Ted Fox Eve

Ladies,

The first of our final race series of the season is about to begin. Why would I say that? Easy. Three of our next four races will happen at home. They will all be big meets with big ramifications. They also happen to qualify you girls for the All-Time Top-25 board.

Tomorrow's race is a Sectional preview. Most of our rivals will be there, and we will know what we are facing in the coming weeks. Chief of all will be Salem of course, but we shouldn't turn our eyes away from Terre Haute South. Beating either team gets us out of Regional.

As I told you at practice, your mindset over the next four weeks should be to progressively push yourselves harder and harder into the red zone. You have to find your line and ride just under it. That's where the best race is, and the line is tight - maybe only 5 seconds per mile. If you do this right, you will know your limits better than you ever have before.

What is there to lose? Why not take a shot? Race smart, race hard, and hang in there until the end.

Time goals:

Joslyn and Carrie - 20:30
Katlyn and Zoe - sub-22:00
Madison - 22:30
Chelsey - sub-23:00
Diana/Cynthaney/Sara - sub-24:00
Kate - 24:30

See you at the course by 8 AM. Don't be late!

Feeling good

Ladies,

I'm feeling much better about our direction heading into this weekend. The old attitude is coming back, and I saw signs today that people are getting aggressive. Good! That's the momentum we need heading into the end of the season.

Hard to believe, but our season comes down to the next three weeks. Everything that's happened since June, all the sacrifices you've made, all for the next three weeks... imagine that.

I asked Diana tonight if she felt the wind in her hair. Both she and Zoe were confused by that - yes, they felt wind in their hair, but by their expressions you could tell they wondered what I meant by that. Believe me, it's not the first time I've seen that look. Today.

"The wind in your hair" refers to that time period when some event in your life is about over, and you can see the end nearing. For Diana, that's her cross country career. It's a sad thing, and I certainly am not rubbing salt in that, but I think it's worth thinking about while you're still in the moment. Think of it as pre-nostalgia.

For me, that's cause to double down on my efforts like each one could be my last. Fact is, they might! An injury now means the end of cross instantly - we don't do redshirt seniors at BNL. No, anything left to accomplish cannot wait until some faraway time we'll someday get to. We can't even wait until tomorrow. Better to live every moment of it as if it were the last.

Isn't that true for all of us? Sure, only Diana graduates this year, but think of what she has meant to all of us. Think what a great captain she is. This will be a difficult hole to fill. In this respect, we are all going through a senior year, aren't we?

All the more reason to come together as a team, to enjoy these final weeks together. Who knows how it will all turn out, the ups and downs come as they will. We can choose to make the most of it and the time together to build lifelong memories.

I'll tell you this; nothing makes me smile like watching you all pile in a car and run off to do something together. Ask your parents about that one - I'm betting there isn't one that wouldn't trade places with you and be able to enjoy that priceless time of life again.

Shifting gears... revised beard goals!

Joslyn and Carrie - break 20:30.
Katlyn and Zoe - break 22:00.
Madison - break 22:30.
Chelsey - break 23:00.
Diana/Cynthaney/Sara - break 24:00.
Kate - break 24:30.

You can shave, stripe, dye, paint, about anything but tattoo. Plot your evil!

Another day, a better day

Ladies,

Last night wasn't the best of workouts. Thankfully it was an aberration, because tonight was much better. Not without it's problems, but attitude/focus wasn't one of them.

It was a 7-mile run for most. Embedded in the run were some pickups, a quarter-mile in length, with paces between 6:00-6:30 for the most part. Look at the data here and you will see:

Run your mouse along the graph on the bottom. Read the pace!

After thinking about last night, I realized the thing that was missing; Coach Vance. She was not there to urge you on during the hard stuff, and you drifted. Sure, everyone is getting tired, but that's always true. Still, I think Coach's absence was the critical piece.

That's why I ran with you tonight. I was going to be the hard part, and dictate how hard/how long you did it. That way I kept the pace where I wanted it and I would be right there if someone needed a kick in the seat of the pants. Thankfully the kicking part wasn't necessary!

On the front of the group, the pace didn't hurt you at all. On the end, it did. Naturally. Still, every girl on the team has at least 6-flat speed for short distance. I was counting on that.

Turning our attention forward, we have two days left until the Invite. Tomorrow will be another 6-7 mile run. Friday will be only 5. Both days will be at Milwaukee, because I want you all to heal up a bit. We cannot afford to hurt anyone at this point in the season.

Saturday is a big day, especially for runners 6-10. Who gets to run Conference/Sectional/Regional may be settled then. Everyone will train until the end of the season, but the only people sure to race until the season is over are the 7 fastest times of the season. That's the only fair way to do it. I hate that all of you won't be able to race State Series. That's just how it works.

For now, we race at 9 AM. I would want girls there by 8. Members of last year's team remember "The Great Sleepover Fiasco". Don't forget to set your alarm! I certainly don't want anyone to lose their slot because they showed up late. There will be both a Varsity and JV race.

By the way, more and more of you are getting Garmins. I've created a club for that on Strava, and you can find it here:

Stars Girls CC

It only has one member right now - me! C'mon, if you own some form of GPS (and Coach Vance, your Android device works just fine), join in! You'll understand how addictive it is once you try it. 

Busted!

Ladies,

I've said over and over this has been a dream year for me, and I really meant it. I still do. Up to now it's been a smooth as anything could be.

Tonight we finally hit the hard part of the season.

That doesn't mean this has all suddenly changed and it's now a bad season - hardly! No, hard always comes. If there is no hard, there is no challenge. The right way to look at is the first part of the season has brought us here, where we test ourselves and determine who we are.

The word I used to describe tonight was "malaise"... a period of stagnation. You might call it "the blahs". No one was into the workout tonight, that was obvious. Truth is, I've been feeling this coming on since Brown County. That's easy to understand too... whenever you have such a tremendous meet, it's easy to have a letdown of emotion and energy. This is where we have to be most on our guard, because the important part of the season is just beginning.

Two weeks from this Saturday is Sectional. Sectional! We've been working since June for this moment. Don't forget that! It's been a long time coming, and it's almost here. For some of you, this weekend might be the last meet of the year. Everyone needs to be on their game Saturday, because anything can happen.

There is no need for panic. No! What we need is focus, and intensity. Going into Brown County everyone had it. Everyone was fired up, because they knew we have good times there every year. Well, we have good times at the Invite every year, too! And we need them, because we still have ground to cover.

We will be seeing some of our Sectional and Regional competition on Saturday. For many teams, this meet is the Sectional preview. You can bet they'll take it seriously even if we don't.

I'm really high on you ladies. You are a great team. Keep your focus and intensity a little while longer. One way or another, this will all soon be over. It's up to you, between now and then, to determine how good you feel about it all when it's over. 

Getting Close!

Ladies,

It's not far off now. This week is the Ted Fox Invite. It's an important meet for us, because it's the last time we get to run our course before Sectional and Regional. We want to also see how our rivals will run, what kind of shape they are in, and how we compare.

We haven't run our course a bunch this year. I've avoided it mainly because of how the last two years have gone. I'm trying hard to get you all to the finish of the season in one piece and still have enough training to race well. I'm rolling the dice on this one; I'm gambling we will get more out of you by going for quality rather than quantity (and hills).

It's worked so far. We've had some huge drops. I also think there are more to come. Tomorrow we do intervals, and they will be challenging. Don't be afraid; look forward to it. The more you can accomplish there, the more you can accomplish at a race. There is a connection. Make the most of the opportunity!

The rest of the week we'll run at Milwaukee. We have too many people nicked up to stay on the course. Right or wrong, that's my call. Wednesday won't be as hard as last Wednesday, that I promise. It'll be quality, just not as intense.

Thursday and Friday will be rest days. Saturday is race day. Simple.

Take care of icing painful areas. Stretch! Remember, that little bit of maintenance you do at home can make all the difference at practice and/or meets. 

Breaking it Down

Ladies,

We got through it. This is the meet I dread every year. Not because it is a bad race, because it isn't. On paper it's a great meet for us, and gives us a chance to race a little differently than we ordinarily would. No, the major negative is Homecoming always falls on this weekend.

And I can't compete with that.

Couple that with the warmer weather, rougher course, and late start (for the upperclassmen race) and it's a tough race to generate enthusiasm. Don't get me wrong, I think you guys were great; but coming off last week's huge drops, this race can feel like a letdown to you.

Know that I never expected fast times today. No team ran fast. Jasper threw themselves against it twice, and in both cases lost first because of an insane first mile. Example: in the first race, Jasper's #1 hit the first mile in 5:40 (17:34 pace). She finished in 20:00 (6:27). That's a disaster. If she had tried 6:10 she might have held it, but instead she let the Henryville girl, who was much more patient, overtake and destroy her.

Now it was easy to see up-and-down the line how it was going in race one, so I spoke to our girls before race two and advised patience. That worked. Carrie was around #30 at mile one, and finished 12th; Katlyn was maybe 50th at the mile and finished 17th. That's smart racing.

Still, we can't overlook how bravely the girls in the first race went after it. Joslyn was right on the 6:30 I gave her, finishing in 2nd for the Frosh. Zoe also stuck with it, slowing in the second mile but keeping the third even for 9th. And how about the Chelsey/Cynthaney duel? Right down to the wire with nearly identical times! Let's look at the numbers:

Runner	Mile 1	Mile 2		Mile 3		5K	MPM	Kick
Joslyn	6:30:00	13:33:00	7:03:00	20:44:00	7:11:00	21:23:00	6:53:52	39:00.0	5:12:00
Madison	7:15:00	14:58:00	7:43:00	22:47:00	7:49:00	23:30:00	7:34:50	43:00.0	5:44:00
Zoe	7:05:00	14:40:00	7:35:00	22:18:00	7:38:00	23:05:00	7:26:46	47:00.0	6:16:00
Chelsey	7:32:00	15:52:00	8:20:00	24:07:00	8:15:00	24:53:00	8:01:37	46:00.0	6:08:00
Cynthany	7:32:00	15:57:00	8:25:00	24:07:00	8:10:00	24:53:00	8:01:37	46:00.0	6:08:00
Sara	7:33:00	15:57:00	8:24:00	24:20:00	8:23:00	25:09:00	8:06:46	49:00.0	6:32:00
	Mile 1	Mile 2		Mile 3		5K		Kick
Carrie	6:43:00	13:56:00	7:13:00	21:25:00	7:29:00	22:12:00	7:09:41	0:47:00	6:16:00
Katlyn	7:05:00	14:32:00	7:27:00	22:06:00	7:34:00	22:49:00	7:21:37	0:43:00	5:44:00
Diana	7:39:00	16:19:00	8:40:00	25:28:00	9:09:00	26:33:00	8:33:52	1:05:00	8:40:00
Kate	7:40:00	16:19:00	8:39:00	25:20:00	9:01:00	26:09:00	8:26:08	0:49:00	6:32:00

Okay, so that likely went off the page. Sorry about that! I do find the splits interesting, especially one I haven't been able to collect for a while; mile 3. That enables me to get the final 200 meters, and therefore kick speed. I've wondered who on the team had the fastest kick. This pretty much settles it, doesn't it? 

Let me finish with a few comments:

Joslyn - great race. You can't argue with that finish. Way to fight!

Carrie - smart race. Controlling the early part kept you in it. You slowed as it went on as everyone else did, but it didn't destroy you. Thanks for listening!

Katlyn - these are remarkable splits inasmuch as you had so little drop. You earned your medal!

Zoe - ditto what I said to Katlyn (again). You two are two peas in a pod. Nice!

Madison - the rough nature of the course was bound to hurt your hip a great deal. You're going to have to put your eyes in Katlyn's back and hang on for dear life! It was good race, and you only missed medaling by 20 seconds!

Chelsey/Cynthaney - you followed instructions to a "T". I felt there was little between you right now, and you proved it. Way to take it to the kick and fight it out!

Sara - it won't be long before there is another girl kicking it out for a top-7. Good race!

Kate - I didn't mean to sound so harsh earlier, because I certainly am not angry. You are a young racer and don't understand things yet. My point was you never give up an advantage you've earned. Ever. You owed it to Diana to leave her and try to put as much distance on her as possible. She understood that, and that's why she yelled at you. You did exactly what I told you to do though, so in part that's my fault. Your results were fine, but understand you gave up some places by going back to her. In a State tournament environment, that could prove fatal. 

Diana - I'm proud of you. Proud of the way you tried to follow the plan, proud that you kept fighting when you became ill, proud of your attitude toward Kate when she came back to you... Kid, you get it. You understand your responsibility as captain and a member of the team. Your behavior was exemplary in every respect. You are everything a captain should be.

There was another moment that made me smile... after the racing was done, I pointed out to Joslyn that her 2nd in the Freshmen race was the highest finish we've had since I've been coach. "Carrie had 3rd her freshman year," I said. "What was her time?" inquired Joslyn, sporting a wry smile. 

Ah, yes. I love competition! (the answer is "21:11")

Beard Goals

Ladies,

It's funny how life circles about, bringing all the seemingly loose and unrelated strands of our existence together to form the tapestries that are "us". If you will, allow me to delve into that for a few minutes. In my weird way I will eventually make a point (I hope).

I've told you before I came up in a large family. To be precise, I had four brothers and three sisters, some step-sisters, blah, blah, blah. The precise details are too convoluted to flesh out completely, and to be honest aren't particularly germane to the topic. I will say in addition to my brothers and sisters I was raised with an aunt and two uncles that were close in age. If you are counting, that's eleven kids.

It was the 60's, we were poor, and for us it was in every sense of the word a "dog-eat-dog world". There wasn't a lot of food, and what little possessions we had were shared amongst us all. Not always evenly, I might add.

That's right. When you are raised in a family like that, competition is a daily fact of life. You had to fight for food. You had to fight for possessions. You had to fight for personal space. Life was a fight.

Flashing forward to the present, I recently assigned a research/essay to my careers class. Topic: "Nature vs. Nurture". I told them both influenced their lives, but I wanted them to tell me which had more. Of course there is no answer... strong examples can be given to support either side. It's an individual issue with no right or wrong.

Here's the thing... no matter which side you choose, embedded in your answer is an "out" for anything you do wrong. I mean, if you are a product of your environment (Nurture) it's not your fault if you do anything wrong. It's how you were raised. On the other hand, if it's your genetic disposition (Nature) nothing can be your fault because that is how you are made.

Where I was trying to take them, and this may have been way over their heads, is that we struggle with outside influences all the time. We also struggle with the internal ones. We fight against our environment and our own natures, but the truth of the matter is we absolutely have a choice, always, to be our best. No excuses!

Now in my case, I can't tell you for sure if it is my nature to fight, or if that's how I was raised. It's probably a bit of both. What I can tell you is there is a switch in me, and once it is thrown, look out! I don't mean that necessarily as a scary psychopath kind of thing... it's more like I dig in my heels and there is nothing that will alter the path I have set.

When I was younger I tried so hard to avoid conflict with my siblings. This was of course impossible, given our situation, but I always tried. When push came to the inevitable shove, and the first punch landed on my face, all the pacifism was gone. Now someone was going to pay. No matter what else happened, someone was going to pay. The pain I had feared didn't matter. Losing didn't matter. Someone was going to pay.

It surprises me how often that quality has surfaced in my competitive life. I've headed into competitions fearful of things out of my control, stressing about the smallest details. In the early days that tightness would prevent me from reaching higher levels of success. What I learned as I moved on was this: once the first blow has landed and the competition is in swing, all of my fire comes forth and now someone is going to pay. I can keep my head, I can think my way through it, but someone is going to pay. It might be that unknown person in front of me, or the one after that, but someone is going to pay. This turns out to be the healthiest possible channel for how I am. I have taken a potential negative quality and turned it into a positive.

I have to believe we all have that switch - we just have different triggers. If you can find yours, find that one thing that pushes everything else out of your head so you can focus on giving everything you have, then you become great. Some need personal accomplishment, some need something bigger than themselves, a selfless act, and I can't tell you what yours will be. I can tell you you need to find it.

I will offer you something to shoot for tomorrow. Of course the challenge pales in comparison to such weighty psychological debates as "Nature vs. Nurture", but who knows, it might just be the carrot you need to get the job done.

It's time to start putting the beard and hair on the line.

I will set time goals: If you meet/beat them, you will get to assault my beautiful beard and/or head with a set of clippers. Eyebrows too! This will occur at Sectional time, only a few short weeks away. I will allow Sharpies to touch my wonderfully tanned scalp as well.

Goals:
Carrie/Joslyn - 20:15 or below.
Katlyn/Madison/Zoe - 21:45 or below.
Chelsey - 22:50
Diana/Cynthany/Sara/Kate - 23:45

Girls, I am being MORE than generous here. I expect to wind up with an EXTREMELY interesting hairdo before the season is up!