Tuesday, October 1, 2024 – Getting shit done

Hi Everyone!

Wow – where to begin on this past weekend. Let’s start with Berlin: Elizabeth (PB, BQ!), Samantha (PB, BQ!) and Eleanor (BQ!) all had amazing races. It’s rare that a marathon day comes together for everyone – I think the positive team energy helped for sure! In the Night 10K, Karen and Adam Nicklin braved running a dark and what sounds like an endlessly hilly route – way to go guys. And in the Oakville Half, Jason and Zoë both ran very solid marathon-prep races. Great job everyone!

What I’ve been thinking about lately is about how inspiring many of this crew and my training buddies are in terms of getting shit done and making things happen. I think we might take for granted that if someone signs up for a goal 12 weeks out that they’ll have the motivation and grit to follow through. But this is not easy and it is actually not in everyone’s character to stick doggedly to something when it gets hard or other life events come up.

I am in a position in coaching where I can see a lot of different patterns in how people run their lives. I can see different arrangements and big pictures and it is an interesting observational vantage point. Many of the young people I coach tend to say they have goals and want to do well, but somehow life often gets in the way of training, and there are lots of (often very valid) reasons why they couldn’t get to training or had to cut it short. As a coach I can’t argue with why they couldn’t make it – they are running their own lives. But I juxtapose that with so many of my LES crew and training partners. This crew is made up of people who I would describe as “high achievers”, and so it is no surprise that they have the mindset of removing barriers and getting things done. They also often have very valid reasons for not getting training in, but somehow they mostly still get it done. I have seen people plan out sleep overs for their kids on a weeknight so they could make early morning workouts, run around their block a million times so they could be close to home in case the kids need them, wake up at insane hours to get their long runs in, do their 30K runs on hot, hilly, buggy cottage roads because it’s that or nothing, and continually look ahead, foresee the oncoming obstacles, and plan around them. I don’t think people who do this are more obsessed with running than anyone else – I think they’ve just figured out how to navigate their lives so they’re not full of road blocks and excuses. It occurred to me that this way of thinking is probably why these people are high achievers in many areas in life. It also occurred to me that if young people are taught to think this way, it could serve them far beyond just running.

I do understand that training is a privilege, and not everyone is in a position to take it on. Those of us who train are not struggling for calories. We have “some” time in the day. We have the financial resources to be able to ‘enjoy’ self-imposed hard things. But that doesn’t mean it’s easy. And it doesn’t mean we’re not making sacrifices and often struggling to make it work. For those of us lucky enough to take on these goals, there are still many obstacles, detours and set-backs. And I have the privilege of watching those of you who don’t just roll over and curl into the fetal position (as much as we feel like it some days!) but who move mountains to get shit done. Thank-you for that inspiration. As a coach, I will try to inspire others in the same way.

On to tomorrow’s workout! Back to Hills!

1. People running Chicago or Toronto, I’ve given you a different workout in your plans. 4-5 x 1 mile w 90 sec rest. Start at HM pace and if feeling good, can get down to 10K pace.
2. People running CIM or other later marathon (even base training for Boston), let’s do a solid but possibly less intense version of hills + tempo: 2 x full hill followed by 6 min @ marathon pace (not tempo!) Repeat 3 times. This will give us some solid grindiness in our legs which should complement the bigger miles we’re doing a little better.

I will aim to be at Pottery around 6:15. Beach crew coordinate for Glen Manor as you do.

Have a great one and see you soon!

xo

Seanna