Brevard Distance Runners Camp & Preparing to Race (part 1 of 3)

I LOVE this camp! And I've loved it since I started coming 20yrs ago.  Each July, I venture to Brevard, NC along with 500 other people that are excited to hit the mountainous trails of the Pisgah National Forest and Dupont State Park for a full week.  Some stay for the three separate weeks, but I make it for one. 

Each morning I am in charge of addressing a team or two and this year's topic was: Preparing to Race.
To get you up to speed with all of our high schoolers that were in on the discussion, here's a chance for you to imagine you were with us on the soft trails in the cool mountain air.
If I ask you, "Are you prepared to race?" you may first think about a quick checklist.  You may ponder:

• Am I hydrated? Have I eaten or packed the proper foods?
• Do I know the race start time? How am I getting there?
• What is my bedtime? Do I have my singlet, racing shoes, and bib all ready to go?

Imagine then it's August. The first race of the season is tomorrow and you're on your way home from a pasta dinner at a friend's house.  You're hydrated and you know the answers and have fulfilled the above questions.  Are you prepared to race?  Are you ready?
Well, not if you haven't done the training!  To be ready to race in August, Sept, Oct, Nov, you must-must-must be putting in the training.  Now.  This week.  This week on top of last week and each week moving forwards. 

• What are your summer training goals?  What are your weekly training goals?  What are your daily training goals? 

Are you hitting those?  What are you doing to ensure the highest likelihood of success towards each process goal? 
How are you preparing to be ready to race?  400miles in the summer, 50mpw, make each practice, run with the top group, keep a log, run 6 out of each 7 days?  Let's hear it! 

Next I had the athletes choose sides. 
In the month of July, is running more physical or mental?
In the month of August, is running more physical or mental?
In October?  What about in November?
Think about your season and we'll delve into responses next time.

(Did you see how fast Molly ran last week?!  Who can post her time fastest?)

 

Who's Molly? and 2010

Who's watching the Olympic Trials in Track & Field still?  Some pretty amazing results by some youngsters, veterans, and all in between.  It is exciting to see our team coming together. 
It didn't come together for a friend of mine.  Her name is Molly. 
I lived in Indianapolis for five years.  In last week's post I talked about 2008.  I said I'd talk about 2010 and I asked about Molly.  In following through on "Do what you say you're going to do" --I'm going to do just that!
While living in Indy, I met Molly.  We ran in many of the same meets.  Great girl and great work ethic.  Talented and driven.  Last week, this was her part of her post on Facebook:

I have been praised a thousand times for my resiliency and strength to carry on after have a career ending knee injury in soccer, ...5 knee surgeries to correct it, and miss 2 Olympic Teams and 1 World Championship team in track by a total of .3 seconds. I appreciate all of those thoughts and prayers.

Call it terrible luck. I can call it being at the wrong place at the wrong time. Unfortunately yesterday's Olympic Trials final cuts so deep that I am having trouble believing there is a silver lining at the end of all this. It has left me searching for answers and coming up with nothing but endless tears and a knot in my stomach.

Missed 2012 and 2016 Olympics and 1 World Championship team.  0.3seconds combined over 4 years.  Mere hundredths.  What would you say to her, what would you do? As her training partner, as her coach, as a teammate or loved one?  Where would you focus?  Have you experienced something like this?  Do you know someone that has been in a similarly tough situation? 

As a coach or teammate you have to do something.  You've been there the whole way through.  You must continue to stick with this person.  Nothing you say will make the situation all that much better.  How would you handle the situation if you were Molly?  Could you carry on?  What would be your motivation?

 

So back to 2010...in the next installment.  It involved a lot of phone calls and me not being quite pushy enough.  I got told 'no' a lot.  So what did I do?



"Do what you said you're going to do."

"Do what you said you're going to do."
I like to look forward and work to progress, but it is always important to look back and reflect, too.  In a previous blog, I mentioned I would discuss 2008-2010.  One of my mantras has been the quote above. 
In 2008 I worked the U.S. Olympic Trials out in Eugene.  So cool, right?  Great summer job?  Yes, in all ways...except one.  I couldn't take it anymore.  I wouldn't come back to this meet in 2012 and wear khakis and ask Olympic qualifiers what size jackets they wanted for the USA kit I would mail them the following week.  I watched, writhed, and devised a four year plan. Because I'm realistic, but also didn't really know what I was getting myself into, I gave myself a two year re-up to call my bluff.   
I mean honestly.  I hadn't run well since 1999 when I was in the fall of my senior year of high school.  Yes, high school.  Mono took me out of my senior year spring track season and college was no good.  Then it was time for grad school and to get a job.  That put me with eight years of very little running.  I made goals anyhow and I put myself on report for 2010.  Then I got to work. I had to!

In 1999, my PRs were: 800yds 2:12, Mile 4:55, 2mile 11:09, 5K 18:03...and Pole Vault 11'1.25"
In 2008 my PRs were: 800m 2:11, 1500m 4:29 once and 4:37 every other time (converts to Mile times of 4:47 and 4:55 every other time), indoor mile 5:02, 3K 10:48, 3K Steeple 10:42, 5K 18:03 still. 

Pretty average for a high schooler and I was 8 years removed from high school graduation. Not much progress.  And those 2008 PRs really are from 2001 when I had one decent season.

If I hadn't made enough progress by 2010, I would need to move on and be satisfied that I had given it a shot.  I would also need to recognize that it wasn't worth another two years (2011-2012) of training and working part-time to be very mediocre.  I am confident that there are things that I can do very well.  If I could only compete in track & field in mediocrity, I needed to recognize that and leave the training and competing to go pursue other great endeavors. 

One big motto or mantra during these years was, "Do what you say you're going to do." I did.  I also did what my coach told me to do.  I moved up to Indianapolis and trained under Coach Greg Harger with a crew of 800-1500m guys mainly.  I still love looking back at those training logs from the fall of 2008.  I am so thankful Coach Harger encouraged me to join the Indiana Invaders and gave me a place to start developing.  3x1K in 3:53-3:55 for a workout and I was pleased.  He still let me on the team?  My teammates still talked to me?  No one laughed?  Thankfully I had tunnel vision and not much interest or time for looking up too much on the internet.  I wasn't good enough to bump into anyone good and have conversations regarding major workouts.  So I continued into the spring of 2009. 

My PRs that season became: 800m 2:11indoors, indoor mile 4:49, 1500m 4:24, 3K Steeple 10:11, 5K 17:42 at practice
Progress, a lot of work, and not good enough.  I could see progress in all sorts of ways and I had to keep practicing.  Things were working.  I was learning. 
Every Wednesday I would get home from work at 5:20pm, listen to the same two songs as I changed for practice, then run out the door to IUPUI to practice.  I was loving it!

So how did 2010 go?  How did I base my decision?  Who gave me feedback in that decision-making process? 
Next week I'll ask you what you would say to Molly and tell you how and why I kept going in 2010. 
Are you watching the Trials?