by: Jack McClintic
Before we get to the heart of the Speedwork update. Leno wanted to be quoted that the memorial babes were fewer but better, all concurred with his opinion. A few of them said hello to us, but this time at a distance. I think they have learned that the Tornados are there for Pain not Pleasure. We did spot Pappy and there were fewer babes, so in the interest of pure scientific research, there may be a positive correlation between Victor and babes.
Jeff, Jaime, Leno and I had a great time doing the same ladder as last week and all commented that our times were faster than last week. We were very glad that Jaime was there working hard, in fact, I believe he won the workout, since he experienced the most pain! For pain is what we were really after.
We also mentioned why we do speedwork, and most said it helped the race times come down. But on reflection I think the reason we do the speedwork is for a deeper, stronger, but more imperceptible reason, that is for the six virtues of Tornado Speedwork. They are sort of like Covey’s 7 Habits of Highly Successful People or like Saint Paul’s 8 Fruits of the Spirit. The Tornado Speedwork virtues are: creativity, humility, agility, frugality, notoriety, and victory.
- Creativity, our ability to invent new excuses each Tuesday as to why our times may not be as fast. I was going to use a slight fever yesterday, but Jaime’s’ excuse was so much better I forgot to say mine, he said he “was scared!”
- Humility, caused by going through heaps of pain and always seeing Leno just calmly stroking the ground with his turnover, always out of reach.
- Agility, the ability to run fast while making quick lateral moves to avoid oncoming runners and dogs. A much more practical session when compared to boring, straight ahead trackwork, plus our environment prepares the runner for all the passing required in a real race.
- Frugality, the Tornado speed session is the greatest amount of pain for the smallest price tag in town. There are runners who actually pay good money to a coach who just watches them achieve pain, here we experience your pain, and it’s free.
- Notoriety, your speed work achievements will be known by everyone at Cancun by Thursday or Sunday. You will always run harder so they will talk less!
- Victory, you will always be able to win at least one rep and claim utter victory, especially if Leno does not show!