Diana is already in the club. I think Madison is also an honorary member, giving her all to the team as she has. Who else will make it? Who else wants to make their mark?
Bear in mind, I also have grown my head of hair, little though there is. That's fair game too.
Any way it goes, Sara and Kate need to be ready to run. Anything, and I mean ANYTHING can happen right before a meet. Anyone remember the last two years? Diana should... she's been added last second to a few races in that time. Conference was one of them (Jennings County). If one of the top-7 can't run, number 8 does. That's what you're there for.
First, the apology. I had no intention of running you as hard as I did, at least not at first. I really just wanted to keep it in the 7:30ish range. It didn't stay that way long. Things got faster and faster, and soon the group began to break up. I should have pulled it back, but Carrie could still talk easily. No, I saw an opportunity and I took it.
The longer the run went, the more I could see a chance to prove a very important point. I think everyone is physically ready for what is to come. It's the mental part that needs a final tweaking. I know we have two girls in the low 20's and two in the mid 21's right now. Do THEY know it? How better to make the point than to prove it by doing the work?
As the run went on, the gap grew, but not dramatically. Carrie complained about her knee. Keep going, says I. We were close, so very close to the final mark. We were going to get there. I know she didn't want to do it, especially at the end. But she could. And she did. That's one of my jobs, ladies... I'm supposed to get you to do the things you should do but don't want to.
How did it go? How about 6:58, 6:58, 6:55? Those were the splits. The other girls were in within 30 seconds or so. All of them. All. Of. Them. I'm betting you all missed the significance of that at the time, so let me help you... our top runners were within one minute of one another. THAT... is huge.
I have always said whatever you can tempo for 3 miles is your current race pace. I would fudge a bit more on that... you did a speed workout yesterday. We also didn't warm up, we went straight into the run. No way you were fresh, no WAY you did as well as you might have with a proper warm up. I guess I wanted to prove to you how fast you can run anytime, anywhere.
After talking with Coach Jill on the cool-down, I promised to relate a story I shared with Kate just the other night. This relates to all of you, so bear with me...
When I started running, I was fresh off a power lifting background. I weighed 235 pounds and was all about strength. I'd dropped some weight and ran my first 5k, breaking 18:00 my first try. While I couldn't understand what an accomplishment that was at the time, I wasn't new to endurance sports. I had goals, and I brashly stated I wanted to run 15:30 some day.
My friend looked at me, paused, then said, and I quote, "Bill, I don't know about that. You may wind up being one of the best runners in Lawrence County, but I don't know about that time." I didn't know him all that well at the time, but my job is to read the context of a person's words. I perfectly understood his meaning. Translated it meant, "In your dreams." I vowed then and there it would happen.
Flash forward a few years. I was in the last weeks of a thoroughly harsh training cycle. It had been a hot summer, and I'm no heat runner. I survived day-by-day wondering how I would run the next workout. It is the measure of how stubborn I am that I kept after it anyway, not knowing how the next workout would happen, but doing it anyway.
Mentally this takes a toll on you.Your confidence takes a beating, and you get tired of hurting. I had broken 16:00 several times, but couldn't get below 15:40. It was a barrier. With two races left in the season I was on fumes. I wanted it to be over so I could rest. I made myself a compromise... if I could get 15:30-anything, I would consider it close enough.
Persimmon Festival 5k came, I ran, taking 3rd. Time: 15:40.05. Close, painfully close, but no cigar. Now I had to run the final race of the season. I hated the idea, hated running, wanted to find any excuse to not go, but a clear voice in my head told me I would never forgive myself for giving up that close. The voice was of course right.
So I was driving down to Seymour, bargaining again. "If I am not under 5-flat at mile 1, I walk off the course. If I'm not under 10-flat at 2, I walk off the course." I found myself almost hoping I wouldn't hit the marks. Still, I went, and when the gun went off, I quickly fell into race mode.
Mile 1 came. 4:59. Dangit! I had to go on.
Mile 2 came. 9:58. DANGIT! I had to go on.
There was no turning back now, and though I fell off a bit the third mile, I brought it home in 15:33, my 5k P.R.
Now here comes the lesson - we all are tired. We all want to rest. We are all tired of hurting, we are tired of the whole thing. That is normal. What I promise you is if you let up, if you give up, if you don't give it your all now, you will know it. YOU will know it, and YOU won't forgive yourself. You have to say "NO!" to that weakness that tries to bargain with you, persuade you it would be better to let your dreams go. NONSENSE! It's because you told that voice to shut up, because you faced your fatigue and your fear, it's because you mastered yourself that victory is all the sweeter.
Great athletes know how to push that voice down, to stay focused, and to dream of great things. We are so close ladies, so close, and I still believe this is our year. Wouldn't it be great to hit that Brown County course one more time this year? On a cool, crisp late October morning with clear, azure blue skies promising nothing but glory... Ah, to dream, and to dream big...
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