Robert
May 4th, 2008, 04:54 PM
That was fun. I ran the local 8 km road race in 28:10. The race was interesting. I'm coaching a talented young guy here, and he basically just started training. He was on my tail from the start, and I figured he wouldn't last the whole way, because of not enough training. I was wrong.
He was like a blood-sucking leech on my tail the whole way! He was breathing hard like bronchitis patient, but he never let go, no matter how much I tried to break him over the 8,000 meters. He used to be a 400 meter runner, so when I couldn't get rid of him during the last kilometer, I was sure that was it. He's gonna smoke me big time on the finish stretch.
We turned around the corner, I saw the finish line a couple of hundred meters away, and I kicked all I had. I was waiting to see a fast, young guy with talent show me how to finish a race, but no, he never came! I kept my strong finish going and won by a couple of seconds. My friend was tired at the end after all. He had to go so close to maximum effort the whole way, that when the time came to kick, he didn't have that extra gear.
I enjoyed this (obviously!), and I am quite confident he will pass me in the next race, and I am okay with that. I am his coach, and with all the training I'm having him do this summer, I expect him to kick my butt pretty soon.
Our middle daughter, who I am also coaching for track, ran really well too and won her age category. She's only 14 but a great runner and I'm very proud of her. She has a big track meet coming up at the end of the month, where she will run 400, 800 and 1500 races. We're currently working on getting her fast for these races.
All in all, it was a fantastic day! Sunny, nice temperature, lots of good snacks at the end and strong family performances.
He was like a blood-sucking leech on my tail the whole way! He was breathing hard like bronchitis patient, but he never let go, no matter how much I tried to break him over the 8,000 meters. He used to be a 400 meter runner, so when I couldn't get rid of him during the last kilometer, I was sure that was it. He's gonna smoke me big time on the finish stretch.
We turned around the corner, I saw the finish line a couple of hundred meters away, and I kicked all I had. I was waiting to see a fast, young guy with talent show me how to finish a race, but no, he never came! I kept my strong finish going and won by a couple of seconds. My friend was tired at the end after all. He had to go so close to maximum effort the whole way, that when the time came to kick, he didn't have that extra gear.
I enjoyed this (obviously!), and I am quite confident he will pass me in the next race, and I am okay with that. I am his coach, and with all the training I'm having him do this summer, I expect him to kick my butt pretty soon.
Our middle daughter, who I am also coaching for track, ran really well too and won her age category. She's only 14 but a great runner and I'm very proud of her. She has a big track meet coming up at the end of the month, where she will run 400, 800 and 1500 races. We're currently working on getting her fast for these races.
All in all, it was a fantastic day! Sunny, nice temperature, lots of good snacks at the end and strong family performances.