According to Peter Coe, Sebastian Coe’s father and coach, runners spend too much time running and not enough time thinking, What Peter is saying is that some runners lose control of themselves and their running all too easily..
Of course a runner can say that “I do the running and my coach does the thinking.” Fair enough, But an important part of coaching is teaching the runner how to think, as well as how to run.
Equally important is the runner’s own responsibility to think about what they are doing and not grant the coach the full responsibility and consequently the credit or the blame for performance.
Good runners are thinking machines first. They can be advised, guided and encouraged, but at the end of the day the mental power and discipline they bring to bear on their running determines success or failure.
Running is riddled with frustrated runners. They work hard, sweat plenty and suffer willingly, but they simply do not fulfill their potential or their ambitions.
Why? My answer is that they don’t keep control. They feel they have to do what they have to do- not what they should do. They are pushed by their emotions (fear, vanity, pride, ego and all that sort of thing) rather than by their reason.
Let me stress that emotion is a critical driving force in a runner’s progress just the same as wind is a driving force for a sailing boat. But every boat needs a rudder to steer her on her way. Emotion, like the wind, can blow you around in circles unless you have a rudder of reason held firmly in your hand.
How many times do we see a runner get blown off course? I see it often. So steady up. Think about what you are doing, why you are doing it, and where you are going.
It may not get you to the ends of the earth, but it may well stop you from going around in circles.
