If you ran Yakima, then the covid self-quarantine will keep you from attending Whisper practices. It also means you raced on Saturday, which I am proud of you for doing. It sounds like the courses were a bit long, but as I review the results that came out after yesterday’s email to the parents, I am actually quite pleased with the results. Of course there will be disappointments, but lets chalk those up to learning opportunities. If you’ll recall the Stuff You Should Know episode on “Can you remember being born,” that we listened to at last Wednesday’s practice, resilience in racing is important. How you talk to yourself on a consistent basis creates a callusing of the muscles (synapses) within the brain to remember who you truly are as a runner. Positive self-talk and imagining successful performances will prepare you to be confident and strong in the midst of adversity. Positive self-talk can be in the form of having a mantra, such as sustaining a rhythm, hitting splits, of a specific feeling within your gate. Of course we will all have performances to grow from, but again, as I review the results, for the first race in several months, this was a great meet and I hope we get a chance to lace up against those teams in the future.
Let’s talk about this coming week of training. If you are able to meet with a friend for a run, please do so. If you can run a new trail, get lost for an hour and find waterfalls. Spend at least two of your runs this week running a distance without timing, and just being free of the judgement that may come with using a watch or feeling like you have to hit a particular pace. For workouts, here are a few suggestions:
Run 4-6 days this coming week, whatever you are accustomed to. I recommend running the same number of days you have been used to, but add a mile or two to a couple of your runs to give yourself a slight bump in mileage this week. Doing so will pay off a couple of weeks down the road when we run Nationals.
Two tempos of the following:
3/4/5x5min at race pace +10%. If you run the 3k, then run 3 tempos, if you run the 4k, then 4 tempos, if you run the 5k, then 5 tempos. “+10%” means the pace should be 10% slower than your actual race pace. So if you’re running 3:45-minute 1k’s in a race, then your tempos should be closer to 4:05-4:10 (so you’ll run just over 1k in each interval). Rest intervals are 90s.
If you are new to Whisper and aren’t sure how to calculate all of this, then just run. This is especially important if you are running Nationals - get out and run at least 3-4 times during the week of Thanksgiving.
6-8x300m hills, with the recovery being an easy jog back to the bottom of the hill. Grassy hills preferred.
The 2-4 other days of the week should be runs of 20-60-minutes total. Give yourself runs that you can be proud of. Find a route and explore. When my dad lived in Othello, I’d always wanted to run around the city of Othello merely to say that I’d run around the city of Othello (kind of silly, but there’s not much to do in Othello). When he lived in Moses Lake, I’d always wanted to run to a nearby city called Ephrata. Both runs were merely for exploratory and personal reasons, but when they were accomplished, they felt good. There’s something cathartic about finding youself through runs governed in curiousty rather than miles.
For what it’s worth, after Nationals, I will ask those who have been hitting consistent weeks of running to take 1-2 weeks off, at least through Christmas. For those who have been inconsistent, feel free to continue attending Whisper practices and we can get you on a consistent routine in the New Year. We will likely begin cross-training, weather pending) with hurdle mobility drills, ladder work, and core, which you are welcome to join - just text or call to find out what the plan is…
I’ve chatted with a few of you about Yakima, and it sounds like you’re all in a good place. If you’d like to chat about your experience, nothing would make my day more than talking running with you! Please feel free to call anytime.
Looking forward to seeing you in 8-9 days! Happy Thanksgiving!
Sincerely,
Coach Dave
360-989-0935