@Lake Forest

We finally got a break weather-wise as we headed south to Lake Forest's perfectly manicured course. After a fabulous predictive workout on Saturday, I could not wait to watch you all race; I knew that you were ready to race fast! Women, you did not let me down. During the warm up, I could feel the confidence among you, and I appreciated your willingness to hear my suggestions for "fixing the split" and smiling.  :) After the gun, I watched you all attack the first loop and mile. As you approached the bridge for the second time, I was elated to see you taking BIG risks. Maya, Carmen,Delilah, Sarah M., Daz, Jayla, Karen, Charmaine, Lindsey, Aja, and Ashley all had impressive first miles that translated to PRs.  As our runners rounded the second loop, I was inspired to see you work turns hard as well as that small hill near the school.  In the final loop, I watched you encourage each other as your passed by the tennis courts: a simple thumbs up, a nod, a smile. These small but important gestures acted as reminders of our mission--to fix the split. I am excited to report that our team split on Tuesday was 13:57, compared to our split at JT, which was 16:18. What a big improvement!  Our 1-7 split at JT was 3:34, while it was 3:12 on Tuesday; again, we had big progress!  Our 1-5 split at JT was 3:25, while it dropped to 3:00 on Tuesday.  We are moving in the right direction, and I want to make this area our focus for the remaining meets. 

There were many gritty moments in races I would like to highlight from today. Kelsey looked stronger today as she worked diligently to catch Lake Forest's #2 runner; her race was fairly even, but I know that she can work on that second mile to help get her times back to where she was a few weeks ago. Maya took a big risk today to earn a big PR. She has been working hard with Julia in workouts and meets, and today she took that confidence and used it to get out harder than usual. Her splits (6:38, 7:05, 7:02) illustrate a focus on the second and third miles. If she can continue to work hard like this, she will be able to help our team goal of fixing the split. Nice work, Maya! Taylor had a nice recovery after a tough race at JT. Not only did she get out hard, but her splits were much more even (7:08, 7:55, 7:27) than previous races. She also had a strong kick for the day--keep it up, Tay! After an incredibly strong performance at our home course, Diana came back with an equally impressive race today to prove that she is mentally tough. She trusted her training and got out hard with Taylor and then kept her splits sub-8 (7:08, 7:57, 7:53). Awesome effort! Angie had a breakout day by getting out hard and closing with grit. If she can get that second mile to be more in line with the first and third, she is going to say goodbye to the 24s, too! Impressive work, Angie! Like Di, Naya had strong back-to-back performances at home and at Lake Forest. Not only did she get out strong, but she also looked focused and gritty throughout the race. Excellent return to the strength I saw this summer! Klyde continues to improve her racing tactics, learning from each race. She ran sub-8 for her first mile and made a great move in the final 800 in order to earn a new LPR.  Although it was not a PR, Alexia had another strong race because she kept her mind focused in a positive place and looked determined to catch people the entire way; her last mile was the fastest, which seems to work really well for her. If she can bring her second mile down a bit, she will be able to work on bringing her overall time down and help her team fix the split. Kate is in the same boat when it comes to the second mile. She has mastered the first and last; if she can work through that discomfort of the second mile, her times will continue to drop! Sarah M. and I had a good talk on the run on Monday; she used that feedback and stuck with her teammates like glue! The result was a much more "awake" performance, and a significant time drop! Delilah struggled early on, but she worked to correct the problem, running a speedy 8:36 final mile and kicking like mad. That type of mid-race correction is tough to do, but it is the hallmark of smart racers! Daz, only a second off her lifetime, worked hard to ignore her hip and knee pain in order to stay with Sarah M. for the first mile and pass LF girls in the second half of the race. Elyssa was only steps away from that pack at the start, and she ran strong in the second half to earn a new LPR! Karen had a break out race, showing that she really "gets" what it means to work through the pain by sticking with a pack she does not normally race with! 

I am happy to report that our focus (as well as some cooperative weather) resulted in some outstanding times. This is an important lesson: focusing on performance goals like go-zones, working the second mile, and staying relaxed (smiling) lead to great outcome goals like time drops. The following women earned season PRs at Lake Forest: Julia by two seconds; Taylor by five seconds; and Carmen by ten seconds. Great work, women! Your focus and concern for your team resulted in individual success! We also earned a whopping 13 Lifetime PRs at Lake Forest: Maya dropped an impressive 41 seconds by focusing on working with Julia and pulling on Kelsey; Diana has joined the 22 club by dropping 25 seconds through a gritty race; Angie has said goodbye to the 25s by improving by 31 seconds through a strong start and continued focus; Naya continues her improvement streak with another gritty race, dropping 3 seconds; Klyde looked focused and fast at the finish with a drop of 17 seconds; Kate had an outstanding outing by getting out hard and dropping an impressive 55 seconds; Delilah had a rough start but never gave up, running a great second half and kicking like a beast for a drop of 11 seconds; Sarah had an outstanding day by staying focused on working with her team to drop 25 seconds; Elyssa took a big risk to get out hard and earned a new LPR by an impressive 1:39; Karen followed Elyssa format, running an impressive first mile and dropping a huge 1:49; Charmaine, not to be outdone, has figured out that her teammates make her even better, and she dropped 1:12; Lindsey worked hard with Charmaine and made her own time-drop of TWO MINUTES; finally, Ashley keeps marching toward her sub-30 goal by dropping a big 1:20 today. Overall, these drops represent continued hard work and more understanding of the demands of racing. I am so impressed by these improvements! Let's keep supporting one another on a quest to get stronger as a team! 

On the bus ride home, I felt great about our progress as a team, and I cannot wait to see what we can do at Wheeling and Sterling!