Ol' Milwaukee

Ladies,

That 5 miles went easily, didn't it? That's taper talkin' baby!

In the next two weeks, the best thing we can do is rest. Next, we have to run enough to stay loose and stay in contact with running "feel". That doesn't mean we start running everything faster, oh no... that wouldn't be rest.

Tonight I kept running to the front, not because I wanted to be up there; quite the opposite. I had planned to run off the back tonight. When I saw girls taking off from the pack - hard - I knew I'd better get up there and control it some. That's a good problem to have, isn't it? That's it's easy to run too fast?

Cynthaney ran the fastest 5 miles she's ever run tonight. That is taper. She wasn't even really breathing hard. Ladies, just like she came in from two days of not running and ran her fastest time - by far - can you imagine how you're going to feel this weekend?

We are getting through Sectional, no doubt. We want momentum taking us into Regional. Let's get some this weekend! For Madison!

Practice at BNL tomorrow, 3-4 miles, done by 4:15-4:30 at the latest. Mr. Gatti's at 6:30!

Short but Sharp

Ladies,

Runner	1	2	3	4	5	6	Total	MPM	5k
Carrie	1:41:00	1:36:00	1:36:00	1:36:00	1:36:00	1:35:00	9:40:00	6:26:40	19:58:40
Joslyn	1:41:00	1:36:00	1:36:00	1:36:00	1:36:00	1:35:00	9:40:00	6:26:40	19:58:40
Katlyn	1:43:00	1:40:00	1:42:00	1:43:00	1:43:00	1:45:00	10:16:00	6:50:40	21:13:04
Zoe	1:43:00	1:39:00	1:42:00	1:42:00	1:43:00	1:45:00	10:14:00	6:49:20	21:08:56
Chelsey	1:53:00	1:50:00	1:50:00	1:50:00	1:50:00	1:53:00	11:06:00	7:24:00	22:56:24
Diana	1:53:00	1:50:00	1:50:00	1:50:00	1:50:00	1:53:00	11:06:00	7:24:00	22:56:24
Sara	1:53:00	1:50:00	1:50:00	1:51:00	1:50:00	1:53:00	11:07:00	7:24:40	22:58:28
Kate	1:53:00	1:50:00	1:51:00	1:51:00	1:50:00	1:53:00	11:08:00	7:25:20	23:00:32

That's tonight's workout in a nutshell. It was a workout designed to help teach you to get on rhythm right away and stay there. It wasn't intended to pancake you, and from what I could tell, it didn't. Sara didn't spit out her gum the whole time!

Think about how that went... you didn't struggle with anything other than running slowly enough to hit your splits! Yeah, that's right... you had to slow down to get to your splits. That's the other thing about this kind of workout... it shows you that you can run that fast if you control yourself. 

C'mon... you all know you could have kept going. Easily. You didn't need all the rest either. In fact, on the last one, most of you tried to hit your assigned numbers by hitting the brakes in the last 100 yards! It was that easy.

The rest of the week is going to get easier. Tomorrow we will run 5 easy miles on the Milwaukee trail. Thursday will be less. Friday less still. That's right. Hard work is done. It's down to rest!

Get fired up... this weekend is going to be GREAT!

Down to the Wire!

Ladies,

Here we go. First step of the State Series is upon us this Saturday. Are we ready? I like to think so. We have a group that has trained since June, and runs have looked really good in practice. Physically at least I think we are ready.

Mentally... well, that is something you can never tell. I talked to a couple of you tonight of the mindset you have to have on the line of a race. You have to set your mind hard on a central idea, a point really, and focus on nothing else.

When I coached boys I had some real head cases. I had this one boy who would hit the line and his eyes went nuts looking up and down the line. He looked scared out of his wits. I would have to grab him by the singlet, pull his face into mine, and I would give him three simple things to think about. There was no use getting to technical at that point - he was only a brain stem by then. Panic can do that to you. The thing with him was if I could get to him at the right moment, those ideas would stick and he would be great.

We all get like that at some point. The bigger the race, the bigger the stakes, the bigger the pressure. You have to believe me when I say most of that pressure is self-inflicted, and therefore you can push it off. One of the best ways to do that is with confidence. In what? Your training.

Look, when I train for an event, it's not just for a few weeks before - it's months, if not a year in some cases. A standard marathon plan would be 6 months with 8-10 weeks of 20-mile runs once a week, 50+ miles a week total training. More than that, the 20-milers would be (by the end of the cycle) done at or near race-pace. In that way I could line up knowing I could carry that pace easily for 20 miles. Taper would take me through the rest. And it worked.

Think of what you folks have done. I've standardized your distance at 7-8 miles on regular days for a reason... so you would be over distance. The more you do that, the more comfortable 5k becomes. Comfort brings confidence, confidence brings effort, effort brings success. It may not be fun to do those runs all the time, but they add up - and they matter.

Think of the intervals, the speed you've held. You have the speed to go the goal times I've set - easily! You have the endurance. You have to dig for the desire. I'm not doubting your hearts... only your focus. Think of it like this: if I told all of you that instead of letting you color my beard I would give you $500 if you hit the goals I gave you, how long before you all blew through them? Not very long, I promise you that. So what changed? Easy: you had a very good reason to take the hurt.

Think on that this week... what is it that motivates you? Is it internal or external? I'll delve more into that tomorrow, I think...

Practice at BNL tomorrow. 

HHC

Ladies,

It was a tough one out there today. The weather was good in my opinion, if a bit blustery. The course rolled, and certainly wasn't fast, based on the times I saw from other schools. We hoped for 3rd, wound up 5th, if only by 11 points.

That's both disappointing and encouraging. Sure, I'm disappointed about 5th, I won't lie. It was a tough road for you all, and I guess I was hoping luck would break our way. What is encouraging is despite losing a critical piece of the top-5 we could hang within 11 points of the place we wanted. That goes to you, girls.

Of course Joslyn had an outstanding day. Not just because she took 11th and HM honors... no, more because she beat all but TWO of the Seymour girls! That's a pretty great accomplishment!

It's not like you girls ran horribly... I sure hope I don't come off that way. You didn't. You can look up times for the other teams, and I think what you're going to see is how slow the field was overall. I think most of you took your shots, and for that I can't ask more.

And yet I have to.

There are only two possible paths to Semi State for us now... individually or as a team. Unless EVERYONE improves a bit or ONE PERSON improves dramatically, there is no path forward after Regional for the team. I can't sugarcoat that.

The thing is, as a team you've already improved so much. I don't know how much more I can expect or ask from you. I certainly think everyone can be better... why else taper? What I cannot do is point at someone and say, "You HAVE to drop 30 seconds!" and lay that pressure and guilt upon her. I won't do it.

I WILL say everyone CAN improve at least 30 seconds yet from their present time. Taper WILL make you feel better, even on our course. I will remind the veteran runners that many of you ran your best times last year AT SECTIONAL. That's right, ON OUR COURSE. Get it in your heads... you can go fast on our home course. And if you want to go on past Regional, you need to.

We always knew this would be tough. So let's get to it!

If you are reading this, you should be in BED!

Ladies,

Let's keep this simple and sweet tonight.

Tomorrow we run for Conference honors. Top 14 girls achieve individual honors - top 7 are All-Conference, next 7 are Honorable Mention. Floyd and Seymour will make it tough to break the top 14, but taking a lesson from Jennifer last night, that's no excuse to give up.

Our real battle though is the team competition. We are neck-and-neck with Columbus East. I happen to believe we can beat them. How? That's easy - we match up with them man-to-man. If our #1 beats theirs, #2 beats beats theres, etc. we win. It really is that simple.

I can make it even easier... if she is wearing orange shorts, beat her. Better still, beat her badly. Put 2 or 3 runners between you. Every point will matter in the end.

You all need to come up big. Chelsey and Cynthaney, more than ever you guys need to fight one another. One or both of you HAVE to break 23 minutes in the coming weeks. Might as well start tomorrow!

Great racing weather coming tomorrow, ladies. Make sure you bring warm clothes. See you by the pool at 7:20 AM!

Beginning of the End and WOW! Jennifer!

Ladies,

I said last night was the last of the really hard stuff (other than races) for the rest of the season, and I meant it. Tonight's 5-miler was as easy as they get. True, we had a couple of hills, but c'mon, it was easy. Tomorrow we run only 3 miles, and if you will be on time and start on time, you should easily be done by 4 o'clock. I would have my parents there no later than 4:15 for sure.

You all stayed for the Middle School Invite, and I'm sure glad you did. Did you see all those girls that ran with us this summer? They did great! Be proud of them and yourselves; you had a hand in their success! You are their mentors and role models, and you were great to them this summer. That's the way it's all supposed to work.

Of course individually it's always fun to watch the rivalries... Autumn and Chelsea and Danielle and the new blonde girl from OMS only Joslyn knows (but can't remember her name). Blonde girl beat Autumn who beat Chelsea who beat Danielle... I think... it's all a blur now... and they all congratulated each other afterward. I like that a lot. They all know that some day they will all be teammates, so it's all good.

I would be remiss if I didn't specifically point out Ramirez. Coming out of the woods in the second half of the race it looked as if the Batchelor kids had her number. She wasn't blown out, she was actually starting to move up again, but it was going to be tough. It was looking like third at best. Next thing you know, she's plowing up the hill the second time alone, and winning! Unbelievable for anyone but Jennifer. There was only one girl left to give any chase, and it was weakly attempted at that. In the end it was all Ramirez.

Of course later we found out the two girls ahead took the wrong turn at the bottom of the hill. Apparently they continued on after the turn. Jennifer yelled, they didn't listen, and that was that. Ramirez was upset about it, felt like she cheated them, and somehow that lessened her victory.

Nonsense.

I had a chance to talk to Jennifer after that. "Jennifer, you had a great race." says I. "You don't have any apologies to make, you did nothing wrong. It's up to the runners and the coaches to know the course. You did what you had to do." Her response, "Yeah, but..."

"Yeah but NOTHING" I interrupted. "If it were a soccer game and a keeper left the goal and you had the ball in front of the net, would you wait until she got back in there before you shot?"

Jennifer giggled. "No!" The truth was obvious.

"Well then, why would you do it here?" I finished.

I explained to her specifically why it was a great race, even if the victory in part came because of the mistakes of the other two runners: it's always that way on some level. Runners with less talent often beat more talented runners. If you don't use your head and your heart when you compete, you have made a mistake someone else can and will exploit. It's that moment I've talked about all season, that opportunity, and you have to take it, because it is so fleeting.

This was something else I pointed out to her... she didn't win tonight just because they went the wrong way. None of that would have mattered if she hadn't been so tough, hated losing so much, that she didn't give up as soon as the girls first broke from her. Jennifer never gave up. Maybe they would beat her, but she wasn't going to let it be easy. She fought every step of the way, and because of that was in a position to capitalize when the moment came. In a weird way, to me, this win was much sweeter because it tested Jennifer's character, and because she is such a special competitor, she got her win.

We could all learn a lesson from that. 

Just a little motivation

Hope you girls haven't forgotten our little bets. I know I haven't. I was doing some quick (and very dirty) Photoshop work tonight. I won't claim it to be my best work - heck, I won't even call it good. Simply let it remind you of the possibilities that await you in the next week.

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.

I contacted the Madison High School AD concerning the numbers we are allowed to run this week. The results are predictable - only 7 will be allowed in the Varsity race. That's a shame. I am hoping for a minor mutiny from the other coaches, at least enough to get to run a time trial on the course. Certain things have to be sorted out!

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.

Tonight was the last hard workout before taper. Our miles won't change a bunch right away, but our hard stuff definitely will. For the last night I wanted to get one more tempo. Not everyone needed to do it, nor was it desirable. I grabbed the top four girls and headed down the trail.

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...