Coach Croft

I was going to turn this into a big, beefy carousel about capacity. Ironically, I do not currently possess the full capacity for that.

So instead, you get a Garmin snapshot and a reminder that capacity and available capacity are not the same thing.

We tend to talk about capacity like it’s a fixed ceiling. You built the capacity for 30 miles a week, so you should be able to run 30 miles this week. You’ve handled this workout before, so you should be able to handle it today.

But, unfortch, bodies don’t work like that. Heart rate fluctuates… Blood pressure fluctuates. Hormones fluctuate. Cortisol fluctuates. Energy, sleep, performance and training load fluctuate. Sometimes day to day, sometimes hour to hour, sometimes moment to moment.

Anddddd Capacity fluctuates too.

Built capacity is what you’ve developed over time through training and experience.

Available capacity is how much of that you can actually access under the conditions that exist right now.

And your workout doesn’t enter an empty system.

Your body may already be managing poor sleep, emotional stress, cognitive load, work, caregiving, relationships, heat, hormones, fueling, recovery from previous training and the general nonsense involved in being a human before you ask it to run a single mile.

Training doesn’t get first dibs on your resources. That’s why the same mileage can feel completely manageable one week and wildly expensive the next. It’s why a workout you’ve done before can suddenly feel much harder without your fitness having mysteriously disappeared.

The amount of capacity available to meet the demand changed. Being able to complete the training doesn’t necessarily mean you had enough available capacity to absorb it, recover from it and adapt to it.

Sometimes we push. Sometimes we maintain. Sometimes we reduce the demand to protect the capacity we’ve already built.

Capacity isn’t a fixed ceiling. It’s a range we’re constantly moving within.

So, no big beefy carousel today. Apparently we’re practicing the lesson instead 🫠

The internet has enough hot takes. So I decided to bring the temperature down a little.

Welcome to Cold Takes, where the advice may be significantly less dramatic, but it comes with a little context, some nuance, and the deeply inconvenient truth that athletes are actual human beings.

No universal protocols. No pretending one study settled the matter forever. No turning protein intake, Zone 2, strength training, menopause, mileage, recovery, or whatever we’re yelling about this week into a personality trait.

Just some things I’ve learned from years of coaching runners, training myself, paying attention, changing my mind when the evidence warrants it, and refusing to pretend there’s one magical way to build a strong athlete.

Here’s the first batch.

They probably won’t make the algorithm as happy as “EVERY WOMAN OVER 40 MUST DO THIS.”

I can live with that.

Got this weather alert today. Thanks, weather channel.

Remember to drink lots of electrolytes and stay indoors between 11:00 a.m. and November 1st.

Cougar Puberty has already installed a furnace inside your body. There is absolutely no reason to involve the sun.

This trio is basically a nature documentary about the stages of summer running:

First, you start considering whether a random discarded pillow on the side of the trail is actually a sign from the universe. Rest here, weary traveler. And listen, I would have. But it was in full sun and I do still have some standards.

Then you encounter a tiny lizard who appears to have been air-fried directly onto the concrete and think, “Same, buddy. Same.”

And finally, you finish the run marinating in your own sweat with enough b**b sweat to personally resolve the drought conditions in several surrounding counties.

Summer running is going great.

We’re building heat adaptations.
We’re building character.
We’re apparently being seasoned and cooked at 400° until crispy.

Anyway, see you tomorrow. I have miles to run for reasons I can no longer adequately explain.

We spend a lot of time talking about the communities we wish existed. At some point, we also have to ask what we’re doing to help build them.

Community isn’t found. It’s practiced. And sometimes leadership is simply deciding to hold the door open for the person coming behind you.

Swipe for more on not only community, but also transparency 🩵

It has been a while since I’ve done a proper reintroduction, and considering this little corner of the internet continues to grow… we should probably fix that.

Hi. I’m Becky.

Running coach. Strength coach. Menopause educator. Indigenous woman. Inconvenient truth teller. Recovering people pleaser.

I coach Masters + peri/menopausal athletes because the fitness industry has spent far too long pretending women become decorative after 40. I respectfully disagree.

My coaching style is pretty simple:
Do no harm. Take no s**t.

My philosophy is: Train smarter, not harder.

You’ll find science here, but you’ll also find common sense. You’ll find compassion, but you’ll also get called up when you’re getting in your own way. I believe your body deserves respect, not punishment, and I have exactly zero interest in selling you shame disguised as motivation.

You’ve probably already seen a few different sides of me.

The feral one who calls out nonsense.
The advocate who isn’t afraid to make people uncomfortable.
The compassionate coach who will meet you exactly where you are.
The Indigenous baddie who refuses to shrink herself to make other people comfortable.
The entrepreneur trying to keep twelve tabs open in her brain while remembering why she walked into the kitchen.

They’re all me. I don’t niche my personality just because the algorithm would find it easier to categorize.

Around here you’ll learn about running, strength training, menopause, biomechanics, nervous system regulation, recovery, and longevity.

You’ll also get the occasional Tupac reference, some GenX chaos, stories about my athletes doing wonderfully unhinged things, and enough sarcasm to keep the comment section interesting.

If you’ve been here from the beginning, thanks for sticking around. If you’re new, welcome.

Grab a seat. We ask good questions here, we think critically, and every now and then we choose chaos for educational purposes 🩵