This was my week
Mon: 3 miles
Tue: 5
Wed: 3 miles
Thu: 5k race: PR!
Fri: Rest
Sat: 11 miles
Sun: 3 miles recovery
Total: 28 miles
The highlight of that week was my Turkey Trot and the low was my long run. The night before I was unsure of when I should do it; Saturday or Sunday. I was looking at the weather it looked the same both days..maybe more winds on Sunday. I decided to see how I feel in the morning and go from there. I went to bed too late and I ended up having a late start. The sun was out and I left after 8 am, a bit late for me for a LR. I left still not sure that I would do 11 miles, looking for reasons not to do it I think. At mile 4 I made the decision to go for 11 and be done with the LR. Not the best attitude. I told myself just do it and tomorrow it will be just 3. I got dehydrated, did not see it coming. When I realized I was in trouble it was too late. I felt like it was 95 degrees. Of course it was not that hot but it did get pretty warm that day...kids playing outside in shorts warm. I finished the 11 miles and when I got home I took an ice bath. Aouchy. In the shower, I could taste the salty water also my black hat had several white lines on it. Not Good. I ended up feeling like crap for several hours, not able to eat anything and forcing myself to drink Nuun and water even though I felt like puking. I was mad at myself for being so stupid and careless during that run. Because it is not 100 degrees these days I tend to not drink as much during my runs but I now know I need to. I loose a lot of salt no matter what temperature it is, during the summer I was good at taking the salt tablets and lately I have not been taking them. Clearly that is a mistake.
I have not done a lot of speedwork on this training plan, I tried to focus more on hills because this next race will be hard for me. I am nervous about this one because it is my first half since Long Beach and on a hilly course. I have been practicing starting SLOW on my 5-6 miles runs. I noticed that IF I start slower my overall pace is better. In half marathon races I have been TERRIBLE at pacing. I am 0/4 for negative splits. I am 1/4 for strong finish. Work in progress.
At my last race I noticed that a lot of kids were lining up at the 5k start. Not for the kids race, but for the open race. Some of them were really young, some were smaller than Jonathan, my 5 yrs old son. After I finished, I asked Bill my usual questions: Who came in first? What was their time? Was the first woman young? He told me that in the top 10 was a really young kid. I said "Yeah in a stroller?" He said no that he ran! 1342 people ran that 5K and the winner was an 18 yrs old guy who came in 16:22:07. That kid came in 11th overall place with a time of 18:28:07! THAT IS A 5:57 PACE. The first woman came in 22nd overall place. I posted this picture Bill too at the start and the stats of that little boy on my race report post. Look on the left, blue shorts and yellow top.
Someone commented about his performance and wrote: "that is insane". Insane good or insane bad? I agree it is INSANE. I wonder how much he trains. Are his parents pushing him? That kind of time does not come from just pure talent and or being blessed by the Running Gods. Clearly he has talent but he has to be training to be able to run a 5K in 18 minutes 28 seconds at freaking 8 yrs old. That night Bill and I were talking about that boy and wondering what would we do if one of our sons had that kind of athletic talent. Right now, my boys love to participate in the kids race. They have fun doing it. They get a medal and they are happy. They don't train. They don't care about their time. Best of all after each race they ask when is the next one. They both say that when they are a bigger they will do the big races like mommy. I am one of those parent that makes their kids sign up for sports. I don't ask them if they want to sign up or not. I do ask what they would prefer...soccer, basketball, baseball...but they have to pick something. For now, for the kids race I just sign them up and I tell them when they have one. If one day they say that they hate it, I will not sign them up anymore. I want them to be active but I also want them to LIKE being active. At their age it still has to be fun or they will give up. Last thing I want is for them to view physical activity as a punishment or something negative and that when they are teenagers it is no longer a part of lives.
So about that running child prodigy..what are the odds that he will still be running in 10 yrs? That he will love to run in 10 yrs? My wish for him is that he still does.
13 comments:
That little kid could be America's next Steve Prefontaine!
My 12 yr old ran a 22 min 5K with ZERO training. She's just a natural at it. If she did put some training into it, I bet she'd hit sub 20 pretty easily.
As long as he's not being pushed into it, and he doesn't run long distances too early, I think it's insane in a GOOD way :).
I am impressed. Kids I think are naturally fast...we just don't normally time them.
I think it is important to support physical activity in whatever form your child enjoys. My son asked to do a marathon team relay when he was 13. My husband & I did it with him and gave him the shorter 8 mile leg. He had been through 2 years of cross country at that point. (this was my first long run....I was on the precipice of addiction). The following year he asked to do a half marathon.....so once again I set off to train for a new longest distance. This year he grew and had an over 30 minute PR. We draw the line at marathon for the time being. I want him to finish growing before he tackles that distance. He is OK with that. So he is going to try to crack a 5 minute mile in indoor track instead. If he does he MIGHT get the last varsity spot. I am amazed at how speedy kids are. It is insane! ;) but I support him because he likes it & it keeps him busy.
My cousin ran a 31minute 10k in 8th grade - still a state record. Went to school on a running scholarship and now he is old (in his 40s). He told me he doesn't run anymore. I looked up his results and not running anymore means he runs 5ks in the mid 18s.
Talk about insane.
I hope it is a situation where he just loves running, and I think is a good possibility he is that fast already without much training. I think it's great to get kids started in physical activities as young as possible, but they should definitely enjoy it.
There are a lot of kids like that in races out here. Hard to say if their parents push them, but running is such a self-directed thing, you'd think if they didn't want to be there they'd just slow down sort of naturally. I hated sports as a kid and it showed in my performances. I think it's probably insane in a good way. ;^)
I always tried to put my kids in a lot of fun runs and some 5k's when they were in their early teens....I ended up with one who loved running and the others hate it, and that's ok, you take what you can get - right? :)
Sorry your long run didn't go better...oh how I feel your long run pain! Bleh. Be careful of the hydration thing in winter, too....I ended up in the hospital in February 3 years ago due to severe dehydration. No fun!!
Great post! Hope you are feeling better and will be more hydrated next time. I HATE being dehydrated. I have done it over & over & over. :( Great perspective on the kids racing too. :)
I have a really hard time remembering to drink as much when it's cooler, too. It's worse for me biking than running, though. I'm glad you were ok. That is NOT a good feeling.
My kids have always done sports, primarily led by their interests. We signed them up for soccer and basketball, other sports were by their choice. My youngest loves ball sports, the running thing ehhh, not so much. The two races he's done were by his choice, I've offered others and he's said no thanks.
That kid in your race...that's crazy fast. Hopefully it's a case of his parents supporting his love to run.
Btw, I think my husband and youngest are coming to next weekend's trail race. :)
The whole thing of kids and running is such a tricky one. How much, how far, how fast? I let my kids be the guide...I can suggest a race to them, or a run to them, but if they don't want to do it, that's that. I also follow the rule that they should run no more miles than the grade they are in. All this said, we have a neighbor boy who is insanely fast like that kid. He doesn't train, ever, other than other sports. He'll show up for a 5k and knock out an insane time. It's just his gift. It would be really interesting to see where it would go if he really trained!
When I have kids, I am going to make them be active, but I will let them pick their sports, if they never get into endurance sports, so be it, but I want them doing something active
Good luck with the HM. Don't be hard on yourself...... I think we all forget to keep ourselves hydrated, fuled, etc. every now and again. I know I'm guilty :-P
That does seem crazy fast for a kid, talk about some talent, I just hope he isn't burned out by the time he is 20!
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