Ladies,

I won't lie, I am concerned by the number of missed practices so far. I'm sure there are reasons for everyone, but I hope if you are missing you are running a bit on your own. Don't throw away the benefits you gained from a hard summer of training!

For the girls who did make it today, it was a solid workout. We did a 2-mile tempo, and let's look at the numbers:

Runner	Time	Avg	Proj 5k
Madison	13:47:00	6:53:30	21:21:51
Joslyn	13:48:00	6:54:00	21:23:24
Carrie	14:14:00	7:07:00	22:03:42
Kate	15:25:00	7:42:30	23:53:45
Diana	16:15:00	8:07:30	25:11:15
Chelsea	16:52:00	8:26:00	26:08:36

I will open with a hearty "I'm VERY pleased!"

I want to be realistic with you, so let me break this down a bit. It may sound like a downer at first, but have patience, I think I can bring this around.

When it started, all the girls were together, though Diana and Chelsea quickly carved off the back a bit, as they should have. Carrie was leading, and took the girls down the road at what was likely (initially) a sub-6:30 pace. It's easy to do on this course, as the first mile is downhill. 

By the time the girls were at the bottom of Industrial Park, Kate had broken off the back, as she should have. The pace was too much and she had to make the adjustment.

Shortly after that, Madison took over the run. Carrie slipped off, Joslyn slipped up to Madison's shoulder and ran off her shoulder, as she should have. She let a more experienced girl (with talent) lead the workout, a smart thing to do since Joslyn had never done this type of workout. 

The second mile winds uphill for the first half, and this is where I expected a drop off. The first girls came through mile one at around 6:45, Carrie a bit under 7:00, Kate a bit over 7:00, Diana and Chelsea over 8:00. Sorry I didn't write those down - I was pretty excited when I saw where they were!

Coach Jo and I drove to the mile two mark to catch the finish, where we recorded the times. I wanted to see not only the times, but how the runners handled the stress. I haven't really spoken to Coaches about this, but I'll share with you my thoughts...

Madison - that was a super mature run. You could have waited with Carrie when she began to slow down, but you did the right thing... you moved on around when you knew you could. Not only that, you carried that freshman with you, showing real leadership. When you finished I didn't have the impression that you were "finished", meaning I felt you could have carried it another mile. Would I be happy with that projected time first meet? As it would be a huge PR, I'd say YEAH!

Joslyn - great, GREAT job there! I've already touched a bit on how it was smart to let Madison guide you through that workout. You also looked very strong as you came in, in fact your comment, "My breathing wasn't a problem at all" was a welcome relief. My guess is we've probably figured out what is causing your trouble of late. Drink plenty of fluids!

Carrie - this was a solid time, believe it or not. You are not used to seeing girls in front of you, and I know how hard that is - BELIEVE me! What this will come down to is your pacing and pain tolerance. At times you look brilliant - you just ran an outstanding Limestone 5k. I think what is going to have to happen is you will really have to be aggressive about your recovery at home. Ice, stretch, ice, stretch. Ibuprofen and Tylenol. You can get through this, every runner goes through this at some point or another. 

Kate - you cannot begin to understand what you bring to this team, and the fact you can also run fast makes it so much better. Maybe you had no idea what you were getting into when you started the hard portion, but I love that you tried to stay with the front at first. Okay, so you fell off halfway through. Big deal. Have courage! Little by little, you will hang in there longer, until you can't be dropped. You are strong, perhaps physically the strongest girl on the team. With focus, you will be able to maintain the pain for longer and longer periods of time. You'll also figure out where your boundaries are, and how to ride the edge a bit better. 

Diana - believe it or not, this was a solid run for you too. You were even on the splits, and you were smart enough to let that gap open when it needed to. That time would be the best opening day time you've ever had, and that's no small thing. Be encouraged! 

Chelsea - I know you ran hard yesterday evening, and that made you sore enough you didn't want to push it again. Have courage! Never be afraid to try. Never stop probing for weakness, never stop attacking, be persistent. If you can keep your mind there, the race will fly by for you. You are easily in the top-5 of all middle schoolers in the county, and on any given day could win a meet. Just don't be afraid to take it to them all!

Okay, I projected out all your 5k times based on pace today. There are caveats... this was a road event. That means you would slow down some going to grass. On top of that, BNL is a hillier course. Still, and this is the most important part, you girls weren't running anything like this at this same time last year. Carrie and Diana, you are both a minute faster on overall projected time. I don't have times on anyone else from last year, sorry to say, but what do those comparisons mean? 

Ultimately, it projects a minute drop from last year's best time by the end of the season. Now do you see why I'm pleased? ;)

Final Parkview run tomorrow, 8 AM.