I’ve been a coach and I’ve been coached. I have been a participant on training teams, I have paid for coaching, I have used online training schedules, I have been “self-coached” with the help of too many books to list here. I truly enjoy coaching. Working with the Marathon Training Team for two years as a participant and then the last seven years as a coach has definitely been the most rewarding thing I have done in athletics.
There is something that the coaches, reference materials, and I have not addressed, at least not in anything I have ever read or written. There is a mental side of training. I hear you now, “Seriously, you have never seen anything on mental side of training? Where are you an elementary school library? What alter universe are you living in? There are tons of books about mental toughness, visualization and many other mental topics, can you just not read?” Okay, that is correct, so maybe mental side is not the correct terminology. Let me try again.
I recently read a book called Fish! A Remarkable Way to Boost Morale and Improve Results. It was suggested to me by a friend of mine when I mentioned that I was taking on a culture project at work. This person is responsible for one of the great places to work in this country, so he knows more than just a little about culture. This is the context that most people find this book, through the workplace. We are working with the book and incorporating it into our internal Leadership Program as a way of improving our firm. I hope you will continue reading this piece because this is going to loop back to training in a few words, I promise. The book is written by Stephen C. Lundin, PhD., Harry Paul and John Christensen. It is a unique little story about a business and how it finds culture and therefore performance success at a Fish Market.
Back to training, many of the people I coach each year through Marathon Training Team are very dedicated, driven and passionate people (actually most of the people). They take the training schedule and study it (even though it’s basically the same each year). They track their mileage and their effort on spreadsheets or in online training tools or on good old paper. When they miss a workout (if they miss a workout), the stress really shows as the e-mail usually starts, “Coach, I overslept and missed the five mile recovery run today, do you think my Marathon is screwed? Should I do a double tomorrow? I only have 15 weeks until the Marathon.” I often joke with people at the beginning of the program, do not become a slave to the schedule. Do not be the person that tattoos the schedule to your significant other’s forehead so you can study it at dinner and appear attentive. I am not making fun, I am guilty of the same thing in my own training. We set a goal, a particular “A” race, we set a training plan and it becomes a job. It becomes an epic battle of time versus priorities. We work to maintain focus on training while still searching for balance in our lives.
This is where the book comes in. I realized when I was reviewing notes on the book that there is a very good application to our training. The first premise of Fish is very simple and it’s very important. It’s the basis on which everything is built. Without it, the rest is useless. When you get ready to train, CHOOSE to make today a great day! It is your choice. If you are an early morning trainer, then when you roll out and get ready, tell yourself it’s gonna be a great workout. If you workout in the evening, look forward to it with a great sense of anticipation. If you have 6x1 mile with 2 minute recoveries at 10K pace, know that it’s going to be a great workout. If you have hill repeats on the bike or some crazy swim (I have no idea what that would be so make something up), know that it’s going to be a great workout. We often forget that we are in total control of our attitude. You choose to be excited about a workout or to dread a workout. Isn’t it more enjoyable to start with a good attitude? Even if things don’t go as planned, keep the good attitude and work to improve the results. Don’t get all stressed out, stress does not lead to good training.
The next premise is find ways to PLAY. Chances are your workouts are hard. They should be, we don’t benefit from half-hearted attempts. The body gets stronger, faster, fitter through effort and recovery but that doesn’t mean that training must be boot camp and militaristic. Watch kids on a playground (if you can find any not glued to a video game). Not on athletic fields, but on a playground just running and playing for fun, you remember recess? Their strides are natural and fast, their faces have smiles, they are playing. We should do the same thing. For example, burst into song while running, skip for a minute, run backwards on the recovery during a workout, stop and pet a dog or whatever, just try to play. You can play while working hard.
While you have a good attitude and you are playing, it’s important to also to BE PRESENT. While I encourage you to have fun and lighten up the mood around your workouts, it is still critically important to be present during the effort. It’s critical that you are tuned in to the workout and the effort. We need to be focused on pace or form or whatever the goal of the workout. We can’t be daydreaming while trying to do repeats, we should not be thinking about dinner while trying to bust out the last few reps in the gym. We need to be “in the workout.” If you find yourself checking out, then stop, play and then resume the work phase. On a side note about be present, I often run for relaxation and to “get away” for a bit. That’s fine. We all have recovery runs on our schedules, those are perfect for creating a distraction for a period of time.
Wrapping this up is MAKE THEIR DAY. Quoting from the book, “Find someone who needs a helping hand, a word of support, or a good ear – and make their day.” It’s real. Think back to a run or ride or workout where along the way you helped someone. Maybe you held a door or maybe you helped someone that needed directions, maybe you helped someone change a tire or maybe you happened upon someone that was hurt and you helped them. How did that make you feel? Yeah, it’s a powerful emotion. Helping someone also helps you. I am one of the many crazy pre-dawn runners. It’s amazing how many there are, but you still don’t see too many people on the mean streets of twickory at 5:00AM. So sometimes when I feel like I am just dragging and can’t quite get it together, I’ll put people’s newspapers on their front porch. Three or four houses or a block or whatever, I’ll just toss the morning fishwrap from the sidewalk to their front porch. In my mind, I am helping people. Of course, the person that picks up the paper while driving out of their driveway, may not be happy, but I’m long gone by then. There are actually lots of opportunities to help people on a regular basis if we keep our eyes open and are present. There is one other option for MAKE THEIR DAY, how about your legs. Maybe you need to give your body a helping hand and a day off. That could work out very well for you.
The first day of Marathon Training Team I tell people, “in case you have forgotten, you paid to join this program and we are not paying you one dime. This is recreation, this should be fun. If you get to the point that you are not having fun, you need to rethink your priorities and choices.” Just because something is hard, and yes 20+ mile runs and hill repeats and track work is hard, does not mean it can’t be fun too. There are disappointments along the way in anything we do. We will miss goal times and come up short in races. These are disappointing for sure but they are not the end of the world. They are learning opportunities to be attacked with a good attitude the next day.
The reality is that FISH has often been used in the workplace to restore or create a more healthy organization, however, it applies to life in general. Think about how great your day would be if you chose to have a good attitude, played, were present in the moment and helped others. I would wager that when you hit the hay each evening, you would rest well for a day well spent.
Run Well.
