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Saturday, September 11, 2010

Abe's first meet

Since today was lil' bro Abe's ONLY local cross country meet, and his first ever, we decided we should attend. For interested parties, he finished 6th in a field of 324, 5th if you exclude the non-collegiate third place finisher who was a sponsored runner and like, 35 years old. I think Abe, myself, and Abe's coach are a tad nonplussed about his time. It was a 5k, and he finished in 17:59. That's amazing, but I know his coach expects better placement. However, Abe is a long distance runner through and through. In illustration, his best (and only) half-marathon time is 1:17ish, about 5:55 splits. His splits today were 5:48. I definitely expect to see better times as distances increase as the season progresses.
Not that I'm not proud of him, of course! I just know he'd prefer to place.
By the way, you know what's nerve-wracking? Watching your baby brother race. Gosh, I got so anxious!

Our plan was to run in the park where the meet was held after it was over. David was supposed to do ten, but it was incredibly hot and sunny and he was beginning to feel dehydrated. We packed up after 6 miles. I'm worried because hubster hasn't gotten any double digit runs in yet, and his half is in three weeks! I don't want a "failed" long run to taint his training, either. Do you have any tips for him to get over the hump? After a freezing cold 18 miler last winter I was SO averse to tackling another long run that I waited 3 weeks before my next attempt. How can I motivate him to give it a go again tomorrow morning? He's really not feeling it!

PS Sometime this week I'll be an aunt again! Just a little over a year ago we welcomed baby Jacob. Soon we'll be saying hi to baby Luc!
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4 comments:

  1. ShellySeptember 11, 2010 at 6:52 PM

    I just texted you but I'm doing 10 tomorrow morning if y'all are interested.
    As for motivation- sometimes to get myself over a hump, I give myself permission to have a slow, shitty run- the only condition is that I have to do the miles. I can walk as much as I need to, I can listen to my "slow music" (as opposed to the mix I have that keeps me at a decent pace- I get tired of it) or a book on tape, I can buy a snowball (plain ice is $1 from the people on Magazine by the park)- whatever it takes as long as I do the miles.
    I invariably have a really slow run when I do this, but I find that my next run is almost always a good one.

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  2. AnonymousSeptember 12, 2010 at 9:44 AM

    My suggestion is to get in a longer run at a pace that u "know" is manageable for him. If heat is an issue, then start earlier. But, better for him to have experienced that long run..even if he comes up alil short..than to go into a half mary with no frame of reference...

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  3. AnonymousSeptember 12, 2010 at 11:55 AM

    i'm with @jon gilchrist on this. get that long run in, it's that important. once he's running at a clip that he feels comfortable with, he'll be hooked.

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  4. Lisa's YarnsSeptember 12, 2010 at 5:42 PM

    Love that pic at the end of the post! How exciting that you will be an aunt again. Being an aunt is the best gig ever! :)

    Dang your brother is fast. Holy moley! So interesting how his body is obv faster at longer distances! Pretty darn amazing.

    I am not sure what to say for advice. For me, the actual marathon or 1/2 puts the fear of God in me, which is what gets me out there... But I know how it feels to have a really crappy run and struggle to get back out there. I just remind myself that those crappy runs are part of the process (and know that they are part of the process for pretty much anyone training for a race). But it's still hard to get out there... Those first couple of miles are the toughest, but once I am 3 miles in, it all seems more do-able.

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