HHC

Ladies,

The numbers:

Runner	1	2	5k	Pace
Baili	6:36:00	13:44:00	21:30:00	6:56:08
Carrie	6:32:00	13:58:00	22:03:00	7:06:46
Zoe	7:00:00	14:34:00	22:44:00	7:20:00
Danielle	7:00:00	14:35:00	23:01:00	7:25:29
Delaney	7:23:00	15:31:00	24:09:00	7:47:25
Ani	7:23:00	15:54:00	25:03:00	8:04:50
Sara	7:23:00	15:56:00	25:18:00	8:09:41

Obviously the races that should be mentioned first are Baili's, Zoe's, and Delaney's. Baili and Delaney ran PR's - Baili by 7 seconds, Delaney by around 40 seconds. Those were great times! Zoe had a season best by 10 seconds or so, and with the up-and-downs she's faced since the start, it's good to see her coming back to form. 

Baili and I talked a bit before the race. She has always been concerned with how to position according to Carrie. I told her Carrie was hurt and she should run her own race, the one she feels in her chest. That means (in case you are confused) she should run by the pressure she's able to stand in her chest. Don't ask for an explanation beyond that, it's a "race-by-feel" method triathlon racers use to level effort over three different sports, but it does work. It just takes time to master. 

Did she do it? I think so. The middle mile featured a hill that made even splits unreasonable, so all of you would have slowed down there. Baili was no different. However, in the stretch when she went by she still looked strong. 

We've been playing with Zoe's shoe situation. One set hurts her shins, the other hurts her shins (less) and foot (a bunch). We have opted to stay with only shin hurt. It looks like the right choice, because this time was a big improvement. Zoe also looked very strong in the final straightaway, a lot better than any other time this year. 

Delaney has a little trouble with the middle part of the race. Fortunately, coach and I were at the mile mark and gave her a verbal boost at about the right time. She took off from there and resumed hard racing, making significant improvements over the time she would have had if she had stayed in the group. 

Danielle had a solid effort. It wasn't her best time, but she took her shot. 7-flat pace may have been a little too aggressive, but hey, I TOLD you to go for it. You did the right thing. The only way to be in the race is to try to be in the race.

Carrie is hurt. If you've never raced on a high-calf strain, you can't understand how much guts it takes to complete the race as fast as she did. For two weeks now she's brought it home in decent times where most others would walk off the course. She's awfully tough. 

Ani and Sara, your times weren't terrible, but a lapse in focus caught you both out. I actually caught you two and Delaney at mile one and yelled for you to break up your group. Delaney is the one who responded and put a minute on you in the next two miles. Don't take this the wrong way... I don't believe there is any way she's that much better than you gals. In fact, your workouts are faster than hers. So how did it happen? You let it happen. The good news about that is if you can recognize this fact, you can easily fix it. Anytime a girl you beat in practice passes you in a race, catch her. Pass her. It's a simple and obvious truth - if I can beat you every day in practice, I can beat you in a race. Don't ever lose sight of that. 

Now, back to that time trial thing... 

I had Joslyn run the numbers on the way home... with a healthy Joslyn running 20:30, a healthy Carrie running 21:00, Baili at 21:30, Zoe at 22:44, and Danielle at 23:01 our score (119) would have been good enough to place us 4th today. Notice the gap on that... 20:30 to 23:01 is 2:31, way too big for a team to do well in tournament. We would need to close that gap down to do better, and it's a challenge we face going into next year. For now though, we are running from 21:30 - 24:09, or 2:38. We have to rest Carrie for Sectional, so it looks like we have to pull some people up. The cluster is from 24:00 to 24:30 now, and a bunch of you girls are right there. Beyond that we have a couple at 25:00 or so. We have four spots available, and the first two in particular will determine whether or not we move on to Regional. 

1. Delaney 24:09
2. Molly 24:10
3. Sara 24:17
4. Ani 24:22
5. Kate 24:32
6. Madison 24:35
7. Katlyn 25:45
8. Chelsey 25:56

Those are the numbers we are dealing with. See it now? I could make a strong case for practically any girl on that list to run the top-7, and could rule out none. That's why you're in the top-12! We've now come to the place where we HAVE to have a clear decision. 

This isn't going to be popular with everyone. This isn't going to make everyone happy. I can't help that. My job is to put the best possible team on the field this Saturday. My job is to give this team the best chance to advance as far as possible in the State Tournament. Is there a risk not running Carrie? Yes. I will be to blame if we don't get out of Sectional. The only explanation I can offer in advance is the only chance we have to get out of Regional is with her. Period. I think we have a reasonable shot at getting out of Regional, so for me, the choice is pretty clear. 

That's why this time trial is necessary. I believe it is also fundamentally the fairest thing to do. Am I pitting you all against one another? Yes. I have to find out who wants this more. I have to know who is willing to fight hardest for it. I have to know who is healthiest. Same course. Same distance. Same heat. 

I also believe by doing this on Tuesday you will have more than enough time to recover for Saturday's race. The distance is not more than you've been doing for speed work, and in fact by going the whole 2 miles at once it will slow your paces down and make for less risk. We are going to see what strategy you each employ, and whether or not you can come from behind if you get dropped early. It's going to be very, very revealing.