Larry recently ran Around the Bay 30k (which you can read about on his blog here, here, and here), finishing 7th in 1:43:37.0, and later finished 9th at Canadian Half Marathon Championships in a PB of 1:08:29.2.
If you want to read about his Around the Bay or Canada Half race check out his blog.
What is your program at Ottawa?
My program is a
Master’s in Human Kinetics with concentration in intervention and consultation
in sport, physical activity and health. That’s a real mouthful eh? The basis of
the program is grounded in the principle that mind and body share an intimate
connection. The skill set that I am acquiring in my program allows me to
facilitate the strengthening of the mental muscle. That being said, I will
graduate in December as a mental performance consultant/mental performance coach.
My program incorporates a 400hr internship where I strategize with performers
from a variety of backgrounds to take their performances to the next level.
Many people assume that a mental performance consultant works only with
athletes, exercisers, musicians etc.. who have a problem. That couldn’t be
further from the truth. I have many athletes this summer who were performing
very well before I started working with them, however like most performers,
they are looking for ways to maximize consistency and quality of performance.
Just like you train the body to adapt to physical stress (workouts), the mind
can become stronger when you learn to how to use it to its greatest potential
and practice mental skills on a regular basis.
How have you enjoyed your schooling?
In both my
undergraduate (kinesiology) and this Masters, I have been pleased with the
skill sets I have acquired. While attending both Universities, I have made some
excellent networks of like-minded people. Here at the University of Ottawa, I
have had the opportunity to work with world-class consultants and researchers
in the field. I feel that taking some time off after my undergraduate degree
and doing some research into potential programs allowed me to select a very
nice fit here at U of O.
Have you had many opportunities to work with clients?
The design of the
internship allows for a fair bit of freedom in selecting my clients this
summer. Currently I have a handful of track athletes - some preparing for
nationals, some preparing for AO’s, all preparing for PB’s – an adventure
cyclist looking to cross Canada – and cardiac rehab patients. I recently took
part in a psyching team that provided support for runners at the GoodLife
Toronto Marathon. I did a small recap in my blog for those interested. Moving
forward this summer, I am looking to work with athletes in the rehabilitation
process and hopefully do some online consulting with some marauders – both
alumni and current athletes.
Ottawa is a great
city and I have enjoyed my time here … however, the hammer holds a special
place in my heart. I would like to end up back in Hamilton and ideally work
with sports teams in the steel city. Maybe do some consulting with the
marauders! I would like to carry on my work with cardiac rehab and Hamilton has
some great programs in this area. Also, I am studying stressors and coping
responses in university students, so I would like to work with
students/athletes during the transition into first year. We will see how this
develops in 2013.
After leaving Mac what have you done for a coach and
training group?
Once I graduated,
I went to Kenya and did a solid month of training with Reid. At this point I
was on my own. I came back fit and ran my first half. I was probably fit to run
in the low 1:10’s but some snow-ridden roads packed on 2 minutes to my goal
time. I then proceeded to buy a road bike and started to crush some miles on
the bike. This was a huge factor in building strength in my legs/hips and
adding to my aerobic engine. More or less I spent that summer logging miles and
cross training. When I got to Ottawa, schoolwork was heavy so after 2 weeks
with Ottawa Lions, I decided to commit to school and gain control of my
academics. I set the goal of racing the Bay and began doing a lot of high
mileage aerobic work solo. Throughout this whole process, I consulted Rory and
P2 for guidance with the big picture. In the winter, I had the opportunity to
run as a guide with a runner with autism. I began doing 2-3 speed workouts
designed by Ray Elrick for 1500m performances right in the middle bay training.
What I took from this experience was your training could take many forms and
still advance you towards your goals. I just had to be flexible and made some
judgment calls based on what my body was telling me. Long and short of it … on
my own, guiding an athlete and occasional contact with the Marauder coaching
staff.
Has it been tough to stay motivated without the university
team atmosphere?
I excel when I am
in a group atmosphere. When I was at Mac, I would easily make sacrifices for
the team and my training benefited. In terms of motivation, when I have a race
on my calendar, I am usually be able to keep my consistency at high level. But,
not without discipline. I had to remain focused and work hard to ensure that I
got out that door. Also I would be remiss if I didn’t give a huge thank you to
brother Noah for kicking my butt out the door after a long day. We both relied
on each other to get in solid off days. Only problem is 30km training and
600-1000m training is a lot different. A couple times we would loop out for 45
minutes and on the way back I would drop Noah at the house and continue on …
that took some mental toughness on some days haha.
After blowing up at Around the Bay, did you find yourself second-guessing your pace in the Half?
Not at all really.
The biggest difference between my half and 30 was how I dealt with pre race
nerves. Before the 30, I couldn’t eat very much in the morning of the race and
decided to take a light breakfast. I didn’t grab a gel for mid race and overall
my anxiety before the race got the best of me. 30km was a new race distance for
me, and all things considered, I was extremely happy with 28km of that race. It
came down to fueling issue and my body was running on less than fumes in that
final stretch However, I also attacked the first half of that race and split
21k in 1:10:00. That was a good feeling that I reflected on before my race in
Montreal. I went into the half as confident as I have ever been. I had a
better, more accurate assessment of my fitness based on more race pace specific
workouts and made sure that my mental preparation was spot on. Also, couldn’t
have asked for a better group to run with in Montreal, which made for an even
paced run.
At the Canadian Half Championships you slept in past your
alarm. Did that throw you off , and
how did you manage to calm yourself down before the race?
Damn Sheraton and
their ridiculously comfortable beds. I set two alarms and somehow in my sleepy
unconscious state, I shut the second one off. I woke up and made sure I ate a
solid breakfast and had my things packed from the night before so I just made
the best of it. Went down stairs and began debating whether or not to take the
shuttle to the airport and take public transport or just bite the bullet and
grab a cab. While waiting in the lobby, I bumped into Gillis who informed me of
a shuttle leaving the hotel and going directly down to the course. It was leaving
in approx 25 minutes. So I went back up to my room and grabbed a little snack
and kicked up my feet. Turns out if I had kept to the original schedule, I
could have missed the opportunity to grab the race shuttle and may have ended
up with the added stress of figuring out bus schedules and metro passes.
Overall, you just have deal with the cards you got in your hand at the moment
and don’t really worry about what could have been or could be. I didn’t waste
too much energy fretting about it and all in all in everything worked out.
With great friends Noah Fleming and Erika Scott coming down
to watch your race in Montreal,
and your parents and girlfriend coming to other races, how important is
it for you to have this great support group?
The support crew I
have means more to me than they really know. Sure I thank everyone for coming
to my races but having familiar faces, people behind you and your performances
really makes this running thing all worth while. Some say that lifes greatest
joys are those you share with others, and I really think this is true. For one
of my sports psychology course, I composed a map that highlighted all key
concepts that were necessary for me to successfully reach my goal at Around the
Bay. At the bottom of that map (which was shaped as a pyramid) was social
support. It really is the foundation for me that helps contribute to my
motivation to continue to persevere in training and racing. The support I
received from my friends in Ottawa, Hamilton, family, and Joanie was even more
influential considering the bulk of training I did on my own. Knowing that
support was there was a nice comfort.
How does 7th at Around the Bay and the 9th at the Canadian
Half Champs match up with your University accomplishments (notably 15th at CIS cross)?
Pretty close
really. All three races witnessed a dialed in focus and strong belief in my
ability to reach my goals. Both the Bay and Ci’s fell just shy of my high end
goal (sub 1:40) and (CIS all-star) but all things considered … some races you
need to test you limit and perhaps succumb to the fatigue in the process. Most
recently, the half champs was a race where I had a very confident and accurate
prediction of where I was at physically. I also have been able to implement
some of the strategies I am studying in my program to execute the race with
mental toughness and resilience. I was able to finish hard and “win” my group
that I was racing with.
After running some half-marathons and Around the Bay over
that past year, do you have any inspiration to go to the marathon?
I have an
audacious goal for the marathon debut and my current commitment to running will
not take me there. I need to commit to the process and the miles necessary to
take me there. In the mean time, I would like to keep gaining race experience
in 10k, half marathon and perhaps run another 30k or two before I rock the
marathon.
After you graduated from your undergrad, you went with Reid
Coolsaet in January 2011 to Kenya.
How has that experience changed your perspective on running?
Reid is a great
athlete and fully committed to his sport. A lot of little things can add up to
big results. These things are easy to talk about and harder to practice on a
consistent basis. I mean if you want to excel, you have to be disciplined and
ask yourself everyday … what is going to take me one step closer to my goal? I
learnt a lot from shadowing Reid for a month let alone being in a city the
eats, sleeps and breaths elite running. One thing I have reflected on for while
now is the mind set that Kenyans carry into running. If you show up to a
workout or a run, all you can hear is footsteps and breathing. What do I mean
by this? Well my hunch is that when a group gets together in Iten to run,
that’s exactly what they are there to do and nothing else. They have a fully
connected focus to the task on hand and that can have a big impact on what you
take from each workout. If I were to go back to my early running career with
this perspective, I would have made an effort to better my ability to focus
solely on running when I was running. I think this could have positively
influenced my progress. One extra piece, when workout was over, everybody
seemed to know how to relax.. hakuna matata .. no worries.
What races do you have planned for the summer?
Ottawa 10k … small
break maybe … back to the drawing board. Ill keep you posted
Looking back at your time at Mac, what do you think has
most helped you in your running and
life?
A lot of wisdom
came from the coaching staff at Mac. I learned a lot and I am grateful for
their willingness to continually include my input into the entire process. I am
confident that this contributed to my success and ability to carry forward
making good healthy decisions with regard to my training.
The leadership
that was present in my first year to those who carry the team now have always
placed an emphasis on the team. For as long as I can remember, the marauder xc
and track teams have been a very tightly knit crew. I took this for granted
when I was at Mac but since leaving and having the opportunity to see various
training groups from a different perspective, what we produce is special and
unique. This cohesive environment is one that has the highest potential to
breed success. I am thrilled to have been apart of this and value these
experiences.
#tw
#tw
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