Coach's Note from 2/21/13

Two Reminders

• Get a fuel belt or running water bottle - we are in long miles now and you need constant hydration. They are worth the $10 - $30, trust me

• Like RunCoachJeffrey on Facebook to see pics! And...post your stories to serve as motivators

If you'd like to hear more about a particular topic in the weekly Coach's Email then let me know and I'll put it in the next one.

ANNOUNCEMENT!

If you did not see on RunCoachJeffrey, I'm proud to announce the future baby boy in this Promnitz household! He is expected on 7/15/13!

This Week's Coach's Message: Mental Preparedness

As a coach, one of the most important things to do is look for trends by staying in contact with everyone. When more than one participant begins asking related questions it reveals important milestones of our training. Thankfully, this team does a great job of emailing me and responding to my contact.

Training for an endurance event is a journey. A journey is defined both as moving from one location to another and also as a move that accumulates memorable experience. It's easy to see why training is a journey. It takes us months to train and we're forced to endure a number of challenges: some positive and some setbacks, but both contribute to our experience.

The most common theme I've been fielding from you can be summed up as: "am I still training appropriately?". Some questions have been about treadmill versus road, taking an extra rest day, guilt for missing a day or reaching a plateau.

We are training appropriately because generally speaking we've encountered very limited injuries that would prevent us from training. So the answer to the question is: Yes, you are training appropriately by following the schedule. This then poses the follow up question of: why do you ask?.

If you are injury free, but not feeling as though you're doing well then this may be an indicator of a very important symptom of burnout or boredom. The number one cause of this symptom is the lack of variability in your training schedule. You have to keep your training fun!

It's very simple to keep your training fun, think about these bullet points, but also think of some of your own:

·      Change your midweek routes. Map out new paths to keep the scenery fresh and your body guessing just a little on hills and terrain

·      Run with a friend, or don't. If you run alone, try running with a friend so you can chat or if you normally run with a friend then go by yourself. It's amazing how a solo run can be a meditative experience that will clear your mind of many stresses

·      Instead of running on Wednesday, ride a bike or crosstrain. Or, vice versa. Even a 30 minute stretching or yoga session will add significant variability to your experience

·      Unplug the headphones! Use your mind to think.

·      As the coaches on Saturday how to run a different path at the park instead of what you usually do

·      If you run in the morning, try running in the evening. Or, vice versa.

·      Incorporate a speed goal by talking to your coaches. If you're healthy and have been sticking to the schedule, then adding a new goal is quite interesting.

Team, I'm proud of you. More importantly, you're making a difference for our patients and families. You rock!

Go TEAM!

Run happy,

Jeffrey