Here is a clip from a 1958 Disney production... Lemmings 1958

Lemmings have been given a bad rap for decades. However, they are subject to “Fake News” from Disney decades ago. They were given the reputation of running and jumping off cliffs in droves into the cold artic sea, with the masses supposedly just mindlessly “following the leader” on a cultish suicide mission. Well, although Disney actually staged the event for filming, since lemmings still have that reputation, let’s for the most part pretend that is true.

So, the lemmings (in this context) are a bad example for distance runners. They supposedly don’t think about what they are doing, but rather just focus on who they are with when doing whatever. To them, being part of the crowd is more important than figuring out whether or not what they are doing is right!

As we discussed about Isaac Stinchfield this season, he was his own leader. Jumping off of the Cottonwood restrooms with a bad ankle is about as silly as lemmings running off a cliff into the ocean. Yet Isaac finally figured out (sometimes on his own, sometimes prompted by lectures from coach) what he should and shouldn’t do. It really didn’t matter what others were doing; I am sure he did not see too many other runners out on the road logging miles at 5:00 in the morning. To be great in the area of distance running, you will need to break out of the “couch potato” mode of many Americans; to be a successful running "lemming" in this sense, you could consider moving to Kenya and "follow" them in their lifestyle.

When Isaac engaged in Grand Circuit, he was the best leader five other Panthers could have, making sure his group of six did everything at each station to the max! In a way, he was like Disney and drove his cohorts over a cliff so they would land in a sea of success.

Now let’s look at a different view of lemmings. Maybe this next clip is Hollywood trying to restore integrity to the reputation of the Lemmings in the movie Norm of the North: Lemmings 2016

So this recent portrait painted of lemmings is a good role model for us distance runners. After an exhausting workout or an unfortunate race, we feel like we have been beaten into the ground. But the resilient quality of these lemming forces them to bounce back.

Each of us, as distance runners (as well as in all areas of our lives) need to decide what lemming we are going to be: lemmings of 1958 or lemmings of 2016. Just as Isaac profoundly concluded, it starts with thinking - thinking about what we are doing, who we are following and what should we do after we get beating into the ground by extreme circumstances. The lemmings of 2016 will prevail!