Week 5 2022 Summer Miles

 Week 5 2022 Summer Miles 

We Do These Things Not Because They Are Easy but Because They Are Hard

September 12, 1962, President John F Kennedy roused support for America’s mission to the moon with a stirring speech that celebrated the determination of American innovators and adventurers to “Climb the Highest Mountain”.

“We choose to go to the moon. We choose to go to the moon in this decade and do the other things (accomplishments and aspirations), not because they are easy, but because they are hard, because that goal will serve to organize and measure the best of our energies and skills, because that challenge is one that we are willing to accept, one we are unwilling to postpone, and one which we intend to win.”

 

 “We do these things not because they are easy but because they are hard” 

 

This resonates with me. Especially because I have spent the LAST 4 days moving my family into a new house. It helped me to evaluate life. It is crazy. When packing up, I could NOT believe how many items I had accumulated that I never really ever used, but yet I still held on to them.

Getting rid of these said items was not easy but it felt good to let go of things that I hardly ever used. It got me thinking about how many things in my life that I could and should do some decluttering. AS I relate this to me life and running. It is NOT easy to run SUMMER Miles.

 

But we do these things not because they are easy but because they are hard…The miles ran WILL pay off. In ways that we want and in many ways that we cannot yet see.

 

TRUST THE PROCESS!

 

It acknowledges that real growth is the outcome of vision and struggle.

This means choosing a path that others don’t

Figuring out how to do things you have never done

Committing to doing them as well as they can possibly be done.

The quote also recognizes that high achievement is a challenge compelled by a desire to win.

 

It’s the same in Life. How often are conversations about what decisions should I choose. How do I cope with the issues in my life? How can I problem solve? How can I be better? Do Better?  “What path should I take?” or “That’s the way we have always done it.”

Questions should challenge us to envision a new level of commitment, raise the bar, these and many other experiences will help change everything, a vision that makes us better than we have ever been and superior to our competition. This kind of vision inspires US, our teammates and coaches. And, properly executed, it delights and attracts others!

 

This isn’t business as usual. But the pursuit of this vision is powerful because, as President Kennedy’s speech assures us, “that goal will serve to organize and measure the best of our energies and skills”.

I know that WE can do the HARD things now so that we can ENJOY many things associated with the hard work put in running Summer Miles DURING the SEASON!!

FALL FORWARD!! It is NEVER too LATE! IT is NEVER too DARK to change things AROUND.

The ONLY person that is GOING to DIG you out of YOUR hole is WHO? YOU!!! YOU have TO do it for YOU!!

Week 4 2022 Summer Miles

 

What is Running?  It is the physical act of moving your feet in a fast, rhythmic motion to propel yourself forward at a greater speed than if you were walking or jogging.

It is up to you to put on your running gear, go outside, and run. It is up to YOU to help motivate and push your teammates. This is our responsibility on this team!

Who and What Motivates you?

For me it has been ALL my friends/Teammates that I have had throughout ALL my years of running. At Cross Country or track meets, for me is kind of like a high school/college reunion. I’m so blessed to be able to still associate with many of my best friends that have chosen coaching as a profession. We also continue to share the GREAT passion for running. WE all run with the teams with coach. Other times we get together to run in races like Ragnar, 5k’s to Marathons and everything in between, I have also been blessed to have ran many of these same races with graduate runners who continue to run which motivates me.

Another GREAT motivator for me is Billy Mills (1964 10,000-meter Gold Medal Champion) I had the tremendous opportunity to not only hear Billy Mills speak, but I was honored with some one-on-one time with him. I had my picture taken with him and some runners that came with me. I also had him sign my copy of the movie “Running Brave” the Billy Mills story.  

See the Video below to hear more about Billy Mills Story.

     Now a few Questions for ALL of you?

 

ASK YOURSELF: WHO INSPIRES YOU?

 What makes you lace up your shoes and run? You need motivation? My motivation comes from all the runners that I have ran with and coached. They are my role models.

As runners we can identify with each other, and we can make it if we keep working at it. When I run with this team, you all motivate me to train a little harder every time we run together. So, if you are looking for new motivation to go running, ask yourself: who inspires you? Whoever it is, think about this person the next time you are struggling to get out the door for a run.

            FIND PEOPLE TO PUSH YOU! 

Besides role models, every runner has run with someone faster who pushed them into a new gear. Training with others should challenge you to go faster, to push harder in every run. But it’s not just the stronger people we can learn from. Every team member makes a valuable contribution to a team.

No matter who you train or run with there is always something that we can learn from each other.

                 GET MOTIVATED BY

            YOUR SUPPORT SYSTEM!!

 

Don’t forget the part of a team that not doesn’t run – the team behind the team. They are my friends, family, and supporters.

Hearing your Teammates, Friends and Family during the run by encouraging you and cheering you on helps push you forward, giving you motivation to Give it Your ALL and finish strong!

None of us would be where we are today without our support team.

Week #3 2022 Summer Miles

 

WHAT is Your WHY?

Summer Miles is SO important, it is definitely a step by step, mile by mile process. It's vital that we continue to show up and put in the time. AS is quoted above, ANYTHING WORTH DOING IS GOING TO BE DIFFICULT! in Running as in life there are NO short-cuts. 

An engine in a rocket ship does NOT fire without a small spark first. We all need small sparks, small accomplishments in our lives to fuel the big ones. Think of your small accomplishments as kindling. When you want a bonfire, you don't start by lighting a big log. You collect some dry dead grass or a small pile of hay. You light that, and then add some small sticks and bigger sticks before you feed big logs into the blaze. It's the small sparks which starts small fires, that eventually build enough heat to burn an entire forest down. 

Running summer miles is the spark that will ignite your season. As you continue to be dedicated and consistently run it's like adding sticks to the fire, which will help prepare each individual runner for the big invitationals, region and state!

Your mind controls a large part of your running experience, from motivation to pacing strategy to handling pre-race jitters and pain. Your brain is in control of everything you feel or do from working your muscles, to controlling your thoughts and emotions.

Your mind can also take control of your running performance, if your brain believes that your body is struggling or that hard times are ahead it can take measures that will negatively affect your running. Physical training is just as important as being able to manage those negative thoughts and filter them into positive and effective results. Your conscious mind tells you that you would be much better off stopping your run, so your body reacts by becoming even more fatigued. That’s the power of your brain, but you can use that power for your own desire and goals.

There are several techniques you can use to harness the power of your mind, including focus and positive thinking. Placing your mental focus on some external event or object takes your conscious mind's attention away from the upcoming difficulty or the physical fatigue of your run. This will allow you to keep your conscious mind from getting in the way of your running goal. Many athletes rehearse their racing strategies in their minds before even stepping foot on the course. Although you may think of this as a mental exercise strategy to better focus their minds, it can actually cause some positive physical changes in the body.

For instance, if you were to think negatively before going into a race and repeatedly say to yourself that you are not going to run well, then you are sending the same messages to your body and mind which can have a detrimental effect on your run. 

I have personally experienced this, there have been many races in which I have been thinking constantly that I was going to run badly and as a result I had a bad run. When you allow your brain to think negative thoughts and you have planted that seed in your mind, the brain gives up before it's even started. Positive thinking allows the mind and body to be relaxed and to run more smoothly without adding any extra stress on the body.  Becoming stressed or over-thinking negative thoughts, can cause the muscles in your body to become tense and more prone to injury.

Running exhaustion is often mental rather than physical, as your mind will give up before your body does. The brain subconsciously alerts the muscles to slow down, making you think that you can no longer go on with your training. But in fact, when you get a negative thought in your mind you should quickly distract the mind to another source, enabling you to break through that 'mind over matter' wall.

It's important to put in the mileage and sessions but it's also important to train your mind to listen to your body. When you are training absorb the feelings, you are getting in your various muscles. Are they becoming too tired that you must give up? Or is it that you are becoming bored in your run causing your mind to tell your body to stop? You should try to keep a diary on your training schedule but also include your mood and how you felt in the run. This could then be a helpful tool so that you can look back to see if this fatigue that you experienced is a cause of over training or your mind playing tricks with your body. If you do get bored easily then try running with people or listening to music. Test different techniques that will allow you to have more control over your mind rather than the mind controlling you. The highest barriers you need to overcome are the ones that are in your mind. Your body will achieve what your mind believes.

87% of our self-talk is NEGATIVE!

Let's change that! 

Let's work on THAT!!

You CAN Succeed! 

Week #2 2022 Summer Miles

                   Summer Cross Country Running:

Why Summer Mileage is Important

If you want to run your absolute best in the upcoming cross country running season, laying down a conditioning base by doing lots of summer mileage is essential. Without it you will not run anywhere near your full potential in your fall cross country races and your chances of injury are greatly increased. 

Your racing peak is greatly determined by the depth of the fitness foundation you develop over the summer. Having superior aerobic fitness enables you to maintain your race pace over the cross-country course, and still have enough left to finish fast. Running a solid summer mileage has dozens of physiological benefits including developing your maximal oxygen uptake (your ability to take in and process oxygen), improving your cardiac output efficiency (your heart’s ability to deliver and adequate blood supply to your running muscles), and greatly enhancing your muscle’s ability to process oxygen and store and utilize glycogen for fuel.

Contrast these great benefits doing summer cross country running with turning up at your first fall cross country practice out of shape. You’ll spend the entire season just regaining your aerobic fitness, so your performances will not even be close to what you could have done if you did your conditioning over the summer and arrived at your first workout ready for the faster training that your coach is giving you.

And here lies another of the major benefits of doing a good fitness base over summer. You’ll be ready for the higher intensity workouts like tempo running, track interval sessions, and fartlek workouts that your coach will be throwing you into almost immediately. The better your aerobic fitness, the less your body will have to tap into the anaerobic energy systems. This means you will not be fatigued as easy because your muscles are able to hang on to their glycogen fuel for longer, and you’ll be able to deal with lactic acid accumulation much better if you are in excellent aerobic shape.

The starting point for successful cross-country running is to do lots of steady paced distance running from June through to August. Most of your summer running should be continuous aerobic running at a pace fast enough for you to improve your fitness (not slow jogging), but not so fast that you over train. One guideline that coaches use is that you should be able to talk while running.

Do as much of your summer cross country running on softer surfaces like grass, dirt roads or trails, and beaches. You should be running between 25 to 70 minutes every day, depending on your age and whether you have been running for a year or two previously. Include one long run every week to keep improving your base and run different distances every day to give your legs a break on the shorter days.

When possible, try to run with other teammates of your ability. And because you’re going to be racing cross country, you should get used to running hills hard during your summer training sessions. This will give you a big advantage over your teammates and competitors in your races because hill running develops endurance, cardiovascular fitness and helps strengthen your gluteals for cross country surface.

 

Ok Runners it is time for all of you to start getting your form A physicals done as well as register on register my athlete. There are LINKS provided on the left side of the blog.

Physicals when completed PLEASE make sure that the doctor, you, and your parents have SIGNED and DATED each paper where it is REQUIRED. PLEASE double check them before you turn them in to me at practice. I will be at Wednesday practice. (There is a LINK for you do download or print the latest version of the form A)

Register my Athlete. PLEASE get on and get registered. There is a link on the left side of the blog that will help explain how to register.

Any questions please let me know.

Put your weekly mileage total on the blog.  The link is on the blog titled "2022 Summer Miles."  

Continue to Be patient!  Be consistent with your running! Keep allowing your body to adjust and get stronger.  As it does this, you will be able to add mileage and reach your goals! 

ALL RUNS NEED TO BE AT AN EASY PACE RIGHT NOW (except for designated Key workouts...like Canyon runs). 

Believe in YOURSELF!!!!