Sectional

Ladies,

The numbers:

Athlete	1	2	Pace	3	Pace	5k	Pace
Carrie	6:30:00	13:48:00	7:18:00	21:15:00	7:27:00	22:09:00	7:08:43
Danielle	6:32:00	13:42:00	7:10:00	20:57:00	7:15:00	21:54:00	7:03:52
Alli	6:43:00	14:10:00	7:27:00	22:01:00	7:51:00	22:59:00	7:24:50
Madison	7:01:00	14:29:00	7:28:00	22:02:00	7:33:00	22:53:00	7:22:54
Morgan	7:15:00	15:06:00	7:51:00	22:36:00	7:30:00	23:33:00	7:35:48
Chloe	7:22:00	15:06:00	7:44:00	22:30:00	7:24:00	23:27:00	7:33:52
Katlyn	7:22:00	15:06:00	7:44:00	22:45:00	7:39:00	23:44:00	7:39:21

Alright, this was a mixed bag result, but let's face it, things were a bit tense on the front end. 

Let me start by congratulating Katlyn for a PR, and a solid placement on the all-time top-25 board. This was a big time for you - congratulations! I would also note you had only a 17 second per mile drop in your time from start to average, and you negative split your last mile. Well done!

Chloe, you had only an 11 second per mile dropoff from mile one to average. That too is a very solid race, even if it wasn't your best time ever. 

Morgan, you lost 20 seconds. This is getting outside what we want to see ordinarily, but you're hurt, so I consider this a good effort. Best time ever? No. But again, you're hurt. 

Madison, you are at the 21 second mark. While not quite what we want, you were better than you've been the last couple of meets, and you were able to keep miles 2 and 3 close. Not bad.

Alli, you were sick. That should be the end of it right there, but you were able to hold a time that kept us in the meet. Yes, you fell off as the race went on. So what? We needed you and you were there. Total guts, girl. 

Danielle, you focused on the 2nd mile as we talked about. You were a bit quick the first 800 (3:10, or 6:20 pace), but it wasn't terribly so. By hanging in there the 2nd mile you were able to wrap your mind around finishing hard, which you did. Best time ever? No. But it was good enough to help us get out. And for tonight, that's enough.

Carrie, the first 800 was too fast. Way too fast. Where you're trying to race, that line gets razor thin. Think about it... 3:03 is 6:06, or 18:54 5k pace. That would be almost a 2-minute PR. Listen, an average drop from beginning of season to end is 45 seconds to 1 minute. This gets even more true the faster you start the season. After all, there is a theoretical end to the speed one can run, right? The short of it is, you aren't going to drop 2 minutes in one season, much less one meet. It doesn't happen at your level (without drugs). 

Let's look at some more numbers:

Athlete	BNL Inv	Ted Fox	Sectional
Carrie	22:51:00	21:11:00	22:09:00
Danielle	22:56:00	21:39:00	21:54:00
Alli	23:00:00	22:23:00	22:59:00
Madison	24:38:00	22:27:00	22:53:00
Morgan	24:18:00	23:53:00	23:33:00
Chloe	27:12:00	23:33:00	23:27:00
Katlyn	25:33:00	24:09:00	23:44:00

Note the comparison of the three times we've run the course this year. Yes, there were different conditions every meet. The first meet was terribly hot; the second a pretty perfect day, and; the third a relatively warm and humid day (for this time of year). You all have progressed, some ahead of what you should have. Do we need more? ABSOLUTELY! If we are going to get out this Saturday, we'll have to be better. We can be. Here's how.

I want you to consider what being 5 seconds too fast at 800 means. That's 20 seconds per mile, or 1 minute on the total race time. Just for argument's sake, let's say you ladies hit the 800 at, hmmm, 3:20 and held that the whole way? That's 6:40 per mile, which would be 20:40!

What I'm saying is simple... you have to stay to the plan. If you get caught up in the fast crowd, you risk ruining the rest of your race. I say this over and over, but it needs to be repeated... the way to go faster is to go slower on the front. It doesn't matter how fast you can go; it only matters how fast you can hold.

More on this in the next few days.