“If you don’t rule your mind, your mind will rule you.” – Eliud Kipchoge
1 Like
Almost every time I read your log I come across some running wisdom that basically is identical to PL wisdom. I was reading an EFS piece (CJ Murphy, I think) and another one by Chad Aichs that basically said the same thing about psychological fitness. They phrased it in terms of being a pitbull (CJ) and killer mentality (Chad) but it amounted to the same thing of your will to prevail.
2 Likes
Yeah it’s interesting to think about the components that are shared across pretty much all athletic disciplines, mental preparation & visualization probably being the most similar.
Most runners don’t talk as aggressively as PL’rs and such in public, but you do hear things like “wanting to break their opponent’s will” etc, reminds me alot of combat sports. There’s definitely a combat sport vibe to racing, at least from what I see.
Prefontaine was legendary for his racing style, often trying to lead the entire race etc. He also dropped tons of quotes which people still reference all the time for running motivation, and they often include blood, pain, guts, etc.
I think that’s one huge similarity between PL/BB/Strongman etc & running, the “pain” talk. There’s so much “pain” talk in running, it reminds me alot of people who are hardcore into strength sports.
A few quotes:
TLDR: Slowly sharpening that pitbull / killer mentality, or realizing you probably need it to hit that next level, seems to be extremely important.
Also, it’s one thing to post quotes and read them/rehearse them, have them on a wall etc, but it’s another thing completely to execute that mindset, over and over. This quote is a great example:
Someone can have that quote printed out all over, repeat it, use it, etc… But, executing it is an entirely different thing. When you’re completely toast and just want to beat someone so bad that you dig into every last drop of energy, that’s tough. In that moment, Prefontaine executes, and his opponent may have their will broken. Or the opponent may also execute, and it becomes an insane battle, until either the better athlete edges the other out, or eventually the battle breaks one of their will. But in that moment, it’s all about execution I guess.
I’ve never been a “quote guy”, but I have found some to be important, like a few I pasted above. I feel like I lost quite a bit of psychological strength since my dunking days, but truth be told, running is much harder. So I can use the excuse of losing my mental edge etc, but in reality, I probably never had as much psychological fitness as I thought I did, and my new endeavor is just exposing that. It’s ok though, as long as I recognize it and am truly trying to improve it, i’ll make progress.
Anyway, it’s funny… I bet you could put a ton of running quotes up in a hardcore strength gym, and they’d fit perfectly.
PS: I went on a quote tangent. But I was just tying it into the mental side of things & how people try to convey that pitbull/killer mentality.
peace!
2 Likes
Just a quick note. I did a ~3 hour walk (12/07) before yesterday’s speed session (12/08), and I did a ~2 hour walk (faster pace) today (12/09), before tomorrow’s speed session (12/10).
Quick example of today’s walk:
9.2 miles in 2h:06m:00s, evening moderate speed walk: 1 x 14:XX (warmup) + 8 x 13:XX. legs feeling strong.
Felt great on 12/08 (speed) after 12/07 (walk). Curious to see how I perform tomorrow. Walking for a long time can beat me up a bit, feet/calves/quads can get achy/sore. One thing i’ve noticed though, even if I feel achy etc, once I start running, my legs have lots of power. So these walking sessions aren’t taxing my CNS that’s for sure, but they can tax my joints(ankles/joints of toes/hips)/muscles a bit.
When I can hit 13:XX as easy as I did today, it’s usually a good sign. I didn’t dip into the 12’s or anything to prevent accumulating more fatigue: 12:XX is harder for my heels and CNS.
Sunday’s plan as of now is:
- huge warmup
- pace play with 5:10, 5:0X, 4:5X, < 4:50 burnout
- recovery
- hold on to 4:4X
- recovery
- hold on to 4:2X
- cooldown
We’ll see… lul.
peace!
1 Like
Those are golden. So much reminds me of bits I’ve red from guys like Coan, Westside guys, etc.
3 Likes
I agree that most people don’t tap deeply enough into the limits of their psychological potential, but for people like us, who push the boundary, constantly, there is a difference that separates us from them. We can strive, and we can push, but there will always be others that hit our new Pb on the first run or on the first lift.
2 Likes
How the fuck is that even real life? I literally nearly had to die to sneak under 6mins hahaha
2 Likes
Pain tolerance brother. Lots of pain tolerance.
A little bit of training too 
3 Likes
Yup hah.
I actually thought about this one yesterday during my 1KM, and I really turned it up after I thought about it: “Something inside of me just said ‘Hey, wait a minute, I want to beat him,’ and I just took off. – Prefontaine”
That one resonates the most with me because, several times i’ve thought “hey I want to beat that guy”, but didn’t take off… heh.
For sure. That goes back to what I was talking about with @flipcollar.
There’s usually something to learn from people who can just come in on day 1 and outperform us. Also, it’s probably good to think about the “world leaderboard” and not just how we rank locally or in our “bubbles”. I mean I think of myself as ranked like 1 millionth in the world in running, but even that may be giving myself too much credit. But I guess that helps a bit mentally (for me) because, it’s pretty impossible to become comfortable if you’re thinking about things on a global scale instead of a local scale, even if you aren’t dominant locally yet. It’s also better to set much bigger limits I imagine, not box yourself in mentally.
For some people around here, I may actually be one of those guys who seems to progress quick. I know for sure lots of people i’ve talked to are really impressed & sometimes shocked at some of the times/results i’ve been able to hit. There’s definitely alot going on behind the scenes that they don’t see, that’s for sure. But I also approach races/training radically different than pretty much everyone I have met/have trained with. So if for example, there was anything for them to learn from me, it would be to take much bigger risks in races. Go way outside your comfort zone in some races, completely commit to it, and try to hold on. It can be absolute hell though, so they need to be ready for that. Most people already know exactly what they want to hit before they race, ie the exact pace & result etc. Contrast that to me, who has no idea really, because my performance often depends on those who show up - given my style, and it’s just completely different. For example, my 5k’s this year are: 20:14, 19:08, 19:21, 18:52, 18:05, 19:17, 19:29… lmao. Two of those races I didn’t finish in the top 3 (19:08 and 19:17). Everything else is number 1 through number 3. And that 18:05 is a massive outlier. That was a race I wanted to win, didn’t expect anyone fast to show up, and 2 other dudes showed up who were 17:XX guys, so I battled it out way harder than what I thought I could hit for that race, which turned out to be a MAJOR PR. So simply taking more risks can become a major tool towards becoming faster, which seems very underutilized (locally) from what i’ve seen.
I’ve known plenty of people who have gotten demotivated when they witness someone come in and make more progress or perform better, much quicker, than they do. I’m lucky that for myself at least, that’s never been an issue. To me, that in itself, is a massive sign of mental weakness, which needs to be identified/realized and addressed - always. Quick examples are people who have been training vert for so many years, and some noob comes aboard, starts training, and makes way more progress. I’ve seen stuff like that actually demoralize people. IMHO, shouldn’t demoralize at all. That’s when tuning everyone & everything out and becoming very selfish/self-centered is important.
peace!!
2 Likes
IKR, ridiculous.
That’s also a 1 mile effort alone, no race stimulus. I’d love to see top (cold weather acclimatized) milers go at it in a race like that. 4:17 in those conditions by yourself is just incredible hah.
The first time I broke 6 minutes in the mile (since getting a GPS watch), was pretty rough too as I remember. Actually remember it being more rough than my 5:03 last week lmfao. It’s a nice kick in the nuts when you think you’re going to get it easily and it turns out to be a war.
pc!
Agreed (again). It’s one thing I like about social media: I see so many dudes moving impressive weight who are around my size that I can only conclude that if I chip away long enough, I’ll be able to do at least that too. Having seen the same in person only reinforces that opinion.
The next big thing for me is going to be learning how to unlock competitiveness. So far I haven’t because there haven’t been any meets that I remember where I had two or three guys to fight with. I’ve usually sat on my own well above a bunch and we’ll below a few.
1 Like
So this is a great example of my mind defeating me, even though I turned it into a massive PR - which is what i’m excited about. I’ve PR’d something in my last 4 sessions using this new mindset of just “hold on”, no intervals.
The plan (as posted above), was to go out comfortable at 5:1X pace, turn it into 5:0X and hold it for a bit, then turn it into 4:5X pace and hold that for as long as possible, then turn that into 4:4X pace and burn it out. Felt amazing in warmups, easily hitting 4:5X-5:0X pace, no problem.
So, since i’m trying to remove the idea of “set distance” out of my mind, I just kept telling myself, that it could last 1 mile, 2 miles, 3 miles, marathon, who knows - just hold it (4:5X). I really kept trying to seer this into my mind, felt I had convinced myself properly.
Long story short, as I started my run, I could barely get under 5:2X pace. I just couldn’t get it lower, but it also wasn’t drifting higher. It’s as if my mind settled on the idea that I needed to hold this for a long time, so it wasn’t giving me more. So instead of stopping, I just went with it and held onto it for 1.67 miles, which turned out to be a massive PR. My previous ~1.5x PR was 1.41 mi @ ~5:40 … so I really crushed it by hitting 1.67 mi @ ~5:24 pace.
After that I hit 0.71 miles @ 4:56 pace, 3:04 km, no PR but great effort, awesome burn out at the end. Then I finished with a 400m @ 67s.
Here’s some data:
workout: evening speed, surprisingly cold 53F (lol): 1.67 mi @ 9:02.9 / 5:24 min/mi (PR, never held ~5:2X to low 5:3X) for that long) + 0.71 mi (1142m) @ 4:56 pace (1k 3:04) + 400m @ 67s. strides/light recovery miles mixed in
- 1.67 mi @ 9:02.9 (5:24 min/mi), >= 1.5 mi
1.67 mi @ ~5:24 :personal-record::
0.71 mi @ 4:56:
400m:
So I think the key here was, how I was able to go so hard for my 0.71 mi effort compared to my 1.67 mi effort. For the 0.71, I just mentally knew I wouldn’t be able to hold it for a long time, when I started, so my body just gave me more. With the 1.67, something was holding me back (and I eventually allowed it) and went with it.
Just interesting… These are the things i’m attacking now, which has me excited.
peace!!
1 Like
Yup, agreed as well & same thing for me about unlocking competitiveness, I find that to be the most important component. Doing tons of meets probably sounds like a good idea in that case. Do they have lots of meets over there, ie frequently? The most successful local runners around here, when I check their run history, man they have 200+ races. It’s legit.
I’m personally a huge fan of social media for training/athletic pursuits. I mean, a few endeavors i’ve picked up along the way were fueled by people i’ve found on forums, youtube etc. For vert addicts, Frank Yang is legendary. I’m personally not a big fan of the weird stuff he does, alot of it is a bit too nuts/juvenile for me, but in terms of how he approached training, like an absolute animal, he helped me quite a bit. I’ve analyzed several times, how I was training compared to how he trained, and the biggest takeaways were how much emotion & passion he leveraged - or “let out”. He’d curse, yell, scream, and just generally go apeshit. So when someone is thinking about yelling or cursing, and doesn’t, he’s letting it out. He’s not holding anything back. That kind of stuff from him (and some others - like TDUB etc), gave me the green light when it comes to not holding back., ESPECIALLY when i’m in public: that was the biggest change for me. When i’d go to a street court initially, no yelling, no cursing, emotion held back. After a few years of just slowly letting more emotion out, i’d be at a court with TONS of people and if I hit a hard dunk i’d just react. Some people would look at me like I was nuts. But by that time, it was just reflexive. I’ve got quite a bit of “yelling” in my old dunk videos, none of that is forced. It’s just raw emotion that is no longer contained. I also started thinking of the 10’ rim & gravity as my enemy… 
I actually scared the F out of someone once … just so amp’d up, reflexive yell, and the guy in all black looks like he almost had a heart attack:
Also, this is probably the most amp’d i’ve ever been:
First & last dunk are just crazy adrenaline. After the last dunk you can hear me saying “wake the fuck up”. I’d say stuff like that alot. Also, I didn’t know those dudes. Alot of people go into a shell when they go to do their stuff around people they don’t know. Just another sign of inhibition. Doesn’t matter who is there, what environment, etc, just letting the emotion out no filter is the best way to go IMHO. If you’re letting emotion out no filter (whatever that is to the specific athlete), there’s probably a good chance performance is being utilized with no filter as well.
I tried to calm down with this running stuff… but i’m now transitioning back into dunk mode, but for running. It’s the “fear” that does that to me. Once I get tired of being afraid of myself, ie holding back & safe mode, it seems I resort to just becoming more of a “pitbull” like you mentioned earlier. Just attack and keep attacking.
Yesterday I just kept saying “obtain my pace, then hit it, and hit it, and hit it, over, and over… and if it drifts, hit it hard, hit it, hit it hit it … HIT IT. HIT IT…”. Just keep hitting that damn pace, do not back down from it. Key point being: talking to yourself is a pretty good technique, in my experience.
peace!!
Yes, lots of meets are one way to go except my issue with that is doing lots of meets every year kind of holds up progress. I don’t get stronger competing, I get stronger training. So I now aim to compete once or twice a year. It means it’ll take longer to get that meet practice, but also that I’ll get stronger.
1 Like
Ah gotcha!
So I mentioned someone who was a good source of vert/vert training fuel. These two guys (brothers) are definitely my primary source of running/run training fuel:
Zane & Jake Robertson.
Zane: https://www.instagram.com/runninelvis/
https://www.instagram.com/p/BT20Iw6gMaj/?taken-by=runninelvis
Jake: https://www.instagram.com/jakehtbz/
https://www.instagram.com/p/BcRSUPQhjpT/?taken-by=jakehtbz
They moved to Kenya at ~14 to train with the best. ~10 years later they have competed in the olympics & run some of the fastest half marathon times ever (especially by those “Non-African” standards, which I generally dislike). Zane competed at the highest level for 1500m, both are elite in 5k/10k, and elite half marathon guys. I think Zane is 59:47 and Jake is 60:00 or something. Those are mind blowing numbers. I think only one natural born American has ever run under 60 minutes in the half, to put it into perspective. They are now trying to become a real threat in the marathon scene. Their mental game is on another level, these dudes go hard af.
Anyway they are rugged as fu*k, and actually the most helpful/responsive runners i’ve found on the interwebs. They genuinely care about helping people out, which is rare from people at the most elite level.
1 Like
Welp… last mile race of 2017 tonight (there’s only 3 that I know of and they were all in December). This will be the first race i’ve ever done on 2 days rest (but more like 3 since it’s an evening race). Feel really good other than some tightness behind my left knee, which has been creeping up on me the last 1.5 weeks or so. It’s one reason I didn’t do any long walks etc prior to this race, just complete rest. Long walks are preventing it from recovering. Just need to be a bit careful about it, this flared up once and had to shut it down for a while, but that was also after I overdid it on hills once in 2016 on my very first session, so that was dumb.
Anyway, ran 5:12 last year at this race. It’s a 0.5 mile turn around, but it’s lit up very well and you can see the finish very well so, makes up for the u-turn - so not a problem. I’m in much better shape than 5:12 (and 5:03 for my last race), so I just need to get it done.
Plan is to hang with the lead guys for as long as possible, definitely through the turn around and a bit more after that, then we’ll see from there. Third place overall last year was 4:52 so, if it’s similar, should be possible for me to hang with top 3 for a while for sure.
Feel really good: powerful/rested. Weather should be great also.
“my strategy was to run the first 3 quarters of a mile hard, then just hang on for the last quarter” – Pre
btw, this is basically my strategy for mile races … turns out to be something Prefontaine did quite a bit as well. He wasn’t a miler, but had a very fast sub 4 mile (3:54 or so PR?). He gunned it, didn’t give a fu*k, then he just tried to hold on, and often he did. This dude is just so rugged… You can see from this short mile race clip how much of a monster he is. It’s rare to see people run mile races like that nowadays. Announcer says “nobody eager to go”, which is what you expect, then ~10s into the race, Pre goes into beast mode. That’s the kind of effort I admire.
Also in 2018, I think I want to figure out how to run in some track meets … “all comers” meets apparently. I’d love to do 800m, 1000m, 1500m, and/or mile. Need to start looking into that.
1 Like
For the “calisthenics” fans… was introduced to this guy’s IG recently, “Roye Gold”, pretty sure most people know about him on here. If you don’t, he does some pretty impressive stuff, here’s an example (this clip blew my mind):
https://www.instagram.com/p/BT_cImyj8RS/
Plus he has a dunk video:
1 Like
That’s absurd lol
1 Like