Turning Down the Noise

/in /by

Hi Everyone! 

 

Can’t say this often, but I feel like we’re looking at some perfect running weather ahead. Enjoy! 

I feel like a big part of my role as a coach is to keep people doing what they love so that it brings them happiness and self-fulfillment. Two things about that: 1 – that just seems like such a rewarding goal to help someone achieve in and of itself, and 2 – if all you really care about are times, feeling happy and self-fulfilled will cause you to be consistent and to keep showing up, so that’s the most important element to achieving your time goals. 

 

What I’ve been thinking about in all of this, is to remember that your own sense of pride and self-judgement is all you really need.  Of course it feels great to get kudos from others and to post your workouts on social media. I’m not anti-these things if you need a boost. Just try not to get too reliant on external validation for your own sense of achievement.  

 

I find it interesting watching my kids and my friends’ kids as they challenge themselves. They run consistently, they run far, they bike technical terrain, they work as hard as they can up a hill. And I can tell that the last thing on their minds is external feedback. They don’t think anyone is judging them, nor do they expect accolades. They have a very strong internal sense of whether they achieved what they set out to or not. And maybe I’m just not on their platforms, but I’ve never seen any of these kids beg for external praise from people they barely know. They don’t need that to make themselves feel good – they know whether they’re proud of themselves. 

 

So that is my word of caution to keep in check as we enter race seasons where our results can be judged by others. And as we load up our workouts for all to see. (and I’m not talking about sharing with our intimate training groups who are there with us and to support us). But maybe try keeping some efforts that you’re super proud of to yourself, so that you can bask in them and realize that that actually makes you happier and more self-fulfilled than thumbs-up from strangers. Then you can start learning the hard lessons, like being happy with your effort and what you had on the day, regardless of what your watch says. But it starts with turning down the external noise. This is just my thought to keep you all feeling good, happy, and running “successfully”! 

 

Ok, really quick Boston and Fall racing sched update: I’ll have new tabs up this week. If you need one more easy week so you can start with full batteries, please take it. We are not in a rush. You are not couch-to-marathoners so too long a build can be too much.  

 

Workouts for this week: 

  1. 2K at HM pace, 3 mins, 4 x 800 at 10K pace w 1:30, 3 mins, 2K at HM pace 
  2. As fartlek: 8 mins Hard, 3 mins easy, 4 x 3 min Hard, 1:30 easy, 3 min easy, 8 mins Hard 
  3. Tempo: 2 x 12 w 3 min rest, 2 x 4 min w 1:30 (a bit faster) 

 

Enjoy!!!! 

 

Seanna