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Be better than yesterday
“There is nothing noble in being superior to your fellow man; true nobility is being superior to your former self.” - Ernest Hemingway
I revisit this quote anytime I find myself hitting a rough patch, whether it be with my running, work, or at home. Training, like everything else in life, is a roller coaster ride of grinding, coasting and soaring... in no particular order.
If I didn't know any better I'd probably be content just coasting through life, through my training. When you're coasting nothing hurts (or at least you aren't realizing it when it does). Coasting isn't all together bad. Occasionally you need a brief period to reset, but the trouble with coasting is that eventually your momentum halts. No progress can be made if you coast for too long. I know I find myself in this predicament more often than I'd care to admit.
On the flip side, I love to grind. Whenever I catch myself coasting for too long I grind. I grind like it's nobody's business. When I'm grinding I often feel I'm at my best. Popping out new activations at work. Creative juices flow. On the road I'm hammering out hard miles. Progressing towards my goals. At home I'm tackling projects, I'm present and engaged with my lovely wife and amazing daughter. I do have to be careful though. Grind for too long and I burn myself out. I pop off too many activations at work, and only get partial results. I hammer out too many miles and I have to back off to prevent getting hurt. I get consumed by projects and forget to do the little things that matter most.
Only when I find balance between grinding and coasting can I soar. Everyone loves to soar. That when what matters most in life happens. You get to realize the fruits of your labor. You feel invincible, if only for a moment.
This past Friday we hosted our Summer of XC Meet at TWHS. We had six races with over 1,000 runners. It was amazing. I was absolutely soaring! Jacqueline brought Harper to watch, and Harper had the most amazing time. My staff killed it. The races went off without a hitch. The kids and parents shouted from the roof tops about the success of the event. And and the end of it, my heart was full, I was exhausted, so I coasted.
Come Sunday night I knew I coasted for just a bit too long. It was time to get back to the grind. I needed to be better than I was the day before. So off I went, and will keep on going. Grinding. Coasting. Soaring. Always striving to be better than yesterday.
What will you do today to be better than you were yesterday?
See you at the next workout.
Jeff
Upcoming Workouts
Wednesday, August 23rd
Start time: 5:15am or 6:30pm
Location: Thomas Worthington HS
The Workout: We will do a 1 mile warm to Worthingway!
- Beginner - 4-6x800m at interval pace pace; 1:1 recovery
- Half - 8x800m at interval pace pace; 1:1 recovery
- Full - 10x800m at interval pace pace; 1:1 recovery
Suggested paces based on your goal race times can be found here!
Saturday, August 26th
Start time: 7:00am.
Location: Thomas Worthington HS
This week's workout:
- Half: 7 Miles
- Full: 18 miles
Please plan on arriving no later than 6:45am to find parking, use the restrooms, and find your pace groups.
Racing Emerald on Sunday? Skip the workout Saturday. Add a couple "slow" miles before the race Sunday morning to serve as a warm up, and follow the race with a short cool down walk or jog. If you end up a couple miles short on mileage don't stress. The race effort will more than make up for the short miles. Have a great race!
MIT Education
Running Injured
Ouch! Oh no, you wake up Sunday morning after your Saturday run and your left heel is killing you. You take a few steps and feel like an 80 year old woman who did one too many Waltzes the night before. Or, you are out for your run and your knee progressively gets more and more sore. You start to walk and a sharp pain virtually stops you in your tracks. The dreaded sports injury- you ask, "What do I do now?"
Foam Roll The Right Way
For any serious runner, regularly-scheduled massages can be a critical part of maintenance and injury prevention. But if you don’t have the time or the money to get them, a foam roller can be an effective at-home alternative.
Worx FIT Focus
Surfs Up Superman
Try this Superman variation! This is a great dynamic movement that allows you to strengthen the muscles along your spine and sides of your torso.
Start by laying face down on the floor - toes glued to the ground (your toes will remain on the ground for the entire exercise). Press one hand into the floor as you lift the torso off the ground and paddle the other hand back towards your inseam. Think of this like you were laying down on a paddleboard and paddling out. This movement helps to strengthen the spinal extensors, glutes and transverse abdominals.
This exercise helps improve your posture during your run and every day movements. Do 15 to 20 alternating reps, coupled with a full sit-up 10 times. Repeat that combo three times! Hang ten my friends!
If you need help or have questions, please see me at Core Class or shoot me an email! marie@614fitness.com
Other workout options
- Sunday morning - Core with Marie - 10:00am at the Polaris store - Strengthen your core with Marie's amazing workuts every Sunday!
- Sunday morning - Coffee Run - 11:00am at the Polaris store - Join us for a short, relaxing run after the core class every Sunday. Fresh coffee will be waiting for you following the run!
- Sunday morning - Yoga with Marcy - 10:00am at the Lane Ave store
- Monday evening - Fleet Feet Pub Run - 6:30pm at the Polaris store - Fun, relaxing run followed by FREE beer and prizes!
- Wednesday morning AND evening Speedwork - 5:15 AM or 6:30pm at Thomas Worthington High School next to the stadium. We depart promptly for the warm up so don't be late!
- Thursday evening - FrontRunner Fun Run - 6:30pm at FrontRunner on Lane Avenue - Join Gary Weber and the crew for a 4-6 mile run. Laid back, fun-loving group every week!
- Thursday evening - Rocks and Roots Thursday Trail Run - 7pm at the Squatch Start at Alum Creek - Join the Rocks and Roots crew for a fun night on the trails!
- Friday evening - Brewery Run! - 6:00pm
Discount Code for the Columbus Marathon!
Again this year we are fortunate to have a great relationship with the Nationwide Children's Hospital, and they extend to you a phenomenal discount!
We are happy to offer MIT runners a reduced price of $70 for the 1/2 Marathon and $85 for the Full Marathon for the duration of registration. Some important reminders:
- These codes are for the use of registered MIT runners ONLY, and are not to be shared outside your group. Abuse of these codes will result in the codes being permanently deactivated for the remainder of the registration period.
- Please do not publish your registration codes online. Even password protected or intranet portals can be “cached,” resulting in a public display of the registration code.
- We will not be able to issue “partial refunds” this year to participants who register without using a code, as those refunds sometimes cost more to process than we are giving back. Please make certain participants use their codes at the time of registration.
- Finally, we expect the 1/2 Marathon event to sell out in early September this year, and the full marathon to sell out in early to mid-October. Our codes for reduced entry fees are good only while registration is open; they do not guarantee registration once an event is sold out. As I have each year, I will send notifications to our special groups when have only 500 spots remaining in each event, and again when we have only 100 spots remaining in each event. After that, the responsibility is on the participant to be aware of deadlines and to register timely.
To receive your code, please e-mail jeff@fleetfeetcolumbus.com. Jeff will respond within 72 hours with your unique discount code.
After receiving you code, please have participants visit this link: https://secure.marathonguide.com/register/columbusmarathon/
On the very first page of registration, participants will see a box marked: SPECIAL ENTRY CODE. In that box, please enter the code you receive.
Participants will then proceed with registration as usual, with fees being comped at check-out.
We look forward to seeing MiT in force on race day in October!
Thank you to our sponsors!
