What the fart just happened to the Olympics. F*ck me, what a seven days or more it’s been, my poor little brain hasn’t been able to rest since IAAF released the new standards and qualification process, to make Tokyo 2020.

Given that Tokyo 2020 and becoming an Olympian was right at the top of my priority list, over EVERYTHING else, it’s been a raining sh*t storm of scheming in the last 7-10 days.

Including but in no particular order:
– Maybe I should bypass World Champs in favour of a faster or better points race.
– Maybe I should enter a marathon right now, LONDON how many weeks away?
– Maybe I should start racing marathons back to back, Berlin, Dublin, Valencia.
– F*ck this, I’m running World Champs.
– But Dublin is a far better points scenario – (Researches points opportunities in all IAAF marathons).
– Predicts points I can make in the next 16 months.
– World Champs is out.
– Googles weather in Doha for the month of October – World Champs is 100% out.
– Who in their right mind, missing an opportunity at World Champs in favour of National Champs.
– World Champs is back in.
– Maybe I should race the Belfast Marathon because I want to.
– Be amazing to win Belfast.

That’s not even close to the back / fourth my brain has been going round and round, for the previous seven days, researching as much as I can, reading what others have researched… bla bla bla.

Text coach Haas today: “If given the opportunity to run at a World Championship and represent my country, I’m going.” I / we, need to go back to our original plan, calm the F*ck down, and go back to basics…

One thing is certain, improving your fitness and ability to race a marathon faster than you’ve ever done before, “WILL NOT HINDER” your chances of being an Olympian in 2020.

It’s a shame all this happened in such a short period of time, I’ve been documenting my journey for well over three months now, and until seven days ago, I assumed my 2:14:34 at Houston marathon would be good enough to make the Olympics, (The only scenario were I thought it wouldn’t) is if three Irish people ran faster.

The 1080 points, I scored at Houston for 2:14:34, won’t be good enough unless it’s combined with perhaps 1130-40 points, and that might bring my average to around 1110, a score I predict will be good enough for the Olympics.

1130 = 2:11:48 “Without bonus points”
1130 = 2:14:23 “WIN National Champs” – Given Dublin marathon is probably 90 seconds – two minutes at least, slower than a Berlin, or a Houston Marathon. That’s basically 2:12:30.
1130 in half marathon = 61:30 – “Aye do that in my sleep mate”

As you can see, Houston Marathon as far as I can see it, will not be good enough to contribute to being an Olympian, even though in 2016, the fastest Irish marathon runner to make RIO was 2:14:55. “Sigh”

Photo: Foon Fu

For those assuming they can go to their National Champs and bank big points / become an Olympian… WRONG, you need two scoring results.. so even if you run well at your National Champs, (first of all), only one athlete can bank the “45” bonus points… that athlete will then need to run probably around 2:13:30 elsewhere, unless they run sub 2:14:30 at Dublin, “Given I’m the fastest Irish marathon runner in nine years, on a pancake flat course, I can’t see that happening.

“Seems highly unlikely” it’s more likely the athlete who wins the Irish National Champs will run 2:15:00 or around that, 1120 points “Including 45 bonus points” – That athlete could still be me, if I recover well from Doha. “That’s the scenario the IAAF” is putting Irish athletes in, either miss World Champs, or try to recover in three weeks and use National Champs as an opportunity to gain some bonus points”.

Now the National Champ has 1120 points, second place in 2:15:01 “Sprint finish” has 1110, the National Champ will need to go somewhere and get 1100 points… 2:13:31, or 62:16. The athlete in second at the National Champs will need 1110, 2:12:56, or 62.01. The only evidence that suggests 1110 is needed to make the Olympics is based on current rankings.

Bare in mind, NOBODY has ever really tried to get higher points, i.e. run fast at National Champs, or chase points etc… so I would assume it will become harder, I also believe that 10-15 athletes will qualify for the Olympic Marathon and not be ranked… i.e. Bekele runs Berlin, finishes third, “auto qualifies or gains entry requirement” (Probably by time, top five at a gold label marathon, and top 10 at a marathon major” if King Kenny doesn’t race again “not unheard of” he won’t be in the rankings…

YOU NEED TWO scoring events to be ranked – **Hence why Ann-Marie McGlynn is not currently ranked** even though her 72.00 at Barcelona is worth 1099 points, and probably bonus points on top of that, as Barcelona half marathon is a GOLD label, “10 bonus points” 1109” That puts Ann-Marie in a great position to make Tokyo 2020 – 80th place in the women’s right now is 1106.

But remember what I said above, if athletes who aren’t ranked, hit an entry requirement then it may means only 65 athletes will go to the Olympics from the ranking system (Therefore you will need to be ranked top 65, unless other athletes choose not to go, or their federation does not choose to select them… more on this below), and 15 will be put forward because of entry standards… “2:11:30, or 2:29:30, top five at gold label marathon, top 10 at World Champs, top 10 at marathon majors etc”.

So difficult to predict

So as you can see, the system is pretty difficult to predict, and there has not really been a precedence for this, and so nobody can actually predict what might happen (can I just add those arguing the points system is easier than before, better, or whatever, AREN’T the athletes out there trying to work this out, nor are they even trying to make the Olympics).

How many points will make each event etc… Imagine the sh*t storm in say the men’s 1500m, I would guess at least 15 athletes will qualify via an entry standard, 3:35.00 but not be in the rankings, because they might not race five “scoring” events… so if you’re a 1500m runner, how on earth will you keep track of who’s ranked, who’s not, who might not want to go in the 1500m, etc…” I also have no clue how this scenario will work, first of all, the IAAF will release those eligible via the rankings on June 1st.

I assume they’ll calculate three per country (ignore which three per country it is, because Kenya will have 150 possible athletes who could qualify etc… but it’s still three ahead of say me) and also those who have qualified via entry standards… say that number is 15. The IAAF will release lists – Kenya might have 150 athletes who technically “with three per country” would make the top 80… USA maybe 10, “BUT they’re only sending guys with an entry standard” That was decided today, and spoken about on Lets Run… MADNESS… anyway let’s say, 15 guys have entry standards, and they’re not ranked “Because they only raced one scoring event in the last 18 months” RARE, but not impossible…

First of all, this will happen on June 1st, so I’m sitting in Ireland, waiting to hear about selection… 65 guys will be eligible from the rankings… three per country and top 65. Let’s say I’m ranked 68th… BUT, USA decides to only send one, Sweden decides they only want to send athletes who run sub 2:11:30, therefore the three Swedish guys ahead of me, and two USA guys who didn’t run 2:11:30 are now removed.. same for ITALY, and Germany…

I’m now ranked 63rd… and technically, I’m in a quota “top 80” position (Remember 80 spots available, but 15 spots were allocated from athletes who hit entry standards but weren’t ranked, at what point does this new list get released… i.e. a list of athletes who weren’t eligible in the first rankings, but are now eligible because the USA only sent one, Sweden didn’t send anybody etc… “AGAIN” This will happen… According to the official documents 2-5th July – IAAF will reallocate all unused quota places… For F*ck sake, that’s four weeks out from an Olympic marathon in TOKYO 40+ degrees Celsius, and with that, it ruins the Olympics.

THAT WILL happen, it’s fact, the original released list of qualified athletes couldn’t possibly factor in “countries who don’t plan to use points” athletes who perhaps qualified in two events… and won’t choose the marathon etc… It’s a sh*t show.

So that’s where I’m at, like I said above, I WILL NOT be missing the World Championships in favour of “points”, it goes against everything I believe in, going down that route is giving up on being the best athlete I can possibly be, in favour of trying to squeeze my way into an Olympic marathon field via bonus points… That’s not me, and I don’t want the future of my career to take shape like that.

– Maybe I can fly to China and find a marathon only 5-6 people run fast at “BONUS points”.
– Maybe I can enter as many gold label marathons as possible and hope I get points…

F*ck no.

Maybe I can train more, get faster, and become an Olympian because I’m a better / faster and more consistent marathon runner.

I hope the above materializes, and I hope under this new system no matter what happens, if I improve my personal best, and run 2:13**, or 2:12** I hope I become an Olympian.

So the above is all a bit confusing and it was supposed to be because that’s how confusing the IAAF has made this… Unless you run 2:11:30, or you hit enough points you’re sitting in the top 60 (maybe) in the rankings system… I think your preparation will be far from ideal for the Olympics… You still might get selected, which is great, but if you don’t get selected and you’ve pumped 3000 quid into an altitude and hot weather camp… well sh*t happens I guess.

Anyway, I’m going for a run, because that’s about the only thing I’m sure of right now… More training will help my position in all this bullsh*t.

Apologies for swearing, I love you all, sorry this was a lot of rambling… Love Scullion.

Stephen Scullion features in the ‘Fast 10: class of 2019’ and over the course of the year will share his running journey. You can follow Stephen on Twitter and Instagram, and you can check out his podcast here. Further information about the ‘class of 2019’ can be found here.

Are you a fan of Fast Running? Then please support us and become a patron. For as little as the price of a monthly magazine you can support Fast Running – and it only takes a minute. Thank you.

The post Trying to make sense of the Toyko 2020 marathon qualification appeared first on Fast Running.

‘Process over outcome’ reads like something out of a statistics textbook or a research paper, but I promise this blog is linked to running, and your running.

If I can grab your attention long enough to read this post, I hope in return you learn something about yourself. And if I can grab your attention for the entire year, then perhaps you will learn enough about yourself, and your running, that these blogs might make a difference.

I will share my own experiences, lessons I’ve learnt, and mistakes I’ve made, in the hope that at the end of my ramblings you’ll find more joy in your running, more consistency in your training, and whether or not your results improve it won’t matter, because you’ll find invincibility. The kind of feeling that will remove all the negative bull sh*t, that might be holding you back.

My name is Stephen Scullion and you probably already know enough about me. Not because of my fabulous running CV, the more likely reason is that I like to TALK, A LOT – and as a result share far too much all the time.

You may or may not like this about me, and you may or may not have to like me, but I am only human. Perhaps at some point in the past I made decisions or choices that upset you, but if I’ve learnt anything from my experiences over the last three to four years, it is that life passes by far too fast, and experiences come and go before we know it.

So let me be the first to apologise to anybody in my past that I have upset. There will be plenty, and maybe if you’re reading this and know you should do the same to others… why not do that!?

It may be a cheesy line… BUT life really is way too short. Going off topic a little there, but at the end of the day, it shouldn’t matter what you think about me, if you share my passion for running, then this blog will probably be of interest to you.

I love running, I mean really love it! It wasn’t always the case, or maybe it kind of was, but my emotions and decisions outside of the ‘running portion of my day’ didn’t allow me to fully love running as much as I do now.

I said on my podcast that it wouldn’t bother me if I ran like a ‘big bag of poop’ at the Houston Marathon. I would still put on my recovery tights, drink my recovery drink, and move on to the next goal. You might find it hard to believe, but that’s the truth.

Photo: Foon Fu

I’m in such a good place with my life, and running career it wouldn’t have derailed me like it might have done in the past. So the above wasn’t a complete lot of nonsense. I am sure you agree that life passes by very fast, so why then do runners insist on being so hard on ourselves, and take running so personal all the time?

My life’s not perfect, it’s far from it, I have money problems, I depend on lots of people to keep my dreams alive, but I’ve found ‘the thing’ I love to do more than anything in the world, and I’ve learnt to enjoy the process of being the best athlete, and person I can possibly be.

Both seem to be working hand in hand, and my results seem to be improving consistently because of that.

This wasn’t always the case

In 2016, I tore my quad 10 days before the London Marathon. I can tell you, with absolute certainty, that still to this day it was the fittest I’ve ever been, but the build-up was reckless, both in terms of execution and in terms of being a very aggressive program.

I was an athlete who had never run over 100 miles a week, to then averaging 120 for about 10 weeks in a row. As I said, it was aggressive, and with 10 days to go, I tore my quad.

I started and finished the race with a quad tear, hobbled to the elite tent after and cried my eyes out, then quit running! I text Nic Bideau, my coach at the time, telling him I was retiring… and I followed through with it at the time.

The 2016 version of Stephen Scullion, was a very emotional man, and I wasn’t in control of myself at all. I can honestly say I’m a much better version of myself now, and happier version of myself. If you want to know more about the emotional breakdowns I’ve had over the years – and there’s been plenty – listen to my podcast ‘Through hell and back’.

The podcasts I record are a bit of fun, but in my blogs, I want to simply share experiences I’ve had, and perhaps in doing so, it will make you think about your own experiences, and learn from both.

It’s not about marketing myself, I’m not planning on telling you the amazing sessions I do, or how great I did in a race. I hope my articles on Fast Running will act as a storytelling blog, with lots of advice and tips along the way.

It will be difficult for me to delve into my stories as I do on the podcast, probably because I can’t swear and because I’m not the most amazing writer in the world. But I promise I’ll try (and I’ll proofread too… not something I care to do very much).

Process over outcome

Process over outcome and more specifically learning to love the process over the outcome. For far too long the only part of running I ever REALLY focused on was the outcome, what will it mean when I run 2:14, make the Olympics, the tracksuit, the tattoo, the contract, the women chasing me, the fame and Instagram followers.

These are all the things that I don’t even think about now, but for a long time, that was the only part of running I thought about or really cared for. There’s nothing wrong with enjoying or being motivated by the rewards of running well, BUT, if you trip at the first hurdle because you can’t deal with having a bad tempo, or race, then focusing on the rewards was a waste. Learn to love the process, then learn to love the rewards. They can be pretty great!

I have learnt to love the process of achieving those very things that I used to care far too much about. Learning to love the process takes practice, and it means you have to love it all, the good days (easy), the bad days (very tough), winning races (fun), and losing races (awful).

Changing from an athlete that used to retire four times a year, and learning to love thing like ‘losing’ was hard for me. But if you think of running logically, we train to get better, and the only way to test if the training has worked, is racing.

Some people love racing, others hate it. I used to be a mixture of the two, but I took races super super personal, and I don’t think that’s the right attitude. Think of it logically, most races are testing if training is working, some races have more importance than others (trials, championships, etc.), but actually, it’s the same logical principles.

You are testing all the training and dedication over a period of time and seeing if it helped you achieve your goals or not. When the race is over, you either achieved your goals and celebrate or you didn’t achieve your goals and it’s back to the drawing board. Now I actually go to the drawing board after every race, whether I achieve my goals or not.

Off topic and just a quick pointer, racing is not pass or fail. I love the line ‘win or learn’. Really buy into that, winning can be the top 10 and your goal is achieved, or placed 20th and learn from the experience to figure out what you need to do to in order to make the top 10 in future.

It’s important for me, and I think it should be for you, to debrief, reflect and list what went well and what didn’t! That way you can learn something and you can go back to a logical standpoint. You figure out if recent training and dedication worked, and if it didn’t, what could you do differently? Figure out your limitations and then work out a way to improve them, it’s that simple.

Photo: Stephen Haas

But it’s only simple when you’re willing to enjoy the process, and the most successful athletes I’ve seen at the elite level, are the most persistent. They don’t quit. That sounds obvious, but that’s because a bad day, isn’t the end of the world, it’s feedback that tells the athlete something didn’t go as planned.

I’ve seen over 10 Olympians have poor sessions, but they still do their double run or weights that day, and they get over it quickly.

Guess what, sometimes it’s not your fault, sometimes it’s just because we’re human, sometimes it’s weather, sometimes it’s a lack of specific training or health issues etc. We are so quick to jump on our own backs when a race or training doesn’t go well, but I think we need to stop doing that. Cut ourselves a little slack, drop the hardball act, and start thinking more logical about our approach to being better.

Why is it so important to enjoy the process?

– Better consistency
– More fun
– Fewer tantrums
– Laugh when you race badly instead of crying
– Better results in the long term
– Longer and more enjoyable career

How do you go about enjoying the process?

There isn’t a simple answer, but the first stage I would suggest is patting yourself on the back right now for making it to your current level in running.

Running and athletics is one of the most difficult sports, so congratulate yourself now and more often. The hard days, wet days, snow days, sore muscle days, windy days… do I need to go on?

The investment, financially, emotionally, borrowed money, physio bills, training trips, race entry fees, Strava pro, equipment bills, blah blah blah… so for goodness sake, give yourself a little more credit, and be less harsh on yourself when things don’t go the way you imagined in your head.

Learn to plan, and then learn to reflect on how the plan went, how could it go better next time, what logical reason is there for it being better?

Are you going to add better training, smarter training, new training, more training, training with a group, training with a coach? Stick to the plan in the future, add in core work, add in better nutrition, then when things do go well, smile and stay calm.

But when things go bad, reward yourself for not giving up, or reward yourself for being smart if you need a day off. Stop punishing yourself or spitting the dummy out of the pram, just take a step back and breathe. Laugh at how excited your brain (‘chimp’) was behaving and move on.

I have a very interesting relationship with my own brain now, and often I need to take a step back and almost think “wow big guy, you need to relax”.

Looking back at the 2017 Dublin Marathon, I had a stinker and raced emotionally which killed me and my body. For three miles I was thinking if I just collapsed on the road, surely the medics would just pick me up. I went from running 5:10 per mile, to 6.30-45 and I could barely lift my legs.

Anyway, in the post-race tent the meet director was walking towards me, probably to ask how I was. I started to think about crying, and it was as if I going through the physical actions of a breakdown, but mid-breakdown, I decided to wise up, because I knew deep down that’s not me and to stop that nonsense.

Afterwards, I was able to have a laugh about it. The emotional ‘chimp’ like behaviour is 100% part of me, and I can’t always control what it thinks, but I can absolutely choose whether or not I fuel that part of my brain. Most of the time I laugh or ignore it, and it tends to bugger off, and I can think logically again.

At the Houston Marathon, I took a wrong turn, ran about 60 to 70 metres in the wrong direction before somebody jumped in front of me and yelled: “You’re going the wrong way.” Even though I did turn and stop too quickly, I handled the situation as smoothly as I could.

I still find it amazing now, that I simply turned and rejoined the race course without a care in the world. It’s very simple, I’ve just found some kind of love for the process.

Now, after I finish a race I don’t add up all the decisions I’ve made, the sacrifices and then weigh up was it worth it, or question if I should keep going in this sport. I know everything is part of the process and I’m just living my dream.

If you can learn to love the worst parts of this sport, then you absolutely deserve and will get the best results you’ve ever dreamed of.

Stephen Scullion features in the ‘Fast 10: class of 2019’ and over the course of the year will share his running journey. You can follow Stephen on Twitter and Instagram, and you can check out his podcast here. Further information about the ‘class of 2019’ can be found here.

Are you a fan of Fast Running? Then please support us and become a patron. For as little as the price of a monthly magazine you can support Fast Running – and it only takes a minute. Thank you.

The post Process over outcome appeared first on Fast Running.

Stephen Scullion’s running highlights to date include running 2:15:55 to finish 12th at the 2018 London Marathon and winning the Irish 10,000m title in the same year.

Among the long distance runner’s goals for 2019 are personal bests from 5k to the marathon as well as breaking the Northern Ireland marathon and 10,000m records.

Profile

Name: Stephen Scullion
Age (Jan 2019): 30
Hometown: Belfast
Club: Clonliffe Harriers
Main disciplines: 10,000m to marathon
Full-time athlete/work/studying: Full-time athlete

Goals or targets for 2019

1) PB from 5k to marathon
2) Finish in the top 20 at the Doha World Championships
3) Average 85-90 miles per week for the year
4) Rank number one in Ireland for the marathon
5) Break the Northern Ireland marathon and 10,000m records

Running highlights

1) London Marathon 12th place: 2:15:55
2) Houston Half Marathon: 63:16
3) Portland track 10,000m: 28:37
4. AAI 2018 National Champion 10,000m: 29:25

Personal bests

Marathon: 2:15:55
10,000m: 28.37
Half Marathon: 63:16
1500m: 3:43.60

Interesting or fun facts

I’m not that fun, I used to be.

I run because…

I’ve accepted it’s what I’m born to do. I might have been the 100,000th best web developer in the UK and Ireland, but I can be one of the best runners.

Favourite training session

I am a big fan of the long steady run, looking at 20-24 miles at 5.20-30 per mile – I love consistent rhythm and effort.

Least favourite training session

Hills, DID I mention I hate hills.

Favourite pre-race food

I don’t really have one.

Favourite post-race food

I don’t get that hungry really, usually just tired and happy it’s all over.

Favourite runner or runners

That’s a tough one – The Big Mazungo (Craig Mottram) was my first real idol.

Brands or organisations that support me

Under Armour and Maurten.

Stephen Scullion features in the ‘Fast 10: class of 2019’ and over the course of the year will share his running journey. You can follow Stephen on Twitter and on Instagram. Also, you can check out his podcast here.

Further information about the ‘class of 2019’ can be found here.

Are you a fan of Fast Running? Then please support us. For as little as the price of a monthly magazine you can support Fast Running – and it only takes a minute. Thank you.

The post Fast 10: Stephen Scullion appeared first on Fast Running.