RX Running and Racing

I hear so many labels, phrases and terms thrown about by coaches and parents regarding their athletes. They say they are “losers”, “quitters”,  ”chokers” or runners who “can't kick”, “aren't tough”, “cop out on workouts” or are simply “head cases”.

I have heard these terms applied to athletes so many times. I'm sure you have too. Maybe you have used some of them – on others or even yourself. One of the most detrimental things any coach, parent or athlete can do is to label themselves. It sinks into our psyche and we start to believe the things that are said about us. It can become a self-fulfilling prophecy.

Contrary to some old-time coaching philosophies, telling athletes that they “aren't” something or “can't” do something does NOT motivate. In fact the predominant reaction is one of dejection, despair, and feelings of inadequacy and doubt. All the things we do not want if we are going to be competitive.

Some solutions for parents and coaches:

1. Start by listening closely to the athlete. As Stephen Covey says – “seek first to understand”.
2. Put more focus on what has been done versus what has not been done. Build up athletes by acknowledging what was accomplished – or even learned by a bad experience.
3. View shortcomings as areas to develop. If you don't progressively practice aspects of mental toughness training it won't magically appear on race day.
4. Never make comparisons of athletes. All athletes are different. No two athletes are created the same. The goal is to be the best one can be. In the process you may or may not perform better than someone else.
5. Stop telling your athlete (or yourself) that you shouldn't be upset at a loss or bad performance. It is normal to “feel”. I give my athletes 24 hours to “feel” and then get over it. After that – they are dwelling.
6. Experiment with backing off of “being tough”, “psyching up”, “being intense” and just enjoy the racing. Letting go and lightening up can be the trick to running free… and fast.

In any event, the fact that someone is having performance problems does not mean it is a “head” thing. Some other considerations before jumping to the head:

1. Have they been suffering from illness or injury lately?
2. Have they been sleeping well?
3. Is there stress outside of running (home, work, school, family)?
4. Have they been traveling a lot?
5. Is their nutrition appropriate?
6. Are they hydrating well?
7. Are they over-trained (physically)?
8. Are they under-trained (physically)?
9. Have they had time off or breaks/inconsistent in training?
10. Are there team, coaching or environment issues?
11. Have team dynamics changed?

These are all things which can contribute to someone not performing. And there may be patterns from these which contribute to something that the untrained eye may want to simply label – it's a “head case”.

œp in. Much less flexibility is likely to be found in college running.

Failure to abide by the set training schedule (let alone actually slacking off) can be taken as a penalty-worthy infraction, and possibly in being excluded from practices or meets. In the case of those student runners receiving athletic scholarships, the consequences of such a lapse could be severe. The suspension or termination of their scholarships might bring about a major financial loss that could mean the difference between staying in or dropping out of school.

Meanwhile, of course, the greater the demands an activity makes on student-athletes' time, the more it's likely to affect other aspects of life: sleep, class time, study time, social life, family concerns, free time and relaxation, and, above all, diet. Staying trim and fit on campus is a challenge for all collegians, but for athletes adhering to a strictly controlled diet is paramount. Student-athletes must be able to accept giving over control of what they eat, and have the discipline to stick to the diets they need to perform. Perhaps harder still, most college track programs don't monitor athletes' diets, leaving it up to students themselves to eat right completely as a matter of self-discipline.

Being a runner cuts down drastically or eliminates altogether any spare time, and its demands can absorb the attention of student-athletes to the point of neglecting other pursuits, especially classwork and studies. However, even as athletes, students' purpose in attending college is first and foremost to pursue academic learning and earn scholarly degrees. When other aspects of college life, including running, interfere with or disrupt that primary objective, the whole educational experience is upended and subverted. With respect to runners on athletic scholarship, pressures may be even greater: they might feel obligations to family, friends, parents and neighborhood. Concerns about losing a scholarship and thus the financial means to stay in college can become major distractions.

For all student-athletes, and particularly scholarship students, prioritization is essential. Assessing priorities has to be a daily part of college runners' lives, given that running is a constant and daily presence. In a broader sense, runners have to give some thought to priorities on a larger level, too. The greatest priority of all is striking a healthy balance between student and athletic life, no simple matter when it comes to the level of commitment participation in collegiate running requires.

As with anything else, the key to prioritizing effectively is knowing what you want. Student-athletes should ask themselves:

• How important to me is having a normal social and academic college experience?
• How much discipline am I willing to put into running and training?
• What's likely to be more important to what I want to do after college?

Accordingly, it's what college-age runners want as students, as athletes, and just as people that should determine how serious to get about running in college and thereafter.