The Mill is a Thrill

Well... how did you all like that? I had a good time, but I always have a good time when I'm around. One of the benefits of being me, I guess.

Seriously... it seemed as if everyone enjoyed our little run through the park. I'm sorry we can't do that every day, but then, I think even the park would get stale after a while. And let's face it... you guys wouldn't want to run those hills EVERY day!

On the way home from the park I was contacted by Wal-Mart. Your bake sale is a "GO"! July 6th, 8-3, no more than 15 people at a time, and stay in the designated zones. We'll talk more about it Monday, but make your plans. Remember, this is moratorium week, so I can't - eh, what? Wait a sec, someone just handed me a note...

...mm-hmmm... yes...

Okay, one of my readers, a "Dani" sent a note asking that I stop using the word "moratorium" and instead refer to this time period as "dead week". That's a little morbid for my taste, but hey, gotta keep the fan base happy. Your generation does seem to have an unnatural infatuation with zombies...

So, on "Dead Week" (air quotes) I cannot contact you guys at all. At. All. However, I am the official contact for Wal-Mart in this matter, so... I would be in emergency mode only. I want to be very clear about that, it's beyond my control. You guys did everything last year and I'm sure you can handle it. I was able to check in on you guys last year, and that made me feel better. I guess I'm a nervous Nelly on this.

So, three weeks into our 9-week summer, and you guys are looking GREAT! I'm really, REALLY happy with almost everything right now. I say "almost" because we are beginning to see some minor health issues crop up. Stay on the ice. Stay healthy. If we learned nothing else from last year we know ignoring these things does not make them go away.

One more week until the break. Let's make it a great one!

Motivation

First, let me start off with a shout-out to my #1 fan - Chloe. She texted me today concerned I hadn't posted here in a few days. Fact is I've been pretty busy, but in the interest of feeding my fan base, let me throw some thoughts out here.

I've been doing endurance athletics since I was 14 years-old, a mere freshman in high school. I joined the swim team more because my P.E. teacher asked me to than any desire to be good at it. Frankly, it was the first time any adult in my life had taken any interest in my athletic ability. I was good at it, but I never got as good as I could have been, mainly because I didn't want it, or at least, badly enough. Hind sight is 20/20 as they say, and I've often wondered what might have been had I committed myself to the sport the way I have everything ever since. Of course that's the lament of all people my age - coulda/shoulda/woulda - and it isn't all that germane to this post.

What I've wondered more often is why I did it at all. What was it that made me go through all the workouts? I can honestly tell you I hated every single lap of every single practice I did for 4 years. No exceptions. I knew I was good at it, and apparently that was enough to keep me at it.

Time passed and I came into my running career, into which I threw myself 100%. It was a completely different story, as I believe I wrung everything I had out of myself. I have absolutely no regrets with that part of my athletic history.

Here's the question though - what made it different? Was swimming harder? No, not at all. In fact, I would say it was easier for me because heat made no difference in swimming. Was I just better at running? No, I was good enough to swim college, but never good enough to run in college. What was it then?

To this day I cannot tell you.

Fast forward to now. I am now a coach (again), and part of my job is to help motivate other people to do something above and beyond what they themselves can accomplish. Imagine that... I'm supposed to understand what makes each of you tick, and I can't even for sure tell you what makes me tick. I'd be insane to assume I can nail this every time, if ever.

Sometimes people assume there is a one-size-fits-all approach to coaching teams. If there is anything I have learned as a coach, it's that there is no panacea for athletes. We all come into this for different reasons and different intensity levels. Sometimes it's a search for self-worth, sometimes it's a need to belong to something bigger than one's self, and sometimes it's just plain old vanity. Sometimes it's a bit of everything.

I think it's easier to believe we're all on our own individual paths, and as often happens in life, our paths intersect every so often. For this brief period of time you call high school, all your paths intersect. For whatever individual reasons you have, you share a purpose. Your motivations may be different, but you all want the same thing. That's special, and it won't happen very often in your life.

You see, having that shared purpose creates that unspoken yet poignant bond amongst one another. This is something so special that there is a high price to share in it - hard work, suffering, pain - but the reward lasts a lifetime. These people with whom you share your time right here, right now will forever occupy a special place in your hearts, and no matter where you go and what you do, will remain forever young and forever in this place and time.

There are some things in life that cannot be understood merely by reading a description. Words are inadequate at such times, only experiencing these things on a personal level provides true understanding. Your sisters-in-arms understand you in a way no one else in your life ever will.

I don't know if these existential ponderings have accomplished anything more than making some of you scratch your head and say, "Whaaaaat?" I suppose one of the side effects of endurance training is it gives your mind plenty of time to wander, and sometimes I turn philosophical.

What I do know is this - endurance athletics changed my life, and very much for the better. They taught me I had value, that I was good at something, that with hard work I could accomplish many things. They taught me to think beyond myself, to think of others first. They taught me to be humble, and to persevere when things didn't go my way. They gave me the very best friends of my life, my second family. All of these things by themselves would have been good enough reason to be involved, but when I started, I wouldn't have listed a single item on this list as a reason why I was doing it. I was too young and didn't yet see the whole picture.

If you sometimes find yourself asking why you do it, relax - everyone does that. Just let me assure you that there are plenty of great reasons to stick it out and do your best - and you probably don't see even a fraction of them yet.

Second up-tempo Tuesday

I know, I know, everyone hates the prospect of a hard workout. Everyone dreads it, gripes about it, tries to defer it, but let's face it, hard workouts are an important part of what makes you great, or at the very least, your very best. Growing is painful because it stretches you... the more you're willing to stretch, the greater your potential growth.

I went for the track today for a combination of reasons:

• Your distance is not long enough yet for a full 3-mile tempo
• The Wilson course is not accurate enough and is difficult to monitor
• Pacing is more readily learned on a track
• The track offered a direct comparison to last week's workout
• In the early stages of pace work, being able to establish a constant pace is critical

So the distance was upped today to a full 2-mile run. This works out well because optimal tempo distance is up to 20 minutes of running (usually) at about 15 seconds per mile off race pace. It's not an all-out effort, just a strong effort. I think that's exactly what I saw happen today. To the numbers!

Athlete	Time	Pace	Projected	Improvement
Alli	14:59:00	7:29:30	23:13:27	0:29:00
Bret	14:48:00	7:24:00	22:56:24	0:12:00
Danielle	14:48:00	7:24:00	22:56:24	0:18:36
Morgan	14:50:00	7:25:00	22:59:30	0:15:30
Carrie	14:48:00	7:24:00	22:56:24	0:42:36
Diana	17:06:00	8:33:00	26:30:18
Zoe	16:39:00	8:19:30	25:48:27	2:09:00
Chloe	16:39:00	8:19:30	25:48:27	0:34:33
Chelsea	16:41:00	8:20:30	25:51:33	0:13:27
Carlee	18:57:00	9:28:30	29:22:21	0:22:39
McKena	18:57:00	9:28:30	29:22:21	0:53:39
Lauren	8:33:00	8:33:00	26:30:18	0:52:42

Clarification: The improvement column shows how much time was gained (or lost) off last week's projected race time. This is not per mile, but total time. I would have expected to see all times slow slightly as we ran farther today, but for the most part folks went faster. Point is, even if you went slightly slower today, it was a great run.

First impressions: Ladies, I must tell you, to see that front group clustered the way it was... that's been a long time coming and one of the most welcome sights I've seen since I've started working with you. That was a controlled run, and you all looked great!

Second group looked great too... Chloe did a great job setting you guys up on pace - great leadership there - and Diana made the right move after the first mile to help with the lead, as did Zoe after that.

Third group: You guys beat the pace I gave you, I don't know if you realize that. You were smooth. Very mature running!

Overall: This is easily the best the returning runners have looked. We are a solid team. I mean that. We are good, we are deep, and we are healthy.

A short note about pacing... right now, these are loose targets. I wanted to try to break you into groups of approximate fitness, so at this point this was a loose fit. If you were a little off the target I gave you, don't worry about it. We'll get it locked to your specific numbers soon enough. For now, the effort is the main thing.

Now for a little deeper analysis... after a year of coaching, I have the data to look back and compare where we were last year. Why? We want to see growth. I like to put things on the curve, so to speak, because that can be a great predictor of future improvement. So where were we on the first tempo last year (which happened in July, by the way)? I don't have numbers for everyone, but here's who ran the first one:

Athlete	Time	Pace	Projected
Alli	23:30:00	7:50:00	24:17:00
Bret	24:00:00	8:00:00	24:48:00
Danielle	22:36:00	7:32:00	23:21:12
Carrie	23:40:00	7:53:20	24:27:20
Morgan	24:25:00	8:08:20	25:13:50
Diana	19:06:00	9:33:00	29:36:18

Getting the picture yet? Think of it this way... how many girls went on to run in the 21's, 22's, 23's...? You are all at least 30 seconds to a minute (or more) faster than last year. True, this was a 3-mile tempo, and we'll soon get to those, but I still believe this is a valid comparison. You folks weren't dying today. You were in control, and I have full confidence you could have carried it another mile. 

Here's another nugget for you... we have seven (7!) girls on this team who could do a road 5k under 23 minutes. That's today, early in the training cycle, not even three full weeks into the summer. What will it be by August? September? October? We're just starting and you guys are already very good. That has to get you pumped.

Believe you are good, because you are! Run like you are great, because you are! Run like you'll win, because you can!

Great 2nd week

Two weeks of nine gone... it will go so fast. Our training is going well. Everyone is improving, and no one is hurt. So far, so good!

I did get to Wal-Mart today, and we are applying for the July 6th date as you guys requested. That is moratorium week, so you girls will be on your own. I had to put my number down as contact, but that has to be for emergencies only.

Next week we up the miles again. Top end this week was 5-6, next week it will be 6-7. Low end will move from 4 miles to 5.

Tuesday will be a harder workout again. That will be our pattern throughout the summer.

Thanks to Madison and her father for the donuts and drinks today!

Arrangements made, and some pending

Ladies,

Just a short note-

Car wash is set for July 13th at the Boys Club, as you requested. I asked for 10-3, but that time can be altered.

Walmart said we can have June 22nd, 29th, or any Saturday in July. Basically all our options are open at the moment. We can't have the bake sale on the same day as the car wash, so that excludes July 13th. So... If you want the earliest possible Saturday, that likely means the 29th (by the time we get corporate okay). Moratorium is the following week, so if we get that date, I have to be hands-off.

Remember, one or more of your parents will have to set up an account for the monies collected. Neither I nor Coach Jo will touch any of the money. That's how I want it, and that's a precondition for having any fund raiser. You guys did a great job with it last year, and I trust you completely.

We're going to stay with Parkview tomorrow because I want a little lead time for all girls and parents before we switch venues. I'm happy to try someplace new next week. Options right now would be the high school or Spring Mill. Based on the conversation this morning, I think Spring Mill is what you prefer. We need some time to work out a ride situation for everyone, thus I thought it better to wait until next week. 

It was a muggy run

Ladies,

This morning summer peeked it's head, and we had a muggy one. The next two days should be cooler, but make no mistake about it, summer is coming soon enough. Get in the habit of drinking more water, and it also wouldn't hurt to take a bit more salt in your diet. You'll run it off, don't worry. Your ability to handle the heat is going to directly correspond to your ability to retain water.

I continue to be happy about our progress. Our mileage is creeping up, and as yet we don't have anyone hurt. I still want to monitor this situation closely. If you have any stabbing or throbbing pain, I want to know.

A question was raised this morning about Varsity vs. JV. Let me clarify this early on for the new people - there is no distinction. If you train with the Varsity every day, you get the Varsity points. I can't run more than 7 people during State series, and that shouldn't be the lone arbiter of who gets the points. Truth is, we need everyone to help us get as far as we can. This means even if you aren't one of the top 7, you may have directly contributed to our success. I guess I'm saying there's more than one way to earn the stripes.

Also I should be clear about other topics. As some of you may recall, last year there was some controversy on the boys' team after a party they attended was raided. Some of the boys were even arrested for drinking. Let me make this simple; don't do it. As much as I love this sport, and as much as I want to do as well as possible, far more important to me is your individual futures. We don't live in a world where such transgressions are easily forgotten or forgiven. A silly choice might be the difference between scholarship monies, entry into universities, or even a complete roadblock to certain careers. For that reason I take alcohol and drug abuse very seriously. It would break my heart to do it, but if you get arrested for either, chances are you'll never run another meet this season.

Clothing! This also came up this morning. Look, in light of recent events at our high school, we cannot risk the bad publicity of you running in sports bras during a practice. I live in the running culture, I totally get it and what a hassle it is, but it's a battle we cannot win. If you're practicing with me, you have to have a shirt on. A sleeveless tech shirt over a sports bra is the best option. I cannot/will not yield on this point.

More information... severe weather! I have no problem running a practice in the rain - sometimes it's even fun! Severe weather is another matter. We cannot run in lightning or hail. Period. I leave this to your discretion on days the weather looks bad at or near the start of practice, just know if it's storming, we aren't running until it stops.

Oh, here's some food for thought. It might shed some light on how important yesterday's test actually was...

If you can't see it, click on the picture for a larger version.

Fund Raising
I have been unable to get in contact with the Boys and Girls Club or Walmart. I have the right numbers, no one is picking up. I will keep trying.

Shirts are a go. I think you need to go with something sleeveless and tech, so it is cool and wicks.

Unless I hear from Dr. Jimmy otherwise, I'm guessing Popsicles are also a go. Don't buy them just yet, but do be thinking about where you'd set up and what you'd charge.

12-minute run breakdown

Okay, so let me break this workout down for you...

12-Minute Run
Athlete		Laps	Yards	Pace
Alli	Guthrie	6.5	2860	7:20:00
Bret	Roberts	6.5	2860	7:20:00
Chloe	Evans	5.6	2464	8:34:00
Carlee	Tackett	5	2200	9:36:00
Danielle	Page	6.4	2816	7:30:00
Lauren	Mitchell	5.4	2376	8:50:00
Diana	Katau
Morgan	Benstin	6.4	2816	7:30:00
Carrie	Flinn	6.3	2772	7:38:00
Keeley	Bobbs
Madison	Ryan	6.3	2772	7:38:00
McKena	Voorhies	4.9	2156	9:46:00
Claudia	Abner
Jo	Scott
Zoe	Zollman	6.3	2772	7:38:00
Chelsey	Schofield
Chelsea	Scott	5.7	2508	8:25:00

The distances are approximate, but good enough for our purposes here. Remember, Parkview is a standard track, meaning it's in yards. That's 440 per lap, or 1760 per mile. If I multiply your number of laps by 440 I get your total yards. Dividing 12 minutes by your total yardage gives me your pace. Get it? Or at least, that's how it should look. I need to work on my Excel skills, because my formulas did not match reality, at first. I finally worked it out, giving me the numbers you see above.

Of course we could look at this from the distance run in time, which is like freezing a race at a specific point in time. It lets you know where you are relative to other runners in the same time frame. That's useful from a training perspective because it tells you what the gap is between you and others in a very palpable way. It can be discouraging if you view it the wrong way, that is, "I'm so far behind!" The proper way to look at it is, "Alright, now I see where I need to work. I'm getting to the next girl!"

That's it. Close that gap to the girl just ahead of you, and when you get her, go to the next one. If every girl does that, we all improve, and at the same time we motivate those around us to run harder.

The body will do whatever the mind accepts. Set short-term goals that are attainable, so your mind is willing to try. Getting to that next girl is an attainable goal. This should be something you strive for every day.

Next I'd like to look at a projected race based on today's run.

Alli	22:44:00
Bret	22:44:00
Chloe	26:33:24
Carlee	29:45:36
Danielle	23:15:00
Lauren	27:23:00
Diana
Morgan	23:15:00
Carrie	23:39:48
Keeley
Madison	23:39:48
McKena	30:16:36
Claudia
Jo
Zoe	23:39:48
Chelsey
Chelsea	26:05:30

Yup, those are your approximate race predictions. Of course this is road, not the BNL course, so bear that in mind. DON'T FREAK OUT! This is very early in the training cycle, so if the numbers aren't where you think they should be based on last year's running, calm down. What you will see is the numbers should improve from week to week. Yeah, if you get to the end of summer and your numbers don't move, we'll be talking. Right now, I don't see anything here that alarms me in the least. In fact, I'd say you guys are ahead of last year, many of you by a wide margin.

It's hard to hit the mark on the first hard day... to push to the appropriate level. It takes practice, just like proper racing pace. We'll be working a great deal on that, so don't worry, we'll dial it in. 

Finally, I am so pumped about what I see. You new girls are really coming through, you veterans are picking up where you left off, and I see nothing but positives here. What a blast!