Foote's Tomb and Fartleks

Ladies,

Today we made it. Though there is no truly safe way to get there, we successfully made our way through the east side of town and arrived at our destination - Foote's Tomb. The grave site itself was not really the goal, just an interesting sideshow for what we'll later be doing. That's right, an abandoned railroad bed passes right past Foote's Tomb, and it's a good trail run when conditions are right.

Here would be a short list of my pre-conditions for running the trails in this area:

• Never run alone or even in small groups. Fair or unfair, you young ladies are easy targets for predators. Don't kid yourselves; none of you are a match for any adult male. Do not put yourselves in dangerous situations.
• We can't have nearly 5 inches of rain in the week leading up to running the trail. Like this week. Unless of course you wish to come back to your car bathed in a luxurious coat of railroad bed creosote and mud. Your call.
• Only run the bed in daylight hours. People aren't the only predators on the bed. I've been chased by coyotes back there. Yes, Lawrence County has a healthy coyote population. A single coyote is not really dangerous, but if a small pack gathers... especially if you happen upon a den... think of them as wild dogs and you get the picture. If you do see one, never, EVER attempt to approach it.

With the Stellar grant going through, we'll soon have additional running opportunities in and around town. There are rumors of Rails to Trails lines extending west from Bedford to Crane. I'll believe it when I see it, but here's hoping. 

As Danielle has astutely noticed, Thursdays are becoming a secondary quality day. I'm not trying to hide this; it's something we need to establish as a regular aspect to our week. Here's the rationale - your running form will change to reflect the type of running you do most of the time. If we are always running easy pace, then our form will be adapted to do just that. It's one of the miracles of the human body that we can adapt to our surroundings and circumstances, but it can at times work against us. In this case, we want to be racers. That means we have to practice being racers by, well, racing, so to speak. Our fartleks allow us to stretch our strides out in bursts, let's us accelerate, alter our heart rates... all these changes can be uncomfortable at the time, but isn't racing uncomfortable?

There is another quality to it as well. We have to hone our mental states, gear our minds to be racers. For guys, this is easy - we're wired to beat everyone at everything at all times. We can't help it, just like you gals couldn't help picking out those pretty pink shirts when you were younger (or now!). Okay, if you haven't thrown your cell phone at the computer yet, bear with me... I believe girls are competitive, just not always the same way guys are. Our priorities aren't your priorities, and you tend to be far more sophisticated about what you compete about than we are. However, our activity is as simple as it is elemental - we are looking for ways to mentally break down our opponents as runners. In short, we want to suck the life out of them, prevent them from challenging us.

We want to project strength at all times. We want confidence, control, and stamina to flow from us, if not for real, then at least to all outward appearances. If we carry ourselves like quality racers it will tend to quell many challenges that would otherwise come. 

Making little breaks in a race, short little accelerations, can be probing tactics that search for an opponent's weakness. Do they follow when you break? Do they hesitate? Do they fall back and regain? How hard are they breathing when they return? Were you able to open a gap? If you are in a big pack, surges will definitely break some of the runners, thinning down your competition. It will also help you identify who your real threat is in your group. People that match you step-for-step are likely to be there at the end. Additionally, people that can instantly respond to your moves but won't pass are almost always sprinters. This means you don't want them around by the end. 

Scenario: you're halfway through a rolling 5k course. You're in the front pack, feeling strong, but there are a lot of girls around. You know you have a legitimate shot to win, but you have to turn this race to your strengths. Though you have decent finishing kick speed, you often get outkicked. You have a great base, so you are confident in your ability to finish strong.

This is the perfect scenario for laying down some fartleks. You want them to be short at first, maybe 100 yards, just so you can break the group up. You'll be amazed at how quickly this happens - most people in a group are just barely hanging on, like water on a dog's fur. One or two hard shakes and they'll be gone. 

With about a mile left, look around. At this point you have to deal with the kicker. Now you start a long, steady acceleration. The kicker will expect this one to end quickly, as before. What a surprise when it doesn't! Now you're crawling into her head... what does this girl have? What's going on? Can I hold this? Stick that doubt in there, and before long she'll give up on it. Pure kickers tend to want to run as slowly as possible, waiting for the sprint. They aren't used to pushing all the way.

The goal is to open enough daylight so no one sees a point in challenging you. It's the string, that imaginary line that connects you to other runners. Break the string, and the girl is beaten. When push comes to shove, the mind is the most important aspect of racing. Once the mind stops believing something is possible, it's impossible. It doesn't matter how well trained the body is, the body cannot overcome the mind.

We are a varied group of girls with varied talents. We have sprinters, we have sloggers, and we have everything in between. Discovering the kind of runner and racer you are will help you become a better racer. It doesn't matter what kind of racer you are, you can win! You have to learn how to get everyone else to fight the way you fight best.