Tuesday, February 20, 2024 – Exploration

Hi All,

Hope you all had a relaxing long Family Day weekend. It actually felt like winter! Not sure about you guys, but I’ve actually been enjoying the cold and snow – it feels novel, unlike past Februarys where it’s had me beaten down by now.

What I’ve been thinking about this week is running as exploration. Not exploration in the geographic sense (which I guess it often is as well), but more in the sense of how it affects and changes our bodies and ourselves. I think having this sense of curiosity is in large part what keeps us engaged. If a coach or algorithm could tell you exactly where you would end up if you followed a certain protocol, I think you’d find it would take the excitement and fun out of what you’re doing. Part of the point is the exploration into what might lie ahead.

This past weekend, my co-coach and I were coaching some of our university athletes in meets. It is almost the end of the season, and they are keen to keep testing themselves and trying to reach certain marks. It was a busy weekend, with two meets in two different cities in two days. Then one athlete wanted to run a third race on the third day. We both knew this was not likely to lead to a strong performance. We’ve both had enough experience to make that call. But the athlete didn’t have that experience. He is young and he was eager. So, we let him do it, and it was not a strong performance. My point is, that now, he KNOWS. We could have told him endlessly about our experience, but until he experienced it himself, he wouldn’t really know. He had to go out and explore and discover. He is now that much more informed and wiser and he will carry that understanding with him.

This is why, as a coach, in most cases I feel I am more of a consultant. I can tell you what I think, but I want you to go out and learn for yourselves. I will never say “I told you so”. Because telling you so doesn’t really teach you. Failure is an experience through which you learn and grow. Probably even more than success. So keep exploring. Discover what makes you grow. Be curious. This is a pretty fun journey if you can maintain that sense of open minded wonder. You’ll never find the answers in a book, podcast or from an expert. So keep going out and answering your own questions!

I just want to leave you all with one more message for the week: You are doing a good job. Please repeat this to yourselves if no one has told you lately. Whether it’s in running, work, caring for others, or any other area where you’re devoting your energy: you are doing great and what you are doing matters.

On to tomorrow’s workout: Lakeshore and Leslie: 6:05 Drills, 6:15 GO!

Let’s do drills down to Carlaw so we can start at that end.

Then: 800 tempo, 1 min rest, 600 @ 5-10K, 1 min rest, 200 @ faster. 3 min rest.

Repeat for total of 3-4 sets.

I like the mix of paces here. Coming back to tempo after some speedier work helps to teach your body to process and use lactate as fuel. We also get to sprinkle in some faster work to work on running economy and speed. We have to keep those gears alive, even in the winter months!

That is all – see you in the am.

Seanna