Quick note

Quick note: It will not always be your best day, your favorite day, your smoothest day.  Our days and weeks can feel more like fartleks rather than smooth tempo runs.  Both are super-useful in training.

Years ago, back when we were in high school, my brother gave me one of my very favorite gifts.  It had nothing to do with him and everything to do with me.  A true gift. It was super thoughtful. I'm not always a fan of quotes because they can be taken out of context or they can't express a whole concept.  I have taught myself, however, to get something out of them and leave the negative thoughts about how they don't apply behind.
He typed up a bunch of running quotes, laminated them, and cut each one out individually.  Each quote has a magnet on the back and I keep a couple on the fridge.  One that I have up right now is this:

     "What makes a man run?  People can't understand why a man runs.  They don't see any sport in it.  Argue it lacks the sight and thrill of body contact.  Yet, the conflict is there, more challenging than any man versus man competition.  For in running it is man against himself, the cruelest of opponents.  The other runners are not the real enemies.  His adversary lies within him, in his ability, with brain and heart to master himself and his emotion."  --Glenn Cunningham

Watching the Lightning play hockey is thrilling.  It's not what you do though.  Watching Olympic athletes in the 1500m or 10K finals - it is man against others.  But this is about YOU.  It is about what you are doing.  Let's give it our best go.  Let's not get intimidated by others, but realize we're all out there trying to do the same thing.  We're all trying to progress. 

 ...In return, later that year I gave my brother the new Green Day album.  We still drove to school together and I wanted to listen to it so I disguised it in a gift for him.  Oh gosh-- Selfish!  No wonder I'm in my mid-30s and single and he's been married for 13yrs and has four adorable children, two golden retrievers, and the fenced in yard!

Goal 1

June 9, 2016

---following up from previous blog post---

Goal 1 = Acquire Athletic Sponsorship. 

When athletes tell me this is their goal, I often scoff.  I think - they just want free stuff, but free gear isn't that important when it comes to development of an athlete.  I often tell the athlete that doing the work is important and don't worry about the sponsorship.  Get in the races and improve.  Beat people.  Beat good people.  (We used to call this a 'scalp'). 
But I get it.  To me, acquiring athletic sponsorship was important.  To me it meant that I was making it and I was being recognized for the work I was doing and the results I was hitting.  I wanted to be a part of something.  I wanted to continue to be on a team.  I wanted to be supported in my endeavors.  I applied and got accepted onto the Saucony Hurricanes team.  This club is a good idea and a pretty basic program.  At the time there were maybe 75 Hurricanes across the US.  I was part of something!  I got kit in the mail and shoes to wear.  I was outfitted and was like a walking billboard for the brand.  I did some social media for them and kept running better and better.  I let them know about it.  I hit a couple good marks and got a couple scalps.  I won some races and got some prize money.  I qualified for the Trials. 

I traveled out to Eugene for the meet.  The day of the prelims I met up with the manager of the Saucony Elite program.  He handed me a backpack full of new gear.  I no longer was going to wear the black & orange kit that night, but I got the teal blue one. 

He said I needed it and had earned it.  I believed I had earned it...and also the Hurricane kit was illegal according to all the uniform rules they have in track & field about logo sizes.... He welcomed me to the Elite team and dinner with everyone that night at the Oregon Electric Station.  I felt like I belonged.  I was 'in' then and that helped me calm my nerves on the warm-up and the starting line.  It made me feel more prepared, more legit, more like a contender.  I was serious.  And I was excited. 

Later that season I also applied to PowerBar through the recommendation of a friend.  I was fortunate to get picked up by them as well and learned a lot about marketing and social media through that experience.  I also tried every single flavor of every single product.

Again, for me, acquiring athletic sponsorship was a goal because it was important to me to feel like I belonged and was part of a team.

What, for you, makes you feel legit?  What do you like to have in place to lessen any feelings of intimidation or feeling like an outsider?  What do you do that makes you feel special or fully prepared?

Having a coach to help you with your goals

Having a coach to help you with your goals:

I ran well in high school.  I did not run well in college. 
In 2004, when my four years of undergrad were done, it made sense that my competitive track and cross-country meets were over as well.  Another four years passed and I completed grad school, coached at a local high school (and loved it), coached collegiately (and loved it) and volunteered and stayed quite connected with the competitive running world.  I watched many track athletes accomplish great things from what I knew took consistent hard work and dogged determination and discipline. I knew that I would always be involved in the running world.  I did not and could not feel like an underachiever and hypocrite for all the years to come.  It was in the spring of 2008 when I knew I couldn't again volunteer in khaki shorts and a polo shirt day-after-day for USA Track & Field. At that moment I wasn't quite ready to don bunhuggers and a tight top and racing bib, but I could not simply stand there and watch my peers compete in the Trials and qualify for the Olympics.  I hit Pre's trails and so it began.  I knew what I wanted.  I knew what was meaningful to me.  I came up with my four goals.  In the summer of 2008 they were far off and seemed lofty, yet I was sure of them.

1) acquire athletic sponsorship

2) make the PanAm team

3) compete in Europe

4) automatically qualify for the Trials finals and have an Olympic mark

Over the next few weeks I will touch on these goals and the process of getting to them and what I learned.

Just a couple of us from Bishop Kenny High School

Choosing your 2016 racing plan

January 16, 2016

Choosing your 2016 Racing Plan – Coach Mason Cathey

What are your goals for 2016? What races are you scheduled for this year? Why those in particular? What does your training plan look like?

Your coaches take time to plan out your weeks, months, year, while possibly even keeping the next four years in mind.

I have talked with a couple people already this year and asked them about which races they are doing.  Which ones are you planning on doing?  Why would you train with specifics, log the details, and then choose races somewhat randomly?  How have you chosen which races you’re doing?  Are you choosing by where you get a free entry, the location of the race, the race distance, the prizes, the week it is held, the level of competition, the race distance, or the qualification process?  Are your goals focused on place, PRs, beating specific people, or hitting certain benchmarks?

***Reminder*** I wrote this early to mid-January***

It is mid-January and already I watched a young lady compete in a marathon at Disney on January 10^th. (She was an athlete I coached in her collegiate 2007-2008 seasons.)  At Disney, she was aiming for an Olympic Trials marathon qualifying standard and for background information, she ran 2:52 in 2015.  The closing deadline for hitting the Trials mark was January 17^th and you could qualify either by a half or full marathon qualifying time.

(In 2008, my parents came to watch me coach the young lady I mention above. I was coaching at UCF then.)

For the 2016 Trials, the standards for women are 1:15 (half) or 2:45 (full).  For men it’s 1:05 or 2:19 respectively.  For this young lady the difference (2:52 vs 2:44.30) requires 19seconds per mile faster in the marathon than what she’s already run.  That is significant and I believe very hard to do alone.  Disney was not the best choice for her in chasing her goal. 

Consider the following: Other January 2016 Olympic Trials qualifying races:

34 women qualified at the Jax Bank 13.1 on January 3, 2016.  Maybe she didn’t go to that race in nearby Jacksonville because she is better suited for the full than the half.  At the Houston marathon this year, 24 women ran faster than the standard.  Last year there were 14.  This year there were zero from Disney.  Last year there were zero from Disney. 

Looking at the final tally, there are 257 women that ran the standard in the qualifying window (August 1, 2013-January 17, 2016).

Her goal was to qualify for the Olympic Trials Marathon.  She is a great girl, but I don’t believe she chose the right race to qualify.  With a few other opportunities the week prior such as Jax Bank or the week after Disney such as the Houston Marathon, I think she didn’t have someone in her ear and bugging her on her Training Peaks account guiding her towards a more competitive and successful race towards her specific goal.  Don’t mistake Jon, Nick and I’s continuous push to be anything but support to you as you develop and strive to achieve your goals. Allow us to help you and guide you.

And best wishes to all the US Olympic Team Trials for the Marathon on Feb 13 in Los Angeles, CA!