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| Coaching Thoughts |
| Sunday, June 29, 2008 |
The following is taken from an email I wrote to one of the members of the training group. He had written to me about why his workout times were not in the range I had for him. I think it provides a good perspective of the approach I take in coaching the MHRRC group.
"The switch from coaching high school athletes to coaching adults was quite an adjustment for me. The high school kids HAD to be at practice every day and pretty much follow instructions to the letter (with lots of individual adjustments mixed in). One of the biggest adjustments to coaching adults was realizing they would come to practices when it fit their very busy lifestyles. For some it would be a priority and if they did not have an over abundance of obligations they would be at practice on a regular basis. Those with jobs, kids, and other interests would come when they could. Also, adults tended to come with their own ideas of how they wanted to do things: warm-up, cool-down, recovery time, number of intervals, etc. I learned early on not to take any of that personally. My biggest jobs were to provide a framework for people to work around, provide what knowledge I have of the sport, encourage those who were new to or just returning to the sport and set up a weekly time for everyone to get together and run. I think it's worked out." |
posted by Steve @ 8:33 PM  |
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| Irony |
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| As many of you know, I'm a pretty big Jimmy Buffett fan. The last line of the song "Son of a Son of a Sailor" is "I'm just glad I don't live in a trailer." Listening to that line always gave me a little chuckle. Now it really hits "home". That's because our home for the next 6 months or so is a trailer. We have pretty much settled in and it's actually nice and cozy. The fact that it's next to over 900 acres of state forest and two of the grandchildren are next door makes it very liveable. |
| posted by Steve @ 8:52 AM |
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| Running and Weird Age Juxtapositions |
| Thursday, June 26, 2008 |
The last few weeks have provided a couple of strange age/running related phenomenons. The first one should not have surprised me like it did after years of watching all the ageless runners at local races and MHRRC practices. Still, I had to smile in the middle of a tough track workout recently when I was clicking along at sub 6 minute per mile pace and thinking about the phone conversation I had made earlier that day to sign up for Social Security benefits. I hope all this fitness stuff will help me collect many years of those checks.
The second one occurred today when I went running with three of my former high school athletes. Here I am, sixty-one years old, out for a 6 mile hilly run with three guys in their early twenties. Each of them have 5K PRs of 14 minutes and change. The rule is that when they run with the "old man" the pace can't be faster than 8 minutes per mile. I must have trained them well. We finished the six mile run in 48:24. Since I hadn't had a chance to chat with any of them for awhile, it was great to catch up on what was going on in their lives. |
| posted by Steve @ 6:36 PM |
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| A Great Running Week |
| Sunday, June 22, 2008 |
Over the last 5 days I've run more races than I would normally run in a month. The selection was just too good to pass up. Wednesday was the Solstice Run in Minnewaska State Park. The race was recently wheeled and the distance turned out to be 8.78 miles. The weather was iffy, with thunderstorms around on the ride over. They cleared as we rode up to the registration area and it turned into a beautiful evening. As usual, the turnout was great and the competition top notch.
Saturday was the Bridge Fever River Run 5K in the city of Poughkeepsie. It was a fund raiser for the Marathon Project and Walkway Over The Hudson. How could you pass that up!
Sunday was a half marathon trail run in Taconic Hereford Multiple Use Area, aka "909". What a blast. I didn't try to run it hard, just enjoyed the trails and got in my long run for the week. |
| posted by Steve @ 4:39 PM |
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| Catching Up Some More |
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Wow, it's been a month since I've put anything on here. That is mostly due to the stress of selling the house and moving. Yes, the house is sold and we are in our temporary residence. We may be nomads for the next year or so. New adventures await us. Where we are now is perfect for the next 6 months or so. It's adjacent to over 900 acres of state land full of trails. I can run out the door and into the woods!
The next thing I need to really start working on is getting my bike legs and butt in shape for the Livestrong Challenge Ride on Aug. 24. My fund raising is currently over $1,500, with a goal of $4,000. If you would like to contribute to my fund you can click here to go directly to my personal fund raising site. |
| posted by Steve @ 4:20 PM |
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