A First-Time Pacer's Astros 5K Race Report
Keeping this blog rolling with content sometimes is a challenge; however, one person that puts out more information than me is Bill Dwyer. Once he starts his own blog for the groups that he's involved with -- Team In Training The Woodlands and Luke's Locker - The Woodlands Beat programs, I'm going to lose some things to share with you. I get at least three e-mails a week containing the details of the week's training programs and/or tidbits of data. (And Bill, I'm not complaining!)
When I first read it I found it to be quite interesting so I thought that I would share with you the race report of professional triathlete Kim Hager -- one of Bill's fellow coaches with Luke's Locker - The Woodlands Beat programs -- from the Astros Race For The Pennant 5K. It is a little different than what you might expect to hear from the words "professional triathlete" and why I thought it would be a good read. Enjoy!
"Congratulations to all of those who participated in the Astros’ 5K race last weekend. All of you have ‘met your destination’ and our (first) 16 week journey is coming to an end. Of course, you know, that with every ‘ending’ there is a new beginning (hint: “Ten for Texas”)!
"Last week was the second time I raced the Astros’ 5K and both times have been a wonderful experience. The first time I raced I was fortunate to win the overall female title. Such ‘titles’ do not come often, so if I do win a race, it is something I cherish. In addition, I recently was told that I hold the PR for the course…another reason the race has special meaning for me.
"However, my second running of the Astros’ 5K fell under a different purpose. This time I was running the race with all of you, our awesome Beat team. As coach, one of my ‘jobs’ is to help motivate you to do the best that you can do. I arrived a little late for our group warm-up but thankfully I was able to locate our group at the start line. I know some of you were trying to avoid me!
"Alas, I found one of you and just before the start of the race I was given my mission, “pace me to a sub 30 minute 5k.” What I failed to mention was that I had actually never paced somebody in a race before. Luckily I did not have much time to dwell on this as the race was about to begin, but that did not stop me from wondering, “what if I start her out too fast, what if I start her out too slow, what if I talk too much.” And, on top of that, I had to do a quick calculation in my head to figure out the per mile pace.
"The gun goes off and we eventually move towards the start line and our chip hits the mat and the clock begins for us. My Beat partner does not say much as we meander our way through the crowds. She moves real steady and I was quite impressed with her bold moves as she continued to move through all the other runners. Our first mile went by and we were on pace…running just under 9:30 for our first split. As we passed the stadium and continued on our way, I knew some ‘little hills’ were ahead of us (another thing I failed to mention pre-race). I continued to encourage my racing partner to keep strong on the incline and use gravity and work on turnover during the decline. We approached the second mile in 18:30. Wow! We picked things up some, and we were ahead of our goal. She was looking so focused and now the race was more than half over.
"We came upon another Beat runner and we used each other to push ourselves towards the finish line. Then, the words were uttered, “I need to slow down.” I thought to myself, “NO…you are so close…you have less than 1 mile to go.” I know the mind can play funny tricks on us during a race or hard training day. Often the mind ‘gives up’ before the body. However, I knew my running partner was capable of making her goal and I continued to encourage her to ‘push’ on and I told her that she would have to ‘fight’ for it!
"With a half mile to go, the stadium seemed so close that there was a false sense that the end appeared closer than it truly was! My Beat partner pushed through her ‘rough spot’ and we turned the final corner. I looked at my watch and knew she would be well under 30 minutes. I was so excited for her and told her that the ‘pain’ would go away five seconds after she finished (ok, so it might take a little longer than 5 seconds). Finish fast and finish strong…and that is exactly what she did!
"Furthermore, she not only broke the 30 minute mark for the 5K race, she broke the 29 minute mark and finished in an official chip time of 28:56. Congratulations…I know you could have done it without me, but thank you for sharing this fun experience with me!
"So, what did I learn from this adventure? What a joy it is to experience another person’s success with them! Oh, and maybe I do need to work a little on my pacing (although I knew what my running partner was capable of doing).
"What I hope each of you take from your experience(s) with the Beat program over the past 16 weeks is that first and foremost, running and walking can be enjoyable. In addition, racing does not need to be intimidating. Set goals. Race hard. Most likely in every race you will hit a ‘rough’ spot…if you are lucky you only hit it once! Same goes for life. Push through that rough spot. The joy of achieving your goal is worth every bit of sweat. Be consistent with training, treat your body well, and finally, enjoy those recovery days!"
Happy Training,
Kim
When I first read it I found it to be quite interesting so I thought that I would share with you the race report of professional triathlete Kim Hager -- one of Bill's fellow coaches with Luke's Locker - The Woodlands Beat programs -- from the Astros Race For The Pennant 5K. It is a little different than what you might expect to hear from the words "professional triathlete" and why I thought it would be a good read. Enjoy!
"Congratulations to all of those who participated in the Astros’ 5K race last weekend. All of you have ‘met your destination’ and our (first) 16 week journey is coming to an end. Of course, you know, that with every ‘ending’ there is a new beginning (hint: “Ten for Texas”)!
"Last week was the second time I raced the Astros’ 5K and both times have been a wonderful experience. The first time I raced I was fortunate to win the overall female title. Such ‘titles’ do not come often, so if I do win a race, it is something I cherish. In addition, I recently was told that I hold the PR for the course…another reason the race has special meaning for me.
"However, my second running of the Astros’ 5K fell under a different purpose. This time I was running the race with all of you, our awesome Beat team. As coach, one of my ‘jobs’ is to help motivate you to do the best that you can do. I arrived a little late for our group warm-up but thankfully I was able to locate our group at the start line. I know some of you were trying to avoid me!
"Alas, I found one of you and just before the start of the race I was given my mission, “pace me to a sub 30 minute 5k.” What I failed to mention was that I had actually never paced somebody in a race before. Luckily I did not have much time to dwell on this as the race was about to begin, but that did not stop me from wondering, “what if I start her out too fast, what if I start her out too slow, what if I talk too much.” And, on top of that, I had to do a quick calculation in my head to figure out the per mile pace.
"The gun goes off and we eventually move towards the start line and our chip hits the mat and the clock begins for us. My Beat partner does not say much as we meander our way through the crowds. She moves real steady and I was quite impressed with her bold moves as she continued to move through all the other runners. Our first mile went by and we were on pace…running just under 9:30 for our first split. As we passed the stadium and continued on our way, I knew some ‘little hills’ were ahead of us (another thing I failed to mention pre-race). I continued to encourage my racing partner to keep strong on the incline and use gravity and work on turnover during the decline. We approached the second mile in 18:30. Wow! We picked things up some, and we were ahead of our goal. She was looking so focused and now the race was more than half over.
"We came upon another Beat runner and we used each other to push ourselves towards the finish line. Then, the words were uttered, “I need to slow down.” I thought to myself, “NO…you are so close…you have less than 1 mile to go.” I know the mind can play funny tricks on us during a race or hard training day. Often the mind ‘gives up’ before the body. However, I knew my running partner was capable of making her goal and I continued to encourage her to ‘push’ on and I told her that she would have to ‘fight’ for it!
"With a half mile to go, the stadium seemed so close that there was a false sense that the end appeared closer than it truly was! My Beat partner pushed through her ‘rough spot’ and we turned the final corner. I looked at my watch and knew she would be well under 30 minutes. I was so excited for her and told her that the ‘pain’ would go away five seconds after she finished (ok, so it might take a little longer than 5 seconds). Finish fast and finish strong…and that is exactly what she did!
"Furthermore, she not only broke the 30 minute mark for the 5K race, she broke the 29 minute mark and finished in an official chip time of 28:56. Congratulations…I know you could have done it without me, but thank you for sharing this fun experience with me!
"So, what did I learn from this adventure? What a joy it is to experience another person’s success with them! Oh, and maybe I do need to work a little on my pacing (although I knew what my running partner was capable of doing).
"What I hope each of you take from your experience(s) with the Beat program over the past 16 weeks is that first and foremost, running and walking can be enjoyable. In addition, racing does not need to be intimidating. Set goals. Race hard. Most likely in every race you will hit a ‘rough’ spot…if you are lucky you only hit it once! Same goes for life. Push through that rough spot. The joy of achieving your goal is worth every bit of sweat. Be consistent with training, treat your body well, and finally, enjoy those recovery days!"
Happy Training,
Kim
posted by WalkSports.com | 9:51 PM
1 Comments:
Jon, thanks for sharing this--very cool story...
Erin
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