Optimal Training

Ryan Hall on dealing with disappointment

I find myself more and more writing about self-efficacy.  It's one of my Optimal Training Principles, and it is at the core of achieving greatness in any endeavor.  Self-efficacy is developed through one's ability to persist in the face of adversity.

Ryan Hall is gradually becoming one of my favorite runners.  It's not because he runs fast, though.  It's because he has persisted in the face of adversity, discovered his strengths as a runner and competitor, and been willing to take big risks in search of big rewards.  And he blogs.

Here's a couple quotes from a recent blog entry:

"No matter how bad I have been beaten, my competitors will know that I will always show up to the starting line with fire in my eyes, ready for war, with a spirit that cannot be defeated."

"With every poor performance I have grown stronger as I have picked myself up and gotten back up."

"Knowing now, that I can deal with whatever is thrown my way gives me the courage I need to be bold and courageous out on the race course and to "take my swing", because I know that in my heart of hearts I can deal with the disappointment of coming up short and I know that, though it may take me awhile to collect myself, I will be back out there with fire in my eyes."

Sometimes it is simply the fear of failure that stops a runner from taking the big risk necessary to win.  In the heat of the moment, they settle for good.  Not because they are particularly happy with good.  Just because they can't imagine how they will deal with terrible.  The result is they never risk enough to be great.

I don't think that will be the case with Ryan in Beijing.  I think we're going to get one of two outcomes: great or terrible.  And that's the way it should be.  Nobody should go to the Olympics to get 10th, unless that's the best possible place they can finish.  But Ryan's good enough to win gold.  And as he says:

"I am going to "take my swing" at some point in the Olympic Marathon, and it might result in gold and it might result in a lot of suffering and pain over the later stages of the race, but one thing I know for sure: I will walk away from the finish line satisfied that I wasn't, and will never be, defeated."

To learn more about Ryan, click here.

Either way, he's an inspiration

In doing my research on Oscar Pistorius I came across these two quotes, both of which I particularly like:

"You're not disabled by the disabilities you have, you are able by the abilities you have."

As an athlete, what you choose to focus on makes all the difference.  It could be the positives vs the negatives, the past vs the future, or effort vs talent.  Or, like Oscar, what you can do vs what you can't do.  And make no mistake, it is a choice.

"You can't say that you can't do something. If you want to do something and you put your mind to it, then you'll get it done."

This is one of the key characteristics of an excellent performer, no matter what the activity.  It is also the hallmark of a leader.  I have a feeling that long after Oscar's career is over, he'll be successful in whatever he chooses to do.

Speaketh Lou

Tip to Jamal for finding this gem of an Optimal Training quote:

"Ability is what you're capable of doing.  Motivation determines what you do.  Attitude determines how well you do it."

--Lou Holtz

I might add that self-efficacy determines whether you believe any of this at all.

Let your demons loose and just wail on!

In honor of my publishing The Complete Lens of Running Books, I've decided a quote is in order.  This one comes from Once a Runner, by John L. Parker, which you can find in the Running Fiction "shelf" of the lens.  It's probably one of the better books I've ever read, and not just because I'm a runner.  (But mostly because I'm a runner.) 

This is Cassidy's defining quote:

"It's a simple choice: We can all be good boys and wear our letter sweaters around and get our little degrees and find some nice girl to settle, you know, down, with...take up what a friend of ours calls the hearty challenges of lawn care...Or we can blaze! Become legends in our own time, strike fear in the heart of mediocre talent everywhere! We can scald dogs, put records out of reach! Make the stands gasp as we blow into an unearthly kick from three hundred yards out! We can become God's own messenger delivering the dreaded scrolls! We can race dark Satan himself till he wheezes fiery cinders down the back straightaway! They'll speak our names in hushed tones, 'Those guys are animals' they'll say! We can lay it on the line, bust a gut, show them a pair of clean heels. We can sprint the turn on a spring breeze and feel the winter leave our feet. We can, by God, let our demons loose and just wail on!"

By the way, I don't know what's more crazy: that this book isn't still in print, or that it's going for $134+ used on Amazon!

Emil says

Since we've been on the topic of willpower, how about a quote from a guy who was certainly not lacking for it!

"When a person trains once, nothing happens. When a person forces himself to do a thing a hundred or a thousand times, then he certainly has developed in more ways than physical. Is it raining? That doesn't matter. Am I tired? That doesn't matter, either. Then willpower will be no problem."

--Emil Zatopek

Emil called it willpower.  The Finns call it sisu.  Nate Jenkins, in a recent blog post, called it mental toughness (more on this tomorrow). 

But the question isn't what you call it.  It's do you have it?

Note: Emil Zatopek had it.  So much so that I made a lens about him on Squidoo.  Check it out to learn about The Gutsiest Runner Ever.

When it's over

Quote of the day:

"The workout's not over until you do all the little things."
--Meb Keflezighi, from this interview

The most important 9 inches

I saw this quote at The Final Sprint and thought it was worth sharing.

"The nine inches right here; set it straight and you can beat anybody in the world."

--Sebastian Coe (said while pointing to his head)

By the way, Sebastian Coe is ranked #9 on the list of Best Olympic Distance Performers Ever.

The lesson the Gringo taught me

My uncle sent me this in an email 7 years ago.  I've had it printed out and in my desk ever since.

Throughout the 2000 Tour de France, a Colombia rider on the Kelme--Costa Blanca Team, Santiago Botero, kept a diary for the newspaper.  Each day the newspaper published his diary from the previous day.  This is the entry from the 10th stage in Lourdes-Hautacam, essentially the day when Lance Armstrong took control of the 2000 Tour.

"There I am all alone with my bike.  I know of only two riders ahead of me as I near the end of the second climb on what most riders consider the third worst mountain stage in the Tour.  I say 'most riders' because I do not fear mountains.  After all, our country is nothing but mountains.  I train year-round in the mountains.  I am the national champion from a country that is nothing but mountains.  I trail only my teammate, Fernando Escartin, and a Swiss rider.  Pantani, one of my rival climbers, and the Gringo Armstrong are in the Peleton about five minutes behind me.  I am climbing on such a steep portion of the mountain that if I were to stop pedaling, I would fall backward.Even for a world class climber, this is a painful and slow process.  I am in my upright position pedaling at a steady pace willing myself to finish this climb so I can conserve my energy for the final climb of the day.  The Kelme team leader radios me that the Gringo has left the Peleton by himself and that they can no longer see him.

"I recall thinking 'the Gringo cannot catch me by himself.'  A short while later, I hear the gears on another bicycle.  Within seconds, the Gringo is next to me--riding in the seated position, smiling at me.  He was only next to me for a few seconds and he said nothing--he only smiled and then proceeded up the mountain as if he were pedaling downhill.  For the next several minutes, I could only think of one thing--his smile.  His smile told me everything.  I kept thinking that surely he is in as much agony as me, perhaps he was standing and struggling up the mountain as I was and he only sat down to pass me and discourage me.  He has to be playing games withe me.

"Not possible.  The truth is that his smile said everything that his lips did not.  His smile said to me, 'I was training while you were sleeping, Santiago.'  It also said, 'I won this tour four months ago, while you were deciding what bike frame to use in the Tour.  I trained harder than you did Santiago.  I don't know if I am better than you, but I have outworked you and right now, you cannot do anything about it.  Enjoy your ride, Santiago.  See you in Paris.'

"Obviously, the Gringo did not state any of this.  But his smile did dispel a bad rumor among the riders on the tour.  The rumor that surfaced as we began the Prologue several days ago told us that the Gringo had gotten soft.  His wife had given birth to his first child and he had won the most difficult race in the world--he had no desire to race, to win.  I imagine that his smile turned to laughter once he was far enough not to embarrass me.  The Gringo has class, but he heard the rumors--he'll probably laugh all the way to Paris.  He is a great champion and I must train harder.  I am not content to be a great climber, I want to be the best.

"I learned much from the Gringo in the mountains.  I will never forget the helpless feeling I had yesterday.  If I ever become an international champion, I will always remember the lesson the Gringo taught me."

I'd be interested to know what your thoughts are when you read this.  I'll post my thoughts on this throughout this week.

Persistence

Sometimes people capture the essence of an idea so perfectly, I know I'll never think about nor explain something the same way.  This morning, Seth Godin gave us the best definition of "persistence" I've probably ever read, as only he could.  He writes:

"Persistence isn't using the same tactics over and over. That's just annoying.

Persistence is having the same goal over and over."

As usual, I couldn't agree more.  So what does this mean for distance running?

I've argued before that the single most important element of greatness is the ability (the need?) to get out the door every morning and pursue your goal.  It is not the specific workouts you are doing!  Those are tactics.  They can (and must) change over time to best adapt to your present level of ability. 

But the goal--to realize your potential and be the best (in that order)--need not ever change.  In that you must persist.   

 

Persistence is having the same goal over and over."

As usual, I couldn't agree more.  So what does this mean for distance running?

I've argued before that the single most important element of greatness is the ability (the need?) to get out the door every morning and pursue your goal.  It is not the specific workouts you are doing!  Those are tactics.  They can (and must) change over time to best adapt to your present level of ability. 

But the goal--to realize your potential and be the best (in that order)--need not ever change.  In that you must persist.   

 

Who inspires you?

I've been very fortunate to have run with some inspirational people.  I was teammates with Meb Keflezighi and Jon Rankin, and was constantly surrounded by elite athletes like Joanna Hayes, Michelle Perry, Ato Boldon, John Godina, Seilala Sua, and Maurice Greene.  But my greatest inspiration doesn't really come from those great athletes.

My buddy Brandon is one of the people who inspire me the most in my running.  We ran in high school together and when I moved to San Diego eight years later we started training together again.  Brandon embodies, to me, the single most important aspect of an Optimal Training mindset: he believes his effort can make him excellent, and then he outworks everyone.

This isn't just a running thing, either.  He approaches every aspect of his life this way.  He worked hard in school and became the first person from his family to go to college.  When he attended San Diego State, he chose to study geology, and he worked at a number of jobs to pay for school.

One of those jobs was riding a bike taxi.  He came up with creative tours for people and by working longer and harder than anyone, he set the company's records for most money earned numerous times.  One time he put in a 16-hour day at the State Fair to set what is certainly an untouchable record now.

He later took a job carving ice.  I think he found it through a temp agency.  Through a lot of hard work he is now an expert at it, and probably the best ice carver in all of San Diego.   Even though he works full-time as a geologist, he still goes in to help his old company cut ice because he's so much faster and more able than any of the other employees.

He designed shirts, too.  With a couple friends he designed a popular clothing brand called "Borracho Nation" that he sold out of the back of his truck.  I've seen a few people wearing the shirts in San Diego.  (I'm working on getting him to sell them online...we'll see.)  I don't know when he found the time, since his routine included getting up in the morning to surf, going to school in the day, ride that bike taxi or carve ice all evening and then design shirts/do homework/hang out with friends/etc.

Now, Brandon has turned his attention to the marathon and the triathlon.  He's run a 2:49 marathon, but I think he's ready to go under 2:40 sometime soon.  Probably in Boston (where I was supposed to run with him until I forgot to sign up!).  Where he's really made great strides is in the triathlon.  And people are taking notice.  Like Aquaphor, his first sponsor.  And Triathlete Magazine.  They had Brandon in for a photo shoot to model cutting-edge wet-suits (he's on the left).

The thing that's most inspiring about him is this: he does what he wants to do, but he doesn't do anything half-assed.  He's willing to go all-in with the work, and then compete.  He knows he'll never be a world-class runner, but he loves it and he works hard at it anyway.  And maybe he's finding out that the triathlon is a different story.  I sure hope so.  People who work as hard as he does deserve to get noticed for their efforts.

Who inspires you?