How to Pivot like an Elite 

From an ASP athlete and ASP-affiliated coach 

Words by Sheridan Wilbur
Photography by Alison Wade, Evan Perigo and Stephen Maturen 

We tie our laces then head out to train with the rigor and repetition of a machine – refusing to be stymied by inclement weather or emotional mishaps. We glide through pre-run activation drills, morning miles, post-run stretching and strength, nutrition and recovery like they’re stages on an assembly line. We’re united in pursuit of something perfect: our best yet. 

But as we all know you’re never entitled to a perfect race. Whatever the goal – a qualifying standard or simply a PR – and however flawless your preparation, the start line to finish line is less straightforward than the assembly line of training. But the experience can be transformative. 

ASP athlete Lianne Farber recently ran the Ottawa Marathon and everything went wrong: canceled flights, long drives across the border, unexpected high temperatures. At 16 miles she dropped out, choosing to go again at Grandma’s rather than fight to the finish and experience a month of forced recovery.

We spoke to Boston-based Farber, a physical therapist and former professional middle distance runner, about her approach to marathon running, and we also spoke with Dena Evans, a Bay Area coach for Peninsula Distance Project who previously coached at Stanford, to learn how her group navigates setbacks on the fly and shifts their mindset for success. 

The Athlete's Perspective
How Lianne Bounces Back from Disappointment 

1. Expand your identity to have multiple parts and purposes

“I didn't end up making the Olympic Trials because I just was not running fast that season. When you're running pro, if you're not having a good race, that's [defeating]. What am I doing if I'm putting so much effort into this and not seeing the results I want? Whereas now if something goes poorly, I'm frustrated with it because I worked really hard towards that goal. But there's so many other things that I care about and I can focus on. It's not the end of the world. For me in particular, I'm just happier. I don't really miss what I was doing before.” 

2. Be ambitious about the process, not just the outcome

“Some people can go to grad school and run really fast. I've realized that isn’t me. I'm obviously not able to recover to the best of my ability. But I feel more confident in myself – I love my job and I love running. I'm okay with the fact that I'm probably not gonna run as fast, but it's fun to see how fast I can still run. I feel more confident in what I'm doing in my career and can put more effort into training and do well in that too. If I have an hour to run, that’s a good run. It's still way more than the majority of people. They're like, how do you have time to run 100 mile weeks? It’s part of my social life. When I'm running with my friends, my coworkers might be going out to dinner, getting drinks with their friends. It doesn't really feel like I'm making sacrifices.” 

3. Stay in the fight but know when to stop fighting 

“I don't do well in the heat. I kind of knew halfway in Ottawa, it wasn't gonna happen. I could have finished but it was going to be 10 minutes slower than what I wanted to run. It took me so long to recover from CIM. Even having only run 16 miles of the race, it took me about a week to feel normal again. If I had finished that marathon, I don't think I would've been able to reframe to running Grandma's.”

4. Reframe your mindset

“I had to reframe my mind. I have the same goals [for Grandma’s] as I had going into the [Ottawa] marathon, which is probably why I ended up not finishing that marathon. I'm gonna go for the OTQ. That's my A goal. I don't have any plan Bs at this point. It just sucks dropping out of a race as I'm sure anyone who's run can attest to. But I know I can run a marathon already. I don't need to prove that to myself. I don't really care about running a slower one. But that's also a tricky mindset to have because when you're feeling bad in the race, you don't want to have that option of dropping out. That can get too attractive when you're in the hard parts of a marathon. So if it doesn't go how I want it to, I'll run one more marathon before the Trials. I need to have something to show, so I'm just gonna try the best I can and finish the race. And hopefully that's under 2:37.” 

5. Reflect on your why 

“My motivation has always been more from within. Prize money never motivated me because I feel like if you're motivated yourself, all that stuff will come. You don't need to focus on it. Now thinking back, maybe I don't have that pro runner mindset because my mindset has not changed so much because I still am just doing it because I love it. Some of my pro runner friends are like yeah, I'm not running a step after I'm done. That's never crossed my mind. I got to the point where I was at peace with the fact some people are just genetically better than me. They're not trying harder than me. 

It's fun to go after these goals that I’m trying to get the best out of myself. That’s the bottom line for success. The marathon has been a fun challenge because it does not come easy to me. I almost de-committed to UNC because on the recruiting trip, the coach told me they do a lot of tempo runs. I can't even believe every workout I do now is something I would have never wanted to do. It's been fun to see how far I can go with something that is so uncomfortable.”