Inspiration – RunningWell

Hi Everyone!

Wow – where to begin. I’ll start with what I left out last week: Anna Dowse ran a 100 MILE race in just over 24 hours! Then on Sunday in the TCS races, in the 5K we had Pearce (4th in age-group and PB with a sub-17), Kerry (2nd in age-group), and Erin (1st in age-group!) In the Half Marathon we had Colette (PB!), Lyndsay (4th in age-group and PB!), Elese (PB!), Zoe (2nd in age-group) and Sean! In the marathon we had Roz Salter and Chris Fortin – both had tough days out there but went for it. We loved cheering for you and man … the marathon!!! And also in the marathon Andrew Higgs was guiding a visually impaired athlete through halfway to try to reach his sub-3goal (he just missed it but he went through halfway on target!)

We are in the thick of race season, and it is here that I become a superfan of others. Of people I know, people I don’t know, elites whose glory or heartbreak stories I read, of people going through hard times and running to prove something to themselves, of people supporting others through their training and races, of people smiling through the pain and tears as they continue on past the 39K mark to the finish … The word I keep coming back to is– Inspiration. Man, people inspire me.

The definition of Inspiration is “the process of being mentally stimulated to do or feel something”. What is so powerful about this is that we witness these struggles and accomplishments and we think – “that could be me”. I am currently coaching the York cross-country team. The thing about cross-country is that it is a team sport. Every finishing place gets added to the team score, and the lowest score wins. The top 5 count, and the 6th and 7th runners can pass runners on other teams to give them a higher score. So every effort counts. I have them practicing running together in workouts, so that in races they have the confidence to stick together. I tell them: when you are hurting but you push a little more, you are pulling up your teammate who knows s/he can run with you. And then, they might take a turn when you’re feeling weak. This is why you see some teams becoming dominant. They are not a group of individually strong athletes as much as they are mutually inspiring and pulling each other up. They have the confidence to stick with each other and the desire to pull each other forward. When they see a teammate make a breakthrough they don’t think “ugh, they’re better than me”, they think “I can do that too”.

As I said, I am drawing my own confidence and inspiration from those around me – many of whom I consider part of my team. Thank-you all for that – we are pulling each other forward, and in more ways than just in athletic pursuits. Y’all inspire me greatly.

On to tomorrow’s workout! Let’s do one last hill/tempo combo for our NYC friends. If you’re racing Hamilton I’ll give you something flat and different. Everyone else, Pottery Rd or a 400m similar hill:

1. 2 x Hill right into 4 min faster tempo. Repeat 3 times. I know no hills in NYC will be as big as that, but we’re callousing your legs to the feeling of turning over when they’re ‘hill-fatigued’. Again. And again.

2. Hamilton racers: how about a nice cut-down wrkt. 2K, 1.5K, 1K, 800, 600, 400 – getting faster as you go. Start at HM race pace for the first 2 sets and then work down. Rests 3 mins, 2 mins, 90 sec, 90 sec,1:15

3. Training to train: just Pottery hills, no tempo

Seanna