Training Plan for the Bill Aronson Track Half 2021
(Monday, 30th November 2020 - Sunday, 7th February 2021)
“Anger, fear, and a chip on your shoulder as a source of motivation is potent but not sustainable. Love and focus on the process as a source of motivation is less potent but more sustainable.” - Steve Magness, Instagram on 27th November, 2020
To unpack this quote, I turned back to one of Steve’s books, “The Passion Paradox,” which he wrote with Brad Stulberg. They explain, fear triggers our survival or loss-prevention response which helps explain its potency; we tap into the most basic instinct when motivated by fear. While potent, constantly operating under threat is exhausting and can prevent us from taking constructive risks or “playing to win.”
While reading this book, I recognized this loss-prevention motivation in my running and other areas of my life and have been working on shifting my motivation to the joys of the pursuits themselves: becoming a better athlete, coach, artist, or friend. Over this same time, I’ve felt a loss in the sharpness or potency of my motivation. I've struggled not just with running regularly but also doing the "little" ancillary work which is critical to maximize potential. I associate this loss with a few factors including freedom from fear-based motivation. I fear that I’ve become complacent and have yet to experience a breakthrough (in my running at least) as a result of "playing to win." Despite my doubts, I want to continue growing internal motivation and playing to win using my training for BATH 2021 as my next "experiment." You can subscribe to my weekly blog updates here. If you'd like, you can also follow my runs on Strava.
Goal
1:13:30 (5:36/mi, 3:29/km) without carbon shoes
After a few weeks of mindless mileage, I’ve come to terms with my need to work on deepening my acceptance of things like nutrition, sleep, flexibility and mobility, and strength as critical components of my long-term enjoyment of running.
Process Steps
- Run and recover from my key workouts
- No mindless miles, consider strength or flexibility/mobility work instead
- Grow enjoyment and desire to fuel and hydrate well, specifically, two servings of greens and eight glasses of water daily
- Grow in disciplined seven hours of sleep daily
- Daily flexibility and mobility following runs
- 20-30min strength sessions twice per week, 20 pushups daily
Key Workouts
What's your relationship with motivation like?