"Expect to win"

Thursday, May 26, 2011

I arrived at the park for a run feeling better than I’ve felt about running in a long time. I suspect it was weighing in lighter than I’ve been since I started writing the blog, but I felt like if I wanted to run fast…today was the day. There was a slight drizzle falling (counts as a sunny day with the weather we’ve been experiencing), which felt great. My leg was a little stiff as I began to run, which has me wondering about if I’m healing or not. I decided to go without socks, something I always do when riding but never running. I knew my feet would be getting soaked and didn’t see the value in socks. Besides, my feet were pretty tough from the riding and I didn’t expect to have any trouble with blistering.

As is often the case when it’s raining, I was alone in the park. I splashed through the puddles as I headed for Squire’s Castle. Everything about the run was refreshing and I easily completed a 40-minute effort feeling like I could have gone twice as far. I retuned home to shower and verify yesterday’s weigh-in…actually hoping I’d be below 190. I wasn’t…but I was still at 190 and that felt pretty good.

I spent some time speaking with Marie about her regional races she’d be running the next day. She was experiencing a lot of anxiety about running both the mile and the 800. The mile is first and her concern was she wouldn’t make the top four (only the top four qualify to the state meet) and tire herself in the process to the point where she wouldn’t make it in the 800, either. We had been at the state meet the year before…as spectators…because she hadn’t qualified. Sitting around a camp fire in Alum Creek State Park the night before, she confessed that “I feel like I’ve wasted a year. I didn’t train hard enough to get to the state meet.” I reminded her that the only thing you could do about history was learn from it and that in a year, if she was willing to do what it took to be in a position to win a state meet, I’d put together the program to have her there. “If you could win any race, which one would it be?” I asked. She didn’t hesitate a moment. “The mile,” she said.

“Do you remember what you told me a year ago? You wanted to run the mile. Well…guess what…I don’t care how fast you think those other girls in the race are. Fact is…their coaches are afraid of something…and that something is you,” I said, meaning every word of it. We went through the race strategy, which was pretty simple. “Hang back a little. Don’t be afraid to be in sixth place with a lap to go…with your speed over the final 250 meters, there’s no one you can’t catch. Trust in yourself and all the work you’ve done. You own one of those four spots, so go and take it. Toe that line expecting to win,” I concluded. She thanked me for talking her through it and hung up confident and focused – expecting to win.

Which, of course, puts me in the position of being responsible for what happens…at least in my own mind. I’ve been coaching runners for 25 years now and I’ve never felt such tension over a race. If it’s possible…I want her to get there more than she does herself. Its 24 hours away. We’ll know soon enough…

Run duration: 40 minutes.
Training Heart Rate: 145 bpm.
Calories burned during workout: 675.