It's All in the Numbers

I remember back in the early 90's while coaching at Ayala, one of our workouts was a time trial. It was simple. Run a mile. See how fast you can go.

I was younger then and far more fit. I actually had done some track work on my own! Imagine that! Well, about a week before the time trial as I recall, I had run 8x400 with a minute rest and had nailed right about 75 seconds per lap.

At the TT, I was talking smack with the boys, just joking around, and one of them asked me how fast I was going to do the mile in. "5:00 flat" I said with assurance. "How can you be so sure?" asked the kid. My mind went back to the practice I had done a week earlier and answered, "I've already done it in practice."

Now I don't say all this to brag. I do say this to help all of you who doubt yourself. Those who see your glass as "half empty." There is more to training to race than a single workout of course, but when your training is going well, sometimes a single workout can really show you what you CAN do.

Last week we did a solid track set of pace intervals. It's now posted on the distance page of the web site, and it tells you something. Look at the last column, the one with the averages in red. Runners: This is the pace you CAN run a mile in RIGHT NOW. As you head into the exciting Azusa meet on Saturday, you need to enter that stadium armed with assurance, not doubts. You might even go faster than that if you let yourself.

A quick story from the 90's to prove my point. Back in '95 we had a young, sophomore girl on our team who was quite talented. In practice she could do 10x400 in about 77 seconds. In fact she had done that workout. At Azusa Pacific that season, she was entered in the fastest heat of the 1600, and I assumed she'd run aroun 5:10 -- that's what her practice splits had proven. But something happened that afternoon. With cool breezes and great competition from the studs of Yucaipa High, she let a good day pull her along and the adrenaline took over. By the last lap she was flying, and rocketed home for the win ... in 4:54! We were all quite astounded and pumped at the same time. As of that evening it was the #3 time in the country!

We were confident she could run 5:10. Adrenaline and competitiveness proved she could go faster.

So what about you. Your practices show what is possible at minimum. Why not go big this weekend? Throw caution to the wind, be aggressive KNOWING what you can do, and hoping for what you may do. That's what racing's all about.

Go for it!