Tuesday, June 18, 2024 – Shaping our memories

Hi Everyone!

Congrats to Carolyn Steele Gray who came 1st in her her age group in the Guelph Tri! Way to open the tri season. And I think I missed kudos to Madalyn last weekend who rocked a Half IM and came 7th in her AG! Not sure if anyone here raced the Under Armour 10K on Sat. If you do a race, don’t forget to shoot me a note so I can include you in results! We’re back to heat-training and racing right now, so give yourselves some grace as you adapt. You will adapt, but it feels hard and it takes about two weeks. All we can do is just embrace it and be cautious. Take breaks where you need to and slow your pace on longer efforts. Don’t forget: heat training is the “poor person’s altitude”! The adaptations will add to your fitness. Not saying it’s easy.

I came across a quote by Olympian, filmmaker and author Alexi Pappas the other day which I love:

 “How you talk about your experiences will dictate how you feel about them. Reframing our goals and rewriting our stories are powerful tools. Nobody can tell us how to feel about something. We can make our shortcomings into something beautiful if we want to. How we label an experience can completely change how we perceive it.”

This is so powerful and true. The more I learn about experiences and memories, the more I realize they are completely subjective, and the rewriting of them through memory can actually change them. New research has shown that the more we revisit a memory or retell a story, the less “accurate” it becomes to what actually happened. The “memory” is the story we tell ourselves, and that becomes our reality. This is amazing and a bit scary, because who are we if not a compilation of memories and experiences? But it is also empowering because we can actually have a hand in how we perceive these experiences and grow from them.

I ran a 1500m race last week. It was very hot, quite windy, a very bunched up physical race, I was elbowed out of place in the last lap and ran a couple seconds slower than my first one last year. But that is not my story. I actually had a great experience. I felt strong throughout, everyone said I looked great and I did feel like I was running well, I was by far the oldest person in the race – by probably 30 years – and was able to compete seriously with these younger athletes, and I just have to work on my positioning and kick. That is the story I’m telling. I could have absorbed the result and experience negatively or positively. I’ve chosen to tell myself the positive story, and so I’m motivated and excited for my next one.

This isn’t about lying to ourselves or living in a false reality (because it’s not a real memory if we don’t believe it). And it’s not about just putting on rose coloured glasses. It’s about shaping and framing the way we perceive our experiences. It’s about truly finding the beauty and taking control of deciding how we will feel about a situation. I like that.

Before we get to tomorrow’s workout, don’t forget the Ekiden is TONIGHT! 7:00 pm start at the spit. I am team captain for team 1 so will run down to pick up the kits by 6:30. If you’re not on a team, come out and jog/cheer! It’s a fun evening of celebrating running – and the longest day of the year!!! (well, almost – 3 more days)

On to tomorrow’s workout! Hills + tempo. Let’s put the emphasis on tempo here vs hills. 2 half hills followed by 5 min tempo. Max 3 sets, but people training for marathons (vs summer speed), make your last tempo 10 min at goal marathon race pace. For everyone else, it’s a bit lighter than last time we did hills, but we’re at a point in everyone’s season where the hills aren’t the priority – it’s maintenance.

New people to the group, hills are a little less formal. If you’re closer to Pottery Rd, a group meets there, but floating time. Usually anywhere between 6:05-6:20 and people just start in when they get there. If you’re closer to the beach, people meet at the bottom of Glen Manor at 6:00 (Tanis, pls correct if I’m wrong).

Have a good one and see a bunch of you tonight!

xo

Seanna