Wonder in the Work

That podium feels so good.

Right next to that PR.  

We all love a win or at least to beat our former best selves but when that feeling fades and the glory’s gone.. what’s left but the work?

Do you still love it? 

Do you love the lonely runs?

The cold and rainy ones where no one cares if you stole a Strava segment and you’re just out there alone with your thoughts.

Learn to love it.  

To live in it when there’s no one coming to tell you you’re great. 

When it’s you against you, there’s just nothing to lose and that’s where the magic takes place. 

The little things, they make us better.

But doing them day in and day out takes patience and grace.  

You can earn it but you can’t keep it.

It will catch you, just like life.  Just like a race. 

There’s wonder in the work if you’re willing to find it but it ain’t pretty or for the faint of heart.

It takes courage to cross the finish line, 

But even more to survey the scene, pick up the pieces and then make your way all the way back to the start. 

To Be A Coach

“We have a heartbeat.”

Powerful words from an athlete who’s been trying to start a family for some time, despite grief and loss.  Over several months, we shifted training to take on new meaning as she coped and tried to process it all and try again. 

A family choosing to open their home to a pair of foster kids who needed love and patience, all while raising two young kids of their own.  This meant training changes but doesn’t have to mean it stops.  It was a time to take a step back and control the controllables when everything else felt like chaos. 

These are just examples of what coaching REALLY means.  The hard conversations about fueling to help an athlete regain a period for the first time in far too long or being the person to give guidance as a runner comes back from Covid so we aren’t sidelined for weeks, from things that could’ve been prevented with a gentle come-back approach. 

I do this because I love it. 

Folks get faster and stronger but we also work on LIFE.  We don’t train in a bubble and our real-world obligations don’t care if it’s time to PR.  Training does help us handle stress but training IS stress and it’s hard to separate the pair when we can’t see the forest for the trees.  

A good coach knows about your life.  They know your strengths and weaknesses and they lift you up BUT they’re also that place to land when the bottom falls out, from a big swing that didn’t go your way.  

I love coaching and I love learning the ins-and-outs of athletes as we all line up to race this life.  It’s a gift and I’m honored every day.  Thank you for letting me be a part of your life-long race plan.

Photo credit: Nathan Alexander  

Expect To Be Exposed

Racing is a vulnerable thing. Lining up to compete will test the will of most athletes. But that’s the point of training. We work to be comfortable in discomfort. To manage nerves. To go to that place.. you know the one. And just .. sit there. Just sit right in the middle of that mental mess and try to make magic happen.

One of my favorite runners of all time, Des Linden, put it simply: “expect to be exposed.” Ain’t that the truth. But man, do I love that.

That’s a part of training we don’t talk about enough. The best workouts are physically hard AND test your mind at the same time. You gotta know when to push and when to hold back. And you’ve also gotta know when it’s just not your day.

But.. the work’s gotta be worth it. You’ve gotta love the process of pushing and pulling or the highs and lows will never be enough. You’ll keep running but the well goes dry. And there’s not enough Instagram likes to get you back on the line.

If you don’t love the journey, don’t worry, it’s gonna show.
Expect to be exposed.

Start From Scratch

I was a television news producer in my former life. Each day was a blank page and an opportunity to tell the stories of the communities I covered. I loved it. When you get to give a voice to people who depend on you AND make sure they’re more informed than the day before, you go home feeling satisfied. I loved to listen to viewers and tell their stories. And no two days were alike.

Now I use those skills every day as coach but at no time more than when there’s a need to go back to the drawing board. It can be scary but there’s also freedom in a brand new day, new run, new training cycle or brand new approach.

Sometimes we get so set in our ways or stuck in a routine. And we’re afraid. We’re afraid to change course because we’re so far in, and it would feel like giving up.

BUT… that’s the problem.

That’s not what giving up looks like. Instead, it takes courage to step back and start over. To look at where you’ve been and decide it’s time to take a different path.

In tv, I’d spend all day working on a show and then we’d have breaking news and the whole day’s work goes down the drain. Except it doesn’t. Every story I wrote was still important and every change of course created skills I never knew I needed until I did. You see, life AND training aren’t static. We are living, breathing creatures and our training has to be the same. Consistency is always key and if it ain’t broke don’t fix it. But if it’s not working, don’t be afraid to scrap it and start from scratch.

Each day is a blank script and YOU get to write it. It’s your story and only you can change the way it ends.

Sharpen Your Strengths

“Work your weakness.”  That’s what some “experts” love to say.  “Focus all your energy on the things you need to improve upon, or you’ll never get better.”  There’s a piece of truth to that but there’s also some missing wisdom here.  OWN YOUR STRENGTHS.  

I’m a strong closer in a race.  I used to call it a slow-starter but something as simple as reframing the way I thought about myself, helped me make a major change.  I realized that it took me a little longer to “warm up,” sometimes even 60 miles (100 milers run a VERY LONG TIME) but for me, that was going to be my secret weapon.  I started really training to maximize it.  I would force myself to kick and get faster the further into a run or race.  Why?  Because I knew I could.  Was I going to charge hard when the gun goes off and lead from the front? Nope.  That’s not my style.  But I love to hunt and will patiently wait a race out.  To go from 12th, to 10th, to 6th, to 1st or 2nd.  My strength is a slow grind that can take hours.  

So here’s my pro-tip to you:  Sharpen your strengths.  

I’m not saying skip the stuff you struggle with.  Not at all.  But for God sake, let’s stop taking the fun out of the health and fitness space.  Love to climb?  Charge it.  A daredevil on the descents? Bomb those downhills and don’t hold back.  I have a little saying I use, “Do what you do and do it the best.  And then fill in the cracks and edges with the rest.”  What’s your secret weapon?  What makes it truly yours?  This week, instead of fixing failures, let’s focus on your special strengths.  What are you known for?  And if you don’t know, it’s time to figure it out.  Find it.  Own it.  And then sharpen it like a tool.  Once you can do that, you’ll find the very best…you.

Afraid to Win

We're a society of big goal setters. We make big plans and announce them to the world with hopes they’ll hold us accountable.  We want to achieve great things and yet many times our big plans become big disappointments.  Those let-downs are part of life and the “rational you” understands it but the “emotional you” wants to protect yourself from ever feeling it again.  You don’t want to risk it…the risk of failing and feeling that empty spot where your hard work left you far away from where you thought you were supposed to be. 

So what happens next?  We self-sabotage.  Whether we know it or not, the fear of failing keeps us tucked in safely and watching from the side.  It’s really not a fear of failure so much as it’s a fear…of letting yourself win.  “Um..no,”  you might say to me, but hear me out while I explain.  We’ve been burned before and we know the heartache that comes when the bottom falls out and there's no win in sight.. but…if you succeed, there’s another little piece of this puzzle that is equally terrifying: EXPECTATION.  If you win, then guess what?  From now on, that’s just what you’re supposed to do.  (that's not reality but it is according to your mind) but that’s a real fear and a pressure that we often don’t even acknowledge is happening in our lives.  Whether it’s training for a race or dealing with a difficult relationship – we know that once we hit a certain level of success, there’s the pressure to perform every single time you toe the line.  Except there’s not.  What’s so hard to see is the benefit of falling and finding your footing to get back up and start all over again.  Nobody gets great by always being great.  The greats get great by saying, “I know I’m not going to succeed every single day, but if I don’t ever try I’ll definitely never win.”  There are countless face-first falls you probably never see but tenacity to get back up separates the winners from the rest.  You don’t have to finish first to win the race.  Just walk away with the knowledge that you didn’t sell yourself short when the gun went off that day.  Don’t negotiate deals with yourself or give yourself an out.  Show up to win and keep the promise that you made.  Only you control the lesson that you’ll take away.  Don’t be your worst enemy because if that’s the case you’ll never beat your own brain.  Instead be your biggest fan and tell yourself you’re getting out alive, because after all...wasn’t that the most important part of your grand plan?