love it. I love the idea of swimming and I love having swum. But after my race I dropped swimming like a hot potato. I had the time, I had the energy, I knew the routine and the procedures – I just did not love the process. But now. My 13 year old daughter is into swimming and wants to go with me. I haven’t missed a session with her yet and I find I really look forward to these times together. (Those of us with teenagers know how rare and cherished chosen time spent together is!) Who knows where this will lead, but for the first time in my life I am looking forward to swimming and am doing it regularly (ish – we’re no Olympians). But my point is that I’ve finally found a process that I love enough that it gets me in the pool without a struggle.

 

I don’t know what the process will look like for many of you. But if you constantly have to fight yourself and push yourself to get something done, you probably aren’t loving the process, and just forcing it might not make you fall in love with it. And if you don’t love it when it’s easy, you really won’t love it when it’s hard. So now’s a good time to experiment with different routines, maybe throw out invitations to new running buddies, show up to hard things but make them easy (ie. Wednesday workouts – show up and jog and finish with a Starbucks – you might find you get hooked). Figure out what you love and what is the easiest path of resistance. Don’t make it hard! That’s your only goal for December. Then in January all you have to do is to start scaling up gradually on something you already love.

 

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

 

This one is still working on steady volume.

8-12 x 600 w 1 min rest.  Here’s the key: keep them tempo. This is a VERY different workout than 6-8 x 600 w 1:30 rest which we might do in the summer or closer to a competition. These 600’s should be closer to your tempo pace. If you’re like me, probably ~10 seconds slower per 600 than your Vo2max pace. The first few should feel pretty comfortable and you can talk. It’s short rest so the intensity will build. The idea is to get the pacing right so you can get the volume in. Again – this is NOT intense. It’s a pace you could hold all at once, but we’re breaking it up with short rests so you can accumulate the work without too much strain. If there is time at the end we can finish with 4 x strides.

 

If doing this by time: 10 x 2 min ON, 1 min OFF.

 

That is all – see you in the am!

 

Xo

 

Seanna