‘Motivation’ Articles at , Page 24

Defining Your ‘It’: Dreaming, Thinking, Setting Goals

Posted on January 27, 2012 by Cait — 16 Comments ↓

What is ‘IT’ to you?

Do you know what you want? Is there an inkling in there? Are you not totally sure that it’s what will make you happy, but it might? Are you afraid to say it…maybe even think it?

Setting our sights on something can be scary…sometimes speaking goals puts too much weight on them. But it still could be worth putting the weight on the words and striving towards ‘It’…striving towards something.

Having a concrete goal and writing it down has proven to be one of the most effective ways of actually achieving something…funny how the a remarkably ‘simple’ act is instrumental in a potentially insurmountable outcome.

Because even if you don’t exactly get to the ‘it’ you originally thought of…getting there is a journey and if your ‘it’ evolves over the trek that’s okay. Redefine it. But still go after it.

Heck, even if you fail…and you might, there are no promises, it’s a risk…at least you tried, right? At least you won’t have to wrestle with the regret of not knowing.

Goals can be scary to share, but the people who DEFINE their ‘it’ and write it down somewhere, even if in secret, are far more likely to continue on that journey towards it. They have better chances of achieving their ‘it’…but even if they don’t, at least they don’t have the regrets of now knowing what ‘could be’ if they never tried.

Define it…Redefine it if you have to…go after IT.

Or is this more your style?? 😉

(Hey, even if your ‘it’ for the moment is cake…if it gets you through the workout I call it a win! hehe. Not all goals have to be so HUGE or long term…mini-goals can be set and achieved too!)

1) What’s and ‘it’ you have?

2) Do you write your goals down, or have a little to-do kind of list?
I have way too many lists, mostly because I seem to get lots of ideas in strange/random places and I don’t want to forget about them. 😛

3) Do you bait yourself to finish certain tasks/workouts that will get you headed towards where you want to go?
All about the carrot in front of the horse…works surprisingly well too! 🙂

Some Running Motivation…

Posted on January 22, 2012 by Cait — 14 Comments ↓

For the next time you feel like skipping your workout.

Yes, you may or may not harbor Olympic aspirations, but all of us have our goals that we are striving towards…stay the course! 🙂

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If you’re a fan of mine on Facebook you already got a sneak peek of this poster! So if you’re not liking me yet, you’re missing out. 😉 (Sorry for the overt plug…haha)
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1) Did you have a run/workout today? A race? A rest day (which is also part of a training program if it’s what you need!)?

2) What’s one of your favorite motivational quotes, mantra’s, or things you say to yourself when things get tough?

Jenny Simpson: No Matter How Many Times You Watch the Video it’s STILL Inspiring

Posted on January 21, 2012 by Cait — 8 Comments ↓

The marathon has been taking up a lot of the spotlight as of yet, but we can’t forget that the rest of the 2012 Olympic Marathon Trials are still ahead of us! So, 26.2’er, stop hogging the spotlight, and let the other events get some love already! 😉

As a whole American Distance running is in a resurgence era…hallelujah! Among one of the big milestones was Jenny Simpson’s (nee Barringer) 1500 meter Gold at the 2011 World Championships in Daegu. Quick reminder to those who aren’t aware, but it was not since 1984 that a woman took a Gold in ANY distance event at either the Olympics or the World Championships.

Competitor has a great article on all Simpson had to overcome just to get there; a quick recap includes a promising 2009 followed by sicknesses, injuries, and a whole lot of races where she felt like she wasn’t able to really show her true level of fitness. As anyone knows, the highs and lows are running can make or break an athlete, but she cross-trained and persevered. She also credits Deena Kastor’s Olympic Bronze for the marathon and 2008 Beijing roommate Shalane Flanagan, and her 10k Olympic Bronze, as huge inspirations…I think I would too.

At one of her lowest points, I love how Jenny’s husband was able to offer up some tough love and state the truth point blank. “Instead of him putting his arm around me and comforting me and telling me, ‘Oh, it’s going to be OK,’ he just looked at me straight in the face and said, ‘You have a lot of work to do. And we don’t have time for this.’ And that was just perfect,” admits Simpson.
(Photo Credit Photorun.net)
Source
Funny how an outside observer may think that as being cruel, but those who ‘get it’ have to appreciate the man…some situations really suck, you are entitled to a little venting, but after that you can choose to wallow or get proactive. Nice to see Jenny chose the latter and the proof is in the Daegu Gold.

Jenny Simpson’s got some big indoor meets coming up, including a 3000m at the New Balance Indoor Grand Prix as well as a 1500m at the Millrose Games. A nice recap of an interview she did is HERE, and in it she talks about goals for the upcoming year (including a repeated medal showing at the Olympics). But prior to the trials she takes aim at the breathtaking time Mary Slaney ran in 1980 at another Millrose 1500m…4:00.08 which was the world record at the time. “I don’t know if I’m in a place to say what sort of shape I’m in… but her record is something that all of us aspire (to)”

(Photo Credit Lincoln Dorsey)

Bear with me a moment, let’s take a stroll down memory track…I met Jenny waaaay back when we were in high school for one of the outdoor championship races. It was a mile, now I don’t think anyone could PAY me enough to race a mile…but I’ll break my usual rule of not posting pictures of myself (shield your eyes) because it’s just too funny not to. People, feel free to tell me that socks that high are totally dorky, but in my defense they were my ‘lucky’ ones. That said, Jenny was a fierce competitor then and has obviously only continued to capitalize on that.

Back on track…I don’t think saying anything more would do the motivation factor any justice; instead, please take a look yet again back at Jenny Simpson’s World Championships Gold Medal run. The genuine shock and joy at the end are too priceless even by Hallmark Standards.

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Thank you all for the great comments regarding yesterday’s post about the Nike+ FuelBand. I wanted to also give a shout out to Paul Merca, as on his blog he talks about it more in detail, and has some more information about the product…it also looks like he’s going to be taking it for a pre-release test run; I’m interested to see/hear how that goes! Check it out!
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1) Are you a big track nerd and follow the races and results? Or do you find some of this cool when you happen to read it and find these athletes inspiring? Or, do you really not care if you don’t know them?

2) Have you seen the video of Jenny Simpson finishing prior to this? Did you watch it on repeat a few times and did it get you itching to go blast a killer workout?

3) What are your thoughts regarding the comeback in American distance running? Do you think it has the trickle down effect to us mere mortals? Do you feel that seeing our elites finally giving the East Africans a run for their money inspiring for YOU to reach for higher goals yourself?

The Highs and Lows of Running – Persevering, Shifting Focus, and Staying the Course

Posted on January 16, 2012 by Cait — 25 Comments ↓

Are you sick of hearing about the US Olympic Marathon Trials yet? Not completely over-saturated juuuust yet? Good. Sorry, bear with me because I’m a teenie bit obsessed. And if you keep reading I promise even if you’re not a total running nerd (like this girl) I think there are some things you can take away.

The highs and lows of running. I’ll tell you right now, there are about six runners (okay more if you count the ones who knew going in they weren’t necessarily ever going to make the Olympic team but just excited to be there…I mean that in itself is a huge deal!) riding some SERIOUS highs after yesterday’s race…but those numbers are heavily outweighed by the runners who came up short of their goals. The hardest place to come in is 4th…mentally you go through every single second of that race and try to figure out if there was ANYTHING you could have done differently to have changed the outcome.

Six runners are riding incredible highs. How many are experiencing some serious lows? This is not to be a pessimist, merely a realist. Running is a very tough sport, even the men’s winner Meb Keflezighi says, “When the camera’s not watching, when the newspapers are not there, we work very hard at what we do. It’s not easy … there are so many obstacles as distance runners that we face … We work very, very hard at what we do. When the opportunities come, you take them … If you believe and work hard and do the right thing, (then) God has a good plan for me.” (Even third place finisher Abdi Abdirahman has been overlooked in recent years despite being a top runner for years.)

Distance running takes an incredible amount of work and dedication. The majority of that will go unnoticed; if you never did it only you would know, save the eventual outcome if you continued not to do it. Even if you do every single thing right, you could wind up with an injury right before the big race, you could feel totally flat after the gun, or get to mile 16 and have to stop because of cramps. You NEVER know. This isn’t just for the marathon distance, but to a degree everyone who toes the line is an equal. The heavy favorite is not a lock-in and an ‘unknown’ is one race away from an underdog upset. Ask Billy Mills. Heck, ask Meb.

The DIFFERENCE though between the Meb Keflezighi’s and Joe You’ll-Never-Know is persistence in the face of this. The difference between Dathan Ritzenhein and Joe I’m-going-to-give-up is being able to turn those incredible heartbreaks into motivation to keep on going, “Maybe I’m forcing it. Everybody wants me to be a marathoner, and I want to be a marathoner, but right now maybe it’s not in the cards. Maybe it’s just not there. Maybe I’ve just got to turn my attention back to shorter distances.” [Article source] Yes at the Beijing Olympics he placed 9th but he also once held the American Record for the 5k and has immense talent in the 10k and half-marathon as well. “I’m going to turn my attention back to the 10k,” he knows his chance of still going to London are far from gone. It’s just that his focus has to shift.

Source
I’d like to pull our attention back to 36-year old Meb for a moment. Going into the race if you read some of the articles or even worse message boards, there were some pretty cruel nay-sayers. Now, I love Nike as much as the next person, but if you happened to take a look at the shoes Meb was rocking on Saturday they were hardly a brand you’d associate with elite runners.

Meb was being sponsored by Sketchers. That kind of says it all. Though, he held onto the belief in his ability as well did his coach for 18 years, Bob Larsen. Meb is open that had it not been for his coach’s belief his own may have wavered.

The highs and lows of running. Even the strongest athlete faces times where they are unsure if they can or should keep going. In those moments of doubts it helps to cling to the memories of the highs and find a person who still believes in you. A coach or friend who understands what running gives to you and that if you gave it up you’d probably look back with a regret.

This applies to all runners, not just the elites. You don’t have to be vying for an Olympic team or Gold Medal to contemplate hanging up your shoes. There are highs and lows of every level.

The sting of a bad race. The gash of a string of bad races or seasons…or years.

Injuries. Getting through an injury is just as much a mental test as a physical. Dathan Ritzenhein was out of running for 6 months last year, some of that time he couldn’t even cross-train. But he kept going and was THIS close to pulling off the incredible. Actually he still DID pull off something incredible and there is no reason to ignore that. Alberto Salazar, Dathan’s coach, looks back and says, “Even if he had just made the team by the skin of his teeth, what’s he going to do in London? In the 10K, he has a chance to do some great stuff.”

Maybe you don’t even compete but have been out with an injury for an incredible amount of time and think it may just be worth it to not even try to get back.

Pressure. Stress. Loss. Highs. Lows. All runners have them. Sometimes you do need to take a step back and think about WHY you do it. Reassess and shift your mental focus. True, you just might not wind up meeting a goal you’ve been chasing for years, but in the end it comes down to what your life would be like without all of those miles. Would you rather be that person? If so, that’s okay, but if you know if your heart you’d miss it and harbor regrets, then keep going.

Run without regrets. And if you’re not able to run yet…cross-train, visualize the goals that lay ahead, and take it one day and then the next. Your goals may have to change and evolve but you can keep moving forward.

Source
Cherish the highs because they are far and few between…not pessimism but realism.

Our sport is made of highs and lows. Being a runner means having the strength to keep going after the lows.

1) What’s one of your running highs?
I enjoy setting a PR. 🙂

2) What was a low? Or stretch of lows?
Does it sound too cliched to say being hit by the car and riding the sofa for months and months wondering if I’ll be able to walk again? 😉

3) Why do you keep running?
For the sake of my own sanity. Obsessive Compulsive Runner out.

Masters Running, Running Masters: Why There’s No Time Stamp on Our Sport

Posted on January 12, 2012 by Cait — 8 Comments ↓

One of the great things about our sport is that there isn’t an age limit. In gymnastics you’re old if you’re in high school, with football many of those guys can’t walk by the time they retire, and in basketball you’d be hard-pressed to find a master’s league where they are dunking.

Yup...sweat's still beautiful regardless of age.

But in running there ARE competitive masters…and what’s more is that some of those in their 40’s, even 50’s, are beating the younger pups. Typically as us harriers age we tend to move up in distance; the speed component is the first thing that tends to go as we gain age but the endurance is still there. Further, the longer you’ve been running the bigger base you’ve got and cardiovascularly you’ve got a leg up on the younger bucks.

Naturally then, the shorter track races tend to be dominated by the younger generations but getting into the 10k and marathon that’s not always the case. The distance running ‘prime’ for 10k competition is 31 for the women and 29 for the men. In the case of the marathon the ‘prime’ can be considered anywhere between 31 and 37 for both genders.

Colleen DeRuck, Joan Benoit Samuelson, Linda Somers Smith…here we have women who fall under the category of ‘asters’ because of their age but more correctly they are masters…period.

All of these womens’ careers have spanned mulit-Olympic and National Teams years. I’ve only named a few, but today’s masters runners could be still setting PR’s, but even if their fastest days are behind them they haven’t given up racing or training. What’s more is you could be beaten by one of these masters runners…don’t let any greying hair fool you.

Joan Benoit Samuelson, the first woman to ever win an Olympic Gold Medal in the Marathon (1984), has too many accolades to rattle off. But just as impressive is that by the time she was 50 she still qualified and ran in the 2008 US Olympic Marathon Trials. At 52 she ran a 2:47:50 marathon and one year later at the 2011 Boston Marathon she finished in 2:51:29.

Colleen DeRuck will be toeing the line at this year’s US Olympic Marathon Trials at 47. Her career began as a 14 year old and since then she’s already been to four Olympics. At 2010’s Copenhagen Marathon, the then 46-year old DeRuck, ran her way to a 2:30 finish.

I think you’ve got the picture here. To spread some gender equality I’ll inform you that 42 year old Eric Ashton ran a 31:06 10k. Mbarak Hussein is 45 and he busted out a 29:47 at the Peachtree 10k. I have to say I’m floored that at 51, John Tuttle, still turns those gears to a 15:57 5k.

The point is that in our sport there isn’t an age limit. Sure, these runners are the first to clearly state they have to adapt their training but it’s still able to yield them results.

* Lower miles. Masters runners do have to cede to Father Time and many admit they do have to scale back the total number of weekly miles they can put in. But, Somers Smith is quick to point out that that can work as a blessing in disguise. Looking back she wonders if she could have run faster if she’d cut out some of the junk miles.

* Cross training. Just because you aren’t able to run as much that doesn’t mean you can’t get cardio in a different way, in the form of cross training. Younger runners may be pulling double runs but as a master it’s still possible to schedule double days…just that second workout may be on the bike or on the elliptical.

* The ‘other stuff’. Stretching, sleep habits, nutrition, massage…the body is only human after all and as we get older it becomes more important to NOT slack on these areas. Older runners admit to being more injury prone and so you’ve got to be smart to counteract that.

* Recovery. Along with injury prevention, recovery and easy days become exponentially more important. That typically means fewer hard workouts a week with extra easy days between them; some go off of a 10 day cycle instead of the traditional 7 day.

* Competition. There really isn’t anything like the buzz of competition is there? And that’s probably one of the biggest allures to keep coming back for more regardless of age. This holds true in training and working out with the ‘younger’ runners can help push the ‘older’ ones…so long as we’re not racing in practice. Plus, it’s got to be fun to beat the younger crowd…respect thy elders perhaps?

* Mental shift. One of the things many successful masters address is the mental shift; when you’re no longer going to be setting lifetime PR’s, you need to adjust your goals and rethink things. Say having PR’s for each decade…and more that the aim for races is to go off of effort and not merely times. We all know what it feels like to cross the line spent…it offers a rush and getting the most from yourself is something we can do regardless of age.

The common thread is that the passion and love of our sport hardly as to fade with age. Sure, you may have to adjust your mindset and goal paces but it’s not like you need to hang up the running shoes like in gymnastics, just because you hit puberty and can no longer fit into a leotard. 😉

1) Do you plan to be, or consider yourself, to be a runner for life? Will you, or do you, compete as a Masters runner?

2) What’s something you’ve learned or can take away from the older generations that could still very well keep pace with the elites?
I just continue to be floored by Joan Benoit Samuelson…I’m still trying to wrap my head around that one!

3) Do you feel your PR’s and best races are ahead of you and what do you feel they will be? Or if your lifetime PR’s may be behind you, what are your current goals?

A Runner Needs to Be Confident…

Posted on January 10, 2012 by Cait — 18 Comments ↓

Ryan Hall, less than a week away from the US Marathon Trials, recently wrote, “I constantly remind myself that resting takes confidence. Anyone can train like a mad man but to embrace rest and to allow all the hard training to come out takes mental strength.” And it’s true.

When I was racing I loved it, don’t get me wrong. The excitement building up, the little buzz that rushes through you RIGHT before the gun goes off, but I HATED tapering. The extra energy left me bouncing off the walls (at least inside my mind) and I’d get antsy. I’d want to run more than the workouts prescribed, I didn’t, but I suuuure as heck wanted to.

Self restraint as a runner seems like an element that comes with age and experience. It’s important but I think it has to be learned on your own, sort of like you have to just let the new runners in our sport discover this lesson the hard way. You can tell a person something all you want but it doesn’t really hit home until they see what happens when you DON’T listen. Trial by fire I guess.

Some people it takes a few fires before they get it. Another major factor in learning self-restraint is exactly what Hall stated, and that’s confidence.

* It takes MORE confidence in your ability to back off when you need to.
* It takes more confidence that you’ve put in all the necessary work and then taper before races than it does to doubt that you’re not quite ready and try to pound out one more workout before the race.
* It takes more confidence to rest or stop a run/workout short if you’re on the verge of an injury.
* It takes more confidence to be patient.

And here we’ve worked our way to patience. Patience in both racing and workouts.

Now, I’m a big fan of Prefontaine and running gutsy, I like an honest race pace as much as the next person, but there is a difference between going out hard from the gun because you can and just blitzing out like a bat out of hell and running a kamikaze mission of sorts. The blow-up comes a mile or two later and the monkey jumps on your back.

Going out too fast for you ability is lacking patience and to a degree confidence. Sure, it’s easy to let nerves and excitement carry you away and go out too fast, but after that there’s a lack of confidence. You are afraid that if you don’t try and go out hard, try to gap the field NOW, you’re never going to win. Or you’re never going to be able to keep up or run the time you want…you’re trying to build a cushion in case you slow down later.

That doesn’t work. Have the confidence to be patient, go out smart and pick it up as the race progresses.

Patience comes into play for workouts too, you shouldn’t be racing your workouts. If you go to the well every time out you’re going to be too zapped to race well. In an interview I did with Ryan’s wife Sara Hall, also a professional runner, she admits to struggling with this in the past, “I’m also going to make a conscious effort to run my hard workouts at the appropriate energy level. I’m notorious for ‘racing my workouts’ because I really enjoy running really hard, and I’ve been in the camp
for a while that ‘faster is better’ and ‘a lot faster is even better’.” Coming off her Gold at the Pan Am Games in the Steeplechase and going forward she’s working on that, “But I’m going to try to communicate with Dena [Evans] what pace exactly I need to run and try to run that instead of running all out, whatever time that is. It takes confidence and self-control, but I know it will pay off in the long run.”

Be confident in yourself.

Patience takes confidence. And a runner needs confidence.

1) How have you learned to be confident as a runner?

2) Do you like or hate tapering for a race?

3) How do you exercise patience and confidence in both races and workouts?

All About the US Olympic Marathon Trials – So Many Incredible Athletes to Root For

Posted on January 7, 2012 by Cait — 23 Comments ↓

We are fast approaching the US Olympic Marathon Trials…the gun will be going off in Houston on January 14th. If you’re a running fan it’s hard not to get swept up in all the pre-race buzz. Lots of sites have amazing coverage; Running Times, Runner’s World, Flotrack has a great video series featuring the Hanson’s Group, and Hungry Runner Girl has some great stories as well.

Source
It’s been a big year for the marathon in general, without going too far into the debate of what should or shouldn’t be counted as a record this year’s Boston Marathon was, in a word: Epic. For the women Desiree Davila was THIS close to becoming the very first American woman to take the race since 1985; regardless she set the American Course Record with 2:22:38. She further established herself as one of THE women to beat in Houston as well as the tough as grit, rise to the top stories we all love to read about.

On the men’s side, sure they weren’t Americans but Geoffry Mutai and Moses Mosop ran mindblowingly fast times: 2:03:02 and 2:03:06 and if Boston’s course were certified to be deemed World Records they would have been.

What’s more is the marathon in general has spread like wildfire amongst the general public (seems like everyone wants to run one these days!) but the elites who previously were 5k or 10k track runners have decided to take the plunge. Honestly it’d be easier to name the Nation’s top harriers who have yet to run one; between Shalane Flanagan, Kara Goucher, Lauren Fleshman, Desi Davila, Dathan Ritzenhein, Ryan Hall, and Meb Keflezighi I think we’re nearly covered. I’ll apologize for the myriad of top harriers not mentioned I know there are too many to rattle off!

Still, the amount of emerging talent in the marathon is what’s been almost more inspiring. We have athletes like Molly Pritz who establish themselves on the radar in break-out races; she was our top American at the 2011 NYC Marathon in 2:31:52…this was her first marathon! Amy Hastings’ years of hard work and perseverance have all come together at the right time, and we can’t discount the women for who this is hardly their first experience at the Trials: Deena Kastor (hello Olympic Bronze for the Marathon!), Blake Russell, Magdalena Lewy Boulet and Tera Moody who was the feel good story of the last US Trials. Again, I know I’m missing people.

For the men, personally how can you not root for Dathan Ritzenhein after all he’s been through and overcome? Injuries are part of our sport but they take an insurmountable amount of motivation and belief to get through them…especially when it feels like one thing right after the other. Tim Nelson and Brent Vaughn from the Oregon Track Club, the aforementioned Ryan Hall and Meb Keflezighi are never ones to count out.

The Hanson’s Team have established themselves as the guys we all want to see do well because for so many years they were flying under the radar…again, check out FloTrack’s coverage. But, for each runner’s story we HAVE seen there are so many more we haven’t.

There’s Michael Wardian I wrote about and I just saw that twins Drew and Kyle Shackleton are going into the race running for the Michael J. Fox Foundation to raise money for Parkinson’s Disease Research. They’ve already amassed $20,000 and have a goal of raising $10,000 more by the 14th! Seriously please go check out the link and make a donation!

I’ve read about a woman entrant who moonlights as an exotic dancer…I’m not kidding. Remember that lots of these runners have ‘regular’ duel lives with jobs and families all while putting in all of those miles.

Again, how can you not get swept up in this? There’s still a bit over a week to go and daily more stories emerge…come gun time, who will you be rooting for?

1) Name your picks for the top three who will make it to the Olympics?

2) What’s the best story you’ve read or seen so far about a runner going in?

3) Does all this make you want to go run a marathon…or not? Hehe.

4) What’s your weekend plans?

Turning Those Blah Days Around and Keeping Perspective

Posted on January 6, 2012 by Cait — 20 Comments ↓

Today was just one of those days. Blah. I was really not feeling it, and truth be told I knew exactly why. It’s been a rough few days/weeks/months blur and one of those not so happy events has been this ongoing foot problem. I won’t go into the full gory details (and like I’ve said a million times over with bad news, allow yourself a short vent/wallow period then MOOOOOVE on and force yourself into a positive mindset, so I’m going to go that route) but let’s just say I’ll be cozy with the elliptical for quite some time.

Truth be told I wanted this guy to burn that blasted elliptical! 😉

So I wasn’t all too jazzed about my new BFF. I dallied around for a bit but then I knew that if I just didn’t do anything I would be in a funk and bad mood for the rest of the day. I told myself to just get going and if I wanted to stop after 30 minutes so be it…I kept going after that and while it wasn’t a blissful run in the park I did feel better afterwards.

Fact: You always do.

A couple of other things to always keep in mind when those days start out as ‘blah’ are these:

“I have left specific instructions that if I die on the course, my friends are supposed to drag my body down the rest of the course and across the finish line. And then lie about the results.” These words are from the mouth of 67-year old Laurence Macon and truth be told if there’s a way to go, kicking the bucket while running would make for a pretty good one. He’s run 113 marathons this past year and what motivates me about this is not only his age and dedication but outlook. He’s one of those people who knows he’s a happier person running and will do it until he…well, dies.

Injuries stink, but even when you’re able to run and having a crappy one or a terrible workout that stinks too. It’s all relative. The problem is when we let that sucky feeling wrap around us and we get all tied up and stressed about one single run…one off-workout…one stupid foot that feels like it may never heal. But in the end, adding that stress will only make it worse.

You get all wound up and stressing about splits you inevitably start ‘trying too hard’ and in a perverse kind of irony that makes you run even slower. It sounds so counterintuitive but if you just chuck all the weight from the stressball you’ve built and RELAX you’ll probably wind up going faster. Your runs will feel better. And if you’re injured, at least getting on the blasted cross-training machine won’t feel so much like a burden or punishment.

Even if you feel like you're sinking, grab that freaking anchor and be thankful at least you're not shark chum! 🙂

Injures also give us all a bit of a perspective check…when we’re healthy and able to run we can sometimes take it for granted. But anytime an injury takes us out, it also acts as a reality check: we are LUCKY to be able to run. So while it stinks being injured it makes you appreciate when you CAN do it that much more.

So chuck the baggage you’re carrying on your shoulders, loosen up, and just roll with it…whatever ‘it’ may be.

1) Blah days…we’ve all had them. When was your last and how did you get the workout/run in anyways?

2) What’s your best tip for coming back after bad workouts..or what’s your best tip for getting through crappy workouts?
Getting through them, if the splits are horrendous, just chuck the watch and go off of effort.

3) What’s something you think of that puts you in a good mood or that you use to look forward to after you put in the workout?
Inevitably I always think of some kind of tasty treat I’ll inhale afterwards.

Reach For Those Times – Setting Goals and Benchmarks Along the Way

Posted on December 31, 2011 by Cait — 8 Comments ↓

There’s been a lot of talk about goals as of late. As you remember I’m the anti-New Year’s Resolutionist (I’ll make that a term) here but I’m all for goals. If you want to get faster and set a new PR then you have to first VIE for that time, right?

True you could just ambiguously go out there and hope you wind up faster, but it’s a proven fact that setting a black and white, specific target to shoot for will work best. When your motivation may be lagging you have that goal kicking you in the tush. When the middle of the race is hurting so bad you’re contemplating just running straight in front of the shot-put, you think about the time you want and you keep on taking those left turns.

Going a step further, putting it out there, telling people your goal is another way to up the ante. But if you’re not confident enough to do that, or shy, at least say it to yourself, maybe write it down somewhere where YOU can see it.

The other thing is that the time may sound crazy, insane even to you. That’s okay, shoot high (within reason of course, if you’re a girl and say you want to break 4 minutes in the mile, be aware you’d be the first actual female to do that…) and you’d be surprised. Often it is our own mind that puts the glass ceiling on us and gets in our own way. To a certain degree you have to adopt a pseudo-egomaniacal self (you can only bring that side out in your own mind, you don’t have to actually be a Kanye) and tell yourself, “I’m gonna bust X-time” or “I’m gonna freaking own that race, I’m going to win.”

* Own it like a rapper. You don’t have to start pushing your own drink but build up the self confidence. You have to tell yourself you can do something; and the honest truth is at the beginning you may not even believe it. But you fake it ’til you make it. This is where a coach really comes in handy because they can usually predict your abilities really well, set the bar high enough for you to reach but not so high it’s unrealistic. I’ve been lucky to have a couple really great coaches and I had enough faith in them that if they said I could do such-and-such I just made myself believe that I could. I wouldn’t have had the guts to think I could run that myself, but knowing that THEY knew I could do it gave me the confidence to then accept I must be able to…then you just get out there and get the work done.

* Mini-goals. The end all goal, what you want to achieve by the end of the season probably (and at times it should) seem like it’s too high. That’s what makes you reach, but you also have to remember that you have TIME, the whole season to get there…you’re not doing it today. So set mini-goals, or benchmarks along the way. The mini-goals seem more attainable and they keep you going on the right path. By the time you get to the end of the season it doesn’t look like a quantum leap to your end goal. Also, having benchmarks allows you to adjust and see if things are on track, and if they aren’t you can take measures to get back on the path.

* Patience. This is a huge one, and it’s hard at times in our sport especially when you get excited. But there is such a thing as being too eager too soon, especially in the early season. Don’t do too much, don’t race your workouts, remember you still need easy days, and all the other intangibles. (sleep, nutrition, stretching, etc.) It takes more confidence to be patient actually…trust in your ability and your training program enough to stick to it and ultimately it will pay off in the big, end of season meets.

* Consistency. This one may sound like I’m going back on what I just said, but it’s not. Yes you need to be patient but at the same time it still takes a huge amount of dedication and personal accountability to put the work in. It’s a grind, but that’s our sport.

* Get your head on. Another thing about running and racing is that it is so mental, ask any racer and they’ll tell you that it aint pretty or a walk in the park…it hurts like a beast. Work on the different mental tricks; really becoming a tenacious racer is an ongoing process. Just when you think you’re ‘tough’ you have one of those races or workouts where you think, “Wow, okay, I just broke through to another level.” There will be times when you may admit you had a weak moment, that’s okay, learn from it and remember the feeling of disappointment so that the next time you’re tempted to give up or give in you don’t.

You might have just ended one season, be gearing towards the next and it’s a good time to set the goals you want to achieve. Even if you’re not racing for a team it’s good to have things you want to achieve, push yourself in one kind of way…whether it’s to run a faster 5k or 10k or push yourself to run your longest race yet. Think about it, write it, you can broadcast it, and you can even strut like Kanye about it so long as you remember to keep the ego in check. 😉

1) If you’ve got a season starting, race on the schedule, or a time you’d like to hit, would you like to share? C’mon, don’t be shy.

2) How do you set the bar for your running goals, do you have a coach, do you do it yourself, do you want to try to beat a friend’s time? If you have a coach how do you make yourself believe you are capable of it even if you think it may sound crazy fast?
I was pretty confident in anything my coach said. If they said it then I just told myself I’d get there…and honestly they were for the vast majority right in the end.

3) I want to remind you all this is still anti-New Year’s Resolutionist…mmmk!

New Years Resolution: I Plan on Staying Addicted to Running Like Always

Posted on December 28, 2011 by Cait — 19 Comments ↓

If I see ONE more thing akin to, “X-Day Challenge: Lose Weight This New Year” I’m pretty sure that I will scream so loud the men in white suits will come haul me away. Honestly people, I don’t understand the obsession with January 1st and all of the out of shape, overweight people promising that THIS is going to be the year.

Hey, at least he's out there busting it out!

Okay, you may say I’m being a little bit anti-fatite or cruel here but it’s really not rocket science, input versus output. If a workout for you is digging into the bag of Cheetos, lift to mouth, and repeat than obviously you’re probably headed down a road of a little excess baggage…some wiggle to that jiggle.

If you just got back from a double digit run, you regularly do so, than by all means dive headfirst into that bag and come up an orange mouth if you so please!

New Year’s Resolutions aren’t all bad, I think having concrete goals to work towards is an awesome thing and is proven that if you put a goal out there you’ll be far more likely to continue to strive towards it. BUT the problem is when people are continually setting the SAME goal year after year and are chronic goal-abandoners.

Motivation, and especially motivation to workout, is something you can’t force. I will say that I’ve seen complete 180’s in people who used to be sofa surfers and now run marathons, but the difference is they had that ‘switch’ moment themselves. They pushed themselves to continually bust their bums in sweat sessions even when they didn’t feel like it, and they did that long enough to where they became addicted to those endorphins.

Apparently today's endorphins are pink.

I believe that it’s more a matter of ‘waiting it out’ in terms of running. I’d be hard pressed to find someone who fell in love with it the first time out…running does hurt, you get sore, you pant like a dog. There’s what you could call the hazing period that you have to wait out, force yourself to be consistent even when the LAST thing you want to do is run again. You have to callous the mind and body…BUT once you crest that ‘I hate this period’ somewhere along the way you fall in love with it. Then the really lucky ones become addicted for life. Hey, miles are my drug of choice.

Outside factors can help give you a booster shot of motivation in the inevitable times that it’s lagging, but in the end it comes down to you.

Running and fitness is a way of life, runners are weird. We don’t need January 1st to tell us to get out there and get ‘er done, we’re too busy counting up the number of miles we ran for the last year, out the door and getting a jump start on beating that total.

1) Do you make New Year’s Resolutions?

2) Where do you stand on the people who always say, “This year I’m going to get fit”?
The other thing is that is a very ambiguous goal, what is ‘get fit’ actually mean? If anything make it concrete: ‘I’m going to run 50 miles each week’, ‘I’m going to go to the gym 5 days a week’…something black and white that you can’t argue with, you either did it or you didn’t.

3) Are you a Cheetos person?
I’m more of a sweets kinda gal, I’ll pass the chips and dive headlong into the cookies.