Another huge meet. 24 schools participating. My 7th grade daughter again ran in the 'C' level 2 mile event. She has a school friend that runs and consistently beats her in gym class but is on a CC team for a different high school so that had yet to race each other, until today.
My daughter is a pretty good kid so she expressed outrage when I asked her if there was any trash talking going on at school. "No! But, I want to beat her." I guess we can all live without the trash talking as long as we have the competitive attitude.
The race went off in what is now a familiar pattern with the group of 6 runners from my daughter's team all together and near the front (top 10) of a 255 person train at the half mile mark. The leaders had 20 yards, and the leader was her frienemy from school.
Dad's advice was simple. "You guys look great! Stay relaxed." I guess my daughter interpreted that to mean put on a ridiculous surge and catch the leaders right now because when we saw her again only 400 meters later she had caught the leaders and her friend and taken the lead.
I was worried for her, taking the lead so early. And, her shoe laces were untied. Uggh. They went through the mile in 6:35 her fastest first mile to date by more than 20 seconds. I had more concern that she might blowup. But when she came by me at 1 1/4 she looked great. Relaxed. Not breathing hard. Under no duress. In control.
I didn't get to see her for the next 1/2 mile but she maintained her lead and then extended it on a downhill with a 1/4 mile to go. From there she cruised home in her now trademark shuffle, not even bothering to sprint at the end. I'd liked to have seen her sprint home. I think all the fans would have liked that too. But she seems determined to run only as hard as she has to.
She finished in a time of 13:25, so her second mile was 6:50, a positive :20 second split, reversing the :20 second negative split from last week. I think she had more in her.
My daughter's neighbor, O, passed the frienemy with a terrific kick in the final straight to get second place. The rest of her team finished 4th, 5th and 9th for 21 points and first place. Rival Edina was in second but again their best 7th graders were running up at the JV 'B' level in this meet.
Apparently TJ tried to talk to her friend a bit when she caught her in the race, but "she didn't even look at me". I think that's hilarious because she was doing it to be friendly not psych out her friend and opponent. I tried to explain to her later that people do that as a psychological ploy to break the other person's will and she responded, "That's just mean. I was just saying 'Hi'."
One of the assistant coaches ambled over to have a chat. She was just shaking her head that TJ is winning these races and said "She doesn't even like to run. She's been asking me (the coach) when will Cross Country be over." Yeah, it's sad. And frustrating.
I keep hoping winning will make her like it more. But, there's no ball, or puck.
Tuesday, September 24, 2013
Monday, September 23, 2013
#8 - Running - Post Top Mileage Week
Now that she's won D1 should be enthused and motivated to go running with dad right? NOT.
Couldn't get her moving on Saturday, but did manage to get her out on Sunday for a 6 mile run on a trail that runs along the Mississippi river. As expected, not without lots of whining. Not fun.
Monday - Ran a strong 7 miles, to Lake Harriet and back in an hour.
Wednesday - Ran only 4 in the morning. Felt sluggish and just wanted to lie down again. May be related to taking Advil PM to get to sleep at night. Got motivated to run again in the afternoon and ran 6.5 in 58 minutes. That's over 10 miles in one day; I feel pretty good.
Or, I did, for an hour or two, and then it seriously caught up to me. I got cramps in my hamstrings while doing a soccer clinic in the evening, and the next day I couldn't move.
Day off on Thursday. And then an easy 3 on Friday to recover. Not feeling good.
Only 30 miles for the week. After last week's 40 miles that was a little deflating.
Not feeling well, and took Saturday and Sunday off.
3 miles Monday morning slow was discouraging, but I came back in the afternoon and ran hard with G for 4 miles. Did a similar two-a-day on Wednesday with a poor morning run followed up with a short quick run with G in the evening.
Again 30 miles for the week. And there were a lot of discouraging miles in there.
At one point in August and early September I had run 20 out of 21 days. I didn't run 4 out of my last 14.
But, I ran a brisk 6 on Friday September 20, in the woods and I'm starting to feel better.
Looking at my mileage I'm at 99 for the month and should easily clear 125. Although I haven't been keeping track until recently, I'm sure that's my largest month by at least 30 miles. So, I need to give myself a break and let my body adjust to the increased mileage.
Couldn't get her moving on Saturday, but did manage to get her out on Sunday for a 6 mile run on a trail that runs along the Mississippi river. As expected, not without lots of whining. Not fun.
Monday - Ran a strong 7 miles, to Lake Harriet and back in an hour.
Wednesday - Ran only 4 in the morning. Felt sluggish and just wanted to lie down again. May be related to taking Advil PM to get to sleep at night. Got motivated to run again in the afternoon and ran 6.5 in 58 minutes. That's over 10 miles in one day; I feel pretty good.
Or, I did, for an hour or two, and then it seriously caught up to me. I got cramps in my hamstrings while doing a soccer clinic in the evening, and the next day I couldn't move.
Day off on Thursday. And then an easy 3 on Friday to recover. Not feeling good.
Only 30 miles for the week. After last week's 40 miles that was a little deflating.
Not feeling well, and took Saturday and Sunday off.
3 miles Monday morning slow was discouraging, but I came back in the afternoon and ran hard with G for 4 miles. Did a similar two-a-day on Wednesday with a poor morning run followed up with a short quick run with G in the evening.
Again 30 miles for the week. And there were a lot of discouraging miles in there.
At one point in August and early September I had run 20 out of 21 days. I didn't run 4 out of my last 14.
But, I ran a brisk 6 on Friday September 20, in the woods and I'm starting to feel better.
Looking at my mileage I'm at 99 for the month and should easily clear 125. Although I haven't been keeping track until recently, I'm sure that's my largest month by at least 30 miles. So, I need to give myself a break and let my body adjust to the increased mileage.
#7 - Daughter's second race ... and first win.
My parents drove up and are meeting us at the race. Dad has a couple of Monday appointments at the Mayo clinic in Rochester so they are driving up early to see the girls run, play soccer, and play hockey. You know, typical full weekend.
G got off work at 2pm and we headed south to get D2 from school, then on to the race. The highway in a critical stretch farther south, where we are going, goes down to one line and the convenience electronic signage says there is a 40 minute delay through that stretch. As we came up on the exit to get D2 from school we could see the cars backed up. I'm pretty sure it was more than a 40 minute delay.
We've got exactly 50 minutes to get 30 miles. We employed the tools of the day, the iPhone and GPS Maps, to figure an alternative route. Amazingly we chose just the right roads avoiding several small towns and getting back on the expressway just past the one lane reduction and got to the race with about 5 minutes to spare. We greeted my parents, dropped off D2 with them, and said we'd be running around watching and cheering the race. See you at the finish.
The race meandered around ball fields and next to a lake and was not the most spectator friendly course. There was going to be some serious running involved to take in this race. Our first vantage point was at about 500 meters. The girls got out nicely and were running in a team pack of 6 near 15th place. We yelled encouragement to the girls we new, which amounted to TJ, O, and M. TJ was looking very relaxed. That was good, because it was hot. 88 degrees and humid. Nasty racing weather.
We sprinted between ball fields to get to our next vantage, near the 1 mile mark. The girls had moved up. The group of 6 were in or near the top 10, and TJ had moved up to 3rd, 20 yards from the leaders, going through the mile in 6:58. We told her to stay relaxed and that there was lots of racing left to do. We turned to our next cheering spot at 1 1/3 miles. In that 1/3 mile TJ had moved up the 20 yards and was now in second closing in on the leader. The girls ran back behind some trees out of view and we wouldn't see them again until 300 yards from the finish.
According to TJ she kept thinking the race was nearing it's end so she surged several times to pass and then put distance on the girl in second. But she wasn't near the end. We could hear the announcer saying TJ was leading but we couldn't see her. Finally we saw the lead ATV and then TJ and the former leader 10 yards trailing.
When she came by use with only 300 yards to go she looked spent and the girl in second was chewing up the distance closing a 10 yard lead in a scant few seconds. TJ surged again killing the opponents motivation, but then followed the lead truck as it turned off the course just before the finishing chute. The fans all yelled at her to go the other way and she recovered in time to finish the race in first. That could have been embarrassing. 1 of 265 participants.
Her finishing time was 13:35 for two miles. She ran a first mile of 6:58 and a second mile of 6:37 for a :21 second negative split. Wow! I'm wondering what she can run the 1 mile in. Maybe break 6:00? I didn't break 6:00 for the mile until I was a freshman in high school.
Her teammates finished 4th, 5th, 6th, and her two friends M finished 8th and O finished 9th. Their team score was an outstanding 24, and their team took the win. The rival school from last week ran most of their good 7th graders at the JV 'B' instead of the 'C' level, but still managed a strong 3rd place.
G got off work at 2pm and we headed south to get D2 from school, then on to the race. The highway in a critical stretch farther south, where we are going, goes down to one line and the convenience electronic signage says there is a 40 minute delay through that stretch. As we came up on the exit to get D2 from school we could see the cars backed up. I'm pretty sure it was more than a 40 minute delay.
We've got exactly 50 minutes to get 30 miles. We employed the tools of the day, the iPhone and GPS Maps, to figure an alternative route. Amazingly we chose just the right roads avoiding several small towns and getting back on the expressway just past the one lane reduction and got to the race with about 5 minutes to spare. We greeted my parents, dropped off D2 with them, and said we'd be running around watching and cheering the race. See you at the finish.
The race meandered around ball fields and next to a lake and was not the most spectator friendly course. There was going to be some serious running involved to take in this race. Our first vantage point was at about 500 meters. The girls got out nicely and were running in a team pack of 6 near 15th place. We yelled encouragement to the girls we new, which amounted to TJ, O, and M. TJ was looking very relaxed. That was good, because it was hot. 88 degrees and humid. Nasty racing weather.
We sprinted between ball fields to get to our next vantage, near the 1 mile mark. The girls had moved up. The group of 6 were in or near the top 10, and TJ had moved up to 3rd, 20 yards from the leaders, going through the mile in 6:58. We told her to stay relaxed and that there was lots of racing left to do. We turned to our next cheering spot at 1 1/3 miles. In that 1/3 mile TJ had moved up the 20 yards and was now in second closing in on the leader. The girls ran back behind some trees out of view and we wouldn't see them again until 300 yards from the finish.
According to TJ she kept thinking the race was nearing it's end so she surged several times to pass and then put distance on the girl in second. But she wasn't near the end. We could hear the announcer saying TJ was leading but we couldn't see her. Finally we saw the lead ATV and then TJ and the former leader 10 yards trailing.
When she came by use with only 300 yards to go she looked spent and the girl in second was chewing up the distance closing a 10 yard lead in a scant few seconds. TJ surged again killing the opponents motivation, but then followed the lead truck as it turned off the course just before the finishing chute. The fans all yelled at her to go the other way and she recovered in time to finish the race in first. That could have been embarrassing. 1 of 265 participants.
Her finishing time was 13:35 for two miles. She ran a first mile of 6:58 and a second mile of 6:37 for a :21 second negative split. Wow! I'm wondering what she can run the 1 mile in. Maybe break 6:00? I didn't break 6:00 for the mile until I was a freshman in high school.
Her teammates finished 4th, 5th, 6th, and her two friends M finished 8th and O finished 9th. Their team score was an outstanding 24, and their team took the win. The rival school from last week ran most of their good 7th graders at the JV 'B' instead of the 'C' level, but still managed a strong 3rd place.
#6 - Top Mileage Week
That three day Labor Day weekend, running with my daughter, kicked off my highest mileage week of the year - 40 miles!
On Tuesday I ran 9.5 miles in 84 minutes. My text to G said - "Around Harriet 84 min w one 4 min rest. Qualifies as a run and not a shuffle." My breathing was great, but my legs were kind of stiff and sore.
When I told TJ about my 9.5 mile run she said, jokingly I think, that I was wasting my time trying to get in shape to beat her because it's never going to happen. We'll see, miss I never saw a day off I didn't embrace.
Wednesday was a loss. Was planning on running with G in the PM. I tried a little jog in the morning to see how I'd feel. I couldn't do it. Back was tight. Quads were cramping. It was generous to say I 'ran' 3 miles when it was more like 1.5 with a 1.5 mile walk.
Thursday back on the horse. Went to Lebanon Hills forest preserve and ran for 78 minutes. This was the same look I'd run about 4 weeks previous in 85 minutes. Call it 8 miles.
Friday - Forgetful Jones, that's what we call TJ because she forgets everything, like double knotting her shoelaces, her phone, her homework; well, she forgot her backpack at my house. This was the first week of school! How do you walk out of the house without a backpack? I drove home (20 miles) and drove it back. Great. 80 miles of driving in the morning; I'm in a great mood. I briefly considered not going to her race this afternoon, but my parents are driving up from Chicago, and bottom line I want to see the race.
My run was terrible. I literally felt like laying down and taking a nap. Really drained. Sometimes that feeling scares me as I think about heart attacks and things like that. 4 miles.
Saturday - 5 miles.
My first 40 mile week.
On Tuesday I ran 9.5 miles in 84 minutes. My text to G said - "Around Harriet 84 min w one 4 min rest. Qualifies as a run and not a shuffle." My breathing was great, but my legs were kind of stiff and sore.
When I told TJ about my 9.5 mile run she said, jokingly I think, that I was wasting my time trying to get in shape to beat her because it's never going to happen. We'll see, miss I never saw a day off I didn't embrace.
Wednesday was a loss. Was planning on running with G in the PM. I tried a little jog in the morning to see how I'd feel. I couldn't do it. Back was tight. Quads were cramping. It was generous to say I 'ran' 3 miles when it was more like 1.5 with a 1.5 mile walk.
Thursday back on the horse. Went to Lebanon Hills forest preserve and ran for 78 minutes. This was the same look I'd run about 4 weeks previous in 85 minutes. Call it 8 miles.
Friday - Forgetful Jones, that's what we call TJ because she forgets everything, like double knotting her shoelaces, her phone, her homework; well, she forgot her backpack at my house. This was the first week of school! How do you walk out of the house without a backpack? I drove home (20 miles) and drove it back. Great. 80 miles of driving in the morning; I'm in a great mood. I briefly considered not going to her race this afternoon, but my parents are driving up from Chicago, and bottom line I want to see the race.
My run was terrible. I literally felt like laying down and taking a nap. Really drained. Sometimes that feeling scares me as I think about heart attacks and things like that. 4 miles.
Saturday - 5 miles.
My first 40 mile week.
#5 - Running with Dad
That first race was the Friday before Labor Day. Three day weekend, then school starts. Younger daughter is staying with mom and going 'up north', but older daughter doesn't want to go, so she'll stay with dad. Cue the Jaws music. Dad's going to get her running all three days. Yeah right...
Saturday, SUCCESS, I got her out there and we ran the Minnehaha trail, a paved trail that connects about a half-dozen lakes within the city limits of Minneapolis. We ran from Lake Nokomis to just before Lake Harriet and back. We ran nice and easy, probably 10 minute per mile pace. I can't wait to run fast with her, but I'm not ready, and she probably isn't either. We ran the last .8 in 6:10, a distance I run slow in over 8:30 and fast around 7 minutes, so we were moving. Actually, she put some distance on me in the last 200 meters and I stopped the clock for her not me. That should be good for her confidence. Not so great for mine.
Sunday we found a new forest preserve in Chaska along the river. Girlfriend (G), TJ, and I ran for 60 minutes, took stops and pictures near an historic, 150 year old, brewery, and at 30 minutes, spending a few minutes trying to get stuck in the mud by the river. Lots of whining and complaining by the junior member on the way back. Ugggh. We grabbed coffee, orange juice, and a cream cheese pastry at a Starbucks in 'historic downtown Chaska', a quaint mixture of 100 year old and newer buildings.
Monday we found yet another forest preserve down in Prior Lake. TJ is in full complain mode about having to run. I tried to convince her she didn't have to run, she was choosing to run. Whine. Whine. Whine. We had stopped at her mom's house to drop off the cat which we had kept all weekend. Whine. Whine. Whine. Finally, I'd had it. "Look, I'm not forcing you to run. I don't want to force you. I'm giving you the opportunity. But, why don't you stay home. It's fine." I went out to the car and G followed. I turned the car on, and the kid comes sprinting out of the garage with her shoes in her hand. "I'm coming!" Jeez.
We compromised and said we'd keep it short. 15 minutes out, 15 back, but quicker today. The trails featured some steep hills and those 30 minutes were quite a challenge. Dad did alright today charging up the hills, and moving judiciously down the back side. TJ kept up for the first 15, but her motivation abandoned her on the way back and she stopped a couple of times. We kept circling back for her. Finally, I just jogged in the last mile.
15 miles in three days was really a lot of miles compared to what she had been used to. But, like a typical teenager, she wasn't sore or hurting or anything. Every time I up my mileage in the slightest I'm sore for a couple of days. Just running three days in a row, I was bound to be sore. But not the kid.
I was pretty down about how whiny and complaining and moaning she'd been all weekend. I got a pick me up when her mom told me the next day that she had proudly told her (as well as the coach0 that she'd run 16 miles. And, she told mom that her friend's dads don't work with them on her sports like her dad does.
So ... she gets it a little bit. Not enough to keep her from whining, but enough to have some appreciation after the fact. Oh well. It's something.
Saturday, SUCCESS, I got her out there and we ran the Minnehaha trail, a paved trail that connects about a half-dozen lakes within the city limits of Minneapolis. We ran from Lake Nokomis to just before Lake Harriet and back. We ran nice and easy, probably 10 minute per mile pace. I can't wait to run fast with her, but I'm not ready, and she probably isn't either. We ran the last .8 in 6:10, a distance I run slow in over 8:30 and fast around 7 minutes, so we were moving. Actually, she put some distance on me in the last 200 meters and I stopped the clock for her not me. That should be good for her confidence. Not so great for mine.
Sunday we found a new forest preserve in Chaska along the river. Girlfriend (G), TJ, and I ran for 60 minutes, took stops and pictures near an historic, 150 year old, brewery, and at 30 minutes, spending a few minutes trying to get stuck in the mud by the river. Lots of whining and complaining by the junior member on the way back. Ugggh. We grabbed coffee, orange juice, and a cream cheese pastry at a Starbucks in 'historic downtown Chaska', a quaint mixture of 100 year old and newer buildings.
Monday we found yet another forest preserve down in Prior Lake. TJ is in full complain mode about having to run. I tried to convince her she didn't have to run, she was choosing to run. Whine. Whine. Whine. We had stopped at her mom's house to drop off the cat which we had kept all weekend. Whine. Whine. Whine. Finally, I'd had it. "Look, I'm not forcing you to run. I don't want to force you. I'm giving you the opportunity. But, why don't you stay home. It's fine." I went out to the car and G followed. I turned the car on, and the kid comes sprinting out of the garage with her shoes in her hand. "I'm coming!" Jeez.
We compromised and said we'd keep it short. 15 minutes out, 15 back, but quicker today. The trails featured some steep hills and those 30 minutes were quite a challenge. Dad did alright today charging up the hills, and moving judiciously down the back side. TJ kept up for the first 15, but her motivation abandoned her on the way back and she stopped a couple of times. We kept circling back for her. Finally, I just jogged in the last mile.
15 miles in three days was really a lot of miles compared to what she had been used to. But, like a typical teenager, she wasn't sore or hurting or anything. Every time I up my mileage in the slightest I'm sore for a couple of days. Just running three days in a row, I was bound to be sore. But not the kid.
I was pretty down about how whiny and complaining and moaning she'd been all weekend. I got a pick me up when her mom told me the next day that she had proudly told her (as well as the coach0 that she'd run 16 miles. And, she told mom that her friend's dads don't work with them on her sports like her dad does.
So ... she gets it a little bit. Not enough to keep her from whining, but enough to have some appreciation after the fact. Oh well. It's something.
#4 - Daughter's First Race
August 29 - My girlfriend and I got up at 5:30 the day of the race, drove to the forest preserve which was only minutes from the 8am race, and took a run. I was pretty excited mixed with trepidation.
The coaches had said middle schoolers would always run about a mile race, and here in her first race she was going to run a high school 'C' race which was 2 miles. I was pretty confident she could handle a mile, but a race of two miles is pretty long. After all, her base consisted mostly of playing soccer all summer long with runs of about 4 miles twice a week for the last month.
The race was on the grounds of a local high school, with a portion in the woods that backed up to the playing fields. Over 20 schools and nearly 1,000 competitors were present for the six races. Although typically varsity boys run 5K and girls run 4K, in today's kick-off to the cross country season all six races, boys varsity, JV, and 'C', and girls varsity, JV, and C, would all be 2 miles in length. It was quite the scene with so many competitors and parents. I was surprised at the continued, and even increased popularity of cross country. I thought everybody was playing soccer and hockey in Minnesota. Turns out, even more kids are running. Isn't that great?
The previous night I talked to TJ about not going out too fast; there is just nothing more miserable than being less than half done and short of breath and exhausted. To start picking off tired girls after the mile, and if she finished around 14 minutes which I thought was a possibility, she'd finish in the top 10. My girlfriend had looked at me a little incredulously. What? Gotta help set expectations (I mean goals), right?
I talked to her about taking the spikes out of her new racing shoes because I had read a good portion of the race was on a paved trail.
I talked to her about double knotting her laces. Obvious right?
Typical 12 year old. Laces came undone in the first half mile. She forgot to take the spikes out so had to run with her shoulder in the bushes and dodging spectators on the edge of the trail. But, at least she didn't go out too fast.
7:05 first mile; sitting in the top 30 of 350 - third amongst members of her team with her neighbor, hockey and soccer buddy (O) right off her shoulder. A good position, but it barely looks like she's moving with her shuffling stride where she doesn't pick her feet up more than a couple inches off the ground, and her hands seemingly stuck to her chest, torso swinging left and right instead of the arms.
Did I mention 350 girls. Yes 350 girls; 7th grade through 12th, but mostly the younger grades. Two schools, Edina and Wayzata, had more than 50 girls each entered in the race. The leader and eventual winner was a 12th grader that would have finished in the top 3 for her varsity 'A' team, but she was running a 'C' (A varsity, B JV, C the rest) level race. Curious.
At 1 1/2 miles, and reemerging from the woods, both TJ and O had moved up to the top 20 and were picking off runners with regularity. She still didn't look like she was moving, but the girls that went out too fast were moving backwards. As they came down the final straight they passed girl after girl including their teammates and finished 8th and 9th respectively, first and second for their team, in a time of 14:05. Woo Hoo!
Seventh and eight grade teammates finished in 11th, 12th and 15th resulting in a team score of 55. Out of 14 schools that's a great score. But, the local dynasty, Edina, a team they will be surely facing for years to come, finished 3, 5, 6, 7, 18, with all seventh and eighth graders for a fantastic score of 39.
Their other good friend, M, struggled with a side ache and came in two minutes later. A disappointment for her that she would quickly avenge the next week.
Lots of pictures were taken of the 5 girls on her team that got medals. Then it was time for the next race and running around cheering for their older, and faster, teammates. Fun time!
I was hopeful this early success would get her more excited about running and racing; even though there's no ball.
The coaches had said middle schoolers would always run about a mile race, and here in her first race she was going to run a high school 'C' race which was 2 miles. I was pretty confident she could handle a mile, but a race of two miles is pretty long. After all, her base consisted mostly of playing soccer all summer long with runs of about 4 miles twice a week for the last month.
The race was on the grounds of a local high school, with a portion in the woods that backed up to the playing fields. Over 20 schools and nearly 1,000 competitors were present for the six races. Although typically varsity boys run 5K and girls run 4K, in today's kick-off to the cross country season all six races, boys varsity, JV, and 'C', and girls varsity, JV, and C, would all be 2 miles in length. It was quite the scene with so many competitors and parents. I was surprised at the continued, and even increased popularity of cross country. I thought everybody was playing soccer and hockey in Minnesota. Turns out, even more kids are running. Isn't that great?
The previous night I talked to TJ about not going out too fast; there is just nothing more miserable than being less than half done and short of breath and exhausted. To start picking off tired girls after the mile, and if she finished around 14 minutes which I thought was a possibility, she'd finish in the top 10. My girlfriend had looked at me a little incredulously. What? Gotta help set expectations (I mean goals), right?
I talked to her about taking the spikes out of her new racing shoes because I had read a good portion of the race was on a paved trail.
I talked to her about double knotting her laces. Obvious right?
Typical 12 year old. Laces came undone in the first half mile. She forgot to take the spikes out so had to run with her shoulder in the bushes and dodging spectators on the edge of the trail. But, at least she didn't go out too fast.
7:05 first mile; sitting in the top 30 of 350 - third amongst members of her team with her neighbor, hockey and soccer buddy (O) right off her shoulder. A good position, but it barely looks like she's moving with her shuffling stride where she doesn't pick her feet up more than a couple inches off the ground, and her hands seemingly stuck to her chest, torso swinging left and right instead of the arms.
Did I mention 350 girls. Yes 350 girls; 7th grade through 12th, but mostly the younger grades. Two schools, Edina and Wayzata, had more than 50 girls each entered in the race. The leader and eventual winner was a 12th grader that would have finished in the top 3 for her varsity 'A' team, but she was running a 'C' (A varsity, B JV, C the rest) level race. Curious.
At 1 1/2 miles, and reemerging from the woods, both TJ and O had moved up to the top 20 and were picking off runners with regularity. She still didn't look like she was moving, but the girls that went out too fast were moving backwards. As they came down the final straight they passed girl after girl including their teammates and finished 8th and 9th respectively, first and second for their team, in a time of 14:05. Woo Hoo!
Seventh and eight grade teammates finished in 11th, 12th and 15th resulting in a team score of 55. Out of 14 schools that's a great score. But, the local dynasty, Edina, a team they will be surely facing for years to come, finished 3, 5, 6, 7, 18, with all seventh and eighth graders for a fantastic score of 39.
Their other good friend, M, struggled with a side ache and came in two minutes later. A disappointment for her that she would quickly avenge the next week.
Lots of pictures were taken of the 5 girls on her team that got medals. Then it was time for the next race and running around cheering for their older, and faster, teammates. Fun time!
I was hopeful this early success would get her more excited about running and racing; even though there's no ball.
Sunday, September 22, 2013
#3 - New motivation - Great strides
Well getting my daughter started running helped motivate me.
I started running every day. Or, nearly every day.
In early August we found a local forest preserve with dirt trails and it brought back memories of running the trails in Illinois as a teenager. There's something hypnotic about running trails. You have to concentrate on where you put each foot fall and before you know it you've run 20 minutes, and then 35 and then 50. Who needs music? I had struggled getting the benefits of running with music. My brain could never really use the music to let the minutes and miles fly by. But the trails, they were magic.
I was running more and more by myself, and more and more slowly. But I was going farther. I was running for 45 minutes, then 50, then 60, then 6 miles and 7 miles and 85 minutes. Super slow.
I was reading more about running. I read Long Slow Distance for the first time at just the right time and it reinforced my current program of just slogging out miles but with the knowledge, or faith, that I was going to get faster, eventually. And I did ... eventually.
Finally, just about 6 weeks ago I ran 9.5 miles - out my door and around a different lake and back. It wasn't quite non-stop. It actually took about 2 hours by the clock. But I ran the whole distance - choosing to not walk when I stopped running.
Another week and I ran the 9.5 with a single stop in about 95 minutes.
#2 - Getting oldest daughter to start running
Early July I came across a cross country summer camp for my seventh grade middle school daughter I'll call TJ.
Forever I had thought about her running the mile. I was a pretty good runner, running a mile in 4:27. My brother was even better running a PR of 4:19 on a ridiculously light load of less than 25 miles per week. And her uncle, on her mom's side ran the 100M and 200M at the D1 collegiate level so it was always in the back of my mind that maybe she'd be a runner.
But watching her on the soccer field made me think twice. She had an ungainly style that looked like she was ice skating, not that much of a surprise since she did play hockey like dad. She runs with her butt low all quads and overstriding with a massive heal strike, but she was quick, with an explosive speed that always surprised opponents on the pitch.
She was not quite so excited. Like a typical pre-teen girl she didn't want to do it because she wouldn't know anybody. So I recruited. I talked to the parents of her two best friends and got the three of them signed up and going running twice a week.
Although she claimed she could beat everybody I was a little skeptical. But on their last day of camp they ran a mile on a trail and she finished behind two eighth grade boys beating about 30 other 7th and 8th grade boys and girls. Her time was 6:34. Not bad for a first mile.
Her friends finished right behind her by a few seconds.
"Are you girls excited to run cross country in the fall?"
Shoulders shrugging. "I don't know, there's no ball."
There's no ball. I'm going to be haunted by that remark I am sure.
#1 - Getting started
I started this blog a little late. About six months ago, February 2013, I started running again after nearly 3 decades of not running. I was out of work, and out of shape. And, about 3 months ago I talked my 12 year old daughter (TJ) into joining a cross country club and eventually middle school cross country. With this blog I hope to capture our adventure. I wish I had started it a bit earlier, but ... oh well.
I didn't think I was in poor shape; I play hockey nearly weekly and while it's a struggle at times I compete fairly well with guys (and some women) that are 10 to 20 years younger. But I didn't think I was in good shape. At 5'9" and nearly 200 lbs I was 65 pounds heavier than when I ran in high school. Yikes.
On that first run I couldn't complete a mile, even 'running' slower than I could possibly imagine. I couldn't keep going. So I walked. And jogged a bit more. And walked. And walked.
I used to run a mile in less than 4 minutes and 30 seconds. And now I can't jog a mile no matter how slow.
About 1 month later I finished 3.5 miles non-stop for the first time - out my house around the nearby lake and back. It was about 31 degrees, sleeting, with a driving punishing wind. I did it. I was proud. And, I got sick. Didn't run again for 2 weeks.
I'd love to say that within another month I was going on blistering 6 mile tempo runs and 10 mile long slow distance runs, but I can't. It was a real grind. I was improving, but slowly. At first all I did was repetitions of some sort - 2 minutes running and 4 minutes walking quickly improved to 2 or 3 minutes running with 2 minutes walking. But I struggled to string several miles together. I lacked the will power. My brain was as out of shape as my body and it was taking longer to get it in shape.
It was especially difficult running with my girlfriend who had also started running a few months earlier but had progressed much faster than I. Could be that she's 10 years younger. Or, could be that she's got a lot more will power and pushed herself harder. She was fitter, and faster, by a lot. Her pace on an easy run was too high and I was too proud to ask her to slow down so I'd run for about a mile or two miles, until I couldn't keep up and then I'd stop and let her continue. Sometimes I waited for her to loop back, and sometimes I slogged back home jogging and walking.
I entered the summer and was still struggling to run more than 30 to 40 minutes at a time, although I was pleased to have dropped about 15 pounds and was a svelt 185lbs.
I didn't think I was in poor shape; I play hockey nearly weekly and while it's a struggle at times I compete fairly well with guys (and some women) that are 10 to 20 years younger. But I didn't think I was in good shape. At 5'9" and nearly 200 lbs I was 65 pounds heavier than when I ran in high school. Yikes.
On that first run I couldn't complete a mile, even 'running' slower than I could possibly imagine. I couldn't keep going. So I walked. And jogged a bit more. And walked. And walked.
I used to run a mile in less than 4 minutes and 30 seconds. And now I can't jog a mile no matter how slow.
About 1 month later I finished 3.5 miles non-stop for the first time - out my house around the nearby lake and back. It was about 31 degrees, sleeting, with a driving punishing wind. I did it. I was proud. And, I got sick. Didn't run again for 2 weeks.
I'd love to say that within another month I was going on blistering 6 mile tempo runs and 10 mile long slow distance runs, but I can't. It was a real grind. I was improving, but slowly. At first all I did was repetitions of some sort - 2 minutes running and 4 minutes walking quickly improved to 2 or 3 minutes running with 2 minutes walking. But I struggled to string several miles together. I lacked the will power. My brain was as out of shape as my body and it was taking longer to get it in shape.
It was especially difficult running with my girlfriend who had also started running a few months earlier but had progressed much faster than I. Could be that she's 10 years younger. Or, could be that she's got a lot more will power and pushed herself harder. She was fitter, and faster, by a lot. Her pace on an easy run was too high and I was too proud to ask her to slow down so I'd run for about a mile or two miles, until I couldn't keep up and then I'd stop and let her continue. Sometimes I waited for her to loop back, and sometimes I slogged back home jogging and walking.
I entered the summer and was still struggling to run more than 30 to 40 minutes at a time, although I was pleased to have dropped about 15 pounds and was a svelt 185lbs.
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