Tonight's Tempo

Ladies,

I've been looking forward to this workout for a while. There are still a lot of questions left to be answered, and the more often we can replicate race environment, the clearer the picture gets. I know you are all talented; what I don't know yet (for the new girls) is how you handle pressure.

You think it would be easy. Just line up and do the stuff you do every day in practice. If only it were that simple! For some, race day is a three-headed monster, grotesque and unmanageable. Some just cannot find a way to cope with the self-inflicted pressure. Yet some seem completely unaffected, or even better revel in it.

Most of the time the pressure can be dealt with by putting the mind in the right place. You see a hill and dread it. I see a chance to open more of a gap. You see the heat and fear it. I see an element I can turn to my advantage if I manage it better than others.

I gave Kate a ride home (we're neighbors) and her first comment on the way was, "I did awful tonight". No way! She did a fine job, and I told her so. No matter how badly you think something has gone, something good also happened. If you want to grow you have to look honestly at things and pull out both the good and bad and learn from them. In Kate's case, I look not at one tempo but two. In the first, she took off too hard and blew up. In the second she was a touch too conservative (because the first one hurt so badly). This is normal. She has both ends of the spectrum entered now... all that is left is to find the happy medium. Aw, heck, let me be direct with Kate for a moment..

<turns to Kate>
"Kate? You are new to this. You have a lot to learn and a short time to learn it. There will be trial and error. This is what it looks like. I am completely happy with what you have done, and I am confident we will drop minutes from your time by the end of the season."
<turns back to the rest>

To that end, I couldn't be happier with all of you. I have zero, ZERO complaints. There will always be room for improvement, there will always be things that will go wrong, but you guys are great, a coach's dream!

Okay, the numbers from tonight.

Runner	800	Pace	Mile 1	Mile 2	Time	Avg	Proj 5k
Joslyn	3:25:00	6:50:00	7:07:00	7:11:00	14:18:00	7:09:00	22:09:54
Madison	3:26:00	6:52:00	7:14:00	7:33:00	14:47:00	7:23:30	22:54:51
Carrie	3:21:00	6:42:00	7:10:00	7:37:00	14:47:00	7:23:30	22:54:51
Zoe	3:39:00	7:18:00	7:40:00	8:00:00	15:40:00	7:50:00	24:17:00
Chelsey	3:47:00	7:34:00	7:55:00	8:00:00	15:55:00	7:57:30	24:40:15
Katlyn	3:47:00	7:34:00	7:46:00	8:15:00	16:01:00	8:00:30	24:49:33
Kate	3:47:00	7:34:00	7:55:00	8:42:00	16:37:00	8:18:30	25:45:21
Diana	3:46:00	7:32:00	7:58:00	8:56:00	16:54:00	8:27:00	26:11:42
Sarah	3:47:00	7:34:00	8:00:00	8:56:00	16:56:00	8:28:00	26:14:48

First let me say that top five is faster than the top five we opened with last year. I would also say I had no idea what order to predict before the run, at least not precisely. I knew from last week's tempo who the first three would be, but beyond that I had no idea. 

In general, you were all out a touch too fast for the first 800. The pink times under "Pace" indicate what your first mile would have been if you kept that first 800 pace all the way. Quite a drop off after the turn, right? Carrie was the most aggressive, leading out in a 6:42 pace to 800, but falling to 7:10 the second 800. Anyone want to work out the math on that? What was the second 800 split? Waiting... okay, it was 3:49, or 7:38 pace. Get the idea? That's almost a minute per mile drop inside the first mile. This is not what we want. We have to learn to be smooth, find the optimal pace and go for that. I like Carrie's aggressiveness, but we have to be careful not to get too much of a good thing.

Alright, let me start on the end and work my way up. 

Sarah - you are still working your way back into it. If you think about it, you haven't gone a full week of practice in a while. You are tired, and you should be. Don't worry... it will get better, and soon. Hang in there! Everyone goes through this. You were out a bit fast for your conditioning... if you could have hit the mile at 8 minutes on an even effort you would have been okay. Like Carrie, you killed yourself in the first 800 yards. This is an easy fix - slow down the first 800! Slow down to go faster? Yup.

Diana - Pretty much what I just said above, but I'll add this - you are faster by about 20 seconds over last year at this time. It's true - I looked it up. Keep fighting!

Kate - Not a lot to add to what has already been said, except you held your second mile a bit better than Sarah and Diana, and your sprint at the end hinted there is untapped potential. I think for you it isn't a question of "IF" you can do it, it's how quickly you learn how to use your powers.

Katlyn - This too is an improvement over last year this time. You didn't fall off as much as the other girls, a sign of your experience. You, like Sarah, are getting a little beaten up at the moment, but I'm sure of your strength. You are a strong athlete, and smart; you're going to figure out what works and do it. 

Chelsey - I like. A LOT! You didn't have nearly the drop off from the 800, your splits were five seconds apart... girl, you NAILED it! You as much as anyone here is a game-day racer. You always find a way to elevate the day of an event, and I can't wait to see what you do in a meet.

Zoe - You actually had the run I would have called expected. Your splits spread a bit, as they should. The miles are very different, so they are difficult to keep even. The spread you had was just fine as a result. Your form throughout never looked ragged, you had a confident look on your face, like you were in the zone. Be confident! This was very nicely done!

Carrie - We've already discussed the early pace, and the drop off. The good news is you made the girls work for it. There is a challenge for you now... you have to figure out your timing. I absolutely believe you should try to attack the other girls, but you have to figure out when to do it. It's not that you attacked, you understand... it's that your attack happened too soon. Once they caught you, it was over, you had nothing left to cover (or at least you believed you didn't). Your kick is as good as anyone's on the team. See where I'm going with this?

Madison - Very mature run. You are learning a great deal of control, something you lacked last year. You are allowing a little time to pass before you make your move, and you are correctly reading the slow down in front of you. I like how you slowly but steadily made the catch. Super racing! Yes, the pace was uneven, and we need to work on that, but your race tactics were excellent.

Joslyn - The last few runs - since we figured out hydration - have seen you transform into a dominant runner. Today's effort was a thing of beauty. You picked the perfect time to attack and didn't give any of the space back. Coming out of the low woods, across the creek and up the short rise, I told you to put it away. In case I wasn't clear, I wanted you to bolt down that hill so when the other girls rounded the corner they would be mentally put out of it. That was the moment, the death stroke, and from that point on there was no question they couldn't catch you. The splits were perfect, only four seconds apart. Yes, like the others, slightly fast first 800. Beyond that, perfect run.

Now lest you think I'm playing favorites, I'm not. When Madison and Carrie came out of the woods, I told them to use the downhill to catch Joslyn because she was dying. Yeah, I lied. Sometimes I will pit you against one another. I have to. It's like having sparring partners for boxers. You may like that person across from you, but you're still going to punch their face. You have to. That's the game. In our case, we have to attack one another. Feelings have nothing to do with it. The faster you run, the better the team is. The more you chase, the faster the chased will run. It really is that simple. 

Now afterward I expect every one of you to compliment the others no matter how it turned out. We are still a team, and we are still friends. Just think about what happened, how it happened, and how you can better take advantage next time... ;)