The Six Pillars of Flowstate Running
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Precision
The Flowstate Approach focuses on being precise and efficient with training, favoring quality over quantity in runs and workouts. As you progress through your periodized training blocks, you will also move through a range of specificity in your training. Your weeks will be centered around 2-3 precise and authentic workouts, with the remainder of the days filled with easy “Float” runs.
Consistency
Many times trail runners get caught up on individual long runs and race performances. And while it’s true that these single pushes and efforts are fun and important in the overall picture, they are far from the most important thing in determining your success. Your consistency of quality runs and efforts over weeks and months is the factor that will often determine your success at your goal races and events. The Flowstate Approach aims for a long, gradual, and consistent build to your A race or event that promises to allow for long lasting gains and adaptation along the way.
Intuition
One of my primary goals with Flowstate Running is to teach people how to truthfully and honestly listen to their bodies. Workouts are measured by time and perceived effort – no attention to heart rate or pacing is necessary. This approach lends itself to trail and mountain running because there are a myriad of outside factors and variables that will affect quantitative metrics like heart rate and pace; the terrain, the elevation, the altitude, your level of fatigue, how well you slept last night, what kind of a day you are having. Working with me, you will develop the ability to cut through this noise and “zoom out”, listening and paying attention to how your body is feeling on that day and in that specific moment.
Communication
The success of an athlete-coach relationship really comes down to one thing – communication. The more we communicate, through the Final Surge app, weekly emails, and phone calls, the more honest we can be with each other and the more effective the entire program will be. I spend a lot of time talking to my athletes, because I want to know how you’re feeling so that I can adjust the training and workouts to meet your needs each and every week. You’ll be amazed, but merely having an “outside party” that is listening and interested in your running life will also make you become more self-reflective and accountable to yourself. Through our partnership we’ll both learn and grow along the way.
Patience
Trail and ultrarunning requires a huge amount of patience, both in training and race execution, and the Flowstate Approach reflects this. I build my training blocks using many layers of periodization. Your program will be constructed of color-coded weeks, where the volume and intensity increase through 3-4 week cycles that allow for gains in fitness as well as recovery and adaptation. Your season will progress through multiple training blocks, each focusing on a different aspect of your fitness and sets of skills as you assemble the pieces that complete the peak performance puzzle. Finally your years will cycle too, with a proper break and recovery time at the end of each season to allow you to properly rebuild and soak in adaptations before heading into the next season stronger than before. Race execution follows a similar approach, and we’ll work together to develop race strategies that make sure you don’t go out too fast and have plenty left in the tank for the finish, whether it’s a 30 or 350 km endeavor.
Gratitude
Gratitude is a mindset that is integral to the ultrarunning mentality. Personally, I am grateful for every single step I take on trails when moving through the mountains. It’s important to remember that we GET to do this thing called trail running, we don’t HAVE to do it. I work with athletes to make sure that they are capable of reaching their goals, but also make sure that they can adequately zoom out and soak in the big picture of the entire sport. You are never guaranteed success any time you head into the mountains – but together we will get you as prepared as you can be, and propel you into your event with a positive and passionate mindset. That’s the Flowstate way!