From Coach Jerry:
Before I get to my witty and insightful review of Clubs, let me address a couple of other points: 1) I will be at BCC on Wednesday for whoever wants to do a workout, but it will be a small crowd. Everyone who ran Clubs with the exception of Lisa should plan to sit this one out and take a few days (or longer in some cases) to recover. But for those of you who are working your way back into shape (I'm thinking Clarke, Will, Beth, Elizabeth, Christina, Avril, Drea) or who are racing in January (Kirby), a workout makes sense. Please give me a holler if you expect to be out there, and we can figure out a plan. 2) Don't forget about the big TEAM MEETING on Saturday. The plan has changed slightly--the meeting will be at the Chevy Chase store at 6 pm. Full details will follow in the next few days, but we have some very important running and administrative issues to discuss, so if you're getting this email, please plan to be there. 3) Congrattulations to Dickson and Elizabeth for their fine races at Jingle Bell 8k yesterday. Dickson is looking strong in the calm before the coming storm of Boston prep, and Elizabeth continues to make good progress towards race fitness. And let's not forget Kirby, who ran the race as part of her long run, and still ran 32:20. Well done.
As for Clubs, in my view it was an unqualified success. I was really, really pleased to field three full teams, and because each of our athletes knew that he or she would be a scoring member of the team, everyone ran with a larger purpose in mind. I can say with complete confidence that every one of our athletes ran as hard as they could on Saturday, and I can't ask for anything more than that. It was really special for me to be out there with such a wonderful group. I'm already looking forward to next year, when we'll be at full strength.
Speaking of next year, our athletes learned several valuable lessons this weekend that will serve us all well in the future. Those lessons include: Paul learning that his bib number is of much more use on his jersey than in his hotel room when the gun goes off; Charlie learned not to make any threatening or provacative moves anywhere near Dave Wertz when Dave has been drinking (as Charlie aptly put it later, "Wiggy has wanted to kick my ass for years, but Wertz actually did it"); Witty learned that no matter how fresh his spikes are, he's not going to run fast in them for the last 4 loops of a 5 loop race if he runs the first loop at a suicidal pace; Laura learned that despite the fact that I bear only a passing resemblance to George Costanza, I am sometimes called Jason Alexander; Jason learned that pizza hut will deliver 2 pizzas, bread sticks, and wings, in one box, right to his door if he calls and asks them to; Anna learned former Olympic marathoners tend to give very bad training advice when they've been drinking for 4 hours straight; and Karl learned that it's wise to befriend the guy who donated the beer to USATF. If we keep all of these important lessons in mind, we're a lock to have 2 teams in the top 5 next year!
Stay tuned for details about the meeting on Saturday.
Jerry
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