Merry Xmas

‘God has given me the ability. The rest is up to me. Believe. Believe. Believe. ‘  – Billy Mills

I’m so frustrated.  I want to grab you by the shoulders and shake you.

YOU ARE FASTER THAN YOU THINK!

You want to make this more complicated than it is.  You want to believe you need months of running splits at 80% max heart rate; that eating certain food will aid oxygen metabolization; that your training has to be perfect.

Maybe this attention to detail will be the key to a PR if you’re in the Nike project.   Otherwise SHUT UP!

Running faster is easy.  It’s simple.  But first…

And then…

YOU HAVE TO BELIEVE.

Believe in yourself.

Believe that it’s simple.

And mostly believe that you can.

For 99.9% of people here is the Running Man’s speed recipe:

Run more.

Run race appropriate intervals once or twice a week.

Run with people who are faster than you.

If you are the fastest person in your running group and are intent on improving, find a new group.

And scene…

Stop thinking it’s the shoes, or the recovery intervals, or the race day conditions.

Stop thinking that past performances predict today’s.  I’ve seen people chop minutes off a PR in a single race.

MINUTES.

Someone with less talent than you has ignored all the little details and come out on top.

GET OUT OF YOUR HEAD AND INTO YOUR HEART.

My best times came not when I hoped I would run fast, but when I refused to accept any other result.

There’s a story of an ’80’s Christmas basketball game between the Boston Celtics and Indiana Pacers.

Before the game, Larry Bird told Pacers star Chuck ‘the Rifleman’ Person he had a Christmas present for him. During the game, Bird shot a 3-pointer, turned, looked at Person (sitting on the bench) and said “Merry Fucking Christmas.” He ran back down the court as the shot went in.

That’s the attitude you need to get fast.

Get mad.

Get certain (BELIEVE).

Now get out of your head.  Do it.

This is your year.

Merry Fucking Christmas everyone.