The Coach-Athlete and Husband-Wife Relationship: How Does it Work?

So it’s November, the declared month of thankfulness. Although I don’t think it should be limited to just one month, I do appreciate the fact that it reminds people to take a step back and reflect on those that have truly made a difference.

When I was traveling with the Trinity cross country team, to the national meet last week, we had ten glorious hours of travel time on the first day. On the positive side of things it led to some bonding time. One runner asked me for instance, how exactly things worked with Jer, my husband, also being my coach. At first I thought about the fact that for a good amount people it just does NOT work. Then I kept trying to think of all the times Jer and I had arguments about training or racing or anything coaching related. The problem I began to notice during this time was that the memories that kept popping up, while trying to find the bad ones, were some of the most wonderful moments I have had with Jer. Besides my college coach, Jer knows my running career better than I do. He knows what works and what doesn’t. He supports me in every way possible. He knows how to motivate me. He has gotten me to perform far better that I could ever have imagined myself doing. I honestly can’t think of anyone else who would be a better fit for me as a coach. Of course, in any relationship, communication is KEY. We always talk about what's going on as to make sure we're both on the same page. Now this does not mean we have never had running related disagreements, most of the time it's lively discussion in which we don't always agree, but I wouldn't say any of them have put a strain on our relationship . And no, there is not a clear cut separation from our husband-wife and coach-athlete relationship. We don’t put on separate hats when we’re playing different roles, it just intermingles. I believe it works because we have such a strong relationship in both aspects of our marriage and running that it has formed into a unique part of our lives. Heck, I'm even trying to be play the self-designated role as Jer's coach now! He's learning to adjust :) Also, since we live with one another it's pretty obvious he knows what my sleeping, eating, and lifestyle habits are. We both help to keep each other honest when it comes to these choices in life and it's been pretty easy to live as close to the ideal running lifestyle as possible when you have someone there to keep you in check.

The more time I have had to reflect on Jer being my coach the more I realize how far we’ve come as a couple. We have grown so much together over the last seven plus years that we’ve somehow managed to have even fewer arguments than ever before. I’m still having a hard time even remembering the last time we did argue, running related or not. It is quite shocking seeing as how both of us are rather opinionated. I absolutely consider myself lucky to have the type of husband, best friend, and running coach that Jeremy is. I think we’ve figured out a great system, and it works because he is just that phenominal of a guy and of course, because I’ve learned to listen :). He has been just as invested in my running as I am, if not more so, and I know that I don’t say it enough, but I am truly grateful to have him in my life. Today, on this pre-Thanksgiving day three years ago, Jer asked me to spend the rest of my life with him. I’m just glad I was lucky enough to have been asked.

ENGAGED! Fall of 2009

Jer trying to calm my nerves fall of 2008

The running + the personal = AWESOME!

Me being a proud coach after Jer's PR! circa Spring 2012

Race Day: 2012 San Antonio Marathon

Tomorrow is race day.  The weather isn't looking quite as bad as it could've been, so I'm going out with plans to run aggressively and try to PR.  

The competition looks fairly intense, with a small contingent of Kenyans and some very good Texans.  Everything has gone well so far so time to get some sleep and see what happens tomorrow.  Good luck to everyone else running tomorrow.

Taper Taper Taper

Hey everybody.  This Sunday is the San Antonio Rock and Roll Marathon.  I'm kind of excited.

I began my training for this race on July 8th, 3 weeks after having set my marathon PR of 2:27:38 at Grandma's Marathon on June 16th.  There were 18 weeks between July 8th and this Sunday's race.  In the previous 17 weeks (prior to this final week of taper), I have run 2,009 miles, or an average of 118 miles per week.

Lots of workouts, lots of miles.  The weather for Sunday looks absolutely terrible, but you know what?  It was terrible last year too.  The only thing I can really do is try to feel out what pace is sustainable on race day, and not go faster than that.  I think I can still lower my PR.  I just have to run under 5:38 per mile for 26.2 consecutive miles.  Piece of cake, right?  Eh.

If, by some miracle, we get a wonderful cold front before Sunday at 7:30am, I will attempt to run the race at under 2:26 pace,  or about 5:33/mile.  If we have awful weather, then it's just about competing with whoever shows up.  Here we go!

Taper Time 2012

As much as things change over time, some always stay the same.  Here are some:

• Before every marathon, I feel like I should have done more/better/harder training. 
• I check the weather forecast at least 3 times per day.
• I always get nervous about tapering down my training.

This is my last 100 mile week, and it's just barely going to be 100. The last time I ran less than 110 miles in a week was the middle of July, so it's always a scary experience running so much less than usual.  The inescapable feeling is always that you're slowly but surely getting out of shape, no matter how crazy that might seem.

This morning I did one of my standard last workouts: 10k on the track, alternating each 1k between fast and "medium".  Today I averaged roughly 5:00 pace for the fast k's and 5:40 pace on the slow ones, with the total 10k being 33:16.  I believe this is the first time I've ever broken 34 minutes in this workout, so I'm taking it as a good sign.  

In the end though, the marathon is an entirely different beast than shorter distances.  While it's nice to know that I'm probably in close to PR shape for 10k, how I'll do in 9 days at a distance over 4 times longer is still a bit of a question.  In the end I take confidence from this being my 3rd marathon in the last 12 months - I have a lot more experience than I did this time last year.  That plus the cycle of long run workouts I've done makes me feel pretty good about where I'm at.  This is what that series looked like, in all of it's glory.

• 11 weeks out: 26.2 miles at 6:07 pace
• 9 weeks out: 22 miles with 18 miles at 5:46 pace
• 7 weeks out: 24 miles at 5:56 pace
• 5 weeks out: 24 miles at 5:51 pace
• 3 weeks out: 22 miles with 20 mile race at 5:45 pace 

So here we go! I for one am getting very excited for marathon time.