YOU KNOW YOU'RE A COACH:A TOP 10 LIST

"Being a coach is easy. It's like riding a bike. Except the bike is on fire. You are on fire. Everything is on fire."

I've been coaching cross country and track at Lexington High School since 2011.  I love it.  I started as a volunteer and am now the head coach for all three seasons - cross country, indoor and outdoor track.  Funny how that happens.  Is it hard?  Yes.  It is exhausting?  Also, yes.  Is it fun?  I wouldn't be doing it if it wasn't.  Truth?  Not a day goes by where I don't realize how lucky I am that I get to do what I do.  As I drove home from NH last night, I started to think of all the telltale signs that someone might be a coach.  And while I came up with many, I pared it down to the top 10 list that you see below.  I'm not gonna lie, this piece gave me a good laugh.  I have to believe if you do anything similar - work with kids or athletes in some way - that you can relate to most of these.  Mind you, these aren't complaints.  Just the facts.  And I am just out here living the dream.  In my sneakers.  With my coffee.  On Saturday.  

TOP 10 WAYS TO KNOW YOU ARE A COACH

1. Saturday means, well, nothing really.  You probably have to go to bed early the night before because you have a meet the next morning.  And if not, you have practice.  But either way, you're not jumping for joy when Friday rolls around.  And, in reality, you probably haven't had a weekend off since summer, which, in my case, is the only season I'm not coaching.

2. Your main source of sustenance while you are in season is coffee and protein bars.  

3. You spend more time on a bus than you do in your car.  

4. You have two wardrobes.  Regular.  And coaching.  Which, for me, is athleisure (thank the Lord).  You probably have double the amount of clothing in your coaching wardrobe than you do in your regular one.  And let's be honest, you're rarely pulling clothes from the regular wardrobe.   Because who has time for life outside of coaching?

5. You are always cold.  Spring?  Fall?  Doesn't matter.  You're typically standing around for two hours or more essentially not moving.  Wind picks up, sun goes down, rain starts to fall. Boom. It’s over. Don’t fight it. You’re going to end up freezing.  It's just what happens.

6. You are a walking medical kit.  Band-aids, ice packs, tape, antibiotic ointment, tweezers, Advil?  Yes.  If someone needs it, you have it.  

6. Your car is both a locker and a lost and found.  

7. When you go to the store, you get excited about things like clipboards, stickers and fun pens as opposed to anything you might actually need for your life outside of coaching.

8. You consistently repeat yourself to your family and friends despite them not asking you to because you assume they're not listening.

9. You consider blowing your whistle any time you're in a large crowd and need to find someone.

10. You don't answer to your name but any time you hear "Coach" you assume it's directed at you.

Listen to this:

Levitating by Rüfüs Du Sol

RÜFÜS DU SOL · Levitating

FROM THE ARCHIVES:WALKWAY MARATHON 2015

I recently started going back and looking at some of my old race reviews for fun.  Specifically, the marathons.  I've finished 33 of them and they've all had their own story to go along with them.  More often than not they've been pretty wild for any number of reasons....the breakfast guy at the hotel slept through his shift so we didn't have any coffee before the race (unacceptable) , I sliced the back of my heel open on a glass door and ended up in the ER (devastating), I ran through a deluge at Boston as a guide for a blind runner and we managed to finish (miraculous).  You get the point.  These stories hold a lot of meaning for me and are such a big part of the runner and person that I've become.  Today, I'm going to start with the Walkway marathon which I ran back in 2015.  I was 40 at the time and honestly thought my marathon days were almost over.  Ha!  If only 40 year old Trax could see 49 year old Trax now.  I happened to win this marathon and was absolutely shocked that I'd been able to pull it off at "my age".  Little did I know that I had just gotten started and was nowhere near done.  Here's the full story.  Hope you enjoy it.

 "You are never too old to set another goal or to dream a new dream..."

~ C.S. Lewis

Last Friday, the day before I would be tackling the Walkway Marathon in Poughkeepsie, NY, I gave my coach a ring around 8:30am.  Mainly, I wanted to talk strategy; particularly since the weather was looking pretty brutal for Saturday.  Our conversation went something like this:

Lowell: Hey Rebecca.  How are you feeling?
Me: Well, it's 72 degrees outside and ridiculously humid.  So, there's that.
Lowell: Yeah.  I know.  I just checked the forecast for Poughkeepsie.  It's not ideal.
Me: Well, I suppose it was wishful thinking to race in June and get decent weather.  But, I'm still having a hard time wrapping my head around it.  How do you think I should approach this?
Lowell: I hate to say it, but a PR is not something you should be shooting for in this situation.  I think you should just focus on running a good race and go for place.  I never tell any of my athletes to bank faster miles in the beginning of a marathon because it's just too risky.  But, I think you're going to have to do that tomorrow.  Try and get out at a solid pace while the temp is (somewhat) lower and you have some shade.  You'll have to dial back when it heats up, but you will at least have a solid base to fall back on.
Me: Okay, so pace-wise, start off around 7:10-7:20, hold that for a while and then let it rip at the end?
Lowell: That pace sounds good.  Realistically, though, it's very unlikely that you'll have much more to tap into for that last 10K.  The heat takes a serious toll.  You're just going to need to try and dig in and hold on for those last few miles.
Me:  Oh.  So, just run hard and steady until I can't run hard and steady anymore?
Lowell: Yea, pretty much.  You're really fit.  And you've got the strength.  But, the weather is out of your hands.  You're just going to have to work with what you've got.  We knew this might be the case with a June marathon.  It is what it is.  Have fun.  And go for it.
Me: Right.  Yeah.  Ok, thanks.  
So, my strategy was set.  Do what I could with what I had and hope for the best.  No problem.

SONG:AWESOME
TEMP:NOT AWESOME

The rest of the morning was a combination of stressing, shuttling my kids around and packing.  Around 2:00pm, I hit the road for NY.  Unlike most of my destination races, this was a solo mission.  It was just me, my music and all the other drivers on the MA Pike.  Turns out, a lot of people decided to cut out early and head West for the weekend.  Shocker.  What should have been a 3 hour and 15 minute drive ended up being about 4 hours and 30 minutes.  Thank the Lord for Spotify.  I did have one minor heart attack about 2 hours into my ride when I looked at my dash and saw that the temperature was 91 degrees.  That seriously freaked me out.  When I arrived in Poughkeepsie, it had just rained and steam was rising up off the streets as I parked my car.  It wasn't good and there was nothing I could do about it.  Deep breaths.  I headed into the expo to grab my number and check things out.  For a relatively small race, I was surprised to see that it was a pretty sizable event.

The Mid-Hudson Civic Center

I quickly grabbed my number and shirt and then strolled through the rest of the expo to see what was what.  There were the typical booths that you see at most expos (ie. running stores, clothing vendors, and sports drinks).  And there were several vendors from the local businesses giving out samples of tasty treats that most runners would not dare try the night before a marathon.  Not for lack of desire.

Strawberry Shortcake?  I think not.

Around 7:00, I headed over to the Hampton Inn, where I would be staying for the evening.  After providing my ID and a credit card, I asked the next most important question...what time did they start serving coffee in the morning.  Her answer?  "We serve coffee 24/7, ma'am."  Brilliant.  Things were looking up.  Shortly after I got to my room and got settled, a thunderstorm rolled in and the sky opened up.  Cats, dogs, fish, you name it.  It was all coming down.  All I could think about was what it meant for the next morning.  So many possibilities.  None of them great.

THE STORM

I decided to pass on going back out for dinner (the hotel didn't have a restaurant) and ate a bagel, a banana and a orange instead.  I'd been carb loading for the past few days so I wasn't that hungry anyway.  I turned out my light around 9:30.  Not surprisingly, sleep didn't come. I tossed and turned and tossed some more.  My nerves were in high gear and the storm had just heightened my restlessness.  I fell asleep with visions of heat and humidity dancing in my head.  Finally morning came.  I headed downstairs, grabbed a cup of coffee and stepped outside.  Maybe the storm had cleared things out.

COFFEE CUP W/ MUSTACHE: AWESOME
WEATHER: NOT AWESOME

Or maybe not.  At 6:00am the temp was already in the 70s with 90% humidity to boot.  It was almost laughable.  Almost.  I went back up to my room, packed up and then checked out.  The race was taking place about 10 minutes down the road at Marist College.  I parked my car and headed over to the start area.  I didn't even think about the fact that the very long path I was walking down to get to the boat house, where everything was happening, would be the same path I would be running up for the beginning of the race.  Good thing I wasn't thinking.  I did have the pleasure of meeting Tiffany, a Oiselle flockster, in line at the port-o-potty and enjoyed getting to know her while we waited.  Both of us run for Oiselle and follow each other on social media, so it was nice to put a face to a name.  After that, I checked my bag, did some stretching/dancing, grabbed some water and waited for the the start.  Things were running a little late, which was not ideal given the weather, but we eventually got going a little before 8:00.  As I mentioned, the first mile was uphill which was a pretty serious mental and physical battle.  But, once I got onto the path, I was able to settle down and reset.  For the next few miles I cruised along at a 7:15 pace.  I fell into step with a young gentlemen who was running the half at the same pace.  In the photo below, he's behind purple tank guy, who, for the record, smiled like that for the entire 26.2 miles.  We ran together until mile 6, which was the turnaround point for the half marathoners.  Funny sidebar, I'd had a conversation at the start with the girl behind me about whether or not she should quickly squat in the woods to avoid the lines at the port-o-pottys.  Her friend said not to do it.  I said the opposite.  Not sure what she decided but she did end up coming in 3rd overall in the half which was pretty badass.

At mile 6 w/ fast girl, pace guy and purple tank smiley guy.

Pace guy and I wished each other good luck at the turnaround and fast girl and I high-fived.  I felt a sharp pang of envy as I forged ahead and they headed back to their finish.  For the next 6 miles I was totally by myself.  This was kind of weird and I found it somewhat tricky to stay focused.  I leaned heavily on my music during this stretch and worked to keep my pace on tempo with the beat.  Finally, I reached my turnaround point at mile 12.  As I rounded the cone, I began to see my other fellow runners coming toward me.  Oh, how happy I was to see them.  We were all clapping and cheering for each other as we passed by.  And then someone let me know that I was the first woman on the course.  WHAT??!!  Between learning this info and being with runners again, I got really fired up and back in the zone.  I realized I had a shot at winning this thing and there was no reason not to go for it; weather be damned!  Around mile 15, the crowd started to thin out and I knew I would likely be solo for the next 10 miles or so which was going to be rough.   And then the WORST possible thing happened.  No, not a muscle cramp or gastrointestinal malfunction....way worse than that.  I had been pouring water on my head every 1.5 miles and by the 16th round I had successfully flooded my iPod.  My music stopped.  Total silence except for my very loud, labored breathing.  OMG.  I shouted many bad words and fought with it, on and off, for the next few miles.  I was trying to dry it off, pushing buttons, holding it at different angles, all to no effect.  My worst nightmare had come true.  All I could do was keep fighting.  For miles 21-23, we went over the Poughkeepsie-Highland  Railroad Bridge.  The wind was coming at us from all directions and between that and the loss of my music I was losing energy and could feel my legs getting heavier with each step.  I rounded the second cone to head back over the bridge again and toward the finish and it was here that I discovered I was still in the lead for women.  I didn't sit back and relax, but I did ease up a bit, knowing that I didn't have to grind it out quite so hard to make it across the line. And then, after those two river crossings, a tunnel cut through, a massive downhill and a small and very painful uphill, I could see the finish line.  A huge smile spread across my face as the race officials pulled out the ribbon for me to break through.  There are no words to describe this feeling.  It was beyond amazing.  Final time: 3:13:48.  Not a PR, but pretty close.  Not that it mattered. 

Shortly after I crossed the line, I grabbed my bag and some chocolate milk and headed over to the tent to put my feet up.  I was floating....also in pain...but giddy.  Never in my wildest dreams did I think I could pull something like this off.  I was trying to just bask in the moment and not think about the fact that I had to get in my car and drive myself back to Boston.  I stayed for the awards ceremony and was given a very cool miniature version of the bridge we had crossed made by the SUNY New Paltz students with a 3D digital printer.  Easily one of the coolest awards I've received to date. 

I grabbed some more snacks and slowly ambled over to my car.  I was eager to get home and celebrate with my family.  It was a long drive.  But I could have cared less.  I kept replaying the finish over and over in my head.  It had been an incredibly difficult and painful race.  On top of that, it had been a very long and mentally and physically trying training cycle.  And, in the end, it paid off.  All of it.

Lessons Learned:
1. Never pour water anywhere near your music listening device.
2. Never run a June marathon unless you absolutely have to or you live in Florida and are used to the heat and humidity.
3. Always set reasonable goals.  And then set some that are a bit loftier.  Because anything is possible.

Listen to this:
IN MY HEAD - Galantis 

RWM & SMM PRODUCT REVIEW:hDROP

hDROP WEARABLE HYDRATION SENSOR: YES or NO?

I am admittedly bad at hydration.  For the amount of running that I do, I should be taking in significantly more fluids, both water and electrolyte enhanced drinks.  And, well…I just don’t.  For no good reason, honestly.  I’m just not on top of it.  And I don’t really get that thirsty.  But I am one hundred percent sure that my training would improve enormously if I was better about staying hydrated in general and rehydrating post-run.  Particularly in the summer when both the temperature and my mileage steadily creep up.  So, you can imagine my excitement when I recently saw an Instagram post about the hDrop gen 2 Wearable Hydration Sensor.  I had no idea anything like this existed and, as with all new things, was somewhat dubious.  But after reading some reviews, most of them solid, my interest was peaked.  I reached out to the company directly and asked if they would send one out for me to test and review and to my good fortune, they agreed.  Grab a seat and I’ll tell you all about it.

First, the hDrop sensor is very easy to set up.  Once you have downloaded the app, you are walked through step by step instructions with video images to go with it on how to get it started, which I very much appreciate as I am not one to read a manual.  Beyond that, you just need to thread the strap through and charge up the device.  After that, you’re ready to roll.  You can also sync the device up with your Garmin and there are step by step instructions on how to do this as well.  Again, very simple.

The first thing I did once I had it set up and charged was to take a THUMB read.  You can do this early in the morning before you have anything to eat or drink to get a sense of how well you are hydrated at that point.  I find this incredibly valuable as I’m a big coffee drinker and if I know I’m starting my day off under hydrated I’ll make an effort to take in some extra fluids before I down multiple lattes.  I’ve started doing this reading every day before I do any activities and I’m finding it super helpful.

I have also been wearing the hDrop device when I’m running for an active hydration reading.  I’ve tried to test it out in high heat and humidity (not a problem in July in MA) but also in cooler temps when I don’t intuitively think I need as much fluid.  I’ve worn it for easy runs, track workouts and long runs.  And the data I get back is fascinating.  For example, today I ran 16 miles.  I left at 7:40am and the temp was in the low 70; so not too hot.  But, the humidity was through the roof.  So, within five minutes I was dripping.  For the record, I drank a cup of coffee and a cup of water before my run.  I stopped to drink water from fountains at mile 5, 8 and 11.  I also splashed it on my face and neck.  I was out for a little over 2 hours in total.  Below you’ll see my post-run hDrop stats.

But what does this mean, you ask?  Fortunately, the hDrop team breaks it all down for you in layman’s terms.  I won’t go into full detail but I’ll try to give you the abridged version.  My sweat rate is above average; similar to losing about ¾ of a sports bottle per hour. So, I lost almost two full bottles during this run.  Even with the water I took in during the run, I lost more than I thought I would.  The sodium concentration in my sweat is on the higher end of medium.  As far as how much I lost, it was about a teaspoon of table salt or the equivalent to what’s contained in a full can of soup.  So, I’m going to need to heavy up on electrolytes and salty foods post-run.  Not a problem.  The temperature metric indicates the device’s temperature and it changes during my activity which it can read because it is directly on my skin.  Given how much I sweated, the reading of 85.7℉ (max 88.7℉) tells me that my body temp was well regulated throughout the run which suggests good hydration.  Go me.  There is also a graph that goes along with each of these metrics which is ideal for the visual learner.  And finally, hDrop provides a suggested recovery plan based on all of this data with the disclaimer, of course, that the device and the app are not FDA approved and the data may vary in accuracy.  In other words, this is yet another tool but by no means something to live your life by.

In a nutshell, this little white cube tracks fluid loss, sweat rate, sodium loss, potassium loss, and temperature. In my opinion, the best feature is that it provides a baseline sweat zone which is calculated after you’ve done several workouts.  This number may change over time but unless you’re doing something majorly different, it will likely remain the same or close.  Mine is currently 63.5 and has been the same for about two weeks.  But, here’s what I love.  It will then give you a score for each activity based on that baseline so you can get a sense of how well you’re hydrating for each run.  Today I scored a 78/100, so pretty good but not great.  Definitely room for improvement.  Now, for those of you who are skeptical, I get it.  There are a lot of gadgets out there in the sports industry and some are definitely more of a gimmick and, let’s be honest, probably unnecessary.  “Just drink lots of water”, you say.  And that’s fair.  But, for those of you who like data, and I know you’re out there, this thing is really, really cool.  And while it might not be as helpful for those who aren’t logging as many miles, I’m guessing it’s a very useful tool for those training for marathons and beyond.  I’m guessing it’s probably very useful when you’re fighting something and your body needs more fluids to heal.  Or a good way to get a read on how well you’re hydrated after a long flight.  I can think of several scenarios beyond running where this gadget could be a game changer.  For me, what it boils down to is this, when I’m dehydrated and I’m a little out of it, having a device that sends a signal suggesting that I replace fluids lost is just the tool I need to keep me from unraveling.  And I am all for that.  So, in conclusion, I give the hDrop device two very enthusiastic thumbs up.  Check it out and see for yourself.  And, no matter what, stay hydrated!

Retail Price - $249.99

*Use code TRAX to save 20%

** Click here for more Six Minute Mile gear reviews

LISTEN TO THIS:

I Love You So F***ing Much - Glass Animals

Glass Animals · I Love You So F***ing Much

'NEW TRICKS' SERIES: ON RUNNING VS RACING

"Thank God I didn't look at the clock the whole race....if someone would have told me this morning that 3:56 doesn't make the team, I don't want to know that."

~ Nikki Hiltz, after winning the 1500 at the US Olympic trials

Checking my time. Running. Not racing.

When was the last time you raced with the goal being to beat as many people as you can as opposed to running a specific time?  Last summer I was trying to get mentally fired up for a local 5k.  It's not my favorite distance on account of how short it is.  Put it this way, I'd rather do a half than 3.1 miles.  But, I do them anyway as I know it's good to get outside my comfort zone every once in a while.  And I try really hard to practice what I preach.  So, this one was in July on Cape Cod.  The weather was calling for very high temps.  Fine, that's summer.  It's to be expected.  But also for high humidity.  Now this combo is really special.  Basically you know ahead of time that the simple act of breathing will be significantly more complicated than usual.  And, yet I still do these.  For fun.  But, I digress.  Okay, so I already knew this particular race was going to be incredibly challenging.  I was also coming back from a bout of mono last summer and hadn't greased the wheels for quite some time.  So, overall, my confidence was not super high.  I reached out to my friend and fellow coach, Halston Taylor, and asked him to help me with a race plan.  In so many words he explained that, to date, most of my races that I'd done had been for time.  For this one, he suggested, why not run to race?  Don't limit yourself to a time.  What if the goal is simply to perform?  To beat as many people as you can across 3.1 miles?  Why not try to be strategic and competitive and work to outrun your opponents both mentally and physically?  It was an interesting concept.  And he was right.  I have rarely raced for anything other than time.  More often than not, especially for marathons, a time has always been my primary goal.  So, this would be a different approach for me and I was curious if I could run this way.  For this race specifically, I knew there would be a lot of high school kids from one specific school that was nearby as they tend to show up every year as a team.  In my mind, before I even lined up, I assumed these kids were unbeatable for obvious reasons; mainly the age gap.  But also, because they're high school cross country runners. 

Coach Taylor laying it out

But, why?, Taylor challenged me.  You have know idea who you're up against.  There are a million factors that contribute to a good or bad race day performance.  Did you get enough sleep, are you feeling under the weather, did you do a hard workout two days beforehand?  Maybe you slept like a champ and Susie was up all night with her friends.  You should look at every race as an even playing field.  Make no assumptions.  Go out there with the plan being to run people down or, if not, to make them work for it.  In thinking about them versus yourself, you're taking the "me" out of the equation.  You're playing offense as opposed to defense, if you will.  And this changes everything.  Rather than thinking about yourself and what might go wrong you're thinking about your opponent and how you can best compete against them.  You're racing, not running.  And that became the goal.  I was going to try and truly race.  Not just show up and run for time.  I made a goal to pass five people in the second half of the race.  The weather?  It didn't matter anymore as we were all running in the same hot garbage.  Even playing field, right?  It's anyone's game.  Let's do this.  So the gun blew and we all set out.  There was a clear pack in the front, lead by the same gal who'd won the race the year before and followed by a handful of her teammates.  I ran in the back of this pack but kept them in site and tried to work off of them.  After the first mile, I'd managed to pass one of them and was close to a second.  I was hurting, don't get me wrong.  But, I knew we all were and I was thinking about who was in front of me, not how I was feeling or what might go wrong.  After mile two I had managed to pass two more runners.  And, get this, I was having fun.  Three down, two to go.  I could see the leader and one more guy in front of me.  I wasn't close but I was there and they knew it.  In the third mile, the guy walked off the course and I saw him leaning over his knees, most likely overheated and possible getting sick.  Not good.  Are you okay? I screamed out.  He nodded and waved me off so I kept going.  I watched as the leader looked behind her to see where I was.  

RUNNING TO RACE (& having a blast)

We were getting near the finish and I didn't think I could catch up to her but I was sure as hell going to try.  And, yes, she took the win, but it wasn't easy as it had been the year before.  I had given her a challenge and made her work for it.  And on top of that I'd passed three other people.  So, in my mind, I'd had a freaking great day and ultimately accomplished my goal.  I was pumped. And realized at that moment how racing can feel very different when you approach it from this angle versus just trying to run a time.  I joined a local racing team about five years ago, primarily to find more people to train and race with.  As I've gotten older, I've realized that I'm no longer as excited about running for time.  As a member of a team, I'm running to place high and score well.  Every point matters.  If I can edge someone out in the last kilometer it helps my team score higher.  I can honestly say that thinking this way puts a whole different spin on the mental aspect of the race for me.  Sure, I'm still nervous.  But, I'm also a hell of a lot more excited.  And at this stage in the game, that's really what it's all about.  As the great Coach Frank Dick once said, "Don’t look at the scoreboard (or, in this case, time), look at your performance and stay in the moment."  Words to live by.  

Listen to this:

Carousel by Until The Ribbon Breaks

UntilTheRibbonBreaks · Carousel (feat. Homeboy Sandman)