The Wheel
Friday, February 16th, 2007 at 11:48 am
Picture this:
You show up for your first running practice and your coach tosses you a bike tire. The rubber has no rim, no spokes, and it wobbles through the air until you hook your arm through the middle and catch it. You look up at your coach and he says, “This is the wheel that will carry you through your running. Right now it won’t roll, it can’t carry your weight, and its not going to take you anywhere. The rim will be built the moment you realize that running is something you love. You can roll that type of wheel across a nice smooth street now and then and its great. That’s a weekend warrior. Now if you want a wheel that you can fly across the trails on, off-road up a mountain with, a wheel you can perform your best with, you need to build strong, even spokes so no bump in the road can flatten your tire.”
This is the way I was introduced to running when I was a freshman. Not in those words, but with that type of feeling…like running was something you would build rather than do. I wish you could have been there…after one minute of his “welcome speech” to the incoming freshman and parents, he’d make your legs itch to get started.
Mine were shakin’ when I showed up to my first summer practice with tennis shoes instead of running shoes, five minutes late, trying to disguise my nerves and look tough but not too tough, nice but not meek, thinking way too much about what these people would think about me. The girls and guys were all stretching in a circle and they looked so…big. I mean, I was 12 years old, 4ft 10 inches and under 80 lbs. Some of these kids were like 18!
Coach DeLong walked around the outside of them with a notebook, asking about last week’s mileage and teasing some of the older girls about boys. As I got closer, I saw that everyone was smiling and I began to relax. I took a deep breath and slipped into the stretching circle unnoticed. And as we all faced each other and reached for the sky to stretch our shoulders, I looked around at all the faces and knew I would be OK here.
My team had an atmosphere, you know what I mean? We ran together, ate lunch together at the same tree in the quad every day, went stag to dances together when we didn’t have dates (or sometimes because we didn’t want dates). The older girls would take care of the freshmen like big sisters, teach us how to race, how to go home with as little homework as possible, how to survive the popular kids at school, how to not get food poisoning in the cafeteria. These girls taught me how to run fast, get good grades, and still have a life. For four years, my team was my family.
But stuff comes up, you know? One kid hurt his knee and couldn’t run; one kid got pregnant; one kid got an eating disorder; one kid had parents that wouldn’t let her race in the most important race of the year, one kid practiced hard but always choked in races… I thought about these kids, I thought about why these things happened, I thought a lot about what could be done to avoid these problems. And basically since I’ve always been a little bit of a dork, geek, whatever, I thought about it until I came up with a new way to look at being an athlete.
All of it came back to the Wheel. Granted, there are times when no matter how strong your spokes, you will run over a thorn so big that there’s no way to avoid a flat. Bad luck, and it sucks. But most of the time you get a flat, it’s because your wheel isn’t balanced, and some spokes are weak or missing altogether!
People always ask me about running. It’s my job to run and I talk a lot, so I guess I’m an easy target, but that’s cool with me because I love to help people become better runners. And from meeting thousands of you guys, I know that not all of you have had experiences exactly like me. Many of you don’t have a good team. Some of you struggle with your coach. Some of you have health problems that you can’t put a band-aid on. The more I talk to high school kids, the more I develop the ideas that have been brewing since I was that tiny little freshman.
The Wheel is the concept I train by. It took its shape at Stanford when Coach Dena and I would talk about running so much that we lost our voices. It is the way of thinking that has helped me improve in at least one event every single year since I’ve started running, which, as you know, is hard to do! It is from my own mistakes and from observing the people around me that the Wheel came to be. It is not a rule; it is not made of stone. You guys need to help me bend and tweak it as we figure stuff out in our running.
I want you to improve and be fast and have fun. I want you to have the opportunity to ask questions from someone who gets it. I want to offer you a way of thinking about running that will make your times better, your teams better, and practice more fun.
So check out “The Wheel” and lets get started!
-L.
hi lauren!…I think this blog is awesome, i also can’t wait to hear about the different spokes of the wheel. Personally, i think i’m looking forward to THE MIND the best…there are some resources out there that will tell about mileage, threshold..etc. (although those dont have the personal opinions which i’m looking forward to)
But, the mind part i find really interesting, there must’ve been some really hard times mentally through-out your career and i’m really interesting in learning how you handled and worked through them
i like your blog,it will help me make running more fun so it won’t get old and i won’t get burned out on it.thanks.
I am so glad that you have a blog. Whenever I read your interviews, you really capture running and I understand the science of training. Your thoughts are so deep and funny too!
I think you should write a book!
Hey Lauren,
To say the least, you are inspirational. Not only do you provide great advice, but also great insight into the sport.
I’ve been a highly dedicated runner for 5 years now and I’ve seen some results, but not the one’s I dream about. I’m worried I don’t have the talent to be as successful as I would like. I’m the slowest on my team and I would like to, some day, be the fastest. How much of a role do you think talent plays into running fast?
Congratulations on making the World Cross team! I cheered for you during the race–You ran incredibly!
B
i liked it alot
and it inspired me to run better
thank you
cant wait for more
powerful words for a runner to live by. I wish I had this when I was as a kid. All of my runners will receive this blog and be encouraged to participate.
Hi, I’m also looking forward to reading more about your experiences from this blog, particularly dealing with getting back into shape after long layovers. I was away from running for about 7 months and it’s been about a year since I restarted, yet I’m really struggling to regain the fitness I once had. Thanks…if you did write a book I’d buy it
I printed this out and brought it with me to practice today to share with some of the other seniors on the team. I’m captain this year, so I hope that I can achieve the same sort of environment that you described.
ps. I second Alexis’ book idea.
hi Lauren! your a great inspirational and role model.i have been a dedicated runner for 3 years now and this is past fall was my last high school xc season and i wish i could have started running when i was younger since i read your blog . I am glad i had the opportunity to meet you at NTN in 2005 and 2006, you’re a really awsome person and i hope you keep inspiring young runners everywhere. best wishes to you Lauren
I am starting to get back into the groove of running. The wheel analogy helps a whole lot. I feel as if I am currently trying to rebuild my running self. Its going take time, but I believe. Glad that you opened up a blog.
Wow! I am so amazed at your wisdom and experience that you have. I have been running for a little over a year and a half now as has another girl on my team. I have never beaten her in a race and I think this is due to the fact that she has basically dedicated her whole life to running. I am also dedicated but can’t motivate myself to the extreme as she has. Your story has made me want to be a more dedicated runner like my teammate. Thank’s for your inspiration.
Lauren, what you’re doing is great (and I don’t just mean your running accomplishments). You will be addressing some of the most important concerns / interests of young runners. I was once a young runner and had much success. But races were always so ’scary’ for me. I’m 62 now, and I train a talented young high school runner in our state. I think, all else being equal, the mind is the most important part of distance running and racing. I’m glad that this is one of your topics for discussion.
Great job Lauren, Very insightful! I will follow along with my son and daughter and learn. By the way a great mind book is running within by Lynch. We said hi to you at Oberlin a few years back, keep rolling.
ken
Dear Lo,
I’m excited for you that you are motiviated to improve, but please don’t misinterpret my post that I think you need to devote your entire life to running. All I hope is that if you decide to commit to getting better, this can give you an approach to committing that is balanced. You should never give up everything for a sport, and sacrifices shouldn’t feel like sacrifices if you are doing what you love. As you get better and better, try not to compare your commitment level to your friend. You may not need to dedicate yourself in the exact same way as her to achieve the same result. For example, I’ve never been very disciplined at getting 9-10 hours of sleep every night…I’m too wound up and sporatic to do that consistently. But I often beat runners that are good sleepers. On the other hand, I am very commited when it comes to doing strength training and weights, and my friend Kim Smith often kicks my butt without lifting more than a fork. Hope you enjoy the blog!
Lauren
Dear B,
Regarding your question, “how much of a role does talent play in running fast?”
Personally, I don’t lke to use the word “talent” if I can avoid it. Its this ambiguous word that people use to describe people when they are doing something really really well. Sometimes its like a brand that once an athlete is described as “talented”, they are always talented and if they race poorly year after year, there is always some excuse like “he’s talented but injury prone,” or “she’s talented but she has a bad coach now,” etc.
Being one of the slower runners on your team would probably put you in the group that a coach or parent might say is less talented. You might hear people say, “you don’t have the talent that the faster runners have, but if you work hard, you can improve.” Promise me you won’t listen to these people. Don’t let anyone tell you that you do or don’t have talent because it means nothing.
You have it within you to improve if you have the desire. If you would like to be one of the better runners on your team, take comfort in knowing that it is possible. One of America’s greatest runners, Shayne Culpepper, was one of the slower runners on her college team at Colorado when she started out, and as she told me, people would not have labeled her as an outstanding talent. But she had the desire and drive to improve and worked very hard. She developed herself in all aspects of her life and believed in herself. She left college one of the best runners, and after a few years as a professional runner, she led the USA Olympic Team for the 5k. There are many examples like her out there.
If you want to improve, it will be important that you don’t spend energy comparing yourself to others on your team. If you are way behind them now, it may take some time to get up there, and when you do, there may be some freshman who is even better on the first day of practice! Instead, think about yourself. It feels good to improve at something, even if everyone else around you is improving too. Try to be a faster runner because you are capable of it, and because being your best at something is valuable.
When you graduate high school, wouldn’t it be cool to think back on your running and see that you got better every year? Even if you become the #1 runner on your team, the most rewarding part of improving will be the hard work it took to do it, and the way you inspired your teammates to be better too. By pursuing your greatness, you give others permission to do the same.
L.