Feb 25, 2020 – Teammates

Hey Guys!

What I’ve been thinking about this week is teammates. I like that term. Running buddy is another good one, but teammate gives me more the sense of people working together to pull each other up. And that’s what I’ve been seeing and feeling. I know a number of you guys have paired up for tougher workouts or tempos or long runs, and I’ve heard comments like “I never would have been able to do that without them” or “thank god for *teammate* because I couldn’t have done that alone”. You aren’t out there running together just to benefit yourselves, but rather to pull each other along. It’s a great vibe when you’re being pulled along by someone who does not want you to let go. They’re not trying to drop you or beat you – they’re trying to run hard together.

I’ve this experience recently as well. I was struggling in a tempo and getting dropped by the frontrunners. They both turned to me and said “come on – this is too long to do alone – stay with us”. So I did, for a bit longer, and then slipped back and called it quits a bit early. Then another teammate ran by and said “come with me! I need you for this!” So I joined back up again until the last couple of minutes. No one “dropped” me in this workout. Yes, in the end I did let go, but it wasn’t without other people trying to get me to hold on.

I’ve also been in competitive type workout situations where the vibe is more about establishing dominance and actively dropping people. There are many group dynamics which are very competitive, and they can work for getting results too. I like the ones that are supportive though. That’s why it made me so happy to hear about many of your experiences. You’re doing this instinctively – you want to see each other do well. But we’re not coddling or going easy on each other. We’re getting each other to step up. We’re comfortable enough with each other that when someone wants to pack it in we can say “oh no you don’t! You can do more”.  Sometimes it helps to hear this from a friend. That is a true teammate. We’re not saying “ya, you’ve had enough, you should slow down”. We legitimately want to see each other do their best and succeed. And I know this translates to our achievements and milestones in other areas of life too.

Speaking of teams, I have all of our shirts and singlets. Please let me know who would like me to bring them to Weds practice and I’ll bring those. Anyone else, feel free to message me and come by anytime to pick them up.

 

For tomorrow, one more Lakeshore before heading back to hills:

6-8 x 800 with 90 sec rest

Just a good solid meat ‘n potatoes workout. A lot of us are right in the sweet fitness building spot for Spring marathons and this one is just a stable good one at this point. Tough, but you’re ready.

People running Chilly, you get a taper workout – wohoo!!! (Karen, Adam, Nir, Jason, … who am I missing?)

2 x 800 @ race pace w 90 sec

2 x 400 a bit quicker w 90 sec

4-5 strides

See ya in the am!

 

Seanna