Just A Little Patience
Is What You Need To Get Closer To What You Want.
I love the dictionary. If you’ve ever run with me you know that. Does that make me a nerd? I hope so. Nerds rule! Anyway, as far as I’m concerned the dictionary is one of my most valuable, honest, intelligent, hilarious and loyal assistant coaches. Doesn’t matter when I need some help or advice or guidance or just some clarification… my trusty Assistant Coach Dictionary is ready and able. I should also say that I have a few coaches on staff that work part time as well. There’s Assistant Coach Thesaurus and Assistant Coach Music that do some really extraordinary work for me too. What can I say? I surround myself with really exceptional colleagues and mentors. You think I’m doing this on my own? Not a chance.
Anyway, I was on a run recently when I had a long conversation with myself about what the essential ingredients are to successful running. Before I could get to the ingredients though I needed to first spend some time marinating on that word successful. And I did. Marinate on successful that is. This post isn’t about that though. But I will say this… a successful marinade demands patience. And it just so happens that patience is also one of the ingredients to successful running. And it just so further happens that patience is the ingredient I want to talk about… eh… write about. (But I will have you know that for better or for worse I write the way I talk.)
Patience is also one of the ingredients that athletes/runners/humans don’t enjoy including in the recipe for success. It’s almost like pineapple on pizza or olives in a salad or mushrooms on anything. No one really likes those things. Be honest. You don’t. And you don’t need pineapple on pizza or olives in your salad or a slick, wet, limp mushroom touching anything you’ll ever eat. But you absolutely, positively need patience if you want to be successful in running.
So, what is patience. This is where my Assistant Coach Dictionary helped me out. Patience is a noun. And like most nouns it has a primary definition that’s pretty good. But I tend to gravitate to those secondary definitions. And the definition of patience was no exception to that tendency.
Patience noun
ability or willingness to suppress restlessness or annoyance when confronted with delay
Read it again. I’ll wait. Got it? Great. Now, think about your running. Think about the starting lines you cross that lead to a finish line you cross that leads you to another starting line. What’s the goal? Get fitter? Faster? Stronger? More confident? Run a 5K? 10K? Marathon? Make the team? Finish top 10? Top 100? Finish without stopping? Is the goal just to get away for a few minutes? Maybe it’s to bring you back? Get better? One run can accomplish so much. But one run cannot accomplish everything. One run can fix a lot. One run can’t fix it all. And if you can eventually be consistent… which demands you being consistent…. you’re still going to have setbacks. You’re going to have stretches of running where you climb so high only to reach a long plateau or even a stumble back down that hill you worked so hard to crest.
You’ll look at your watch and wonder why the numbers aren’t changing faster (or at all). You’ll look in the mirror today and convince yourself that you see the same person you saw yesterday. You’ll run an easy run that never feels easy. You’ll run a hard run that seems harder than you can handle. You’ll want to fast forward this workload that can only be played out at normal speed. One second at a time. A minute that’s 60 seconds and no less… ever. One week after another. Months piled on top of miles. Looking ahead it can be hard to see how you will ever make it there… wherever there is for you.
This sport isn’t all delayed gratification. But sometimes it sure can feel like it. It takes time. Seems obvious considering that our sport is so dependent and focused on the numbers that litter the clock. But if there is one thing that athletes/runners/humans have an issue with it’s that second definition of patience: the ability or willingness to suppress restlessness or annoyance when confronted with delay.
We get restless waiting for the fitness to come to fruition. We get annoyed when the results don’t happen today… yesterday… tomorrow. I’m okay with that though. As a coach I need to be. And part of me wants you a little restless at times. I’m cool with you getting annoyed with the lack of results. And I need to be okay with that because I need you to be patient. And as you’ve read twice now… patience is the ability or willingness to deal with the restlessness or annoyance that comes with delay.
I read that definition like this - the restlessness or annoyance is coming. It’s on it’s way. It’s inevitable. Because the fitness, the results, the breakthroughs, the barriers being broken, the changes, the transformations - they are not showing up at the same time or even on time. Some will come soon. Some will come later. Some will seem to be achieved early. Some will seem to be accomplished late. I know that the athlete is going to get annoyed. And I know that athlete is going to get restless. But what I also know is that the athlete that can handle those things better as they work towards getting better and wait for the proof that they are in fact better will be better than the athlete that can’t handle those things. (That run on sentence could have been shorter. But I was testing your patience. You passed!)
It takes more than patience to be patient though. It takes some hope. It takes some optimism. It takes confidence. And all of those things happen to be ingredients that also help you become a better runner. Which is why I know that getting an athlete to develop and strengthen their patience is just another way to get them to work on hope, optimism and confidence. If I do my job as a coach and share with the athlete the reality of how long it can take to see results, and teach the athlete why we run the minutes, meters and miles that we do, and explain why we run those runs the way we do… then I know I will be giving the athlete a better chance to be patient with all those minutes, meters and miles we need to run to get to where we want to be.
That’s why coaches need to be teachers. That’s why athletes need to be students. And sidebar here… the best coaches never stop being students. Curiosity and humility happen to be two more ingredients for successful running and the successful coaching of runners. (Yes, this whole post is about running and this is not about running.)
The truth is that it takes a whole bunch of starting lines being crossed for a runner to become the runner they want to be. And that demands patience. And the truth is that the only runner that can cross a starting line is the runner that you are today. Now. Here. Sure, the runner you are today may not be the runner you want to be. But it is the runner you need to be. It is the only runner you can be. And if you have patience the only runner you can be just may become the runner you want to be.
Patience. Just a little patience. That’s what you need to get closer to what you want.
Cheers,
Coach Bennett
BEST RUNNER EVER: WINTER EDITION
I can’t believe that we are only a few days away from Best Runner Ever: Winter Edition starting. Actually, I can. I’ve been looking forward to it since we announced it in late November. February 1st is the starting line for this 4 week group coaching program. I’m super excited to join mindset coach extraordinaire tammie bennett of the Show Up Society for another Best Run Ever. Coach tammie and I put on a summer edition of Best Run Ever back in 2022. It… was… a blast! I’m hoping that you and your friends and teammates and family will think about joining us.
So, what can you expect from being a part of Best Runner Ever? Well, no matter what level runner you are, beginners to advanced, we’ll help you:
Find (and keep) motivation to run
Prepare for the weather so you enjoy your runs (more)
Stay healthy
Strengthen your body and mind
Find the FUN
Try new ways of moving your body
Feel supported and support yourself
Get comfortable with being uncomfortable
Set goals
Improve racing and training performance
PORTLAND WEATHER
We got 2 inches… maybe… of snow. Then the ice came. And the ice wouldn’t leave. It just stuck around. Day after snow plow-less day the ice stuck around. It would be easy for me to make fun of the chaos that the 2 inches of frozen water caused. But I’m only going to say that Portland is woefully unprepared for wintry weather and that the conditions here were in fact extremely dangerous. Coming from the northeast of the US it may seem silly to say that 2 inches (probably less) of snow could cause the havoc that it did but it’s true. The roads were sheets of ice. Trees were falling. That meant I did a few runs inside my house. I don’t have a treadmill. We’re talking laps around the kitchen counter and then down the hall and then down the stairs and around the laundry bins and back up the stairs and then more laps around the kitchen counter, . The alternative was going outside and running a very dangerous run on the raods or trails. An alternative that almost guaranteed me at best falling down or at worst getting crushed by a large and falling Oregon tree.
Anyway, I’m just writing about this because my hope is that all of you realize that taking unnecessary risks during extreme or dangerous weather is not only reckless it’s also stupid and selfish. There. I’m done. Consider this my safety sermon for the newsletter.
BLUE RIBBON SPORTS ANNIVERSARY
I get to go to Santa Monica! There is supposedly going to be sunshine there! As someone that currently resides in the Portland, Oregon just the possibility that I may feel some sunshine on my face makes me want to cry. I’ll be in souther California for a few days for the anniversary of Blue Ribbon Sports. What is Blue Ribbon Sports? Seriously? Nike was originally know as BRS. Great story. A runner named Phil Knight and his coach named Bill Bowerman basically shook hands and boom! The baby that would become Nike was conceived… kinda… it took more than the handshake… you need to ask your parents about how babies are made. That’s not my job.
Anyway, the Swoosh was copyrighted in January of 1974. The legendary Jeff Johnson opened the first “nike store” - the legendary retail space known as Blue Ribbon Sports in Santa Monica and legendary things took place in this legendary space and the rest is history. Does it seem like I’m being overly curt with my explanation of all this? It does? Well, that’s because I plan on writing more about the anniversary get together and the back story of Nike and Blue Ribbon Sports and Jeff Johnson in the next newsletter. I can’t give you all my goods that easily. Why not? You can ask your parents about that too.
HEY MIAMI! I’M COMING BACK!
I’m going back to Miami this weekend too! That’s right. I’ll be flying from Los Angeles to Miami. And that’s after flying from Phoenix to Los Angeles. Literally writing this newsletter in my hotel room here in Arizona. And if you must know… I’m hungry. This place I’m staying at for an event I need to speak at is really nice… if you love wheat grass smoothies and kale burgers. I don’t like those kinds of things. I should be better about keeping an open mind when it comes to meals that involve new age names and seven different kinds of fungi but it’s hard. I just want a cheeseburger. I’ve been traveling all day. Can I just get a burger or wings?
I digress.
I get to be in Miami this weekend for the Miami Marathon and Half Marathon! To say that I’m excited about this would be an understatement. The running community in Miami is extraordinary. And the Marathon in Miami has become a truly international event. Extra special cheers to the mayor of the Miami running community, Frankie Ruiz. He is a part of so many starting lines being created there.
If you are going to be in town I hope to see you at one of the many events that will be going on!
Check out all the Nike events going on during Miami Marathon weekend by clicking the link here.
IF YOU DO EVERYTHING YOU CAN…
IT STILL MIGHT NOT WORK OUT
Here’s a little video message for all you brave souls crossing starting lines. It’s not easy to get over that line. And sometimes… no matter how much work you did… or how hard you try… the goal isn’t achieved, the distance isn’t reached, the time isn’t met. But the finish line isn’t the the whole story. It’s only a small part of it. Click on the video below and listen to the message I believe you need to hear.
Click on that mustachioed man and the video will load.
NEW COACH BENNETT PODCASTS READY FOR YOU!
Not only does a brand new episode come out Thursday but there are two other episodes that have been dropped since the last newsletter! So much stuff for you to read and listen to!
Did you make it to here? Obviously you did. But did you read your way here or scroll your way here? Either way, thank you for being a part of this community that has developed around this newsletter and the runs and the podcasts. I appreciate you. I appreciate you reading and running and listening. And I’m thankful for you sharing the messages and posts and videos with friends and family and teammates. I’m grateful for you supporting the work. And cheers to everyone that has chosen to be paid supporter. It means a great deal to me. Until next time… take care of yourself. Take care of each other. And I’ll meet you on the next starting line.
Cheers,
Coach Bennett
This is so good. Thank you! I needed this. You are my favorite coach! I learn so much from you about running and life 👍
Wow!!! I really needed this today. Michigan winter and family demands are taking a toll on where I want to be as far as my running. I may not be where I want to be but I’m making progress.