It's been a long time coming....

This post has been a long time coming. It was meant for months ago, but my ‘princess’ kinda got in the way...it's the idea that to experience the really good, you have to first experience the really bad and thatevery once in a while 'things click'...

In my own running I’ve had to overcome (as I have been quoted ‘stupidly’ refusing to quit) some major injuries in my career (two car accidents amongst many stupid injuries and even now still having an impact from getting hit on a run a few years ago) that when the good things happened they were extreme in their emotions. To have tried to run competitively well into my mid-late 30’s goes beyond any reasonable and rational thought, so why……well one has always been the challenge (see my philosophy ideas a few posts ago), but another has been a belief that I had more to give.

I knew that getting hit by a car in 1995 had seriously messed up my back (to the point where I didn’t seriously run for 4 years) and that I had lost the ‘prime’ years of training adaptations and experiences that could never be taken back. But I also knew that I had never come close to reaching my talent levels in the early 90s and that somehow kept me going.

As it would turn out I was right. Although I never came close to running my best race from a time perspective (read time trial race) I was able to race to levels where I knew I should be…. One such time was the year I shocked the Canadian running world in winning the XC champs. No one had even picked me in their top 10, nevermind winning I knew going in that the race was mine to win.

The odd fact (sounding arrogant, but not meant to) was when Paddy McCluskey (someone I have a great amount of respect for in regards to getting the most out his talent) asked me when I knew I was going to win. The answer that came quickly out my mouth was ‘July’. The people around Paddy looked shocked but Paddy got it.
The reason for my answer was simple I had told my future wife in July of that summer, I was going to win Canadian XC champs. I am sure she thought I was blowing smoke. I had placed 12th two years earlier, but knew I was on the cusp of taking it to a new level. To make such a statement might seem crazy, but I truly believed that I could achieve such a goal. I knew that there were only three guys I could not beat no matter what (Kevin Sullivan, Jeff Schiebler and Sean Kaley, but this was also the fall of 2000 and all three had just competed in the Sydney Olys) if I followed through on the training and could get back to the place I had been the previous spring.

What no one knew was that I had had a great spring of training and was on the verge of running some very good 5kms before I would suffer my first achilles injury. I also knew that fall that I had been much faster than when I had placed 12th (in a race I was disappoint in). So off I went putting in 3 x per week Grouse Grind tempo workouts, doing 2 x 2-3 hr bike ride per week along with other various training until could run. Even then I was only beginning to run in late August.
What would transpire over the next few months would quite simply be the model I would continue to follow for the many more years. Taking a patient and process oriented approach to training. I knew the goal and ignored everything else along the way, except as part of the process. All my eggs were in one basket.

Things started out relatively well. In early October, on a slowish course (I’ll assume because some good guys ran slowish times) and early in the season I ran a bit over 30mins for 10km. Not blistering, but I also split 15:15 through 5km and was off the back til I regrouped and moved up to 4th. The real key was that I had only just begun doing intervals (before that it was hills, fartleks and tempos) and knew that something special was happening in my training. Every week got better and every session felt solid. I was hitting my ‘magical spot.

Things got a bit better at the BC XC champs (I was 3rd), but once again the intervals were just beginning to take control. I knew that my timing was on track....until....the annual Haney to Harrison relay. I was training like a maniac and had the feeling of nothing could get in my way, til I bit off more than I could chew. I ran against a very fit Graeme fell at that time and after about 10mins i was done. I hung on for dear life as Graeme simply crushed me into the ground (I lost over 2mins to him over about 14km). I remember saying to Graeme how the leg of Haney had killed me, but even in getting killed I was still confident in where I was going. It was all part of the process.

What no one knew at the time was that I had done a hard 40min hill session on the Thurs night. Haney was nothing more than a training run and in looking at previous yr’s times (and even since then) I hadn’t run that poorly. Graeme had simply run that well (He went just over 42 mins that yr and only a few people have even gone just under 44mins). The result of Haney was once my legs recovered by our annual Tuesday night interval session I was absolutely rolling. Things had gone to a new level. A week later I knew that I was now going from nobodies top 10 pick to a chance to medal. I can remember it like it was yesterday as we did a session of 1km-2km-1km-2km-1km off 2mins. I knew this was my lat harder interval session I simply ran away from everyone at practice...and it felt easy. Everything was coming together as planned.

In talking to my coach at the time, about a week before the race he felt I could make the team. My response was simply ‘I know’. What he didn’t know was that I was thinking much bigger than that. I had 3 simple goals 1) make the team outright 2) top four 3) top two. The first goal was where i thought I’d be if I had a bad race (seriously) and goal 2 was where I thought I’d be if I simply ran okay...but goal was 1 was the real goal.

At that years Canadian XC champs everything played out like it was destiny. We got into -15 degrees weather, but by race day it was closer to + 10. The course was simply my kind of course. It was a three km route that mostly flat with a few smallish hills and firm (I hate the mud). Even the race went out as I had planned to focus on Paddy after one of his teammates told me he was going to take out around 8km (of the 12km race). I watched Paddy, knowing he was far more experienced than me at this stuff and when I saw him make a slight move at 5km I began to move up, but as I did so I went past Paddy and immediately caught up with the leaders (at this moment in time the two main players were Graham Cocksedge and Peter Cardle). I thought to myself....’well since you’re here you might as well hang out for a while’ (if you know my general tactics they are to wait as late as possible). But in hanging out with the lead guys I felt as though I was jogging. Once again I thought....’it can’t be this easy’. As it turned out it was. Graham through in a surge at around 7km and Peter countered. I was gapped a meter or so and responded by following Peter who soon went by Graham. As soon as Pete went by Graham I slowly went by Peter and what felt easy must have been pretty quick as I soon gapped Pete. A meter turned into two and then into 3, etc....With 4kms to go I was leading a race I had no business being in (at least according to the internet predictions where I was in no one’s top 10). My thoughts once again turned into ‘well you’ve taken the lead let’s put in a decent surge and see what happens. I was running scared but I was also getting stronger and stronger. With one lap to go I looked back and had put about 5 or so seconds on Peter. I surged again and was running absolutely petrified. By the time I was at 2kms to go I was probably upward of 10 seconds on Peter and knew that I was going to win. It was everything I had within me to hold my emotions inside. All I did was wait for the last counter, but what Pete and no one else in the field knew was that I had at least another 30 seconds in me over the last mile. I simply stayed around 10 seconds until the finals straightaway where every ounce of everything negative that had ever happened to me in running came out.

From now on there would be no questioning of what I was capable of doing. There was no coulda, shoulda, woulda of what ifs. I never understood how much of that pent up energy had been so completely controlled until that moment as I was simply a blubbering mess (thankfully Peter pulled me away from the crowds and to a quiet place). I was from that moment on I would be a much more relaxed runner. I no longer had a chip on my shoulder. I had proven to myself that belief did matter and that sometimes if you do stick around long enough good things can happen. I would never be the same runner and more importantly I would never be the same person....

A Slight Change in Direction

Lo and behold a heck of a lot happened since I last posted. I now have a baby girl (the main reason for such a long time between posts), I have gone through my umpteenth achilles problem (not bad as I was getting really fit.... but I wasn't going to run through it, although thankfully I hooked up with a great physio out here in Langley who has really helped me with my reoccurring hip issues which were adding to my achilles 'whip'), the kids I've coached at HS have begun to finally make an impact and last but not least I have now entered the phase of focusing on actually coaching, as opposed to more mentoring.

I recently accepted a position as the endurance coordinator at Trinity Western University (a short run near my house thankfully). Coaching at a more serious level has been something I've been himming and hawing about for while (if it was up to Julie I would have done it a long ago as she has been my biggest supporter in that regards), and it pretty much fell into my lap.

An old friend (I realized in going through this process I've know him for almost 25 years)was recently hired as the head coach after coming back early from his position as the Scottish National team coach asked me to come on board. I had originally gotten hold of Laurier to give him some names of some kids who I thought would be a good fit for his program and to offer him any support to assist him when he asked me if I wanted to take the coaching gig on part time. As I told Laurier, " You really threw me for a loop", as it wasn't something I had even expected.

After some conversations with my wife and some more with Laurier I decided I would give it a try. It certainly is a new direction for me in that I am now willing to give up some of my own running (I will try to still training , but no more 100 mile weeks for me....not that I had been putting in many recently) to see if I can make a difference for some others. Hopefully, we'll be able to provide some new ideas and options for young runners.

Luck.....

....quick update....

I haven't had much luck over the last 6 months and just as I thought things were coming along I got a bacterial sinus infection. I got sick just before we began moving in late December and I thought it was just a simple cold (maybe it was. But after it seemed to go away I got really sick to the point where I went to the Drs and got some antibiotics. I felt much better in just a couple of days but by the time I got going again I had missed 10 days. It's like starting from scratch, but things seem to be coming back quickly (although I am still having breathing problems (asthma has kicked into overdrive). What does this mean....simple no 'First half' marathon and even then things will go back to a real base building mode....

Believing.....

“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…..

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

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....

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.