Tuesday, March 5, 2024 – re-Prioritization

Hi Everyone!

First up, huge congrats to everyone who ran the Chilly Half!!! Sam F who PB’d! Ingrid who crushed it in a new age group! Bob who negative split! Amy, Shauna, Jason who executed smart, tough and solid training runs. And with that, the seal to spring races has been broken – bring ‘em on!!!

What I’ve been thinking about this week is about prioritization. Or rather, re-prioritization. It’s true that most of us aren’t looking for things to fill up our time. Almost everything we undertake takes us away from something else. So we have to be intentional about where we’re directing our time and energy. For me, running is always on the list of priorities. It always has been. I don’t consider that to be selfish because it’s what supports my ability to address my many other priorities. But also, my running as a priority is very flexible. It moves up and down the priority ladder as needed. I think many in this group can relate. We’re cooking along just fine and then suddenly life shifts, and something zooms right to the top of our priority ladder, shuffling everything else down a rung. That doesn’t mean the other things fall off or get neglected completely – it just means they don’t come very first when deciding where to direct time and energy.

Personally, I have had times when running has enjoyed a very high position, if not top rung. That’s when I have the time and energy to focus on myself and my training and my recovery and my mental and emotional engagement in the sport. That’s satisfying and fun. I have also had times where running has moved down to fourth or fifth on the list of priorities. During those times I like to say “I’m just staying in good enough shape so that I can get into shape again when I want to”. I keep my foot in the door. And I know when life has shifted and opened up space for me to bring running back into focus. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve been through this cycle of running shifting up and down the priority ladder. This is often not something we plan. Sometimes someone in our life suddenly needs more attention, or our career demands more, or we have to put some aspect of our own physical or mental health in the top spot. That is life and to be expected. Just don’t make running so rigid that it is all or nothing. We can simply shift it down a few notches. Then, when things open up again, we can juggle it back up and reprioritize it. The key is acknowledging and accepting that not everything can be a top priority. That defeats the definition of the word. But also, if things aren’t a top priority, don’t neglect them completely. Because sooner or later they’ll demand their spot on the top rung.

On to tomorrow’s workout: Lakeshore and Leslie – 6:05 drills, 6:15 GO.

Speaking of ladders, let’s do one! Down and back up.

Except people who RACED Chilly. If you RACED it (not training through), take a break or come out and jog. If you were training through, well, as it sounds, you keep training.

Mile-800-600-400-600-800-mile (option for this last one to be any distance from mile to 400). Paces: Half marathon – 10K – 5K – faster – 5K – 10K – Half marathon. Let’s take 2 mins after the miles and 800’s and 1:30 after the 600’s and 400’s.

That is all – see you in the am!

Seanna