Haylee and I were college dorm-mates and have remained close friends for several years. She has become an avid runner and endurance junkie. After a nine-month hiatus from running, she decided to make a comeback with her main goal of running the Austin Half Marathon in February. Haylee lives a very busy life with a recent job switch, moving to Austin, and taking care of her new pup. Before she got back into run training, she described how “the thought of putting on running shoes resulted in me [her] wanting to throw the covers over my [her] head and hitting snooze.”
For this training block, I had one goal for her – have fun. I see so many people get caught up in the numbers (myself included). I told her to quit worrying about always trying to hit a certain pace, heart rate, or other metrics for several training sessions. My main intent was her to enjoy the sport again. Haylee has joined an awesome running community in Austin, which has been motivating, competitive, and fun. If you are in a training rut, I strongly urge anyone to join a local training group or club for a motivational boost!
I began training Haylee at the beginning of the year with my main intentions to keep things fresh, interesting, and fun. We planned to make the Austin Half Marathon her goal race with the 3M Half Marathon in January as her tuneup. After beating her 3M Half Marathon time by 10 minutes from the prior year I knew she was making some solid progress.
In the past, I gave Haylee very specific pacing and heart rate targets to follow. While that strategy typically works for myself, there is no “one size fits all” racing tactic. For the Austin Half Marathon I gave her no official numbers to follow, no pacing targets, and most importantly, put zero pressure on her to perform (although I did have a time expectation for her that I kept to myself!). I knew she had to fitness and speed to set a personal best.
Haylee not only ran a PR at 3M in January… she also went two minutes faster at the Austin Half Marathon this past weekend (on a much more challenging course)! Most importantly, she had a fun and her mojo is back!
Haylee on her way to set a new PB!
It gives me so much pleasure coaching and mentoring others to reach their goals. Witnessing Haylee surpass obstacles and achieve her goal gives me so much satisfaction, even more so than my own athletic accomplishments. Great job Haylee and I’m very proud of you. I see a BQ in your very near future my friend!
-EK
Elliot Kawaoka 
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