monty wrote:
her coach needs to think of her mental well being when choosing races because having her go head to head with Huddle in the 10k after her Mammoth stint may have been naive in that regard. // This is what I was alluding to, if you are going to race someone, then prepare them for that particular race. Doesnt mean changing the training plan much or mileage, just make sure she is mostly rested and has a decent chance at a good race. Sure she fell off Molly's scorching pace, but she also let 5 more ladies run away from here too, and barley out kicked the next one.
I just think for"some" athletes, it is not really doing anything positive to throw them into races broken down and tired. But there are some that can do fine with that mentally, they actually thrive on it. I just dont know where Gwen's head is in this new sport of hers. I would tend to pick races that she could be in the hunt for, which so far seems to be the case. Maybe she was rested for this race, I dont really know, but sounds like perhaps not too much..
If you want to be the best, you have to race the best.
Of course you should race against the best competition you can get. You learn nothing from winning races with slow runners.
How good will Gwen be as a runner? We do not know yet.
But we know that it has been done before.
Ingrid Kristiansen was a top xc-skiing racer before she changed to pure running.
Her times are still pretty amazing.
I think it is cool that Gwen is trying to do something she loves.