Races and Coaches

Jess had her first race this past Saturday.  It was a college race where she ran an open 6k (3.73 miles).  She finished the race in 24:43.  She started out last, like always, and ended up passing 73 people along the way.  No, she didn't come in first place (not even close).  But, she ran against college aged women from the USA and Canada.  From what we could see she was the smallest one on the start line, some of the women actually towering over her.  Maybe some day she will be the one towering over the other runners.  Okay, that will only happen if she is running against kindergartners.  But, running here has been different than in Oklahoma.  Well, I should say, the focus is different.  In Oklahoma it was all about winning that particular race (instant gratification so to speak) .  She trained for the races.  Here it is more about goals and reaching those goals and that takes time (no more instant gratification).  So, it is not always about winning the race.  She was placed in an Invitational already knowing that, not only would she not win it, but there was no way she could win it, that wasn't the goal.  And, that is difficult, Jess is driven by competition. She wants to win...at everything.  Jess not winning is new to us.  That may sound like bragging but I am her mother and I feel that affords me some rights in that area.  Anyway, she is learning to change her mindset a bit and see the big picture along the way, and not focus so much on the here and now.

I like her coaches here.  Jim and Joel are a father and son coaching team.  Jim is very laid back and Joel is always excited.  Jim has not missed a day of running in 40 years and always has a story to tell.  He is here keeping track of Jess's workouts and progress.  Joel hasn't missed a day of running in 15 years.  He, for the time being, is in another state, and calls, emails and skypes to make sure all is okay and that she is doing what she is supposed to be doing, and makes comments on what his father tells him about Jessica's workouts and progress.  He also provides a lot of comic relief.  They both love running.  They love distance running.  Jim is an ultra-marathoner and has a few records to his name.  Yet, he is very humble about it all.  What I like about them, is that it isn't all about Jessica.  There are some of you that will know exactly what I am talking about.  They are interested in all of us, no matter what our abilities.  Jim cheers all of us on when we are at the track running, no matter how fast or slow we are.  Joel gets excited about running no matter what.  Even if I just ran for 45 seconds at a time (hey at least I'm running).   He is just happy your running.  He has skyped Jess and ended up asking to speak to each one of the kids to discuss their running.  Even Cody is willing to discuss it, maybe not do it, but at least discuss it. What she doesn't know is that she is going to start training for a 5k.  Don't tell her.  What she doesn't know...