Ladies,
Let's get right into it.
Okay, you were all out quickly.That's fine, that's what needs to happen (with minor adjustments for a couple of you). What can't happen is the big drop-off in the second mile. We'll be resting a great deal this week - you won't believe how easy practice is going to be - and we should see an improvement in your ability to hold pace.
A comment for each of you:
Danielle - great race. Your time might not be your best time, but you raced the whole race. You were passing shirts until the end, and had the race gone on another half mile you might have gotten 7th. Congratulations on getting Honorable Mention!
Carrie - as we discussed, mile two is where you have to mentally knuckle down. You're great on the closing sprint. You're great on the final stretch. Remember, you are the same runner throughout the race. When you catch people in a race, keep going, because you will be slowing down with them if you settle into their pace. Catch, pass. Catch, pass. Lather, rinse, repeat.
Alli - Great race! You're almost there, almost ready to crack into the 21's and lower. Try not to get kicked this week, and who knows what might happen!
Shelby - I know you're frustrated, but health issues like this are never instantly resolved. Have faith. We'll figure out how to use that inhaler. You did a great job in spite of the trouble you're having.
Morgan - way to go! If all you do is hold even it will be a victory. You almost had your best time, so hey, we're getting there. Better still, your time seemed to be impacted more from stomach cramps than legs, so that is another positive step.
Chloe - PR! That was a big one too, more than 30 seconds. Imagine, just imagine, your side wasn't cramping. eh? EH?!
Bret - You took your shot. You weren't able to hold the pace, but you went for it the first mile. Now dig in that second mile! One mile at a time!
Extending that idea... notice how some of you tear it up on the 800s, but struggle on the tempo/race distances. Think it's the distance that makes it harder? Wrong. It's the way you segment your running that makes all the difference.
Your body will take the pain of running, if you will it to do so. You aren't doing anything injurious, you are doing something uncomfortable, albeit very uncomfortable. That means you won't hurt yourself by enduring the pain. So? That's actually a pretty big deal
You see, slowing down is a decision for the most part. You decide you can't take it anymore. You decide you don't want to hurt any longer. You decide what is happening now is good enough, even if you could go harder. Search yourself. You know it's true.
Carrie was speaking near me when she realized she was only 2 places away from Honorable Mention today, and worse, she'd passed the girls who took her spot. This is going to eat her for days, because she knows she could have had the spot. Eight seconds was all she needed. Eight seconds.
Using this as the perfect example, here's what I would be thinking if I were Carrie:
Critique of the photo bomb: Excellent placement. The lighting was used to advantage, highlighting the eyes and expression. Slight demerit for not getting the mouth in, which would have allowed a completely moronic expression (always worth extra points), but otherwise a pretty good example of how to do it right. Grade: A-
Let's get right into it.
| Runner | 1 | 2 | 3 | Final 10th | 5k | ||||
| Danielle | 6:37:00 | 13:34:00 | 6:57:00 | 20:38:00 | 7:04:00 | 0:46:00 | 6:08:00 | 21:24:00 | 6:54:12 |
| Carrie | 6:37:00 | 13:51:00 | 7:14:00 | 21:07:00 | 7:16:00 | 0:47:00 | 6:16:00 | 21:54:00 | 7:03:52 |
| Alli | 6:59:00 | 14:21:00 | 7:22:00 | 21:44:00 | 7:23:00 | 0:50:00 | 6:40:00 | 22:34:00 | 7:16:46 |
| Shelby | 6:58:00 | 14:21:00 | 7:23:00 | 21:44:00 | 7:23:00 | 0:51:00 | 6:48:00 | 22:35:00 | 7:17:06 |
| Morgan | 7:03:00 | 14:47:00 | 7:44:00 | 22:44:00 | 7:57:00 | 0:53:00 | 7:04:00 | 23:37:00 | 7:37:06 |
| Chloe | 7:20:00 | 15:08:00 | 7:48:00 | 23:01:00 | 7:53:00 | 0:52:00 | 6:56:00 | 23:53:00 | 7:42:15 |
| Bret | 7:41:00 | 16:07:00 | 8:26:00 | 24:35:00 | 8:28:00 | 0:54:00 | 7:12:00 | 25:29:00 | 8:13:14 |
Okay, you were all out quickly.That's fine, that's what needs to happen (with minor adjustments for a couple of you). What can't happen is the big drop-off in the second mile. We'll be resting a great deal this week - you won't believe how easy practice is going to be - and we should see an improvement in your ability to hold pace.
A comment for each of you:
Danielle - great race. Your time might not be your best time, but you raced the whole race. You were passing shirts until the end, and had the race gone on another half mile you might have gotten 7th. Congratulations on getting Honorable Mention!
Carrie - as we discussed, mile two is where you have to mentally knuckle down. You're great on the closing sprint. You're great on the final stretch. Remember, you are the same runner throughout the race. When you catch people in a race, keep going, because you will be slowing down with them if you settle into their pace. Catch, pass. Catch, pass. Lather, rinse, repeat.
Alli - Great race! You're almost there, almost ready to crack into the 21's and lower. Try not to get kicked this week, and who knows what might happen!
Shelby - I know you're frustrated, but health issues like this are never instantly resolved. Have faith. We'll figure out how to use that inhaler. You did a great job in spite of the trouble you're having.
Morgan - way to go! If all you do is hold even it will be a victory. You almost had your best time, so hey, we're getting there. Better still, your time seemed to be impacted more from stomach cramps than legs, so that is another positive step.
Chloe - PR! That was a big one too, more than 30 seconds. Imagine, just imagine, your side wasn't cramping. eh? EH?!
Bret - You took your shot. You weren't able to hold the pace, but you went for it the first mile. Now dig in that second mile! One mile at a time!
Extending that idea... notice how some of you tear it up on the 800s, but struggle on the tempo/race distances. Think it's the distance that makes it harder? Wrong. It's the way you segment your running that makes all the difference.
Your body will take the pain of running, if you will it to do so. You aren't doing anything injurious, you are doing something uncomfortable, albeit very uncomfortable. That means you won't hurt yourself by enduring the pain. So? That's actually a pretty big deal
You see, slowing down is a decision for the most part. You decide you can't take it anymore. You decide you don't want to hurt any longer. You decide what is happening now is good enough, even if you could go harder. Search yourself. You know it's true.
Carrie was speaking near me when she realized she was only 2 places away from Honorable Mention today, and worse, she'd passed the girls who took her spot. This is going to eat her for days, because she knows she could have had the spot. Eight seconds was all she needed. Eight seconds.
Using this as the perfect example, here's what I would be thinking if I were Carrie:
- First, I run with Danielle every day, step-for-step. No way she should be able to get away from me in a race. Won't happen again.
- Second, once I pass someone, they stay passed. That's my rule from now on.
- Third, my second mile was the point the race got away. I may make a lot of mistakes in the next race, but there is one I won't make; letting the second mile drop away like that. That's a major focus for my future racing.
I hope you all realize I'm not beating up on Carrie by discussing it this way. Far from it! This is a process I use on my own racing, indeed I would say any thoughtful endurance athlete would do. You have to recognize your weaknesses to fix them. They don't magically go away, they must be dealt with, directly and decisively.
I also want to say I felt the course was not a particularly fast one. I wasn't sure after the girls' race, so I set the watch to the boys' race. Sure enough, Arthur was only in the 16:20 range, and Lane slower than that by another 20 seconds or so. These boys were on the edge of 16 flat just a week ago on our course, a hard one. So... I'm not sure what it was about it, but fast it wasn't. That means if you were at or near your best time, you did a truly outstanding job. My guess is it was probably 20-25 seconds off our course times.
Now for fun...
I was trying to fulfill my contractual obligations with McDonald's, Timex, and Geezer Jock by snapping a photo of a pretty snazzy looking, athletic, older gentleman sipping a McDonald's Diet Coke. It was going pretty well, I thought I had the job done, then I looked over my shoulder.
Critique of the photo bomb: Excellent placement. The lighting was used to advantage, highlighting the eyes and expression. Slight demerit for not getting the mouth in, which would have allowed a completely moronic expression (always worth extra points), but otherwise a pretty good example of how to do it right. Grade: A-
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