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.

Getting Real

Running is a lot like life.  You can have a training run or a race that feels amazing.  You feel invincible and you're on top of the world.  And then.....just when you're starting to enjoy those endorphins from your running high, the bottom falls out and you're down in a ditch, covered in dirt.  (Not that that would ever happen to anyone around here....)  It's a weird one, that relationship we (I mean me) have with running.  Some days I love it so much and I can't imagine my life without it.  Others, I want to set my shoes on fire and drive over them with the car.  That, ladies and gentleman, is your coach talking right there.  I say all this to show that even the most experienced runners and those who even coach, struggle with the good AND the bad days too.  It took me a long time to understand that THIS is part of being a runner.  It's really part of being passionate.  A bittersweet relationship that gives but it also takes and you have to be willing to go with the flow.  It's taken me far too long to learn those lessons and I'm still learning new ones every day.  But for now, I hope you join me in our attempts do deal with the OTHER side of the running: the stuff that goes on inside the mind.  To me, that's what really gets you across the finish line.