A Short Guide to How to Earn Hardware at Your Next Race-#1

    This past Saturday, my sister Amy ran a 5K. I was and am very proud of her for doing this. She called me and texted me to let me know she had finished. Her best time for the 5K distance before this race was an even 43 minutes. Her times for this past Saturday's race was 39 minutes; not too bad considering she had to run with a 4th Grade student that is in her class. I hung up the phone and was happy she had completed the race and that she had done it well.

   Then....about four hours later, the phone rang again. This time my sister screamed that she had, "won some hardware...". For those of you who don't know what this means, it means that she had won a trophy or a medal and it wasn't an Upward event where everyone gets a trophy. She was elated. She had come in first for her age group. She had won a medal. I was also very happy for her. It is fun to do well, but it is even better to win a little something for doing your best.

   However, what makes this a great story is that my little sister was eager to see what she could really do all on her own at the 5K distance and there was a local 5K race the next day. She consulted her coach. He told her to pull the trigger on the race. She obeyed and finished the race in 36 minutes; a full six minutes off her previous best time of 43 minutes. And to make it even better, she once again won a medal for coming in third for her age group. Two medals in one weekend is nothing to ignore. I run a lot and I've only done it once and the second one was for coming in second in my age group and there were only two people including me IN my age group in the race! 

  If you want to do this too (Win Some Hardware) at your next race, you can follow her advice and her path to greatness. Here are some excerpts from a future, exclusive interview that she only gave (in my mind) to the good folks here at Hines Terrace Herald:

HTH: What is one piece of advice you would give someone who wants to follow your footsteps to achievement?

AEB: I would tell them that they have to sign up for a race. You can't run anything unless you sign up. You have to have a goal in order to work towards it.

HTH: Did you have a coach or did you follow a training plan?

AEB: I did have a coach, but even though he was very good looking, he didn't really know that much about running. So, I wisely went to runnersworld.com and designed a (free) training plan and blended that with some other things and began my march to my medals.

HTH: What helped you the most during your training?

AEB: My husband. He paced me like no other on my bike, gave me time updates, and promised me Slurpees if I would finish my current workout.

HTH: What was the hardest part about training?

AEB: Having to train while on vacation and making time for each workout.

HTH: What was the best part of you training besides winning your two medals?

AEB: Getting to drink as many Slurpees as I wanted.

HTH: What is next for the you?

AEB: I think that I am going to focus on a longer distance and I plan on running a half marathon that is in Chicago in September with my older brothers, younger sister, and brother in law.

AEB: Are we about finished? My friends Parker and Allie really need me to take them to Target. Animal Planet just came out with a Box Set Collection.

HTH: Yes, just one more question. What was it like when you heard your name called letting you know you had won?

AEB: At first, I was surprised. These two medals are my first, but then again, I wasn't surprised. I trained hard for these races and my hard work, determination, channelling of my inner Tebow, and my family really pulled me to the finish of each of the races.

HTH: Thanks for your time.

AEB: No, problem, Can I go get a Slurpee now? .....

  Well, just know you read it here first.

David