Dear Runner: Curiosity > Confidence
“I write from my knowledge not my lack, from my strength not my weakness. I am not interested if anyone knows whether or not I am familiar with big words, I am interested in trying to render big ideas in a simple way. I am interested in being understood not admired.”
Dear Runner,
I want to apologize for the misguided coaching you’ve been receiving. As a running coach, I believe you have to be willing to question and at times, dismantle your belief system when the results don’t add up. Today is that day. Let me explain…
Runners have been told that confidence, both in your training, and or on race day, is vital to success. For centuries, coaches and supporters have belted out phrases like “You got this” while cheering on runners on race day. We said things like “stay confident, and “trust your training” in an effort to support you in your moment. These statements are intended to be positive, and coming from a pure and well-intended space. Depending on the runner or situation, they may have even aided you, or someone you know, to reach their goals. However, history would argue that plenty of accomplished athletes find success despite misguided and misinformed coaching.
Confidence according to Webster is defined as belief in one’s self, or ability. Full trust; belief in the powers, trustworthiness, or reliability of a person or thing. The question is: has any runner, or athlete for that matter had a successful race/competition simply because they woke up feeling confident? The truth of the matter is: no one is entitled to success because they feel confident in themselves. Furthermore, (pardon my honesty) no great athlete, or person for that matter, cemented their legacy simply because of a feeling or a belief. Confidence is a positive thing for many athletes, but we can not sustain off confidence alone because:
Everyone isn’t confident all the time.
You don’t control each variable that contributes to your results.
I remember the conditions for the 2022 New York City Marathon. The early November race conditions were in the high 70s, with humidity that made it feel like the mid 80s. There wasn’t a ton of confidence on the course that day. In part because runners and coaches understand that race conditions can have a major impact on race results. A number of brilliant, qualified and credible coaches changed their tunes that day. They didn’t tell their runners to “trust their training”, or “ stay confident”. Instead, many of them grabbed additional hydration packs and rightfully cautioned their runners about safety and the grueling conditions. The question I have as a coach and runner: How absolute and definitive can I be about instilling confidence in myself and other runners, if my coaching philosophy and expectations for my athletes are subject to change based on circumstances we can’t control?
Everybody has a game plan until they get punched in the face. Of course you’ll feel confident about hitting a new PR, especially right after you finish a great workout. How confident are you when your last 2 weeks of training workouts don’t go so well? How confident are you when you embark on your training journey, and you feel physically healthy, but the runs feel harder than ever? What then says the coach that believes confidence is king, after their athlete is faced with adversity that no one could prepare for? What is confidence going to do for you then? Confidence is binary. You either have it, or you don’t. And if you don’t have confidence, you’re screwed. That logic just isn’t sustainable for athletes. Furthermore; plenty of people navigate life and running, on a daily basis with little to no confidence.
Confidence, although powerful and practical, is merely the ego attempting to comfort itself, in hopes of reaching a desired goal. It works for some, but as stated above; it’s not absolute. Curiosity is…
Competitive sports are predicated on curiosity. Athletes compete for a number of reasons. One of them is to answer simple but impactful questions. Who will win the women’s 100mm final? Who is going to win the Super Bowl? Sport’s culture, in part, is driven by questions and the desire to arrive at answers. (stay with me now, I promise I’m going to get to it). So tapping into the energy of curiosity, especially to inspire or motivate athletes; makes logical sense to me. Race day for a runner is no different. So it’s naive to believe every athlete showed up on race day feeling confident. But we, confident or not, still show up and cross that starting line.
I believe that framing race training, and or the race itself, through the lens of curiosity invites runners/athletes to ease their way into an intentional connection with their bodies, and the needed steps to reach a very specific goal. Curiosity welcomes the unknown and invites you to define success through the spirit of exploration. It invites you to be clear and concise about the obstacles ahead of you. Instead of coaches deviating from confidence on race day because the race conditions are difficult; they could ask their athletes: How hard are you willing to run in these tough conditions? The question is direct and simple. Yet, it allows the athlete to answer with total control and awareness. The same logic can be applied to someone who runs with headphones. How hard are you willing to race, when your headphones die? It creates a singular focus for the athlete while inviting them to explore the solution(s) along the way.
Leaning on confidence creates a false sense of security because none of us know the outcome of a race until we cross the finish line. We are not guaranteed to have success simply because we wake up feeling confident, or because we “put the work in”. Anyone can feel confident in themselves when the circumstances are favorable-but greatness does not concern itself with circumstances. It simply defies them, no matter how difficult the odds might be.
Coaches tell their athletes to be confident, failing to consider the obvious fact that everyone isn’t confident all the time. Some would say “You either trained to be good enough on race day, or you didn’t”, but athletes who’ve committed to training know that preparation doesn’t guarantee success. Instead of coaching you up with confidence, i’m inviting you to approach race day/race training with curiosity. Start your workout/race with a specific question about something vital to your success that day: What does my best look like when the race conditions are bad? How hard am I willing to run to reach my goal today? How bad do I want it? From there, give yourself the full race course to explore. The answer awaits you at the finish line. Stay curious, fam.
~Coach P