Character
Hi Everyone!
Congrats to our LES team who ran the Michelob Ultra Night 10K on Saturday eve! Tanis, Amanda, Annick, Fran and I participated and I think surprised ourselves with how fun it is to do our usual events with unique challenges and circumstances. Talk about nuance. And huge good luck to everyone running Chicago or Victoria this weekend! We will be with you all in spirit and will be cheering you on virtually!
What I’ve been thinking about this week is how interesting it is how peoples’ characters are revealed through sport – specifically running. It’s funny getting to know people just through this lens. There are many people for whom I know remarkably little about their personal or work lives, but I feel I know their true characters. I can see if they’re the type of person who can experience a set-back and disappointment, but still show up for and be happy for others who are succeeding. I can see if they’re the type of person who will show up for a run or race or workout to help someone else out – not just for their own advancement. I can see if they can remain upbeat and positive and keep working even when they aren’t seeing immediate results. Everyone who runs will experience some form of success, disappointment, injury, self-doubt, seeing teammates achieve what we hope to achieve, achieving something others would love to achieve, … How we handle all of this says a lot about us.
The other aspect of this I was thinking about is that as much as running can reveal our characters, it is also a very safe place to learn to develop aspects of ourselves that we want to grow. When we race we are practicing vulnerability. There is nothing more vulnerable than openly trying your hardest in front of an audience. Vulnerability is now considered a superpower because it is so hard to do, but leads to so much compassion and growth. And once you learn how to do that through sport, it can become a part of your character. Through running we can practice how to set goals, take risks, sit outside of our comfort zones, lose graciously, be selfless leaders, succeed with humility. And when we get it wrong (I often do), we can try again and again. Running gives us endless opportunities to practice going from “I wish I was the type of person who..” to “I am a person who…” And the beauty is, once this becomes part of your character, it doesn’t just stay in the running realm. It becomes part of who you are. And people who may not know anything else about you or your running, will always be able to see your character.
On to tomorrow’s workout – normally we’d do hills, but let’s do one more Lakeshore to send off our Chicago runners! Lakeshore and Leslie – 6:05 drills, 6:15 GO time!
- 1 mile tempo. 2 min rest. 2 x 1 mile as 200m fast, 200m float (I will set out cones every 200m) w 2 min bw sets. Finish with 1 mile tempo.
- If going by time: 6 min tempo, 2 sets of 4 x 30 sec Hard, 30 sec Medium, 6 min tempo (2 min easy between all sets)
- If running Chicago (or Victoria!): 1 mile @ marathon race pace, 2 min rest, 4 x 400m a little quicker w 1:15 rest
That is all – see you in the am!
xo
Seanna