Hammer Time

We have 2 full weeks of January 2018 under our belts, and with that we should be clear of the lingering holiday bugs/illnesses, family time (family-in-law time, too), travel, and reasons and excuses (there’s a difference between those last two).  Now it's time to start hammering!

Whatever transpired in 2017 (for better or worse) is behind us, and we’re moving forward.  Like a dream catcher, take what you need to from 2017, filter out the rest, digest it, believe in what you digested (don’t lie to yourself), and move forward.  Part of moving forward is to get your PT visits!  PT will offer you much insight into new ST exercises, or where to focus your ST.  We can’t use race schedules as an excuse right now because we don’t need to be racing Jan-Feb.  

I’ve written many times that your off-season goal is to look and feel like a different athlete on March 1st, as compared to November 1st, so with 2 weeks of 2018 already gone by, keep hammering!  Retool, rebuild, reload, repeat.  Every week of Jan - Feb you should be focused on strengthening your body, changing your body, trying new things, and shaking up your routine.  Signing on with DCRC is a huge first step for many athletes and so it’s happening naturally.  Others who have been with me a while and/or long-time avid runners might have to dig a little deeper to see what new elements they can introduce, and perhaps that simply means pushing themselves more than they did last winter!  

We have 6 weeks until March 1st (plus the St. Patty’s 5k on March 4th), so get moving!  If you didn’t start hammering ST in November because that was still peak race month, then that’s fine, but if December was also a recovery period + busy time, then that’s behind us now.  

“Be the change you want to see in yourself”  —Ghandi’s personal trainer.

Train hard!

Mike

A Winning Vocabulary

When considering how you feel about your last week of training (or life), be sure not to limit your vocabulary to simply “good or bad”.  I understand that there is otherwise a potentially utility to keeping the language that simple, and I admit that I sometimes remind my athletes to think of their training program as keeping a scorecard for each week in terms of whether the week was a “win or a loss,” and so I recognize the potential contradiction I just offered. However, my point in encouraging athletes to think about their training in terms of a win-loss record is related to zooming out and looking at the week as a whole, instead of focusing on the one or two aspects that didn’t go 100% according to plan.  

When you consider the entirety of the week, using both objective and subjective data points, then the overwhelming majority of your weeks should be "good weeks”…a win!  You could even use a word other than “good,” as in reporting that the week went “great!”  If you don’t believe that it was a great week, or even a good week, then why not?  To take it a step further, just because it wasn’t a good week, does that automatically imply it was a bad week?  Probably not. 

Even if you don’t think it was a great/good week of training, expanding your vocabulary in that regard means you’ll have many more words to choose from that have a positive connotation from which you can label your week.  The practical application of the bigger vocabulary is that you won’t be so quick to label a training week negatively, and then you get to score one in the Win category!

Our thoughts are framed by the exact words we use.  “We think in terms of language”—George Carlin.  Elite athletes who frequently use mental imagery and develop such “scripts” for races demonstrate this element of psychological skills training.  Specifically, they practice the exact words/phrases (cue words) they want to say at various points in the game/race/course to keep the self-talk positive and task-specific.  It is a skill that takes deliberate practice to develop.  Bottom line: Develop a bigger vocabulary.

Train hard!

Mike

Fall Running - Faster & Safer

With the fall season coming at the end of a yearly training cycle, it's likely that most runners are feeling their fittest.  Therefore, you might find that your regular/easy pace is significantly faster than it was back in the winter.  First, this is certainly due to your work ethic paying off.  Second, the weather is best at this time of year (minus some warm weekends we had for key races, like Army 10-miler).  Third, you’ve likely been doing more speed work in the fall and have probably been racing more often, so subconsciously you have been primed/triggered to pick up the pace.  In any case, as you set out for a regular jog you might notice that you’re running “fast,” even though you’re not mentally in “workout mode.”  Should you slow down?  Nope!  I say go with it!  As long as you’re not beating yourself up out there and the legs feel fine, then go with the flow and let it ride.  

As a second point with fall running, stay alert out there on the wooded trails that are littered with leaves on the ground.  The underbelly of some of the leaves are moist and can cause you to slip, and some patches of leaves are covering up little potholes or oddly shaped tree roots.  Autumn is a gorgeous season and a fun time of year to run through the woods and I encourage it, but for safety's sake, make sure you’re not spacing out too much on these runs.  Most of the time, you know the trail like the back of your hand and you’re strong enough and athletic enough to be perfectly fine in terms of it being uneventful.  But since I also want to encourage you right now to add some adventurous running into your mix and get off the beaten path, you have to keep your eyes alternating between the ground immediately underneath you and 10-15 feet in front of you.  If you're running through a place like Rock Creek Park, then stay alert and plan your footing in advance.

A small percentage of runners are timid when it comes to running on these natural trails.  My short answer is this: Strength training (ST) is a major guardian against a rolled ankle, so continue to do your ST shoes-off for improved foot and ankle strength.  Make your ST dynamic and functional and you’ll have increased confidence on the trails, allowing you to enjoy the gorgeous autumn scenery.

Train hard and enjoy the foliage!

Mike

"Be Water, My Friend."

The main coaching points I’ve been giving my athletes this summer have been reminding all of them to continually adapt and adjust to the weather conditions.  Rather than fighting against Mother Nature’s undefeated streak, adapt and adjust to what the conditions allow you to do that day.  This requires much self-awareness in terms of being in-tune with your body (in the moment), as well as the phrase we’ve been using recently, “managing expectations,” which sometimes means, “managing your personality." 

The more weeks, months, and years you train, the quicker you should be able to identify the conditions around you and know how to adjust accordingly.  Bruce Lee left an enduring message that is very much akin to this idea of adaptation to your immediate environment (see short video link below).  Water works with the shape and contours its given and always finds its natural balance, and so must you work with the heat, humidity, wind, hills, etc., and find the appropriate balance for that day’s workout.  I’m aware of how overly commonsensical this Tip sounds, so (collectively) let’s prove it! 

Rise up to the level of Master during your workouts so that you can report success, optimism, and confidence in your recaps, rather than letting summer weather conditions kick you around.  Kick back Bruce Lee style by adapting and finding a natural balance on that day.  Just as the drop in temperatures did this past weekend, the fall weather will reveal your fitness, so keep your mental fortitude.  Overall, the athletes I train are doing well as a group in this regard, so I want them to view this as healthy reinforcement, not as negative feedback.  We’re on the same team.

A final note on this topic would be to also see the occasional OPEN days in your program as a “let the water find its own natural balance day.”  What this means is that your OPEN days allow you to do whatever you need to do to reset/balance your mind or training for that day or week.  It’s a catch-up, get-ahead, or OFF day.  Listen to your inner Lee and use sound judgment.

Spoken by the legend Himself, “Be water, my friend.”

Mike

The Sound of Two Hands Clapping

Does anyone else ever finish a run with a handclap or mini fist pump in the air?  I do that quite often and it puts a fabulous exclamation point on any run, and makes the lasting impression of the run as one of confidence.  Cognitive psychology can teach us many tactics and tricks about how to put a positive touch on any situation, so the handclap is an example you can try, and it might be especially meaningful in the face of summer heat/humidity that could otherwise sabotage your feelings of progress.  More importantly, what makes the handclap work is that I believe it to be true. 

As I shared in the final chapter of my book on run training, virtually every run I’ve ever done has had a positive element to it, and that’s far from lying to myself.  It’s the truth.  I don’t have negative experiences when I run.  When you finish a run in 90-degree temps with high humidity and every square inch of you is drenched in sweat, you better believe a run like that gets a “WOOHOO!” <CLAP> at the end of it.  SUCCESS!

Moreover, make sure you are proactively adjusting your workouts to account for the summer weather.  Proactively adjusting means “sit down before you fall down” and prevents negative self-talk from entering the picture and then having to pick yourself up mentally post-workout.  Some runners don’t adjust by their own volition; rather, they run slower and slower as the workout goes on because their body is slowly shutting down.  One of my favorite coaching expressions is: "Foresight is a more powerful tool than hindsight."

With more heat and humidity coming our way, be sure you are still fine-tuning your mental skills to stay optimistic and confident.  Here is what one of my runners wrote to me regarding his recent weekend long run: "Long run went great.  Went out with the [running store] weekend group and did the first half with a few folks, second half on my own with headphones.  You would have been very proud of my pacing decisions if you saw me and others at the end of the run.  Despite the heat, I finished with a big smile on my face, only to meet up with a bunch of others in the parking lot complaining about how their runs were terrible.  I found myself repeating your advice, that it's all about perceived exertion and managed expectations in the heat!”

Anyone can fool him/herself at the beginning of a workout in hot/humid conditions, but the cumulative effects don’t take very long to reveal themselves and spike your heart rate too high, too soon.  Remember that summer running is about perceived exertion/ intensity, and not pace.  For instance, the average runner doing a tempo workout on the track might have to adjust the pace by as much as 30-40 seconds per mile!  If you’re a data-driven runner, then that workout has the ability to “suck” in your mind because the numbers are your focal point.  We don’t want that.  We want a superb feeling of accomplishment when we’re done.  Perhaps solidified by a handclap as you cross the finish line on that final rep (or arriving back at your front doorstep).

Yes, I know, it feels weird for your legs to move at a pace much slower than you’re used to, but “train smarter, not harder” is one of our mantras.  Remind yourself that you hit other process goals that day, and again, you’ll be likely to honestly believe the positivity that you throw at yourself.

Run Happy!

Mike

Relativity

As Einstein once said, “Whether or not a race course or trail in the DC area is ‘hilly’ is relative to the individual.”  This is your reminder to have your own rating scale for hills and courses based on your own running experiences and perceived fitness.  

As I remind the runners I coach each year that head up to Boston for the marathon, Heartbreak Hill is overrated if you’re a DMV area runner.  Relative to us (DMV area residents), that hill isn’t too daunting. Relative to someone from most parts of Florida, then sure, it’s a doozy.  I address this topic in my book “The Art of Run Training” in a few sections; most notably the section titled “The DC Advantage for Runners,” as well as the section “Long Hills Don’t Exist.”  For more advice, you can click those links and check out the respective Blogs for both of those points.  

Additionally, make sure you reserve the word “hilly” for courses that deserve it.  The fitter you become, the less effect the smaller inclines have on you, so don’t do them the favor of considering them hills any more.  Use that word sparingly.  You can make distinctions between “hilly” vs. “rolling” vs. “incline" vs. “gently rolling.”  

The same approach applies to the weather.  “Hot” is 90-degree weather; it hasn’t been hot yet.  “Warm” is a better word to use, or “fair.”  Hilly and hot conditions might set you up for an adverse mental state going into your run, whereas, “scenic” or “sunny” have a positive connotation that frames the run differently.  So, with the exception of perhaps your run coach, don’t let other people’s perspectives of what constitutes a hilly course change your opinion too much, or at least as it pertains to strangers.  Trusted run friends and race directors certainly have valid opinions, but either way, make sure your own perspective of your own fitness is the guiding light.  

E = mc² would have been an impossible riddle for all of us to solve, but to Einstein it was (eventually) relatively easy.  ‘Twas not a Heartbreak-Hill-esque problem for him, just a “roller.”  Choose your own vocabulary and make it work for you.  Use some words only sparingly.

Train hard!

Mike

The Relationship Between Sleep & Athletic Performance

I recently read a 2015 review article published in Sports Medicine, titled "Sleep and Athletic Performance: The Effects of Sleep Loss on Exercise Performance, and Physiological and Cognitive Responses to Exercise.”  

Below I provide a summary of the authors’ main points, followed by my 2 cents (interpretation of the results) from a coach’s perspective.

Authors’ main points:

Although sleep is considered critical to optimal performance, many athletes appear to lose sleep prior to competition for various reasons, including noise, light, anxiety, and nervousness.  While there appears sufficient evidence to imply complete sleep deprivation can have significant negative effects on athletic performance, the effects of sleep restriction (partial disturbance of the sleep–wake cycle) are more conflicting; a concerning issue given that athletes are more likely to experience this mode of sleep loss.  The detrimental effect of sleep loss on most aspects of cognitive function remains unequivocal, with only minor conflicting findings present for the extent of the effects of mild sleep restriction, findings that would predictably suggest negative consequences for athletes requiring high neurocognitive reliance.

Much of the previous research has reported that exercise performance is negatively affected following sleep loss; however, conflicting findings mean that the extent, influence, and mechanisms of sleep loss affecting exercise performance remain uncertain. For instance, research indicates some maximal physical efforts and gross motor performances can be maintained. In comparison, the few published studies investigating the effect of sleep loss on performance in athletes report a reduction in sport-specific performance. The effects of sleep loss on physiological responses to exercise also remain equivocal; however, it appears a reduction in sleep quality and quantity could result in an autonomic nervous system imbalance, simulating symptoms of the overtraining syndrome. Additionally, increases in pro-inflammatory cytokines following sleep loss could promote immune system dysfunction.

My 2 cents:

For those who read the fine print of this review article and saw that the several studies that showed a decrease in performance were mostly in maximal power output (i.e., 30-sec Wingate/cycling test), I would ask them to raise their hand if that is a meaningful carryover into their own training (answer: most likely not).  Sleep deprivation (SD) vs. sleep restriction (SR) is where the other significant findings of the article are contained, but I also don’t think any of local amateur athletes are facing actual sleep deprivation.  In short, if it’s the night before a race and you don’t get much sleep, then don’t worry about it, especially since there are very little (if at all) cognitive aspects of endurance events, whereas team-sport athletes might have other considerations depending on their position/demands, but even then the results are mixed with no need to sound an alarm.  

It’s important to note that the article points out that physiological measures don’t always show adverse effects from SR, so the authors postulate that central fatigue (as in central nervous system fatigue/ self-talk) is most likely the mechanism, especially if you factor that perceived exertion (effort) was diminished in some studies.  In other words, if the athlete believes that the sleep restriction is going to have an adverse effect, then he/she might be likely to create a self-fulfilling prophecy!  Get the idea out of your head, and do so with confidence, as the empirical evidence supports that short-term SR likely won’t affect your endurance the following day.  

Chronic sleep restriction is a separate issue not addressed by this article, and I think we would all agree that at that point there are going to be performance detriments (even with just a few days), along with an increased chance for injury (i.e., relationship between chronic muscular fatigue and injury).  I can empathize with any athlete who doesn't get a solid night of sleep the night before a big game/race, but what’s probably more important is the sleep you get two and three nights before a significant effort.

Train hard!

Mike