The best part of Whisper

Micah (left), as a 2017 Summer Whisper Pacer, leads a pack of runners that includes Aiden (gray), Katie (blue), Jude (white), and Cordova (teal).

This morning I ran with Micah Goff, a Whisper Pacer in 2017, one of the OG’s in the program, a solid high school and collegiate runner who is currently pursuing his dream of running in the 2028 Olympic Trials. An incredible human studying Cyber Security at Clark College, Micah ran 14:35 last summer in the 5k, a huge personal best time from the previous summer. How lucky am I, at the ripe young age of 48, to receive an invitation to run with him on a chilly February morning.

Running with Micah is a true joy for a number of reasons, and connecting with him is one of the best parts of Whisper. This is a common theme that parents may hear me say - Blank “is the best part of Whisper!” Whether blank is seeing connections made between runners from different sides of town, or even school districts, watching runners who trained during the winter or summer months reconnect the season that follows when their teams compete against one another, or hearing that the kids are getting together outside of the running realm, where relationships grow stronger. Countless “best parts of Whisper,” with the most recent highlight being the group picture that was taken on Monday, February 20 at Hudson’s Bay. It was six years earlier we had taken our first ever group photo, the same day the quarter-zip long sleeve shirts were distributed. Though there are a handful of runners not pictured on that 2017 summer day, most notably my own children, there were are two individuals who were photographed on that day, who were also present last Monday when we took the 2023 Winter Training group picture. See if you can spot them before scrolling down further where their images are revealed.

2017 Summer Training Group

2023 Winter Training Group

Any luck? Scroll down to find out which two runners were in both photos!

Lauren has trained and raced with Whisper since 2017.

Josh has trained and raced with Whisper since 2017.

And that is the best part of Whisper!

Preseason to Season Transition

As we enter the sixth and final week of high school preseason training, runners will need to keep their training load (volume and intensity) in mind as they enter their high school programs next week, Monday, February 27. In order for the high school runners to enter the first week of high school track season with fresh, healthy legs, Week 6 of the Winter Training session will be slightly less in volume.  In past years, runners who transitioned from off-season training with Whisper to their school program have voiced frustration due to the lack of training volume, intensity, or specificity at the start of their school program. Keep in mind that high school coaches will rightly take a conservative approach at the start of the season to protect the runners who have not trained in the off-season. So what about the kids who have worked hard over the break - how can they remain sharp while their peers catch up? Here are few ideas:

  • COMMUNICATE: Have your child communicate with the coach about their off-season work and their 2023 goals. Share with the coach the typical workload performed from the end of their XC season, to the start of track. NOTE: We typically perform 1-1.5 mile warm-uip, 3.5-4.5k (2-2.75mi) of track/interval work, and .5 mile cool down on Mon/Thurs evenings. Saturday runs are 5-8 miles (depending on age, years run, etc.).

  • VOLUME: Aim to keep the same volume at the start of the season, and if your child feels like they are losing fitness, they should talk with the coach about adding an additional set of intervals (suggested not to exceed 4k of total speed work in February and early March, unless the coach is really dialed in to exercise prescription/physiology).  Runners could perform strides at the end of a workout or run to remain sharp and quick, until teammates catch up in fitness.

  • WEEKEND MILEAGE: If the miles during the week are low, you may add a couple of miles to a long weekend run. If the coach wants to wait a week to perform interval work, use the weekend to perform tempo work to sustain VO2 and thresholds.

  • GOALS: Seasoned runners can expect to improve 1-3% from one season to the next. Here is how I derive at a runners goal(s) for a mile goal for 2023:

    • Previous season (2022) mile time of 6:31 = 391 seconds

    • 391x.97 = 6:19, 391x.99 = 6:27 (1-3% improvement)

    • Range goal for 2023 6:19-6:27, w/dream goal of sub 6-10.

Going into the season, if there is one suggestion I highly recommend, it is to keep the race distances varied.  If your child is predominantly a 800m/miler, then they will likely run these events 5-7 times before districts.  They should also race the 400m (or be part of a 4x400m team) 3-4 times, and the 2-mile at least twice.  Doing so will keep primary events fresh and sharp.

Any coach can take an out of shape athlete, get them in shape, and watch the athlete set PR's (personal records). But all high school and college coaches should be able to take an athlete who is already in shape, hone their fitness, and continue improving their athletes stamina and speed. 

I welcome conference video calls between now and April 12 to all runners who trained with Whisper over the winter and who would like to discuss their 2023 season goals. Please email me to schedule a meeting.

To be continued, by Ashley McKinstry

Ashley taking part in the 2022 Cascade Lakes Relay, alongside past and present Whisper runners.

On my morning run, I took a tour of Seattle’s notoriously vibrant Capitol Hill, made my way to Leschi to inspect the water, and completed my journey, breezing down Lake Washington Road, waving to trees in the arboretum. Six years ago I would have patterned my run with 200 sprints or a tempo, preparing for the track season ahead. Today, I jogged along reminiscing on wearing bright yellow socks and hair ribbons, thankful for the ability to get out into the city without the constraints of looming competition. I miss my days of wearing the Whisper uniform and the friends I looked forward to seeing at practice and am excited whenever I get my siblings updates on the community. Catching snippets of the world I used to be so present in, gives me perspective on how much has changed since I have left. The streets of Seattle occupy a space in my mind, evicting the road names of Camas and Vancouver, I once knew so well. I still see my favorite running buddy a couple times a week, attempting to hold on to a bit of home in the chaotic track of growing up. Taking in the city together, we reassure each other about the heavy uncertainty of the future and circle career paths. We have both missed our days on the starting line and were easily roped back into the world of racing by the opportunity of the Boston Marathon in April. Training for the marathon has brought structure and running overall has kept me sane throughout this period of my life.

I came to college and rushed the process of grounding myself in the city, getting an internship, job, volunteering and finding others who call this place their home. I picked up unconventional means of income, hosting children's science birthday parties on the weekends to supplement hobbies of cooking, rock climbing, and music related ventures. During the week, I attend classes, working towards my majors of biochemistry and marine biology. I also spend some of my day at a cardiology lab, where I research the effect of genetic mutations on the heart. In everything I participate in, I try to make my life exciting, taking classes that pique my curiosity, and being actively engaged in research.

Ashley (1295) and teammates post-race at the 2019 USATF Regional Championships after qualifying for Nationals.

My home life is filled with a constant stream of distractions, as I live with ten other girls in a house close to campus. Our calendar is filled with nights at concerts and trips around the country. Being a college student requires being thrifty and so when we found a buy one get one travel deal, we hopped on it and booked a quick trip to Alaska. Unfortunately, the cloudy days ruined a chance to see the northern lights, but we ameliorated the situation by eating some good pizza and marveling at the mountain range. Any weekend escape provides a break from the bustling city culture. I have been introduced to many new places in Washington and although I was not much of a camper before college, I had to adapt as it was not reasonable to purchase an Airbnb every time we needed to get away. It would be a lie to say we have a constant stream of adventurous whims, as most nights we unwind in the comfort of our home. Looking into the windows of our centrally located home, pedestrians can spot us drinking tea and keeping up a steady string of conversation, while our homework sits in front of us, nearly untouched.

I am fortunate to be surrounded by many ambitious people, who motivate me to work towards my passions. Before college, I had my heart set on becoming a neurosurgeon but now I am now welcoming the idea of not knowing what I want to do. I have really enjoyed classes that have given me foundations for understanding the way the world functions. Every breath and heartbeat prefaced with a biological pathway that is so complex it's easy to be grateful. As I become further immersed in the science world, I yearn to share my passions with others, and have joined outreach programs for kids in the Seattle area. Working with kids is a refreshing vacation from being around often single tracked college students. The world of possibilities is expanded, and my perspective is shifted to view situations from more juvenile eyes. Working with kids and being in a city with so many opportunities has presented me with a million paths to take, but I will remember to take time and smell the roses as I jog along.

The picture that started it all, Whisper Running reps of the 2017 squad. From left, Kira Mahaffy, Abigail Wall, Ashley McKinstry, Kiley O’Brien, Katie Flolo, Emily Rosenkranz, Callie Ulin, and Candi Owen.

Concentration, Play, & Running

The flame of a candle, the perfect inhalation and exhalation of the breath, the trickle of a stream, or a gentle breeze as it plays off the leaves of a blossoming tree, each provide welcomed moments of peace and calm.  Even time spent in a heightened cardiovascular state can produce a quiet mind, although these moments can also be quite busy in critical and productive thinking. 

In running, the feeling of being in complete control, with movements coming naturally and without effort, can lead to a feeling of being in a flow-like state.  This flow state is achieved when fitness and the field merge, when an athlete achieves the challenge-skill balance.  Many factors play key roles in achieving flow, but one thing is for certain: runners must be ready to sustain the heightened level of meditation while in their state of concentration on the task at hand.

Equipping runners with concentration tasks is one of the more fun activities performed at Whisper.  Last Wednesday, during the cross-training (of the mind) night at Clark, we explored fun ways to enhance concentration.  First, we shut off the phones, which helps immensely.  Next, we played games.   It really was that simple.  In the book, “Sacred Hoops,” Phil Jackson discusses the practice of quieting the mind off the (basketball) court, so the athletes are better equipped to mentally handled the noise and tasks on the court.  Per these suggestions, along with activities practiced over the years, we played a numbers game, we played with mazes, and a dots game in teams. We attempted Sudoku, but not everyone knew how to play, so we pressed on.  It seemed that no matter the task, the kids had fun, and the objective was met – provide a task to concentrate on and identify where focus lies during these activities.  The stress level in the room resided at a 1 on a scale of 0-10, with the only stressor being a neighboring teammate one was trying to best.  Even in defeat, smiles were observed and giggles were heard. 

Taking these activities to the track, where there is clearly more skin in the game, stress levels rise merely due to the emotional and physical desires to attain lofty goals.  Stride after stride, each tap of the foot provides input.  And runners know when the input duration lasts longer – the difference between strides lasting .24. and .34 seconds in a 5k, where runners may take between 3,300-4,000 steps – their brain calculates the difference in pace based on the duration of the contact time.  The longer the stride remains on the ground generally means the muscles in the leg take on greater eccentric load, leading to earlier fatigue. 

Just as physical conditioning will help with this fatigue, so will spending time in thought on particular patterns of movement during the time of concentration.  Whether it’s exploding with great force out of the starting blocks, perfecting the foot strike in the middle of the race, or positioning the arms correctly for greatest efficiency, the mental energy centered on constructive thoughts can grow stronger with time and practice.

So, what can one do to strengthen the ability to concentrate well?  A quick Google search will provide with plenty of suggestions, but here are the ones I subscribe to most:

  1. Put away distractions.

  2. Quite the space – a “white noise” is okay, but music, Podcasts, or TV is ill advised.

  3. Read – even if you do not consider yourself a reader, just a few minutes each day will help.

  4. Play games and puzzles.

  5. Meditate.

  6. Create a checklist and accomplish tasks one at a time.

  7. Get adequate sleep.

  8. Take timed breaks.

  9. Exercise using a guided (intentional) workout plan.

  10. Go away – get out in nature.

  11. Meal prep healthy options with whole foods (preferred), unprocessed, and rich in fiber.

As I tell our runners, when you work, really work, and when you rest, really rest.  The same goes with play and responsibilities. And if you are like me, a person who sees squirrels at every turn, more than half of the tips listed above will serve you quite well.

Goal #1: Gain Confidence, Get Faster, and Meet A Friend

My brother and I were raised by a single father for most of my upbringing. My brother was five years my senior, which felt like we were generations apart.  My dad worked 40–50-hour weeks, making sure the space we lived in was surrounded by playful environments.  We water skied in the summers and snow skied in the winters.  Being renters who often moved from home to home, many of our dwellings had access to pools to cool off under the hot summer sun.  We also had bikes, roller blades, footballs, play structures, basketballs, and even a Nintendo during times we couldn’t play outside.  Being led by an active brother and father, I picked up on physical skills fairly quickly.  My brother and I never leaned toward one activity over another, so we were rather broad in our skillsets, able to pick-up new activities as they were introduced.  I learned later that this ability, being able to control the movement of your limbs on cue is called Proprioception.  Whether it was shooting a basketball, catching a football, or learning a formal type of activity, i.e., the squat, I was able talk my body into the desired positions for maximum efficiency for the task at hand. 

Fast forward a few years to grad school at Eastern Washington University, where I had the privilege to take Sport Psychology classes led by Dr. Jon Hammermeister.  Dr. Hammermeister has quite a resume and continues this day to work as the team Sport Psychologist for the Pittsburg Pirates of the MLB.  It was Hammermeister’s Psychological Skills Training classes that dug deep into psychological influences on health, fitness, and athletics.  Influences like Goal Setting, Visualization, Anxiety Management, and a topic that I alluded to earlier, Self-Talk.  Self-Talk is the “inner voice that provides a running monologue on (our) lives throughout the day. This inner voice, or self-talk, combining conscious thoughts and unconscious beliefs and biases, provides a way for the brain to interpret and process daily experiences” (Psychology Today).  Being content and happy throughout my upbringing, it never occurred to me that negative self-talk existed.  Surely, I would hear negativity throughout the day, but at the core of my being, and what I thought was also at the core of everyone else’s, was positivity.  Admittedly, I learned this to not be true well before my graduate coursework, and my studies provided the time to look deeper into this topic, or better yet, this issue.

As I reflect on 2022, I am excited by many things.  Most notably, the growth of the boys’ team, the high school runners who continue training and racing with Whisper, and the many new elementary age runners who I have the pleasure to watch grow and develop for the foreseeable future.  And while it’s easy to lose sleep over the smaller girls’ team we fielded this past fall, I am grateful for the girls we did have, and I know they worked as hard as they could to achieve their greatest potential.  

Winter Training 2023 could be the most exciting training block we’ve ever had.  As always, we will circle back to the roots of Whisper – the Sport Psych side of things – where we will continue working on Goals, Visualization, Anxiety Management, and most certainly, Self-Talk. As I look around at the kids we have at practice, the ones I feel are most apprehensive to club racing, or even attending practices, are struggling in one of the following: Anxiety, Self-Talk, or Soccer.  And since there isn’t much I can do about soccer, we will focus our attention to managing the mind through learning and practicing anxiety management skills, performing confidence boosting activities, learning large motor skills in smaller segments, and of course, making friends.  If we can learn and hone the skill of self-talk, acquire new skills, and make small gains, then optimal growth, individually and team, will come.

Look who's reppin' at Nationals!

Following a summer that saw the most registered runners for Summer Training in the history of Whisper, the teams of Whisper represented small but mighty cross-country teams throughout the fall. All total, Whisper had four team victories by the boys, and six second place finishes between the boy and girl teams.

Whisper's 13-14 boys team has become one for the ages, with six new faces in the top 15 in the 3k Whisper record books. Six runners also placed themselves in the top 14 on the 4k all-time list. Ranked fourth in the nation in USATF clubs, Whisper will face three strong teams from the PNW Region, which has become the powerhouse of the nation. Led by Cohen Butler and Tanner Carlsen, this will be an exciting race in College Station, Texas, as both boys look for podium contention!

Additionally, the boys and girls 15-18 teams also look to content for a top-10 position at nationals, led by Joseph Blanshan and Haden Reich on the boys side, and Avery Garrison and Claire Rogge on the girls side.

The following runners will be representing Whisper Running at the National meet on Saturday, December 10, in College Station, Texas:

Boys U8: Isaac Hubbard

Boys 9-10: Colton Timperley, Lucas Ballard-Miller

Boys 11-12: Tavin Timperley

Boys 13-14: Cohen Butler, Tanner Carlsen, Cooper Dollens, Gunnar Morgan, Huckleberry Olson, Payten Jones, Wyatt Nitzschke, Bryton Williams

Boys 15-18: Joseph Blanshan, Hayden Reich, Jacob McManus, Gabriel Marcham, Treyton Marty, Jayden Jones, Calvin Hubbard

Girls U8: Savannah Bergeron, Elias Nitzschke

Girls 15-18: Avery Garrison, Claire Rogge, Phebe Willson, Daniela Vazquez, Dakotah Leach

Pumping Iron

If you've been to practice in recent weeks, you may have noticed an uptick in the number or runners between the ages of 8-11. In the coming weeks, as middle school and high school XC/TF seasons conclude, we will certainly see runners between the ages of 12-17 returning to practice in preparation for the start of Winter Training. In addition to the regular dose of off-season running the kids will experience, the off-season is also a great time to reset the body and mind. The lack of regular races on the calendar reduces stress, and the kids can then put focus on other aspects like cross-training, homework, sleep, and just as important, healthy eating habits.

Just as resistance training increases muscular strength and helps reduce the risk of injury, a healthy diet, one which prioritizes Organic foods, colorful produce, seasonal veggies, and iron-rich foods, can keep kids running at an optimal level. Like resistance training for the body, iron-rich foods may help protect runners from an all too common ailment - anemia.

"Anemia is a condition in which you lack enough healthy red blood cells to carry adequate oxygen to your body's tissues," (2022, Mayo Clinic). It effects approximately 5.6% of the U.S. population, and in a sport that depends on oxygen transport, the percentage of runners, particularly female runners, this percentage skyrockets to as much as 35%, with female athletes. Endurance runners, vegans, and vegetarians may be at even greater risk.

For families new to Whisper, Winter Training is a time runners from all around Clark County gather together in preparation for the 2023 track and field season. It's speed season, and Winter Training is merely the party that paves the way to fast performances. During Winter Training, seminars will be offered to our runners (and their parents), with topics being:

  • Educational Consulting - for those seeking information on post-high school education options.

  • Sports Medicine Topics - 2022 topics included Sleep & Mental Health, Social Media & Emotional Health, and RED-S. 2023 topics undecided at this time.

  • Nutrition - 2022 Presenter Kristen Myklebust, highlighting whole foods, iron-rich foods, and eating healthily.

While Winter Training begins January 16, the time between the fall season and the new year offers a resetting of sorts. For more information, and perhaps some light reading for your children in preparation for the seminars ahead, as well as taking a role in meal planning and food choices, check out the following articles for the betterment of not only ones running health, but personal health as well.