March 16, 2021 – Teammates (2)

Hi Everyone!

What I’ve been thinking about this week is teammates. Many people in this group I would consider direct teammates of mine, and are teammates with each other. I see, communicate with and rely on many of you in some form or another. I think of many of you as teammates in life as well as in running. We know we’re here for each other and there is a huge confidence that comes from that. I’m grateful for it.

I was listening to an interview with Quilen Blackwell, a social activist and changemaker. His view is that life is a team sport. Oftentimes when you’re on a path or undertaking something new, you might find you’re on a team, but you don’t necessarily know who your teammates are yet. But here is the thing: there will always be teammates who show up. I love this idea that we have people just waiting quietly for us to appear so they can join us and help us to move forward. Many of us are lucky to have already experienced this. In the same way, we often encounter others who we didn’t see coming, and recognize a teammate in the path they’re on, and so think nothing of doing whatever we can to help them achieve their goals.

I think this is called having faith in humanity. Not everyone is on the same team, but we do all have our own invisible teammates out there who want the best for us and will help us get there. You’ll know them when you see them. And you’ll be one when you can. Here’s to teammates.

Ok, onto workouts for this week!

I think we’re up for hills again. Wow, three week cycles seem to be passing fast! For those not doing an Achilles 5K or 10K virtual, do hills! And mix it up. If you normally go long, throw some half hills in. They are so good for power and fast twitch strength and form. We endurance junkies can forget about that sometimes.

If you don’t want to do hills, here’s a fun/different one to try. 8-10 x 200/200 run like: 200 Fast (3K pace – basically hard), 200 Medium (keep this at 10K or Half Marathon race pace). No breaks – keep going. This is a great workout for teaching your body to clear lactate. Equals higher lactate threshold. Equals can run at a higher pace for a more sustained period of time! So handy.

If doing the Achilles this weekend, let’s do workout 2 but maybe cut the qty in half so we can go in fresh.
Tempo: ATB peeps have 30-32 mins straight up. Start 5-7 sec slower than normal tempo. This one is a big confidence builder – you’re just callousing yourself. (callouses are ugly but so useful for protection and armour) Do what you need to to mentally stay with it. If you have a few slower km’s that’s fine. Learn to regroup and find a way through. You got this!

That is all. Go Team!

Seanna