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.
Thursday, December 2, 2010
Tuesday, November 30, 2010
Okay I am back in the Game
...or to quote Al Pacino... 'Just when I thought I was out, they pull me back in'.
I thought I was in for good a couple of weeks ago. Got in 6 solid days of running 40-75 mins. The next week was on a roll again when an 'oops' started and I took 3 days off. I have been able to rectify that oops this week, but we'll see.
If it's any consolation we finally sold our house, bought one (final paperwork today) and begin moving in about 2 weeks, although we won't be living there til early Jan. That and Julie's impending pregnancy, Carter's endless energy, the rain and my own lack of discipline (This is the worst I have fallen off the wagon) have meant a lack of running, but when I do I feel great. My mechanics have felt good, my stride is more 'core' and powerful, but it's always a long road back. Thank god I had some semblance of 3-4 days of running before this or it would be ugly
When things go awry I often go back to the simple things and one of the reason for starting this blog was to share what I feel is a somewhat unique set of perspectives and experiences on someone who somehow made it through this sport in a very strange series of events. The sport has never been easy for me, but somehow I've landed on my feet (most of the time anyways).
In that regards 'getting it' and how difficult this sport can be goes hand in hand with my personality (hence why I have always seen the fictional Quenton Cassidy of Once a Runner fame as a soul mate). I have never been the OCD true blue distance runner and it's something I've had to work at (at times far more than most realize and definitely more than I sometimes understand).
This leads to the next series of posts (I will update regularly) rather than go on about training and my own self loathing.
I've had the opportunity to pass on some of my running perspectives at both the HS and Uni level. Over time I have had the chance to tweak a PowerPoint presentation to the point where I can do it at many levels and too many groups (not just running). Over the next while I figure I'll change gears and write about something that I already have a skeleton structure in place.
The idea behind said PowerPoint was to 1) remind me of where I've come from and what I need to do myself and 2) to give younger athletes a bit of idea on what I wish I could have told myself if I could go back in time. Nothing is that original (except my eccentric way of presentation) and instead is based upon more methodology of what I have gleamed in my own experiences and from those much greater at this sport than myself (egs Joe Vigil, Steve Ovett, Arthur lydiard, Peter Snell, etc...)...so here goes:
If could pinpoint one main place to begin in running and that is a philosophy of what the sport means to you. It's an idea I took from a man I would consider a great motivator and that is Joe Vigil. I've wrote about Joe before but his ability to connect with athletes is legendary and it left an indelible mark in my mind. One of the core ideas of Vigil was that each athlete should have a philosophy. In time of stress, concern or despair the philosophy is what you fall back on. I can be your own idea (my quote of the 'key to success is patience with a sense of urgency' has always stuck with me, but I've found a much more fluid philosophy from Ron Daws. Daws was a running eccentric and schmuck, but he also made himself into a "Self Made Olympian'. He began his training book 'Running Your Best: The Committed Runner's Guide to Training and Racing' with the infamous Teddy Roosevelt quote (and this blogs main name) 'In the Arena', but I found Daws quote even better. It really does get at the core and when I find myself struggling (as I do right now) it's my core vision of what the hell I am actually trying to do....
“Making a commitment to run comes down to how badly you want to explore your limits. It means honestly confronting your excuses. It means making time to train. Unless you go all out for something, you may conclude your life without actually having lived it. It doesn’t have to be running, but it should be a quest for excellence, and it need be for only that period of life that it takes to full explore it. That’s how you find out who you are. To live your life your way, to reach for the goals you have set for yourself, to be the way that you want to be, that is success”
(Ron Daws from ‘Running Your Best’ – 1968 Olympian)
I thought I was in for good a couple of weeks ago. Got in 6 solid days of running 40-75 mins. The next week was on a roll again when an 'oops' started and I took 3 days off. I have been able to rectify that oops this week, but we'll see.
If it's any consolation we finally sold our house, bought one (final paperwork today) and begin moving in about 2 weeks, although we won't be living there til early Jan. That and Julie's impending pregnancy, Carter's endless energy, the rain and my own lack of discipline (This is the worst I have fallen off the wagon) have meant a lack of running, but when I do I feel great. My mechanics have felt good, my stride is more 'core' and powerful, but it's always a long road back. Thank god I had some semblance of 3-4 days of running before this or it would be ugly
When things go awry I often go back to the simple things and one of the reason for starting this blog was to share what I feel is a somewhat unique set of perspectives and experiences on someone who somehow made it through this sport in a very strange series of events. The sport has never been easy for me, but somehow I've landed on my feet (most of the time anyways).
In that regards 'getting it' and how difficult this sport can be goes hand in hand with my personality (hence why I have always seen the fictional Quenton Cassidy of Once a Runner fame as a soul mate). I have never been the OCD true blue distance runner and it's something I've had to work at (at times far more than most realize and definitely more than I sometimes understand).
This leads to the next series of posts (I will update regularly) rather than go on about training and my own self loathing.
I've had the opportunity to pass on some of my running perspectives at both the HS and Uni level. Over time I have had the chance to tweak a PowerPoint presentation to the point where I can do it at many levels and too many groups (not just running). Over the next while I figure I'll change gears and write about something that I already have a skeleton structure in place.
The idea behind said PowerPoint was to 1) remind me of where I've come from and what I need to do myself and 2) to give younger athletes a bit of idea on what I wish I could have told myself if I could go back in time. Nothing is that original (except my eccentric way of presentation) and instead is based upon more methodology of what I have gleamed in my own experiences and from those much greater at this sport than myself (egs Joe Vigil, Steve Ovett, Arthur lydiard, Peter Snell, etc...)...so here goes:
If could pinpoint one main place to begin in running and that is a philosophy of what the sport means to you. It's an idea I took from a man I would consider a great motivator and that is Joe Vigil. I've wrote about Joe before but his ability to connect with athletes is legendary and it left an indelible mark in my mind. One of the core ideas of Vigil was that each athlete should have a philosophy. In time of stress, concern or despair the philosophy is what you fall back on. I can be your own idea (my quote of the 'key to success is patience with a sense of urgency' has always stuck with me, but I've found a much more fluid philosophy from Ron Daws. Daws was a running eccentric and schmuck, but he also made himself into a "Self Made Olympian'. He began his training book 'Running Your Best: The Committed Runner's Guide to Training and Racing' with the infamous Teddy Roosevelt quote (and this blogs main name) 'In the Arena', but I found Daws quote even better. It really does get at the core and when I find myself struggling (as I do right now) it's my core vision of what the hell I am actually trying to do....
“Making a commitment to run comes down to how badly you want to explore your limits. It means honestly confronting your excuses. It means making time to train. Unless you go all out for something, you may conclude your life without actually having lived it. It doesn’t have to be running, but it should be a quest for excellence, and it need be for only that period of life that it takes to full explore it. That’s how you find out who you are. To live your life your way, to reach for the goals you have set for yourself, to be the way that you want to be, that is success”
(Ron Daws from ‘Running Your Best’ – 1968 Olympian)
Thursday, October 28, 2010
There are really no excuses.....
....I always knew I was like some big train when I stopped running/training. I just can't get moving easily......
My achilles has actually been very good, but my lack of any running routine and any sort of internal discipline to get with it has led to some nice runs, but also a complete lack of focus and consistency. The 'sense of urgency' as i call it has yet entered my realm of thought.
On the plus side I've been spending more time working with the HS kids. It's fun working with them, but it's also killing my time management as having top pick up Carter, try to sell our house (final stages hopefully) and general life has made it difficult to truly be focuses. If there was any proof of that my constant 8-8:30 fall asleep on the couch times can attest to that. It's simply one of those things that will come, but for me it's never been easy.
Hence why I empathize with the HS kids we've been coaching. They are still learning, but gosh some of them have talent. We have three pretty good junior kids who have never trained for XC before and their results attest to their talent and having done enough work to have some nice results. We have one very talented kid, but we have unearthed four others who could make our school team pretty decent next year and very good the year after that. It's just getting them out. The shocking thing is that two of them gave up soccer to focus on running. Hopefully on my current comeback they can motivate me to get out more consistently.
My achilles has actually been very good, but my lack of any running routine and any sort of internal discipline to get with it has led to some nice runs, but also a complete lack of focus and consistency. The 'sense of urgency' as i call it has yet entered my realm of thought.
On the plus side I've been spending more time working with the HS kids. It's fun working with them, but it's also killing my time management as having top pick up Carter, try to sell our house (final stages hopefully) and general life has made it difficult to truly be focuses. If there was any proof of that my constant 8-8:30 fall asleep on the couch times can attest to that. It's simply one of those things that will come, but for me it's never been easy.
Hence why I empathize with the HS kids we've been coaching. They are still learning, but gosh some of them have talent. We have three pretty good junior kids who have never trained for XC before and their results attest to their talent and having done enough work to have some nice results. We have one very talented kid, but we have unearthed four others who could make our school team pretty decent next year and very good the year after that. It's just getting them out. The shocking thing is that two of them gave up soccer to focus on running. Hopefully on my current comeback they can motivate me to get out more consistently.
Thursday, October 7, 2010
Yes I am still alive....
...and no running is not going particularly well. If I ever thought there was such a thing as a minor achilles problem...shoot me. Although the achilles is okay to run it's still creaky. I just cannot figure out if it's simply old age creaky, injured creaky or simply just creaky and ok to run on consistently.
My runs are good (mechanics are much better even if they feel awkward), when I do run and it often feels better the next day, but I am also paranoid as hell tnat one step forward will be one step back, and I don't think my brain could take that....oh well for now I may have to take that step forward.....this is more stresssful than any race I have ever done....eeekkkkk....
I hope to post more consistently, in my typical tangent fashion, but things have been busy. Work, coaching the HS kids, and trying to sell a house(^%$*^%*^% chafer beetles) as julie is pregnant again means things are a little unpredictable these days and I more than most need predictability to run well (I find the more of a loose cannon you are the more routine one needs, at least in regards to place and time)
My runs are good (mechanics are much better even if they feel awkward), when I do run and it often feels better the next day, but I am also paranoid as hell tnat one step forward will be one step back, and I don't think my brain could take that....oh well for now I may have to take that step forward.....this is more stresssful than any race I have ever done....eeekkkkk....
I hope to post more consistently, in my typical tangent fashion, but things have been busy. Work, coaching the HS kids, and trying to sell a house(^%$*^%*^% chafer beetles) as julie is pregnant again means things are a little unpredictable these days and I more than most need predictability to run well (I find the more of a loose cannon you are the more routine one needs, at least in regards to place and time)
Monday, August 2, 2010
Wow!! Maybe I showed too much patience
It's been a very interesting last 4-5 weeks. I figured I'd be running full time a long time ago, but this has not been the case. The achilles didn't respond to anything I did too it, so I ended up finally getting into physio (shoulda done that the first week). It's coming along, but still stiff at times (got a night splint) and tender, but my physio seems to think it's better that I think it is...
The good thing has been I purchased a hybrid road bike. it's more road bike than mtn bike and although it's a cheaper model, it's definitely smoother than anything I've been on before. if there's one thing I can actually handle when injured it's bike riding for 2-3 hours. I've only just got the bike, but I've had a couple 90min runs mixed in with some pool workouts at the Glen (where I have lived this summer) as they have two pools there and I was able to find a cheap pool running belt (BIG % is a plethora of cheap sports crap!!!). Mix that in with a few runs and things are coming along. Now, I just have to to get hold of my 'love handles' get in some SFU and Bellingham runs and hope that the Fall is not like last year (October meltdown).
At they very least it looks as though I may have a part time training partner this Fall. A young kid we've been working with at our school ran some great races to win the two distance events (1200 and 2000m) at this yrs BC Summer Games. He's still a work in progress but he shocked the hell out of us in running a very aggressive 1200m (we didn't think he'd win as the other kids have more pure speed and have been running 2:04/05 800m), but he simply bullied his way to the front with 2500-300m to go and then kicked like a mad man to win. Slow time, but he closed in 63.
In the 2000m he ran somewhat similar, but we also expected he had a good shot to win. The final times made his dominance in the race look close. The way he handled himself in the race (controlling the tactics and strategy and being patient and smart) shows he has come a long way. He simply took off with 100m to go, much like the change of pace work we had given him over the last few weeks of training (good 100m with 300 to go and then another hard surge with 100m to go), worked wonders. It was one of those things where we know he needs to get in good position with 200m to go, as he doesn't have the pure leg speed so we felt that he needed the mental routine of practice surging to run better races tactically.
Considering eh has done all his training on his own, doesn't belong to a club and is in hist first year of the sport shows the potential we felt he had...
The good thing has been I purchased a hybrid road bike. it's more road bike than mtn bike and although it's a cheaper model, it's definitely smoother than anything I've been on before. if there's one thing I can actually handle when injured it's bike riding for 2-3 hours. I've only just got the bike, but I've had a couple 90min runs mixed in with some pool workouts at the Glen (where I have lived this summer) as they have two pools there and I was able to find a cheap pool running belt (BIG % is a plethora of cheap sports crap!!!). Mix that in with a few runs and things are coming along. Now, I just have to to get hold of my 'love handles' get in some SFU and Bellingham runs and hope that the Fall is not like last year (October meltdown).
At they very least it looks as though I may have a part time training partner this Fall. A young kid we've been working with at our school ran some great races to win the two distance events (1200 and 2000m) at this yrs BC Summer Games. He's still a work in progress but he shocked the hell out of us in running a very aggressive 1200m (we didn't think he'd win as the other kids have more pure speed and have been running 2:04/05 800m), but he simply bullied his way to the front with 2500-300m to go and then kicked like a mad man to win. Slow time, but he closed in 63.
In the 2000m he ran somewhat similar, but we also expected he had a good shot to win. The final times made his dominance in the race look close. The way he handled himself in the race (controlling the tactics and strategy and being patient and smart) shows he has come a long way. He simply took off with 100m to go, much like the change of pace work we had given him over the last few weeks of training (good 100m with 300 to go and then another hard surge with 100m to go), worked wonders. It was one of those things where we know he needs to get in good position with 200m to go, as he doesn't have the pure leg speed so we felt that he needed the mental routine of practice surging to run better races tactically.
Considering eh has done all his training on his own, doesn't belong to a club and is in hist first year of the sport shows the potential we felt he had...
Monday, June 21, 2010
The patience train...
(some pics of tank)
...is beginning to leave the train station. My supposed minor achilles (it has never really been bad) simply won't go away. Having said that it's been no help from me. I figured it responded so well to initial ice, rest, etc...that I'd be completely rolling in 2-3 weeks.
Well it hasn't gotten bad, but it has also been stubborn. I tried running earlier this week (3 weeks off) and it flared up. Now this could simply be tightness and the buildup of scar tissue making things feel painful, but I am not willing to take that chance.
I figured this would simply be my down time, but that time is now getting antsy. I had originally figured I'd be rolling on the track by now, but alas I sit here and....and well sit here some more.
Once again I get to live vicariously through the high school kid we are coaching. Good story as he qualified for the BC Summer Games in the 1200 and 2000m, but his 2000m trails race was one for the ages. I should preface that this kid kinda drives us nuts becuase he can be scatterbrained (don't know anyone like that).
So at the trials he is running a great race (I wasn't there but heard all about it) and he is sitting on this kid on lap 4 when with he hits the 200m mark and takes off. Oh oh....he thought he was on lap 5. Apparently, he has this huge lead and hit the line and then realizes he has another lap to go. Right then and there the kid showed us what he is really made of as he retook the lead until 200m to go and then puts down another kick. He hangs on til the last few meters when he gets passed to place 2nd and confirm his spot on the team.
Now we just have to get him to the start line in a month of so and see what happens.... should be interesting.
Thursday, June 3, 2010
I am still here....
...but it's been a busy last few weeks (school yr ending and the high school track season being in full swing), and a tweaky achilles has put me in limbo mode. Initially I was get in the gym and hammer myself into the ground, but getting my rear to the gym has been...well...a challenge. Instead, I've taken the take a week off, get the achilles dealt with (it's not bad and I don't want it to get that way) and move on....
In the mean time it's living vicariously thru some of the HS athletes we've been working with and see if they can achieve some good results. And this is where this post begins....
We have a grade 12 student who had never gone out for a school team in her life. Over the past 18mths she began doing the school's Sun Run clinics and in the fall came out for XC. Now this is the sort of kid you root for because she has the guts, resiliency, attitude and determination to show up and train. She was our team leader in XC even though she was at best our 7th runner. Unfortunately, she lacks the 3rd main ingredient to being a successful distance runner and that is plain simple pure talent.
As this student began coming out for track we decided we would do everything possible to get her to meets (she never misses a practice and even took up the javelin). Early in the season we went to a meet in the states. We had a free entry in all events and the only way to get her into an event was the 400m. She ran as hard as she could and afterwards still had a smile on her face (once she recovered).
But alas just when one thinks that luck in life never comes into play things happen to those who have that sort of attitude that deserves recognition. We had one of our local HS teachers, and former national team walkers, agree to hold walking clinics.
Now I know what you are thinking...WALKS!!!!.....but I've had a great degree of respect for walkers since I was in grade 11 and had a walks guy show exactly how fast they are (I could barely keep up with him when running).
I realized then and there that this kids lack of pure talent was no factor (if she could learn walking technique, which is more relevant). The result has been a kid who qualified for the BCHS champs and will probably be our highest open individual placing.
Life can often be full of terrible things, but every once in a while ol lady luck smiles on you. I'd be lying to you if the lady luck was only for her because in watching her succeed (with more tangible results) I've been able to remember that often things do work out for those who deserve it.
In the mean time it's living vicariously thru some of the HS athletes we've been working with and see if they can achieve some good results. And this is where this post begins....
We have a grade 12 student who had never gone out for a school team in her life. Over the past 18mths she began doing the school's Sun Run clinics and in the fall came out for XC. Now this is the sort of kid you root for because she has the guts, resiliency, attitude and determination to show up and train. She was our team leader in XC even though she was at best our 7th runner. Unfortunately, she lacks the 3rd main ingredient to being a successful distance runner and that is plain simple pure talent.
As this student began coming out for track we decided we would do everything possible to get her to meets (she never misses a practice and even took up the javelin). Early in the season we went to a meet in the states. We had a free entry in all events and the only way to get her into an event was the 400m. She ran as hard as she could and afterwards still had a smile on her face (once she recovered).
But alas just when one thinks that luck in life never comes into play things happen to those who have that sort of attitude that deserves recognition. We had one of our local HS teachers, and former national team walkers, agree to hold walking clinics.
Now I know what you are thinking...WALKS!!!!.....but I've had a great degree of respect for walkers since I was in grade 11 and had a walks guy show exactly how fast they are (I could barely keep up with him when running).
I realized then and there that this kids lack of pure talent was no factor (if she could learn walking technique, which is more relevant). The result has been a kid who qualified for the BCHS champs and will probably be our highest open individual placing.
Life can often be full of terrible things, but every once in a while ol lady luck smiles on you. I'd be lying to you if the lady luck was only for her because in watching her succeed (with more tangible results) I've been able to remember that often things do work out for those who deserve it.
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