Make The Right Choice
Issue #3
"I used to be."
I used to run a 3:10 marathon. I used to place in my age group. I used to be fast. I used to be something that I am no longer.
My coach, Lisa Smith-Batchen, was explaining the sad truism that seems to derail more aging athletes than does any injury.
Lisa Smith-Batchen at the 1998 Badwater 135, where she won the women's division for the second straight year.
I was sitting at my dining room table at the time, the Atlantic stretched out in front of me, beyond which was America, my birthplace and the country I ran across in 2021. Her words hit home.
Lisa is 66, a legendary endurance athlete for 50 years and a coach for over 40. She sees the same pattern constantly: athletes who can't let go of the person they were when they were younger and in their prime. Over the years, it became their identity. So, now, perhaps older and slower than before, they often pushed too hard, chasing the old personal bests and records, until their bodies broke down. Or, they quit altogether because the gulf between then and now was too painful to face.
Most athletes are familiar with the dreaded three letters – DNF. Did Not Finish. A stigma, a black mark, to be avoided at all costs.
Coach Lisa decided to replace DNF with a concept she calls MTRC: Make the Right Choice. Go slower if it helps you finish a run. Run shorter distances. And, sometimes choose to stop, if you have to. Stopping, aborting a run, is not failure, she insists. It’s simply making the right choice for you, a decision that might even help you avoid serious injury. During my run across America, I had to stop at 371 miles with a Grade 3 stress fracture. Oh, I was disappointed, crushed! But because I stopped. I was able to heal my injury and get back on the road to complete the nearly 3,000 more miles.
Lisa and I, celebrating the finish of my run across America. Muir Beach, September 2021.
One of Lisa's athletes is 94. She strength-trains twice a week, walks four miles a day, and skis Jackson Hole regularly. Four generations of her family skied with her on her 94th birthday. Instead of chasing times, this skiing nonagenarian has found the sweet spot between sustaining movement and remaining injury free.
Sustainability over performance. That is the goal for me as a 62-year-old. And how it has changed my athletic landscape!
My runs are longer but slower. The places are more interesting because I make the time to stop and take it all in. The pressure of competing has disappeared, replaced by joy and finding magic in being present during a big, beautiful adventure.
"The word 'race' does not exist in my life anymore,” Lisa told me, “but the word 'participate' does!"
But don't wait. Don’t put off your dreams of going on an adventure. Do it as soon as you can.
Last Sunday evening, after a long hike with a friend, Lisa suffered a stroke. Thankfully, her husband had the wherewithal to get her to the hospital immediately. She is recovering now and already talking about getting back out there, where she is happiest.
None of us knows how much time we have. Let go of chasing who we were as athletes and start building a new version of who we can still be.
It’s not simply a better strategy, it’s an urgent one.
Hope to see you on the road.
Cheers, David.
PS: You can learn more about Lisa on her most recent interview.
