“People can't understand why a man runs. They don't see any sport in it. Argue it lacks the sight and thrill of body contact. Yet, the conflict is there, more raw and challenging than any man versus man competition. For in running it is man against himself, the cruelest of opponents. The other runners are not the real enemies. His adversary lies within him, in his ability, with brain and heart to master himself and his emotions.”
I often get into this idea of ‘running is not fun’ so why the hell do it!!!! I know there are the running geaks and lifer who can’t see themselves doing anything but running, but I cannot say I follow that belief, at least not into regards to actually liking running for the sake of running.
So why the heck would I then go out day in day out and run some god awful 100 mile weeks (well maybe not right now, but at times in the past). One will always see me giving some idea from the ‘Once a Runner’ or as I call it ‘the bible’. Well the only real answer I’ve come across is the idea from Joe Vigil of ‘satisfaction’, but even then there have been many times when I have quite simply walked away from a workout/run literally blubbering because it was no longer positive in any way. But wait…not all is lost.
If I found out anything it’s that those times that are the darkest also have the greatest impact on one as a person. I’ve always viewed running as a concept where u really find out what happens ‘when the ‘#^%^ hits the fan’. That’s one of those things where I often feel I have huge advantage over many athletes/coaches and that is in experiencing that absolute lows in combination with those moments where things simply come together. The key to that ‘stickingitoutedness’, as I would come to realize was belief…. So here are my keys to the idea of belief and an inside story which no one has ever been told (if you’ve been around me on long runs you know I tell a lot of stories):
1)You need to believe in yourself (both mentally and physically): that you have the ability to achieve your full potential.
2) You need to have faith in your training (that you have properly prepared, coach, etc… the egs I I like to use is when Shorter and Prefontaine were training in Colorado in the winter and Pre was whining about a cold and snowy…apparently more like a blizzard…when Shorter simply said ‘we are training harder than anyone in the world right now’)
3) Understand what you can control and leave the things you cannot control alone. This is a tough one, but it’s also a future blog idea and that is that your first goal should be simple…..your goal is to pay attention to the process..in other words doing all the things you can do to be your best
4) Belief will carry you through difficult times…My story about belief is kinda long so it will have to wait…..
Saturday, December 18, 2010
Monday, December 13, 2010
Kinda jumping ahead here.....
I'd love to give some first hand current inspiration, but alas my current victories are small. I at least got in 7 sessions this week and even did a small hill workout with the kids last Thurs, but that tempered by my run on Sunday that was painful.
In my quest to provide some small insight to my fundamental beliefs on running I am going to jump ahead a few topics (specifically for a friend of mine who is currently 'winterly challenged'. I've always felt that coaches can be overrated. Not to say they aren't relevant as a bad coach can ruin you, but a good coach simply allows you find out what you need to do. My belief in that regards comes from arguably the most influential running coach of all time in Oregon's Bill Bowerman and from a lesser known runner by the name of Jack Bachelor.
If you've ever read anything on Bowerman (Kenny Moore's 'Men of Oregon' being the ultimate piece of literature), you know what Bowerman was a teacher first and coach second. Jack Bachelor )the man who the infamous Bruce Denton from 'Once a Runner' fame is based on) was also one of these types of coaches who understood that the athletes needed to make the decisions and not the coach (egs Denton's talk to Quenton Cassidy the night before the big race being a good example). Their idea that the most important running lessons learned were not in being told, but in being learned by the athlete have always stuck with me as the essential truths
Hence the topic for this post is how a good training partner/s are the best people to help you learn these lessons:
1) For those who know the legendary basketball coach john wooden's 'pry amid of success' you know that places an extreme emphasis on working as a unit. With team dynamics you can go beyond day to day sport and into the realm of life,
character, etc… as you help each other improve, go through the 'wars' and os on...
2) SUPPORT GROUP:
a) Coach: the ability to communicate to one's coach (needs, wants, concerns,). In this regards the coach acts as an authoritative facilitator, who is able to mee the needs of many. I've always felt the good coaches have a few things in common. They are kinda like a chameleon who have the ability to stay the same in basic principles/values, but also have the talent to deal with may typos of physical and mental abilities/talents. It's easy to teach one event, type of person, etc.... but it's entirely another to be able to understand how to relate to males/females, fast twitch/slow twitch and young/experienced.
3) TRAINING PARTNERS:
Training partners (as malmo put it 'Compete WITH your comrades in sweat - never AGAINST them') are of course required to get the most out training, but i also feel that some true gifts from training partners are overlooked (and IMHO more important in the grand scheme of things)
i) Quite simply they help one to enjoy the daily grind of training. Have a touhg time getting out the door...find someon who will meet you on X day at X time.
ii) When all on the same page they can help create both individual and team values, goals, purpose, accountability, security, etc....
iii) Team leader/s to galvanize a team, set expectations, goals, vision, etc... In this respects I've often seen the tone set by the main athlete/s who dictate how the group functions. For example... one of the best training partners I ever had was Jerry Ziak. Jerry, like myself, was often considered an 'independent' voice in running, but as training partners both myself and Jerry were on the exact same page. We were both competitive without letting our egos get involved, and therefore pushed each other, as opposed to killing each other off.
In the end a good loyal and dependable training partner can take one far beyond what they think they can and feed off each other. On the other side I've also seen how training partners who are venomous to each other can also destroy what should be a great training environment
In my quest to provide some small insight to my fundamental beliefs on running I am going to jump ahead a few topics (specifically for a friend of mine who is currently 'winterly challenged'. I've always felt that coaches can be overrated. Not to say they aren't relevant as a bad coach can ruin you, but a good coach simply allows you find out what you need to do. My belief in that regards comes from arguably the most influential running coach of all time in Oregon's Bill Bowerman and from a lesser known runner by the name of Jack Bachelor.
If you've ever read anything on Bowerman (Kenny Moore's 'Men of Oregon' being the ultimate piece of literature), you know what Bowerman was a teacher first and coach second. Jack Bachelor )the man who the infamous Bruce Denton from 'Once a Runner' fame is based on) was also one of these types of coaches who understood that the athletes needed to make the decisions and not the coach (egs Denton's talk to Quenton Cassidy the night before the big race being a good example). Their idea that the most important running lessons learned were not in being told, but in being learned by the athlete have always stuck with me as the essential truths
Hence the topic for this post is how a good training partner/s are the best people to help you learn these lessons:
1) For those who know the legendary basketball coach john wooden's 'pry amid of success' you know that places an extreme emphasis on working as a unit. With team dynamics you can go beyond day to day sport and into the realm of life,
character, etc… as you help each other improve, go through the 'wars' and os on...
2) SUPPORT GROUP:
a) Coach: the ability to communicate to one's coach (needs, wants, concerns,). In this regards the coach acts as an authoritative facilitator, who is able to mee the needs of many. I've always felt the good coaches have a few things in common. They are kinda like a chameleon who have the ability to stay the same in basic principles/values, but also have the talent to deal with may typos of physical and mental abilities/talents. It's easy to teach one event, type of person, etc.... but it's entirely another to be able to understand how to relate to males/females, fast twitch/slow twitch and young/experienced.
3) TRAINING PARTNERS:
Training partners (as malmo put it 'Compete WITH your comrades in sweat - never AGAINST them') are of course required to get the most out training, but i also feel that some true gifts from training partners are overlooked (and IMHO more important in the grand scheme of things)
i) Quite simply they help one to enjoy the daily grind of training. Have a touhg time getting out the door...find someon who will meet you on X day at X time.
ii) When all on the same page they can help create both individual and team values, goals, purpose, accountability, security, etc....
iii) Team leader/s to galvanize a team, set expectations, goals, vision, etc... In this respects I've often seen the tone set by the main athlete/s who dictate how the group functions. For example... one of the best training partners I ever had was Jerry Ziak. Jerry, like myself, was often considered an 'independent' voice in running, but as training partners both myself and Jerry were on the exact same page. We were both competitive without letting our egos get involved, and therefore pushed each other, as opposed to killing each other off.
In the end a good loyal and dependable training partner can take one far beyond what they think they can and feed off each other. On the other side I've also seen how training partners who are venomous to each other can also destroy what should be a great training environment
Tuesday, December 7, 2010
So what now.....
Oh Yeah .....Discipline.....eeeks not a strong point for me right now. Much like the infamous fictional character Quenton Cassidy who was so jealous of the obsessive complusive Bruce Denton and Jerry Mizner from 'Once a Runner' fame I too struggle with discipline. But that struggle is only in getting going.
Once I am in my routine I am set come hell of high water. this lack of routine would probably explain why my Fall/Winter running has been a mess. Probably why I also found this quote from the great Emil Zatopek to be so enoghtening:
"When a person trains once, nothing happens. When a person forces himself to do a thing a hundred or a thousand times, then he certainly has developed in more ways than physical. Is it raining? That doesn't matter. Am I tired? That doesn't matter, either. Then willpower will be no problem.“ (Emil Zatopek)
That's one thing I left out from my original idea to present these mental 'tricks' and that was in my philosophy. I also see running as (as corny and strange as this may sound) a from of 'enlightenment' (take your pick: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enlightenment). In this regards overcoming weaknesses is my form of enlightenment. I find that in this struggle I leanr far more about life than running and in that regards it's a neverending set of experiences that constantly evolve and grow (wow existential isn't it). it's also been an idea that I try to provide to young runners. that this sport is far more than running and competing....it's about learning and evolving. In that case you are constantly motivated.
So here are a few of my tricks to reach this form of enlightment:
1) Create a plan for training, school, etc… (time
management) and have the discipline to stick so that plan (yeah easier said than done sometimes.....and whene evr you think you have trained hard.....remember you could ahve done more)
2) Routine, routine, routine (consistency rule):
“to be good a running life must be boring” – Marty Liquori - former world #1 miler & US 2 mile record holder. This has been the key for my running or as the great Villanova coach (and Liqouri's coach) said: "Live like a clock.".
Every Monday I do this...every Tues, etc...... The greater the routine (not meant to be boring), the easier it is to deal with the monotony of training. For some it's not as relevant...for me it's key!
3) With consistency there is a feeling of empowerment. See my enlightenment beliefs
4) The more you do it the easier it becomes. See Zatopek's quote!!!!
In turn all of this creates mental toughness (‘there are no secrets’ and ‘miles of trials, trials of miles’). Sounds boring but it works....
Once I am in my routine I am set come hell of high water. this lack of routine would probably explain why my Fall/Winter running has been a mess. Probably why I also found this quote from the great Emil Zatopek to be so enoghtening:
"When a person trains once, nothing happens. When a person forces himself to do a thing a hundred or a thousand times, then he certainly has developed in more ways than physical. Is it raining? That doesn't matter. Am I tired? That doesn't matter, either. Then willpower will be no problem.“ (Emil Zatopek)
That's one thing I left out from my original idea to present these mental 'tricks' and that was in my philosophy. I also see running as (as corny and strange as this may sound) a from of 'enlightenment' (take your pick: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enlightenment). In this regards overcoming weaknesses is my form of enlightenment. I find that in this struggle I leanr far more about life than running and in that regards it's a neverending set of experiences that constantly evolve and grow (wow existential isn't it). it's also been an idea that I try to provide to young runners. that this sport is far more than running and competing....it's about learning and evolving. In that case you are constantly motivated.
So here are a few of my tricks to reach this form of enlightment:
1) Create a plan for training, school, etc… (time
management) and have the discipline to stick so that plan (yeah easier said than done sometimes.....and whene evr you think you have trained hard.....remember you could ahve done more)
2) Routine, routine, routine (consistency rule):
“to be good a running life must be boring” – Marty Liquori - former world #1 miler & US 2 mile record holder. This has been the key for my running or as the great Villanova coach (and Liqouri's coach) said: "Live like a clock.".
Every Monday I do this...every Tues, etc...... The greater the routine (not meant to be boring), the easier it is to deal with the monotony of training. For some it's not as relevant...for me it's key!
3) With consistency there is a feeling of empowerment. See my enlightenment beliefs
4) The more you do it the easier it becomes. See Zatopek's quote!!!!
In turn all of this creates mental toughness (‘there are no secrets’ and ‘miles of trials, trials of miles’). Sounds boring but it works....
Thursday, December 2, 2010
Determination
To enjoy training is not really the appropriate phrase; to gain satisfaction of fulfillment from training is more appropriate. ” (Joe Vigil)
A quote that I often use to describe running. If it was fun everyone would do it and often running is....well.....really not fun or enjoyable. But what it does do is offer (as Rudyard Kipling would say)a challenge if you wish to take on that '60 seconds' of pain.
But as I note (bringing out my own demons here) all too often is what a difficult sport this can be on a dialy basis. If you feel you haven't properly prepared seldom will you run to your potential (but then again if you don't know better ignorance is bliss). I try to reinforce to the HS I coach that at one time I thought I trained hard...I was wrong!!! It requires many things and the first attitude (or as i prefer to call it an underrated skill) is determination. Here then are my keys:
●One must have the ability to force their bodies in both training and racing (callusing). An idea I specifically took from Bill Dellinger (former oregon and Steve Prefontaine's coach) of how general training and more specific wokrouts can create a callusing effect on the physical and mental aspects of running. The key is not confusing single workouts callusing with consistency callusing (far better)
●Running is not glamorous and requires one to actually volunteer to feel pain/discomfort for a lengthy period of time. See if it was fun everyone would do it. i find it takes a certain type of personlity to run and it seems to revolve around two certifiable nutty traits...1)do you like pain and 2) do you like a challenge (see my previous post on Ron Daws)
●Pain threshold can be increased through pure hard work and effort (going the extra distance and doing the little things). It doesn't always have to be about pushing through pain. it can be as simple as running 5 mins longer, eating better, doing drills 15 secs longer, doing an extra set of weights, etc.... it's more about focussing on the process and then the rest just seems to happen)
● Find something to motivate you (egs Murray Halberg and his clock/withered arm). If there's one runner who I would say defined 'toughness' it would be 1960 5000m Oly champ Murray Halberg. he had an arm that was almost taken off by a horrific rugby accident, and IMHo ran arguably the gutsiest race of all time when he won hos Oly gold. But the best Halberg story comes from his race in Los Angeles. He had lost to former Canadian teen phenom Bruce Kidd and had placed 3rd. he hated losing to Kidd and received an alarm clock. He wanted to throw the clock out, but thought better of himself and instead used to motivate himself....for one whole year. Halberg used the clock as his every day alarm clock. Every morning it went off for him to do his morning run, but if he didn't feel like running he simply looked at the clock, got mad and out the door he went. The end result...he simply annihiliated Kidd and the rest of the competition one year later.
A quote that I often use to describe running. If it was fun everyone would do it and often running is....well.....really not fun or enjoyable. But what it does do is offer (as Rudyard Kipling would say)a challenge if you wish to take on that '60 seconds' of pain.
But as I note (bringing out my own demons here) all too often is what a difficult sport this can be on a dialy basis. If you feel you haven't properly prepared seldom will you run to your potential (but then again if you don't know better ignorance is bliss). I try to reinforce to the HS I coach that at one time I thought I trained hard...I was wrong!!! It requires many things and the first attitude (or as i prefer to call it an underrated skill) is determination. Here then are my keys:
●One must have the ability to force their bodies in both training and racing (callusing). An idea I specifically took from Bill Dellinger (former oregon and Steve Prefontaine's coach) of how general training and more specific wokrouts can create a callusing effect on the physical and mental aspects of running. The key is not confusing single workouts callusing with consistency callusing (far better)
●Running is not glamorous and requires one to actually volunteer to feel pain/discomfort for a lengthy period of time. See if it was fun everyone would do it. i find it takes a certain type of personlity to run and it seems to revolve around two certifiable nutty traits...1)do you like pain and 2) do you like a challenge (see my previous post on Ron Daws)
●Pain threshold can be increased through pure hard work and effort (going the extra distance and doing the little things). It doesn't always have to be about pushing through pain. it can be as simple as running 5 mins longer, eating better, doing drills 15 secs longer, doing an extra set of weights, etc.... it's more about focussing on the process and then the rest just seems to happen)
● Find something to motivate you (egs Murray Halberg and his clock/withered arm). If there's one runner who I would say defined 'toughness' it would be 1960 5000m Oly champ Murray Halberg. he had an arm that was almost taken off by a horrific rugby accident, and IMHo ran arguably the gutsiest race of all time when he won hos Oly gold. But the best Halberg story comes from his race in Los Angeles. He had lost to former Canadian teen phenom Bruce Kidd and had placed 3rd. he hated losing to Kidd and received an alarm clock. He wanted to throw the clock out, but thought better of himself and instead used to motivate himself....for one whole year. Halberg used the clock as his every day alarm clock. Every morning it went off for him to do his morning run, but if he didn't feel like running he simply looked at the clock, got mad and out the door he went. The end result...he simply annihiliated Kidd and the rest of the competition one year later.
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