Goals, Self-Talk, Adaptation

The book Comprehensive Stress Management defines stress as “pressure minus adaptability,” or “Stress = Pressure – Adaptability.”  At Whisper, working on adaptive strategies is the focus during Winter Training, which is as simple as prescribing homework…in the form of running. Just like aspiring to learn a musical instrument or perfecting a piece of art, running takes work and commitment.  The difference between these skills is that when running, we must go to a place of discomfort to begin learning to sustain a set workload while being uncomfortable, then learn to comfortably sustain this feeling for five, six, 12-minutes, or even longer!  This is also known as “dancing with discomfort.”

How is this done?  Well, the obvious answer is interval, fartlek, and tempo training, but that discussion is for another time.  This discussion is about the mental side of running, which includes having goals, understanding self-talk, and adapting to heightened levels of stress.

Goals – these are the easy part of the equation.  Simply review past performances, often found on athletic.net, average the times from past events, then, based on your commitment to the off-season and performance variables that might play a role, create a realistic, tangible goal for 2022.  This is something we will be doing very soon at Whisper.

Self-Talk – like seeds placed perfectly into soil for roots to take hold, the initial stem to shoot through the ground, and the leaves to grasp the energy from the sun, self-talk can grow like a weed, or blossom into flowers.  If you are like most people, there is likely a healthy balance between Dandelions and red roses.  But just as rose bushes have thorns, dandelions are not actually weeds, and surprisingly, we used to eat these little nutritious plants!  The idea is self-awareness and balance.  Allowing the healthy seeds to nestle into the crevasses of the brain and take root, while pruning away any negative energy(ies) that prohibit growth and advancement in pursuit of your goals.  Again, we will be working on this over the coming weeks – often discussed at Saturday morning practices.

Adaptation – Picture this: Runners are required to go into the “pain cave,” remain there for a set distance or time, then repeat this behavior until the conclusion of the workout.  Then they are asked to go back into this pain cave 2-3 times each week, all in pursuit of a goal that will take them less than, hopefully, just a few minutes to complete.  So, what’s going on during these consistent bouts of heightened stress?  Well, for new, inexperienced, or unfit runners, it’s likely the feeling of panic.  But when fitness improves, when one learns to control varying speeds at varying distances, there is a moment of magic that happens.  It can be difficult to explain, but this Flow state, a state when “a person’s body or mind is stretched to its limits in a voluntary effort to accomplish something difficult and worthwhile” (Csikszentmihalyi) is the ultimate pursuit.

Running, specifically running well, takes nurturing, understanding, compassion, and patience.  Once one begins to run well, more ambitious goals can be set, self-talk improves, and adaptation begins to take root.  Clearly there are countless variables that must be considered, but these will scratch the surface of discussion, and hopefully satisfy the itch for now.

What Made Maddy Run - Reading Responses

For runners between 8th and 12th grade, you have received a book from Coach Dave called What Made Maddy Run. As you read the book, keep the following response questions in mind:

  • What do you think created Maddy’s despair?

  • In Chapter 4 Active Minds, the author discusses “free play.”  Describe what free play looks like and how often you participate in free play.  Starting with a simple Google search, list and briefly describe the benefits of free play.

  • Active Minds continues into a discussion around the benefits of talking to yourself in the form of talking with others. Who would you consider as part of your support system?  Identify three people whom you can talk (out loud) with, without fear of judgment or repercussion. 

  • What part(s) of the “All Alone” chapter can you connect with the most?  Please explain.

Thank you for taking the time to read the book and respond to the questions. Please feel free to add anything you feel provides value to your work. Bring these papers with you to the seminar on Saturday, February 12.


USATF Junior Olympic Results

Whisper Running ran the USATF Junior Olympic National meet on Saturday, December 11, in Lexington, Kentucky, with the following 10 runners participating:

  1. Emma Will (7-8), 2k 10:08, 88/130

  2. Rip Nitszchke (9-10), 3k 13:22, 104/258

  3. Sofia Soto (9-10), 3k 13:24, 42/264

  4. Wyatt Nitszchke (11-12), 3k 12:37, 114/367

  5. Brody Will (13-14), 4k 16:52, 191/374

  6. Cohen Butler (13-14), 4k 16:01, 111/374

  7. Sam Soto (13-14), 4k 14:17, 2/374

  8. Dylan Yates, 4k 17:11, 70/332

  9. Addison Crum (15-18), 5k 23:19, 69/129

  10. Joseph Blanshan (15-18), 5k 19:04, 64/167

Click here to view full results.

The race was in Paris, Kentucky, which was 200 miles from the tornado that ripped through Kentucky. The rain was intermittent, between heavy downpours and glimpses of blue skies at times. The wind was consistent from the start, which delayed the races by almost two hours. I've never been in a race postponed by mere wind and rain. I had rented a heavy duty canopy by a local rental company. The stakes used to hold the canopies in place are 3' long and jackhammered into the ground with through the use of a compact fork lift. As sure as the footing was for these canopies, the weather stoked great fear that they would be blown away (us included), but we are grateful the bulk of the storm passed in just a few (20) minutes. That was around 10am, and the rest of the day was cold, windy, and rainy - nothing like the storm that had passed through over the night and into the morning.

Nonetheless, the kids persevered. The course was a muddy mess and race times went out the window. Runners were 10-30 seconds per 1k off their PR's, but the experience they've gained provides so much more. I am proud of the determination they showed in stepping up, pushing through, and fighting for a strong finish of the season. This was highlighted by Sam Soto's 2nd place finish in the boys 13-14 4k race. All of the kids showed signs of resilience and fight, which really was the only option.

Maddy Holleran Book

Dear families,

I hope you are well rested after a Saturday Christmas and are looking forward to a new year!

As Winter Training approaches, you may already know that we have some great topics lined up for Saturday Seminars.  On Saturday, February 12, a panel of Sports Medicine specialists will be talking with the team about the most influential aspects of healthy performance – Nutrition, Sleep, and Social Media.  The latter topic, Social Media, is something we adults have learned to adjust to starting in our middle-ages years (middle-age to where we are now).  Our children, however, come out of the womb with a phone in their face followed by an instant post to the most popular social media forum(s).  Phones, technology, and social media, for better or worse, are very much a part of our lives, and the D.O.s of OHSU will be speaking to this specific topic.

Before February 12, I will be distributing a book to every middle school and high school runner at Winter Training, along with an assignment.  The book is called What Made Maddy Run, which is centered on the tragic death of a premier runner for the University of Pennsylvania.  The book discusses the typical student-athlete experience during the latter portions of high school and first year of college, highlighting the emotional rigors that some students/runners endure seemingly alone – depression, anxiety, suicidal thoughts, and suicide.  As parents, we see so much potential in our children – we see the big picture - while our kids are immersed in their own heightened expectations of trying to simply survive.

The author, Kate Fagan, does a remarkable job discussing the impact/influence of social media, burn-out, and emotional fatigue.  Her writing allows us to feel empathy and compassion to Maddy’s fate, and though the reader is left with more questions than answers, this is often the case with suicide.

The assignment I plan to distribute will highlight the chapters on social media and mental health, and ultimately, compassion and empathy – not necessarily towards Maddy, although that will likely happen, but toward each person in the room, as we each have our own battles, as small or large as they may be. 

These are not foreign concepts or topics to me; these are topics discussed in my Health 101 classes at Clark College, and I am excited to open the doors of discussions with the team, even to a small degree – this will not be a therapy session, but rather, a discussion around their homework assignment, while acknowledging the emotional, intellectual, and social weight that is often carried by student-athletes.

If all goes well, What Made Maddy Run, along with the homework assignment, will be distributed on Saturday, January 22, just after our first project – creating a Vision Board. 

Elementary-aged runners will receive a different assignment for obvious reasons.

If you prefer that your child not receive the book, then I ask that you first purchase and read the book before emailing me with that request.  Though I do not expect Ryan Norton of OHSU to touch on suicide, he will be discussing social media’s influence on emotional health, and I believe this book and assignment will be to their benefit if read prior to February 12.

Again, only registered runners will be receiving this book and have access to the meeting on February 12, so if you have not registered your child yet, please know that will you receive 10% off the full Winter Training registration if done before December 31.  Payment plans are fine, just let me know.

Thank you for reading.

Sincerely,
Dave

Running on Borrowed Time

As a teacher of emotional health at the local college, there are two books I am continuously drawn to: Change or Die by Alan Deutschman, and What to Eat by Marion Nestle.  Both books encapsulate much of my four and six years of college education that I attempt to pass on.  The former, Change or Die, introduces a new-age concept of behavior change that includes the theory, “relate, repeat, reframe.”  Relate by investing in your client/student/athlete, repeat new behaviors (see Lessons in Small Doses), then reframe new ideas into opportunities for development and advancement.  Deutschman admits that the title Change or Die was merely a tactic to get the books off the shelves and into the hands of the consumer.  Deutschman felt that a truer and more preferred title should have been Change and Thrive. 

Now in the post-season of cross-country, nothing brings me more hesitation to saying the title of our largest race, “Junior Olympics,” than the title of our race, “Junior Olympics.”  The mere inclusion of “Olympics” in any context truly raises the bar of aspiration and hope, which are clearly very good things.  But for those who get emotionally rattled at the idea of running cross-country, or even more so, club cross-country, then imagine the angst of running in the Olympics!  

In an effort to not go too far into this wormhole, let me introduce a strategy I apply at the onset of any discussion around post-season racing, whether it’s Junior Olympics, NXR, Foot Locker, or any other national race.  In fact, scratch “national” and just call it a race.  Now clearly, these are big races, just as districts and regionals, and even state, but at some point, a race is a race is a race.  When the gun goes off, the smart, well-trained runners will instinctively know what to do - race.

At the conclusion of Wednesday’s practice, I closed the final meeting with a message about “playing with house money.”  This means when you’ve won so much of something, no matter what you wager now won’t matter if you lose because you’ve already won! 

What’s important to remember is that if you are excited about something it’s because you care.  You are emotionally invested and that is a very good thing.  It makes whatever it is that you are nervous about worth fighting for, except this time, it’s about harnessing that energy for the betterment of your performance. 

You are here.  You are at what you call the biggest race of your life.  and though the venue might be new, and competitors might have fancier uniforms or cool chants or appear intimidating, take a step back and remember that at one point, the idea of running cross country was intimidating.  The thought of running for a club was too grand to imagine.  That “Olympics” or “State” was for runners you perceived as much faster than you.  But you are here, at a cross-country race, running for a club or high school, at an event with a fancy name. 

It’s time to take a chance.  You are playing with house money, so now is an opportunity to know what it feels like to run free, to put to the test all the training you have behind you, and to experience what lies ahead. 

Venturing into the unknown can be scary, but there is always one constant you can recall to keep the healthy butterflies at bay:  the training you have endured has prepared you well, and you are ready.

Post-Season Racing

There are three post-season race options:

  • USATF Junior Olympics (JO’s) includes the Association Race (A) on 11/14 in Tacoma/University Place, the Regional Race (R) on 11/20 in University Place, and the Nationals Race (N) on 12/11 in Lexington.  Your child may forgo the 11/14 and 11/20 races and go straight to nationals, or participate in any combination of the three races.  JO’s are run in age divisions (8&U, 9-10, 11-12, 13-14, 15-18).  At this time, it appears we will not have enough runners to form scoring teams in these divisions for the national race, but we might have scoring teams in the Association and/or Regional races.  Regardless, your child would still run under the team name “Whisper Running,” just not be part of a scoring team.

  • Foot Locker races are for high school runners only, and does not include team scoring.  At this time, we have around 5 girls considering this event.  The Regional race is on 12/4 in Walnut, CA, and the National race is on 12/11 in San Diego.

  • NXR (Nike XC Regionals) is historically for HS runners, but now seems to include MS as well. Regardless, we will only have HS runners at this event on 11/13 in Boise.  Although this event is for high school runners, it does not include clubs in the team scoring. At this time, it appears we will have 10-15 runners participate at this event.

Note: HS/MS runners cannot represent their schools, so when I say HS/MS, I simply mean HS-age or MS-age competing independently or with a club.

Now that we are clear on the three races, dates, and locations, see the Google Spreadsheet to make sure your child is in the preferred race.  Some families are still uncertain where their child will participate, so their name (in the cell) is shaded a light green.  Abbreviations are "A" for Association Race, "R" for JO Regional Race, "N" for JO National Race, "FL" for Foot Locker, and "NXR" for Nike Cross Regionals.

Moving forward, although I am happy to help families navigate decisions, I cannot be in all places at once, so these generous ladies have taken the lead for the following races:

  • Foot Locker runners (parents), your point of contact is Stacy Redfern, Smmullens@yahoo.com. 

  • NXR runners, your point of contact is Annie Christie, anneechristie@hotmail.com 

  • USATF JO runners, your point of contact is me.

If your child plans to run Foot Locker or NXR, they may still run JO's. For meet and travel information, see the Whisper Calendar. You must RSVP with Coach Dave at least one week before any of the races (JO races) to be registered to participate.

Lessons in Small Doses

Finishing my daily aqua-jogging routine for reprieve from sciatica, I make my way to the locker room for a shower.  The room is rather busy, and as I look toward my locker, a man in his 80's is using the locker just beneath mine.  Rather than get in his way, I head to the shower for a long rinse. Afterward, the gentleman is still there, so I bide time by running my shorts through the suit dryer, then weighing myself on the scale across the room. After exhausting everything I can think to do, I approach the man and excuse my reach. He politely moves aside while I grab my belongings.

"Did you have a good workout?" the elder asked.

"It wasn't much of a workout, it was merely some PT to help with my sciatica," I replied.

"Well, I've got Alzheimer's, so we're all dealing with something," he says with a smile.

In an instant, albeit only for a moment, my sciatica was gone. I experienced a similar encounter two weeks earlier when a gentleman using the hot tub exited by climbing out using only his hands to get into his wheelchair. And I am reminded of a dear friend who passed too early, when his wife told me that her running was now "easier" since she spent the past few years mourning his death.

Things are hard, until they are not.

This past weekend, I ran into a friend of mine, Mechele, at the Scary Run.  Mechele has been a runner as long as I can remember and she recently hired a coach to help her become faster, at the ripe young age of 58.  Mechele shared with me that in all the work she does on her own, she rarely includes speed training as part of her workout because, in her own words, “Speed work is hard!” 

Some people come out of the womb with an ability to run fast, while others take several decades to achieve, or sometimes never at all. At Whisper, beginning runners are reminded that the discomfort they are feeling when running hard is normal and short lived.  This makes me think of the sign I read at the Eugene Half Marathon that read, “If you think time goes by fast, trying running a marathon.” 

Okay, so when you’re in the moment of running, it may seem to take forever, but in the grand scheme of things, i.e., workouts, it really does go by fast. 

Teaching runners how to run hard can be administered in small doses called Intervals.  These are physical lessons of stress and prolonged discomfort, and on the mental side, they are lessons of tolerance and repeated achievement.  Again and again, intervals are practiced, consistency is yearned for, and fitness improves.  In time, intervals are lengthened, and the cycle continues – workouts improve conditioning, which improves confidence, which leads to an enthusiasm for the next practice.  Keep in mind, we only meet for workouts twice each week, so the multiple days of rest between workouts is more than sufficient.

The life lesson.

If there is a silver lining in my bout with sciatica, it’s that six weeks on the shelf has brought healing to my Achilles, something I have not had in 10+ years.  My body says, “Your Achilles needs a prolonged rest, why don’t have lay down for a while,” and I do so as I type this from the floor of my living room.   Stress is part of life, and the valleys callous us for when we are ready to  come out the other end stronger and wiser.

Should one experience sciatica day in, day out, year in, year out?  Hopefully not!  Similarly, easy runs, intervals, fartleks, tempos, and steady-state runs have seasons, and ebbs and flows.  They come in just the right doses at just the right times in just the right order for just the right moment.  Intervals teach us that it is okay to experience stress, and in fact, we should be excited when it arrives!  They provide us strength and confidence and guide us into running experiences we would otherwise never know.