Optimal Training

An article as complete as Jenny Barringer

So Jenny Barringer has been lighting up the collegiate scene this year.  She's broken collegiate records from the indoor mile to the indoor and outdoor 5000m, and she's yet to run a steeple.  Joe Battaglia at Universal Sports just did a great article on Barringer with a ton of great quotes.  And yes, as Ezra pointed out to me, he even referenced my Trade Values article in which I ranked her #1 in the US.  Her thoughts on my placing her at #1:

“On a narrow and personal focus, I was glad that somebody finally recognized that I’ve been on a roll and have been working really hard and I’m really young and I’ve been doing all of this while carrying full loads of school work,” Barringer said of her ranking. “I think my potential to improve has quite a steep curve because I’m still in 15 credit hours of school getting As and Bs. It was cool to see somebody recognize my range, the records I have taken and my potential to improve from here.

“As the voice for all the steeplechase runners out there, my response was that it’s about time that somebody finally lobbied for all of us and said if all of those really great 1,500-meter runners or 5K runners want to run the steeple, it’s there for them to do. It’s not some kind of inferior event that other runners are barred from running so the women that are tops in the steeple, why should they be discriminated against.”

Love it.  And she's right.  There's a whole world of development ahead of her. 

Rather than effuse about Barringer--which is very easy to do--I just want to point out that this article is really written the way articles should be written.  I love reading interviews, but I'd much prefer a well-packaged article and story, filled with interview quotes, if I have my choice.  These are the types of articles that I aspire to write.

Excellent article on Phoebe Wright of Tennessee

This article about Phoebe Wright, walk-on member of the University of Tennessee's world record setting DMR team and recent SEC 800m champ, is one of those articles that all young runners should read.  I learned about Wright a little when I started researching my US Trade Values column, and she's been one of my second-tier favorites ever since.  This article gives some insight into why she's been able to achieve the level of success she's reached.  Lots of good quotes, too

Old article about Hicham El Guerrouj and training

I found this old article this morning about Hicham El Guerrouj at the bottom of Letsrun's homepage, and thought this quote from 2004 was worth sharing with all of you.

"I had over-trained. I put too much pressure on myself because I wanted that gold medal too much. If I had trained 15 per cent less, I would have won.  I was training like a crazy person. There was a lack of self-confidence and a lack of maturity. An athlete does not only train with his body. He trains with his mind."

I wrote a little about this previously here.

In-depth interview with Jon Rankin

Runnerstribe has a pretty in-depth interview with Jon Rankin.  They cover a wide range of topics, and you could do a lot worse than to start your day off listening to Jon talk about his range of interests and experiences.  For me, already knowing a lot of this stuff, the line part that caught my interest the most was this one:

I'm in a transition phase where I'm moving towards the longer events. I'll still race the 800m (mainly for training purposes), but I plan on racing more 5000m a few times this year for good results. The emphasis, however, will remain on the 1500m/1-mile. I'm not too sure which events I'll race at the World Championships. At this point it's best to take it one day at a time and make a decision based on which events I'm performing in best. (emphasis mine)

I've often wondered how well Jon would run at 5k with a little more targeted training and a few races under his belt.  If he can get the base work in, I've no doubt he can dip under 13:30.  With more experience and with his speed, sub-13:20 might be possible, too.  I guess we'll start to see this year! 

All-American by a nose

Story here.  (Photo courtesy of PhotoRun.)

I agree

Seb Coe, speaking about European distance running in the Irish Times:

"Of course the sport has moved on from my time. But nothing is permanent. I don't for one minute accept that it is an impossibility, either physiologically or psychologically, for a British or an even Irish athlete to be winning gold in 2012, or beyond. What we accept is that the African continent has had a profound effect on distance running, particularly in the strength of depth. But when I was breaking world records I was still having to beat people like Mike Boit. Steve Ovett was taking on the best, Eamonn Coghlan too, and Steve Cram.

"So what I do not accept is that it's impossible for a European athlete, nor should anybody get into that mindset, to go toe-to-toe with a Gebrselassie or a Bekele. But if I'm being honest about it, I don't think our coaching in endurance events has moved on as much as it could have. And I don't accept that we can't produce a 3:30 1,500-metre runner anymore. Because the blood line just doesn't suddenly dry up."

"So we have to look at many things, like motivation. Track and field is not an easy sport, but it is easy to sit there and say we should be getting medals here or there.

"I recognise too there are countries that did not exist when I was competing. And it is the toughest sport in the world to get a medal. It is of a different order than most other sports."

The American and British and European blood lines have not dried up.  We may lack the depth of the Africans, but there are individuals who can be just as competitive at the world level.  Our challenge will be to identify them, incentivize them, support them and develop them.  And when they get close, not heap unrealistic expectations upon them.

The Stress Spectrum

I am currently in Bangalore, India on a business trip.  I just arrived two days ago and have been pretty jet-lagged.  I'm not sure how much time I'll have here, so blog posts will probably be a little less frequent than usual.

On the flight I read the book Dune, by Frank Herbert.  I'm not a huge science fiction reader, but I enjoy reading the good ones, and this one is definitely a great book.  And much to my surprise, it even has a few good quotes.  Here's a Bene Gesserit axiom that stood out to me:

"The mind can go either direction under stress--toward positive or toward negative: on or off.  Think of it as a spectrum whose extremes are unconsciousness at the negative end and hyperconsciousness at the positive end.  The way the mind will lean under stress is strongly influenced by training."

If you look at any team, don't you see this spectrum he describes?  The athletes who are most fit, most diligent in their training, most focused in their preparation tend to also be more aware of what's going on when the level of stress increases.

Video: Jordan Hasay in the Semifinals

This just makes me smile.  An amazing race followed by a brilliantly cute interview.  I love the fact she uses the words "super excited" like three times.

Pride in the process

Kara Goucher did something last year that no American woman had done in 15 years at the World Championships: win a distance medal.  So what's she proudest about?

"I'm super proud of that medal, but it's not like looking at it motivates me," Goucher said. "It's more the memories of (the race) and how I took control of my running, how I took control of my own destiny."

Like all great athletes, the result is secondary to the process.  Train for the result, bot focus on the process.  Sure, you look at the process differently when you succeed, but even if Kara had gone for it and finished fourth (a la Matt Tegenkamp in the 5k), she probably would have said something similar.  She trained hard, she prepared masterfully, and when the time came, she took her shot, telling herself:

"Kara, this the moment. You either take risks or you don't. Don't settle for fourth. You have to try."

But that's the way it is with elite athletes, right?  They are so talented that they just do it, and then they explain it to us in ways that we can relate to.  I mean, right?  Not always.  There's another part of the article that is especially insightful and personal, and that should be equally inspiring to young runners who aren't finding everything to be going perfectly for them.

Kara has battled constantly with self-doubt.  But she's been able to control it by taking the same approach to working on her mind as her body.  She has literally trained her mind to overcome those demons.

"One of my weaknesses is that I doubt myself," Goucher said. "But I work on it just like training. I battle it every time I run, but I am winning the battle."

Sounds pretty normal, eh?  The only thing that's not normal about Kara is her approach to overcoming it.  She's applying a world-class work ethic and training approach to her mind.  Sure, she's doing it because she has to, but even if she didn't have to, it would only help.

I can't wait to see her go head-to-head with Flanagan at the Olympic Trials.  Let's hope that self-doubt is still well under control.

Fail relentlessly

"Is this the best I can do?"  That's how Seth starts his post, and this is how he ends it:

"The object isn’t to be perfect. The goal isn’t to hold back until you’ve created something beyond reproach. I believe the opposite is true. Our birthright is to fail and to fail often, but to fail in search of something bigger than we can imagine. To do anything else is to waste it all."

Having just finished a post about the difference between focusing on Process vs Results, this quote seemed incredibly timely.  Optimal Training isn't about running the perfect race.  That's a goal, of course, every time you step on the line.  But it's not what Optimal Training is about.

Optimal Training is about you.  It's about focusing on your strengths, pursuing your passions, and never settling for good enough.  If you read this, you're probably a runner.  But I bet you're also a student, teammate, or colleague as well.  Running may be your career or it may be your hobby.  Whatever the case, I hope you will approach it with the attitude that you will fail relentlessly in pursuit of something bigger than you can imagine.