Dr. Sheehan’s 3 Phases of the Athletic Journey

Dr. Sheehan’s 3 Phases of the Athletic Journey

By Coach Adolfo Salgueiro

I was recently reading a book by an author I’ve known for years, yet somehow never truly delved beyond his famous running quotes and the occasional column: Dr. George Sheehan.

The 3 Phases of Running: Train, Race, Reflect for Growth
Personal Best by Dr. George Sheehan

Dr. Sheehan was a physician, but his legacy lives on in running. A passionate marathoner and prolific writer, he captured the soul of the sport through his columns and books. He did not just write about miles, but about purpose, identity, and the human spirit. His words helped generations of runners live training not as exercise, but as a path to self-discovery.

Despite passing away in 1993, his legacy as one of the most influential running writers ever is undeniable. He wrote 12 books, starting in 1972.

A chapter from “Personal Best,” published in 1989, caught my attention because it proposes segmenting our athletic experience. Even though it is nothing revolutionary, stating the obvious reveals its genius.

The original text reads:

“The athletic experience can be divided into three parts. One is the preparation, the training of the body. Two is the event, the challenging of the self. And three, is the aftermath. And for the runner, the ultimate athletic experience is the marathon. It takes training and challenging and creating to the absolute limits.”

In 54 powerful words, we are invited to deconstruct our running lives and turn it into a rewarding yet challenging process for exploring our limits.

Let’s break it down so we can squeeze every morsel of our athletic journey.

1 – TRAINING OF THE BODY

While we may certainly enjoy better PRs in our favorite distances, we can choose from two approaches. Running ourselves to the ground and having a short career or taking the time to prepare so our body can be strong, resilient, and injury-resistant.

Living for the challenge of competition and craving the adrenaline rush of finish lines are part of the allure of the journey. Sheehan once said, “Racing is the lovemaking for the runner. It is hard to pass up”. And I agree. But to keep doing it constantly, year after year, we must teach the body.

It takes time, planning, and execution. It is a long road with no shortcuts. So, we’d better be smart and make the process enjoyable, or we won’t last the distance.

2 – CHALLENGE OF THE SELF

Ok. Here it is: The challenge. For us runners, it is usually racing, but it could be whatever gets your endorphins going. This is your personal journey. It may be breaking 20 or 30 in the 5K; or how far you can go before collapsing. The point is that you are in charge. You can’t run to fulfill someone else’s dream.

For Dr. Sheehan, the epitome of this challenge is the marathon: “The marathon fills our subconscious with this gospel. Taking a well-trained body through a grueling 26.2-mile race does immeasurably more for the self-concept and self-esteem than years with the best psychiatrist.”

The challenge of the self is an ever-changing target. Every success should create a new goal. Every failure (and they will happen) should trigger a reevaluation of the processes or even the goals. The challenge of the self is the most rewarding part of the journey.

The 3 Phases of Running: Train, Race, Reflect for Growth
Enjoying the process will be more rewarding than a wall full of medals, but if you play it smart, you can have both (ChatGPT Image)

3 – THE AFTERMATH

Every running cycle, every accomplished goal, every medal displayed on your wall, every PR, every time we fell short, or every time we just had fun with our friends is an opportunity to reap rewards from our efforts. And the more prepared you are for the journey, the longer and more enjoyable it will be.

In the same writing that gave birth to this blog post, Dr. Sheehan states: “The long-distance race is a struggle that results in self-discovery. It is an adventure into the limits of the self, representing for runners what has been called the moral equivalent of war—a theater for heroism, where the runner can do deeds of daring and greatness.”

My takeaway is that running can be a worthwhile, ever-changing journey if you allow it to be. But you must be purposeful and flexible, especially as you achieve your goals and pursue new ones as you get older. Enjoying the process will be more rewarding than a wall full of medals, but if you play it smart, you can have both.

Please let me know your thoughts in the comment box below.

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A Few Pointers for Marathon Training Season

A Few Pointers for Marathon Training Season

By Coach Adolfo Salgueiro

As marathon training season arrives, you may be gearing up for the autumn Marathon Majors. Or perhaps you’ve chosen a less hyped, but equally fulfilling, 26.2. So, I invite you to reflect: why do you subject yourself to this fun—yet masochistic—activity? For 99% of the world’s population, it’s the equivalent of self-flagellation.

Running a marathon is way more than an instagram post iwth a medal and a goofy smile (Image bu Grok)
Running a marathon is way more than an Instagram post with a medal and a goofy smile (Image by Grok)

Some run a marathon to challenge their limits. Others just for bragging rights. Some want to fulfill a personal journey: 6-Star, 50 States, or something only you know. Regardless of your reason, it won’t define your legacy, affect your paycheck, or change the respect of your loved ones. Keep it in perspective. Enjoy the process. Suffer through with a smile. Embrace the suck.

Enjoying the process so you avoid burnout is the key to any successful marathon training cycle. Sure, it will be hard, and at some point, you will suffer. Absolutely, you will have to sacrifice certain events because you must train the next day. It is a given that something will eventually hurt. And somewhere during the process, you will question your sanity. But it won’t be a fulfilling process if you burn out. If you do, it will be miserable. Not worth pursuing and easily abandoned. So, let’s avoid that. Here’s how?

Remember why you started â–ș This is a personal journey, whether it’s your first or your 100th marathon. Make the training a connection to the personal reasons that brought you here. No one is forcing you to do this. Embrace failure (it will happen), grow through the struggle, and own the process.

Trust the Process, not just the pace â–ș While time goals are worthy and valid and marathon pace training is a key component to the puzzle, trusting the process is more important. Remember that training is about a multitude of stimuli; it is not about perfection. Hit the effort, learn from the session, don’t obsess over splits. If you trust the process, you should hit the pace.

It is your race â–ș Focus on your progress and don’t let other runners define you. Beating your friend or earning a BQ are legitimate goals. But if you focus only on those, you’ll drain your joy, push too hard, or skip recovery. This is your experience, and nobody else’s.

It is about consistency â–ș Consistency beats perfection every time. Miss a workout? Move forward. Focus on the next one. Flexibility is important, but don’t mistake it for complacency. Obsessing over a missed long run is stressful and unproductive, especially if you did complete the other 14 of 16 in your program. Life happens.

Fueling for a marathon goes beyond race day (Image by Grok)
Fueling for a marathon goes beyond race day (Image by Grok)

Fuel your body properly â–ș Running a marathon requires a ton of fuel, not just on race day, but throughout training. This is not the time to lose weight, try a new detox fad, or fear carbs. Make sure your body has enough energy to perform and repair, so you can keep moving forward.

Remain resilient through strength training â–ș Strength training supports running. It protects your muscles, improves durability, and reduces the risk of injury. What more do you need to be convinced? Don’t think you can skip legs just because you’re already running. You don’t want to find out why the hard way.

Respect and prioritize recovery as part of training â–ș Rest days and easier weeks bring adaptation. Fitness grows when training and recovery are combined. Massage and therapies are a waste if you don’t prioritize sleep. Recovery gadgets are useless if you think they can replace the rest day you need. Be smart. You are not a machine. You are not indestructible.

Make sure to have fun â–ș As I said at the start, remember the reason you started. Don’t let social pressures take over the fun and fulfillment of the journey. Don’t be afraid to go easy on easy days. Run with friends and laugh. Give yourself permission for that post-run beer. Remember, your finish time is not what defines you as a human being.

Running a marathon is a formidable achievement. The 26.2 is a remarkable adversary. The challenge of training is what makes it special. So, be present, be purposeful, and above all, enjoy the process. Finishing a marathon is way more than an Instagram post showing a medal and a goofy smile.

Please share your thoughts on this subject in the comment box below.

👉 Want the key takeaways of this blog post? Watch the video summary here.

No, It’s Not OK to Wear a Finishing Shirt for a Race You Did Not Finish

No, It’s Not OK to Wear a Finishing Shirt for a Race You Did Not Finish

By Coach Adolfo Salgueiro

This past February 2nd, a controversy was sparked by an article that ran on the Runner’s World website. It was an opinion piece by a writer named Cole Townsend (whom I don’t know). The piece was titled: “Yes, It’s OK to Wear a Finisher’s Shirt for a Race You Didn’t Finish”. Hence, the rebuttal in the title of this blog post.

No, It’s Not OK to Wear a Finishing Shirt for a Race You Did Not Finish
If you did not finish the London Marathon in 2025, you should not be wearing this shirt.

Townsend states things as: “I think we need to have an honest conversation about who’s ‘allowed’ to buy finisher tees,” and “Your hard work doesn’t disappear because mile 1 or mile 19 didn’t happen”.

These statements, just as the article’s title, rubbed me the wrong way. Sure, everybody is entitled to their opinion. Sure, wearing a shirt that states you finished the Boston Marathon when you didn’t is trivial compared with what’s happening in Ukraine. Sure, you are not going to ponder what I may think when choosing your wardrobe. Yet, in my book, it is still not right.

Would you wear an Olympic medal you did not win around your neck, just because you own it? You can proudly display it at home, especially if a relative earned it. I display my dad’s marathon medals at home. But they are hung separately from my earned medals. They are my property, but not my achievements.

My beef with the entire affair is two-fold:

1 – How can an entity of Runner’s World’s reputation think that publishing this was OK? I am all pro-First Amendment, but you are not obligated to provide a tribune to someone for just about anything, especially if it is unsound, which it should be for runners. Would you run a story advocating the superiority or inferiority of a certain race, or defending a flat earth, just because it is someone’s opinion?

2 – The article, as the headline clearly states, talks about finisher shirts. A finisher’s shirt is earned when you finish a race, hence the name. Not when you register, not when your boyfriend crosses the finish line, not when you purchase it in a fire sale. This is not a participation trophy. This is between you and your conscience, sure, but in my book, it is still a lie.

I can’t believe Runner’s World ran this article.

Is it OK to wear a military uniform and let people assume you served your country? Would you walk through a mall wearing a priest’s cassock, or scrubs with a stethoscope draped over your shoulders? Exactly. And no, I’m not comparing military service or serving God to finishing a marathon. I’m pointing out something simpler: what you wear creates assumptions about who you are and what you’ve done. Letting those assumptions stand when they aren’t true is plain wrong.

There is a difference between a finisher’s shirt and a race or a souvenir shirt. If you ran London and brought me a hat, I would be grateful and wear it, even though I haven’t run it. When I returned to road racing after a 26-year hiatus, I gave my race shirt to my dad as a tribute, since he inspired me to start running when I was a kid. He wore it proudly. But it only said “2012 Miami Marathon and Half Marathon”; it didn’t state he finished the race, even though he ran the distance hundreds of times.

The author concludes with this statement: “We don’t need to start a ‘stolen valor’ debate. What you wear should reflect what matters to you—not what the internet thinks you’re entitled to. If you care, flip the question: why are you wearing it? If the answer is ‘because it means something to me,’ that’s enough.”

This would be a logical conclusion if the article didn’t state “Finisher’s Shirt”. That’s where, in my opinion, both the writer and the Runner’s World editors went terribly wrong.

Any thoughts? I really want to hear from runners who disagree with me. Please share in the comment box below.

You can read the article in this link: https://www.runnersworld.com/news/a70222480/finisher-shirt-stolen-valor/

Cardiac Health and Running (Updated)

Cardiac Health and Running (Updated)

By Coach Adolfo Salgueiro

A couple of weeks ago, a runner at the 19th mile of the Miami Marathon experienced cardiac arrest, and even though all safety protocols were followed and applied, he sadly passed. His name was Julien Autissier. He was just 33.

Unfortunately, these episodes continue to occur from time to time, and they cast a bad light on long-distance running. It really rubs me the wrong way because the media doesn’t report that people don’t just die from running. They usually die from a known or unknown condition that gets exacerbated while running. Or by disregarding basic safety protocols for hydration and/or heat safety during a run.

I wrote a blog post on cardiac health and running back in August 2021, triggered by a fatality in the Montreal Marathon. Today, after the unfortunate incident in Miami, I am rerunning an updated version.

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As athletes, especially runners, we are usually physically fit. It doesn’t matter if you weigh 120 pounds and look like a Kenyan or if you are on the 250+ side of the scale with an overhanging gut. You can have an unhealthy body yet still be fit. And this doesn’t mean you have a heart disease vaccine.

In the 1982 New York City Marathon, when my dad ran his first 26.2, a French runner collapsed and died. He saw it unfold as he passed by through the ruckus, which made it to the world’s newspapers the next day. It must have been quite an impression on a 16-year-old kid; 44 years later, I am telling you the story.

Unfortunately, this latest case in Miami is one of the handful of cases each year in which someone goes out for a run and doesn’t come back.

If the father of the first running boom in the United States is Frank Shorter, the Godfather is Jim Fixx, author of the mega 1977 bestseller “The Complete Book of Running”. In a pre-Internet, pre-Google era, this book democratized access to knowledge about our sport, including its cardiovascular benefits. This guru went for a run on July 20, 1984, at age 52, and died of a fulminant heart attack. He was in great shape, but his autopsy revealed he had atherosclerosis, with one artery blocked 95%, a second 85%, and a third 70%. His father had died at age 43 of a second heart attack.

Born to run, by Christopher McDougall

If you read the blockbuster “Born to Run”, you should remember Micah True, also known as Caballo Blanco. Well, he collapsed and died in 2012 at age 58 while running alone on a trail in New Mexico. The cause was reported as an underlying cardiomyopathy and atherosclerosis, discovered post-mortem. His death exposed how even elite endurance athletes, regardless of how long they’ve been running, may carry unknown heart conditions.

One of the most active and fit guys you will ever meet is Dave McGillivray. You may know him as the Boston Marathon Race Director since 2001. His athletic accolades include running across the United States (3,452 miles) in 80 days, running the Boston Marathon every year since 1973, being a 9-time Hawaii Ironman finisher, and participating in 1000+ organized races. Yet, in October 2018, at age 63, he underwent triple bypass surgery. His family’s cardiac history was against him, regardless of how fit he was. He is one of the lucky ones who can tell his story.

These are just three relevant cases that show that being a fit runner doesn’t necessarily mean you are cardiovascularly healthy. These two concepts are not necessarily inclusive.

And then, there’s me. I wouldn’t be honest with my readers if I did not include my personal cardiac experience in this writing. In 2019, during my yearly medical check-up, my doctor told me that even though a stress test wouldn’t do much for me because I was a marathoner, I should do it anyway, “because you never know”. And guess what? You don’t know. A congenital issue in my arteries was discovered. Unoxygenated blood was recirculating, bypassing the lungs, which created such stress for my heart that it could have provoked a heart attack. Then, on June 23, 2021, I underwent open-heart surgery to fix the issue. This “unneeded” stress test potentially saved my life. I have run 4000+ miles since, including 2 marathons and 13 halves.

I reran this updated blogpost today because I’d rather have you in the Dave McGillvray and Coach Adolfo column than in the Jim Fixx or Micah True camp. I beg you to understand that, despite an active and healthy lifestyle, you are not immune to the genetics of your ancestors or the sequels from your unhealthy habits before your active life. Get checked up. Now! You never know. I am proof of it.

5 Mindset Shifts for Your 2026 Running

5 Mindset Shifts for Your 2026 Running

By Coach Adolfo Salgueiro

If you are reading this post within the first few days of our brand-new year of our Lord 2026, your running goals should already be set and in motion. You shouldn’t need to cram in the later months, nor should you have to adjust because you were caught unprepared. If your goals are not set yet, click here before proceeding. If they are, let’s focus on how to achieve them.

Mindshifts to improve your running
It is all about the way you present it to yourself. Image by ChatGPT

A sure way to keep yourself focused on your goals is to shift certain paradigms in your mindset. Little adjustments that, when applied, should put you in a position to achieve your 2026 goals. Some may apply to you, some may not. Let’s check them out:

1 – Focus on effort, not on pace – Easy pace is not measured in minutes and seconds per mile. It is about effort. An easy effort, hence the name. Sure, there are workouts where specific paces must be maintained. There are speeds and progressions to hit. But that is only in selected training sessions. Most of your training is always at an easy pace. So, keep it easy. Let the pace be a product of your effort, not the other way around. If sharing it on Instagram is embarrassing, keep it to yourself.

2 – Break your training into sections – Every single training has components that must be compartmentalized and distinguished so they can be appropriately executed. A light mobility session and a warm-up should be part of every single run. It is once you’ve taken care of these that your actual training session, where there are benefits to realize, starts. Regardless of what it is. Short intervals, long intervals, fartlek, progressions, you name it, all consist of segments that should be understood, respected, and executed. They are all there for a reason, so don’t rush or skip them. The same applies to the cool-down. There’s no need to jump into your car 30 seconds after turning off your watch.

3 – Running is a privilege, not a chore – Why do you run? Is anyone forcing you? Is the Boogeyman going to catch you if you stop? We run because we have chosen it as our sport, our vehicle for health, or our release valve from the stresses of life. Make it an enjoyable part of your day, not a chore. Make it your “me time” or your “social time” with your buddies. Will there be days when you would rather walk through crushed glass than go for a run? Of course! But those should be few and far between. Our running is not guaranteed. Injuries, time constraints, family demands, weather, work, and so many other distractions conspire against our running time. Understand the privilege of being able to run today and be thankful for it.

Mindshifts to improve your running

4 – Reframe your thoughts – Most runs don’t fall apart because your legs quit, but because of a thought you let go unchallenged. “I’m slowing down.” “This isn’t my day.” “I should back off.” Reframing is stepping in and editing that sentence before it becomes a decision. Not with unquestioning optimism, but with perspective. ‘I’m tired because I’m working.’ This pace still gets me where I need to go. “I don’t need to quit; I need to adjust. Once you start deliberately executing this, you will realize how often your mind jumps to conclusions your body hasn’t made yet. Running becomes less about fighting discomfort and more about managing the dialogue that surrounds it. Change the words, and the experience will often follow.

5 – Running is a journey, not a destination – There is no finish line. Races, PRs, and medals matter, of course, but they are just checkpoints. Accepting running as a lifetime journey changes the measurement of success. It’s no longer about faster times or longer distances, but about what running teaches you along the way. The patience to keep training when progress is slow. The humility of setbacks. The satisfaction of keeping showing up.  Goals stop being pressure points and become refueling stations. They give direction without defining your worth as a runner. Miss one, and the journey continues. Hit one, and you keep moving forward. This mindset will keep you running for decades to come. Not because you are chasing one more medal, but because running still has something to teach you.

In 2026, let’s focus on the joy of running. Achievements and setbacks are part of the process, part of what makes running special. Always remember why you chose to run.

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