Cold, rational training

Hi Everyone!

First up, huge congrats to all those who raced this weekend! In the Achilles 5K we had Aryn making her comeback in fine form! And in the Toronto Women’s 5K we had Ingrid who really went for it, and Michelle (who hasn’t been out running with our group but is with us virtually). Way to go all! Not a lot this weekend but the following one is a big one for races with the TrackSmith 5000, Georgina 5K, 10K, Half and Full, Yorkville 5K and the Toronto Island 5K and 10K. A lot going on!

This week I’ve been thinking about the ability to approach our training with cold detachment. And by that I mean, being smart, and thinking through the reasons and outcomes we need to achieve for each session. Training is not about hitting ourselves over the head with a hammer – just because we can. Training should not be suffering. Yes, there is some hard work, but it’s a rational, systematic dosage in order for adaptation to occur safely and gradually. It is not a judgement of who you are or how tough or what you’re currently capable of. Training is simply a stimulus to try to illicit positive adaptation.

As a coach I’m always trying to science it and get that stimulus/response right for athletes in a rational way, and I know that every week will look slightly different based on how people have absorbed the work, the load they’re carrying into the workouts, their stress, their life stage, etc.. If an athlete has a rough workout, it has never once occurred to me that they might not be tough or that they aren’t as fast as we thought, or that they’ve reached their peak and are going backwards. I think I got the dosage wrong and we just need to re-jig. OR some workouts are just tougher than others and non glamorous work is still work that moves you forward.

But it’s funny how as athletes we can forget that’s what it’s all about and we can start judging ourselves in workouts. We can worry that we won’t be able to “hit paces” so we go out too hard (sometimes then jeopardizing the point of the whole workout). We might do more or add on to what was prescribed, either because we’re compensating for what we feel was a “bad” workout, or because we assume that more and harder is always better. It isn’t. We can internalize the “results” of a workout as character successes or failures – we will feel good about ourselves after a strong one and feel personally badly when one doesn’t go as planned. When you think about it, this is so ridiculous. Workouts are only there to apply a physical stimulus. That is all. We are training. The science of how each body will respond to all of the stresses in life in conjunction with training is terribly inexact. We just have to be able to detach ourselves emotionally from training, try to understand the principles we are trying to achieve, and go about applying the stimulus in a rational way. There is a time to run with heart and emotion if you can harness that sort of thing, and that is in the race. Workouts are just workouts and training is just training. And it should be (mostly) enjoyable 😉

On to Tomorrow’s workout – back to Pottery Road hills!

For those running Toronto and Chicago, these will be our last long hills (NYC runners might get another set in ;)) Use these as an opportunity to work on good old fashioned strength. Just steady up, easy down. Aim for one more than you did last time. Ppl running the Georgina 5K or 10K I’ll message you separately. Ppl doing the TrackSmith 5000 you have your wrkt. If anyone else has any questions please reach out!

I will aim to be at the hill around 6:15. Just start going up and down when you get there and we will see you out there!

Seanna