Coffee House

SNAPSHOT

Manitowish Waters, WI at Dixie’s Coffee House

DIGGING DEEPER

While on my sons’ high school nordic ski trip I stole a few hours at a perfect coffee house. The decor is tasteful and thought through, Wisconsin cabin influenced. The conversations drifted around with laugher and interest. Everyone relaxed. Coffee houses bring community and connections.

Lately, I have been consumed by life’s circumstances and my inspiration to write has weaned. However, a knowledge seeking runner sent me a message asking for some advice on her new endeavor of trail running.

My favorite way to communicate is one on one. To take a person’s unique question and tumble it over in my mind and return with a hand full of pebbles for them to contemplate. That is my love. Simple conversation. Simple communication within a community. Just like the waves of voices filling the coffee house.

And so I pass these pebbles of tips onto you. In hopes that it will spark conversation within you and your community.

QUESTION - What are your Trail Running Tips?

Here are a few trail running tips that come to mind from my experiences.

• Develop your ankle strength

• Stretch your calves and feet before and after running

• If you are following someone on the trail don't run too close to them. Your eye needs to see the terrain that is coming so maybe 20-30 feet behind your running partner is good.  Take turns leading.

• Don’t avoid hills. Power walk/climb the steep hills, the strength gained from the lifting of your body up the hill is valuable.

• Use a combination of train running and trail hiking. Both will increase your strength and endurance.

Question - How to keep Healthy and Injury Free in the later years?

Here are my tips for the runners that already have many many miles in their log books

• Train with the body you have now, not what you had in the past. Your body can accomplish new goals.

• Value your now body for all the experience it has, putting less focus on the weekly mileage and more on the quality of your miles. 

• The key is recovery, complete the needed workout just at the point your body is adapted and primed for a new stress. Read through this article for more information.  

• Seasons, cycles, let yourself have on and off stretches of time where you change focus or allow for extra recovery.

• Invest in young runners. You have so much to give.

SOLUTION

The running community has expanded beyond the coffee house to all over the world. Connect with runners, share with runners, and grow together!

Happy Runner

SNAPSHOT

SARAH DIDOMIZIO

DIGGING DEEPER

Sarah’s thoughts:

Sister and Sarah

“I have been running for a few years after taking a 15+ year hiatus from the sport. About six months ago, I decided that I wanted to run a half marathon but knew that I needed some assistance to keep moving towards that goal.  I found Shelly through an online search and I couldn’t be happier about my decision to contact her.  At first, I was a little apprehensive at contacting Shelly… after all… how effective is online coaching?!  I can tell you from my personal experience that it is absolutely fantastic! 

When we first talked, Shelly and I discussed the training methods I’d used before, what her philosophy on training was, what my goals were and how she thought we could get there.  We hit it off right from the start.  One of the great things I liked about Shelly was that her goal is to get her athletes to the starting line in the best fitness possible, which means making sure you’re giving your body the time it needs to rest after putting in those hard workouts. I knew too many fellow runners who pushed their bodies to the point of injury and ended up missing out on their goal events due to it.

Shelly uses a combination of training tools including the Final Surge platform, which is a great way to share workouts, comments about the workouts, what you’re feeling, etc.  She also can be easily reached via phone, email and text messages to talk about workouts, any issues/injuries, and just about anything else that’s going on.  I think at times she’s part psychologist when it comes to running.

In the six months since contacting Shelly, I’ve gone from run/walking 5ks to running my first 10k and my first half marathon! Throughout the spring and summer, she consistently worked with me in evaluating my fitness, training progress and goals to adapt my training plans to meet my goal of running a half marathon in the fall.  I’m excited to see my results next year after another six months of training with Shelly!”
1st Half Marathon: 2:30:42 E-Race Cancer HM 2018

Sarah put into words so well the way in which I strive to guide runners. In her testimonial for my website she described our partnership these past 6 months. I have really appreciated her honesty, devotion, and desire to learn. We exchanged articles and portions of running literature in order to gain a better understanding of training and the body. Common runner concerns were answered with a thorough phone call or typed out text. We also shared in the delight of a finished half marathon at her desired pace. It has been such a great partnership. I am thankful she gave me a chance to be apart of her journey.

I love running and want others to be impacted by its many virtues. I work with only a handful of runners, cultivating a quality partnership. I make it a priority to be easily accessible. If you or your friend want to take your running experience to a new level, contact me. I am right here.

SOLUTION

Sarah works with me through Weekly Training Guidance. It has been a very effective partnership.

Runner's Amazon Book List

SNAPSHOT

Booklover Runner

DIGGING DEEPER

My Amazon Book List— Those that I have highlighted, referenced, and devoured!

Ok, check it out. See which ones you want as Christmas presents, to find at your library, or to add to your audiobook collection.

My favorite categories of items are BOOKS, BAGS, and BASKETS. Oddly, they all start with the letter B, but they are my candy. I know what I love about books: well written, only as long as they need to be, insightful, and eye appealing.

So I searched though my bookshelves, Audible app, amazon ordered list and picked out my recommendations. These are the books that have survived the test of time or are new favorites.

Podcast interviews, the library bookshelf, and favorite authors are the many ways that a title will first get my attention. Often I request books from my library regional system and preview it to find if it is worth the time and money investment to purchase.

If it passes the test, I choose if audio or print format will be the best way to consume its contents.

Some printed books I highlight like crazy as a form of interactive learning.

Others are more for reference material. A conversation with a friend can cause me to research a deeper reason for my answer or intuition.

The audiobooks are often helpful for busy driving days and to share with my family through the audible app.

You may note that my list does not contain just running books. We are whole people with diversity within our bodies and minds. The interplay of different parts shapes us in unique ways. Growing ourselves as a whole being and not just in one facet will generate good health.

SOLUTION

A good book will take you away and return you changed.

Confidence to Taper

SNAPSHOT

Have you ever tried to gain extra credit the two weeks before a race, hoping that one, two, or even three more workouts will give you that hopeful PR?

DIGGING DEEPER

The difficult workouts had been completed. Long long runs, fast super short sprints, tempos that dragged on and breathless intervals in amongst miles and miles of easy rhythmic running consumed my training season. With my training bank full of deposits I was ready to cash in. The chasm in front of me required belief in myself and that I had done enough training. I had to have confidence to taper before the race.

Confidence is so much harder to gain then discipline or determination. It is not something that you can just decide to do differently or more often. It is a journey you have to walk through. It takes time. Often requiring another trustworthy person to say, “You have done enough. You are good enough. You have worth as you are now.”

I truly can’t think of a time I personally gained confidence without someone speaking into my situation and declaring me worthy of my aspirations.

I certainly know when I am not confident. I weave side to side within my plans. My mood goes up and down depending on my workout results. I search for any clue as to whether my aspirations are crazy or realistic. Please let me have peace, I beg.

Hopefully, the moment comes when one word or phrase is spoken by another and I hear the resounding echo of belief. I pause, recite it, flip it over and under, testing it’s purity. Then it rests on my heart and I am at peace. At peace with myself. At peace with my past work. At peace with my ambitions.

This confidence has to be within me before I can cross that chasm. As the training season comes to within a few weeks of race day, there starts a phase of fine tuning before toeing the start line. It is formally labeled as a taper. Your weekly miles and workout durations reduce, your intensity holds steady as your body makes the final repairs and storage of energy. If you don’t hold the confidence that you have done enough and don’t start your phase of rest and recovery, then you won’t be prepared on race day.

Confidence and successful tapers go hand in hand. If you are worried that you are not good enough or have not done enough, you will search for extra credit opportunities, short cuts, or just fall into the negative realm.

I know this all seems like luck, that is to gain confidence. But it really isn’t luck at all.

First you do have to complete an appropriate training schedule or admit that you didn’t and adjust your goals.

Within your training season you need to develop friendships and mentoring relationships, and take the time to invest in those relationships.

Finally as the time comes for you to taper, begin a dose of open conversations about where you are at with your training and how you will prepare for the race. Talk with your mentors or coach. Discuss what you have done in your training, how your body is feeling, and an estimated race pace.

And now for a story on my last taper ending in an October 10-mile race.

Early September I raced a 10K that felt just awful. I even gave into the pain for half a mile and backed way off the pace I had been struggling at but still could running at. The fact I gave up within the last mile shook me and I strongly questioned how my mental strength had disappeared.

I responded by asking women I admired where I went wrong and why I couldn’t continue to push myself at my breaking point within a race. I listened to their stories and soaked in their advice.

Beth, an incredible triathlete and runner, was frank with me and said, “You have done enough training.”

I paused in relief. I had measured up to the reasonable expectation she had marked. Her words settled in my heart and I gained the confidence to let my body rest and recover and prepare for the 10-mile race.

Over the next three weeks my body felt more light and quick. Gone where the runs with heavy legs. After each run I was more refreshed than tired. The thought of running the race at a given pace became more believable.

And so I bet you are curious how the race went. My body and mind responded well to each mile and hill. I finished the last mile with a strong push crushing my expected finish time.

Now it was not a PR, that was not what I was gunning for, I just wanted to feel like a competitor again. And competitors need confidence.

SOLUTION

Confidence is found in the journey.

Confidence

SNAPSHOT

My way weaves and sways and dips when my confidence is low.

DIGGING DEEPER

In two days I will toe the line at a race that I attempted one year ago. This race could easily turn into a yearly test of my fitness: weaknesses and strengths. So I am weary of the test and its results. 

Am I slipping backward? Is my age finally catching up with me? Did I not work hard enough, loving comfort?  Was all the work this year worth it?  The thoughts get tangled in my mind along with the emotions and fears.  Am I in denial? Or will I have a breakthrough?

This is test anxiety as a 39-year-old.

My son searched for the last location to place his Rummikub tile in order to win the game.  He thought it was hopeless.  On the precipice of him giving up, I blurted out, "You can win."  His dark horizon flashed with light. There was hope and he searched with confidence. He was going to search until he found the combination needed to take the win.  Nothing had changed at that moment but my declaration of possibility. He went from no confidence in winning to full confidence in winning.  I gave the vote of confidence because I saw the path to victory. 

What can confidence do in a person's life?

It can open up doors.

It can give renewed strength.

It can make the journey less painful.

As I ran with a training partner and friend last Thursday, I shared my need for confidence. I need someone, whom I believe, to say, "You can win." I need someone in my life that when I don't see any hope, they can declare an open path to victory.

I am thankful for the role I play in my husband's, children's, friends', and athletes' lives where I can instill confidence. Now it is my turn to hear those around me who are declaring my open path to victory. 

SOLUTION

Putting aside fear I embrace this opportunity to run without restraint and instead with hope and confidence. 

If you are looking for more confidence in your running, considering working with me as your coach.