Someone close to me said that I need to start writing more, so I thought I would start publishing a few of the 'talks' I give to the team... This one is from our end of season banquet on 12/3/2019
When thinking about what I wanted to talk about at the banquet this year, I was having trouble coming up with any 'new' material. After all, for those of you who have been with me for four years, I've pretty much taught you everything I know (and maybe some stuff I was only guessing at, but hey I said it confidently :). And then I thought, 'you know what? Everyone in this room is WAY smarter than I was when I was in your place' so maybe I should just stay out of your way and let you carry on. But there was a part of me, probably that part of me that used to want to be a pastor, that just couldn't pass up a good opportunity to deliver a sermon. So there I was back to square one, just what the heck to talk about at the end of season banquet. And then it occurred to me that if I think of myself as an educator (which I do), and the cross country season is like a lesson (or a collection of many lessons), then maybe I should think like an educator and approach this from that standpoint. So coming from that perspective I decided to do what I thought an educator should do at the conclusion of a lesson and reiterate the main points. With that in mind here are 3 'takeaways' that I hope have been imparted to you either through explicit or implicit means throughout this season.
Know Thyself
Know who you are, accept who you are, love who you are. Too many of us waste time wishing we had the talents and skills of other people. Take time to get to know yourself, identify your strengths and weaknesses, accept your limitations and embrace your potential. Whoever you are, whatever you are, accept that and love yourself. Even if you're as goofy as Eddie and you cheer a little too loudly in team meetings. Just say, "I'm sorry this is too loud for you, but I'm not sorry I cheer loudly because that's who I am and that's what I do". Also realize that because you are human you DO have the capacity to change. If there is a habit, or mindset, or skill you wish you had, you can develop it! It may take time and effort, but with persistence you will succeed - just look at Ryan, he used to pretty much be a carnivore, but he's plant based now!!
Control
There is only so much you can control in this life. Figure out what it is you have control over, control that and don't stress about the rest. In a given situation you may not have control over what is happening to you, but you always have control over your mentality and perception. We have talked many times this season about being in control during your races. While its good to be aware of what other runners are doing, you can't control that. You can control what you're doing and what you're thinking, that's it. In a way that realization should be liberating, it frees you from the anxiety of trying to predict half of an outcome that you have no control over anyway. While everyone else is losing their cool, let's endeavor to keep ours. No matter how hard I try I may never control Ray's urge to talk over me, but I calm myself down with the realization that one day he'll be in front of a class and there is going to be this one kid who just won't shut up, then Ray will get his just desserts.
Beginnings and endings
The only truly important beginning and ending in life is your birth and your death. Each of those moments happen naturally so no need to get anxious there. Life is not about beginnings and endings, there will be many of each for all of you. Every run you take will begin and end, every season will begin and end, and so will your time as a college student. The key to enjoying life and living a successful life is to shift your focus from the beginning and endings to the journey itself. Stay in the moment. Savor the good ones and don't shy away from the challenging ones. When Benny agreed to be a guinea pig for the first trial of miles I am certain that he and Tyler were fixated on the endpoint. But at some point during that trial I think they both came to the realization that there was enjoyment to be found even in the midst of that bare, simplistic and exhausting experience. When you are totally immersed in a situation how you experience each and every moment changes. Its like your mind's eye opens wide and you begin to see sides of things that reveal the true beauty and distinctiveness of your circumstances. This opens the door to knowledge and understanding that go beyond what can simply be talked about, that which must be experienced to comprehend. Expand your definition of 'normality', take time to really experience each moment. Whether you fear a beginning or get anxious for an ending, realize that they are inevitable and exceedingly brief, teach yourself instead to focus on the journey.
Friends this season has been a whirlwind, and a very enjoyable one at that. I want to thank each and every one of you for being part of this team and for working together to make it such a positive and encouraging place to be. I enjoy working with you and I hope that this experience continues to enrich your life!
Thursday, December 12, 2019
Wednesday, May 8, 2019
Tireless state
Tireless state - an enchantingly simple term used by Lydiard to describe the goal of the foundational base-building phase of training.
Does achieving the fabled 'tireless state' mean that one is no longer tired or that in spite of overwhelming fatigue one can find the strength and will to carry on? This past year an a half I have had the opportunity to explore the meaning of this phrase. As a full-time head coach for cross country and assistant track coach (in-season 10 out of 12 months) I have also been completing a master's degree in education, co-operating a home daycare business with my wife and raising 4 children under the age of six, the youngest of which was born this past December. Needless to say the days have been full in ways that I did not think I could cope with before. However both me and my wife have adapted to this crazy workload and now it just seems normal. I think if the average person were plunked down in our life it would overwhelm them pretty quickly, but I trust that if, like us, they were introduced to it gradually over a few years they would adapt as we have. This season of life has led me to a new understanding of what a 'tireless state' is and how one achieves such a state.
There have been times throughout my younger years where I felt like I had achieved some sort of fitness level that enabled me to do pretty much whatever I wanted training-wise. I could do a moderate 16 mile run on Sunday and come back for a hard interval session two days later no problem. Although I felt tireless at times while running at this fitness level, I don't think this was truly a tireless state. You see at all times during this phase of life there was a finish line somewhere up ahead. There was always a race on the horizon and therefore somewhere I could set my sights on and steer toward when the going got hard. After those races there was always delicious rest and recovery. The weeks and months of training would build up to a peak and then...blissful relaxation. Sometimes the knowledge of how good that rest was going to feel was enough to pull me through a particularly grueling bout of training.
South African researcher Tim Noakes has outlined a theory of fatigue which he calls the 'Central Governor theory'. Its fascinating stuff. The basic idea is that, with the vast majority of people, fatigue is ultimately governed not so much by energy availability and the byproducts of anaerobic respiration, but by subliminal messages that are conveyed to the working muscles telling them to decrease output to avoid damaging physiological systems. One of the cornerstone examples Noakes gives for the presence of a Central Governor is the finish line of the Comrades Marathon in South Africa. The Comrades Marathon is a 55 mile race with a twelve hour time limit. Noakes reports that on any given year participants within sight of the finish as the clock approaches the cutoff will literally sprint in to beat the cutoff. Many of these participants are dead on their feet and are somehow given new life by the vision of the finish life and knowledge that they can make it. A tireless state, as I understand it now, implies that there is no finish line. There is no relief plug to pull and depressurize. Your only option is to adapt. I don't believe a tireless state means that fatigue is no longer felt or experienced, but that all options of relief have been excised from awareness. Initially, as all new parents are probably familiar with, this new experience brings sensations of desperation, giving way to begrudging acceptance, and, finally, realization that you are stronger than you gave yourself credit for. I would be lying if I said there weren't times during the last two years where I have physically felt the burden of responsibilities weighing down. Times where, on the verge of tears, I felt like to get out of my recliner would take superhuman effort that I did not possess. If I had been given the opportunity to tap out a take a load off, I am sure I would have. But there was no awareness of a finish line, no relief in sight and I knew I had no choice but to figure out a way forward, hard as it may have been. At all of these junctions I was able to compartmentalize, prioritize and inch forward. In these moments my tireless state was not some euphoric experience of feeling like I could handle anything, but an aching realization that there was only relief in adaptation.
As I said before I think everyone is capable of handling WAY more than they think they can. The trick is to not relieve the pressure. As a society that is very much built around the 'work hard, play hard' mentality, I think we focus too much on the light at the end of the tunnel. The problem with that mentality is that we are perpetually living for the easy times, always looking forward to a break. Breaks and relief are good, but recognize those times in your life when its necessary, even beneficial, to grind away and make a new tunnel without knowing how far you'll have to dig or when you'll see the light again.
Does achieving the fabled 'tireless state' mean that one is no longer tired or that in spite of overwhelming fatigue one can find the strength and will to carry on? This past year an a half I have had the opportunity to explore the meaning of this phrase. As a full-time head coach for cross country and assistant track coach (in-season 10 out of 12 months) I have also been completing a master's degree in education, co-operating a home daycare business with my wife and raising 4 children under the age of six, the youngest of which was born this past December. Needless to say the days have been full in ways that I did not think I could cope with before. However both me and my wife have adapted to this crazy workload and now it just seems normal. I think if the average person were plunked down in our life it would overwhelm them pretty quickly, but I trust that if, like us, they were introduced to it gradually over a few years they would adapt as we have. This season of life has led me to a new understanding of what a 'tireless state' is and how one achieves such a state.
There have been times throughout my younger years where I felt like I had achieved some sort of fitness level that enabled me to do pretty much whatever I wanted training-wise. I could do a moderate 16 mile run on Sunday and come back for a hard interval session two days later no problem. Although I felt tireless at times while running at this fitness level, I don't think this was truly a tireless state. You see at all times during this phase of life there was a finish line somewhere up ahead. There was always a race on the horizon and therefore somewhere I could set my sights on and steer toward when the going got hard. After those races there was always delicious rest and recovery. The weeks and months of training would build up to a peak and then...blissful relaxation. Sometimes the knowledge of how good that rest was going to feel was enough to pull me through a particularly grueling bout of training.
South African researcher Tim Noakes has outlined a theory of fatigue which he calls the 'Central Governor theory'. Its fascinating stuff. The basic idea is that, with the vast majority of people, fatigue is ultimately governed not so much by energy availability and the byproducts of anaerobic respiration, but by subliminal messages that are conveyed to the working muscles telling them to decrease output to avoid damaging physiological systems. One of the cornerstone examples Noakes gives for the presence of a Central Governor is the finish line of the Comrades Marathon in South Africa. The Comrades Marathon is a 55 mile race with a twelve hour time limit. Noakes reports that on any given year participants within sight of the finish as the clock approaches the cutoff will literally sprint in to beat the cutoff. Many of these participants are dead on their feet and are somehow given new life by the vision of the finish life and knowledge that they can make it. A tireless state, as I understand it now, implies that there is no finish line. There is no relief plug to pull and depressurize. Your only option is to adapt. I don't believe a tireless state means that fatigue is no longer felt or experienced, but that all options of relief have been excised from awareness. Initially, as all new parents are probably familiar with, this new experience brings sensations of desperation, giving way to begrudging acceptance, and, finally, realization that you are stronger than you gave yourself credit for. I would be lying if I said there weren't times during the last two years where I have physically felt the burden of responsibilities weighing down. Times where, on the verge of tears, I felt like to get out of my recliner would take superhuman effort that I did not possess. If I had been given the opportunity to tap out a take a load off, I am sure I would have. But there was no awareness of a finish line, no relief in sight and I knew I had no choice but to figure out a way forward, hard as it may have been. At all of these junctions I was able to compartmentalize, prioritize and inch forward. In these moments my tireless state was not some euphoric experience of feeling like I could handle anything, but an aching realization that there was only relief in adaptation.
As I said before I think everyone is capable of handling WAY more than they think they can. The trick is to not relieve the pressure. As a society that is very much built around the 'work hard, play hard' mentality, I think we focus too much on the light at the end of the tunnel. The problem with that mentality is that we are perpetually living for the easy times, always looking forward to a break. Breaks and relief are good, but recognize those times in your life when its necessary, even beneficial, to grind away and make a new tunnel without knowing how far you'll have to dig or when you'll see the light again.
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