Putting the Pieces Together

"It's easy to get excited when we see good performances by runners we aren't familiar with, or runners we are familiar with racing distances we don't normally see them do. When someone puts down a good performance that we aren't expecting, it can feel like it came out of nowhere. We become surprised and impressed all at once, and perhaps we sensationalize things."

"We may create a dialogue in our head that says this person had magic on their side - likely some sort of genetic trait or superhuman ability. Sure, there are some astonishing performances in sport, ones that we might describe as magical, ones that are wonderful, exciting, and mysterious, but probably not truly supernatural. To think of such performances as supernatural can be detrimental to those of us who would like to aspire toward a goal."

Jess sought help to break her high-school 5k personal record and received training guidance focused on volumes, intensities, and structure. The plan centered on an interval session, an up-tempo workout, a long run, gradual mileage buildup, and occasional down weeks for recovery. After a summer of longer efforts and solid 50k runs she was fit and strong but needed to convert fitness into quicker turnover at sustained high intensity. Strong performances arise from combining training elements rather than supernatural race-day luck, and romanticizing magic can discourage aspiring athletes.

Read at iRunFar