Team Timex Weekend

Saturday
Our WoodlandsFit Half Marathoners made short work of the 6 – 8 mile workout Saturday morning. Most did the 8 mile distance and looked very strong doing it. I think the hardest part of training was starting at 6am so we would all be finished in time for our clinic. I don’t know how the marathon groups meet before 6AM and run. The clinic topic was Elite Runner Perspectives given by Kim Hager. Kim did a great job outlining the similarities of elite athletes training and our training. The complete presentation will be posted on the WoodlandsFit web page soon.

Kim ended her talk with this….
“Regardless of where each one of you will finish a race…front, middle or back of pack… you are all capable of performing at your individual best if you put forth the effort. When you expand society’s definition of ‘elite’ what you will find is that at some level each one of you has the potential to be ‘elite.’ Setting world records is a huge accomplishment, but is it really any more difficult of a feat than the mother of 6 who home schools her children in addition to fitting in marathon training? She, no-doubt, has to be ‘the most skilled’ at time management…or what about the gentleman who did not begin exercising until after he retired, then began walking only a year ago, finished a half marathon at a pace faster than some runners, began running himself, and is now helping coach other runners? Then there is the individual who has a serious, life-ending disease that against all odds perseveres to the finish line of an endurance event just to bring attention and raise awareness of the devastating disease. These individuals no doubt have the same mental fortitude of elite athletes.

So, maybe you will never be the first to ‘break the tape’ at the finish line, but you may be the first in your family to have quit smoking and take up a healthier lifestyle, or maybe you are, in the eyes of your child, the ‘best father’ who has ever run a marathon. In giving ‘your best’ effort towards achieving your goals you will find a level of success that perhaps on a personal level surpasses any world record.”

Sunday Morning
When my daughters were in school in Spring ISD I was surprised that the school district didn’t have a Junior High Cross Country program. Both of my daughters are runners. My youngest daughter ran track & cross country at Spring HS. My older daughter runs for fitness only but is very fast and is always a threat to walk away with an age group award when doing her very occasional fun run. When my younger daughter was competing in HS every meet was tough as several of the State’s powers are in the area with Kingwood, Klein and The Woodlands. All of these schools have Junior High programs. A few of the parents and I were always fighting for a Junior High Program at Spring. Maybe I helped, maybe it was others after me but the school has a Junior High program now and I ran with one of the current members, Waverly Walk, Sunday morning. I met Jon & Waverly for a two mile run early. Now, I’m not a morning runner by any stretch of the imagination so I did treat the run as an extended warm up and was a bit of a slacker. Waverly did great and it was nice making the connection from when my daughter was running and now Waverly who will have the opportunity to have a couple years of experience before she’s in HS.

The Woodlands Running Club (TWRC) Sunday runners were running from Market Street so I swung by to visit on the way home. I’m working toward a Sunmart finish and the Texas Independence Relay but the bigger goal is to be able to run with this group and knock out a respectable 10 miler with them. They are a wonderful group of people.

Sunday Afternoon
After watching the Texans game from start to finish, a first for me, I was off to The Woodlands for our TWRC General Meeting. We had a good turnout. Our guest speaker was Kim Hager to make this a complete Team Timex Weekend. Her topic was Heart Rate Training. I have seen this presentation a few times and I always seem to pick up on something new. Kim does a great job when she does a training clinic. She’s always very prepared and speaks from the heart. She touches so many lives that I think we can expand her personal definition of elite to elite person.

When I got back home my older daughter was visiting and I mentioned running with Waverly, a member of the Twin Creeks Cross Country Team, earlier in the day. It stopped her in her tracks. What !!!! Twin Creeks has a Cross Country Team !!!! was the reply. Maybe I can get both of my daughters out for a workout, or a race sometime in the near future.