Yes, this is a selfish post. I mostly train alone; as it turns out, so do most of the post-collegiate runners in the Greater Cincinnati area.
It's time to change that.
Cincinnati is way too small of a town for us all to be doing our own thing, only to meet on race day and maybe the occasional long run. When you consider that many of the best runners train in groups, it makes sense that we ought to start training together.
I get that everyone has different schedules; I'm not saying that all us runners need to live and run and hang out together all the time. All I'm proposing is a track workout on Tuesday. a tempo/threshold run on Friday (or Saturday), and a nice hard long run on Sunday. That's it, just three days.
Three key workouts on three days, each week, every week. I get that life gets in the way and you won't be able to make it every time, but you wanna get better? You gotta train consistently. Who better than training partners to keep you consistent?
For the first time in 15 years, Cincinnati had a runner (two runners!) qualify for the Olympic Marathon Trials. Let's be better than that in four years. Let's see if we can't double or triple that next time around (in front of a home crowd? Powers that be, let's get on that again).
There's too much talent in this city to let it go to waste. Our high schools are consistent state powerhouses. We have three D-1 universities, all of which have cross country and track teams (especially on the men's side, that's a rarity these days). We have a few key local races, but most importantly, ease-of-access to races all over the Midwest: Columbus, Indianapolis, Louisville, Pittsburgh, Detroit, even Chicago are all an easy drive.
We have the running infrastructure, we have the participation; we just need the commitment.
Obviously I think there is much more Olympic Trials potential in this city than has been represented at past Trials, but you don't have to be a Trials aspirant to join. This proposal's open to all runners, regardless of speed and gender. It's open to anyone who wants to train hard, anyone who wants to get faster, anyone who wants to run for something greater than themselves.
The more people we can get, the better.
Do you want to get better? Then you need to train with people who are faster than you. You need to train with people who will push you. You need to train with people who will pull you along to a quicker pace. You need people to grind out that bad days and to fly through the good days. You need partners for the cold, rainy spring days; the hot, humid summer evenings; the gorgeous fall days; and (maybe especially) for the frigid, icy winter months.
Stop making excuses.
You want to get better? You need team camaraderie like you had in high school and college. But hey, maybe you like to run solo. That's fine; there are still four days in the week that are all yours. I just want you for the three keys days.
I don't care how fast you are. I don't care if your goals are the Olympic Trials, sub-15, Boston, or anything else. If you want to train -- if you want to compete -- then this is for you.
So what do you think, Cincinnati? How good do you want to be?
Let me know. Comment on the blog, shoot me an email, send me a tweet (@kauffmannt). Let's get after it.
It's time to change that.
Cincinnati is way too small of a town for us all to be doing our own thing, only to meet on race day and maybe the occasional long run. When you consider that many of the best runners train in groups, it makes sense that we ought to start training together.
I get that everyone has different schedules; I'm not saying that all us runners need to live and run and hang out together all the time. All I'm proposing is a track workout on Tuesday. a tempo/threshold run on Friday (or Saturday), and a nice hard long run on Sunday. That's it, just three days.
Three key workouts on three days, each week, every week. I get that life gets in the way and you won't be able to make it every time, but you wanna get better? You gotta train consistently. Who better than training partners to keep you consistent?
For the first time in 15 years, Cincinnati had a runner (two runners!) qualify for the Olympic Marathon Trials. Let's be better than that in four years. Let's see if we can't double or triple that next time around (in front of a home crowd? Powers that be, let's get on that again).
There's too much talent in this city to let it go to waste. Our high schools are consistent state powerhouses. We have three D-1 universities, all of which have cross country and track teams (especially on the men's side, that's a rarity these days). We have a few key local races, but most importantly, ease-of-access to races all over the Midwest: Columbus, Indianapolis, Louisville, Pittsburgh, Detroit, even Chicago are all an easy drive.
We have the running infrastructure, we have the participation; we just need the commitment.
Obviously I think there is much more Olympic Trials potential in this city than has been represented at past Trials, but you don't have to be a Trials aspirant to join. This proposal's open to all runners, regardless of speed and gender. It's open to anyone who wants to train hard, anyone who wants to get faster, anyone who wants to run for something greater than themselves.
The more people we can get, the better.
Do you want to get better? Then you need to train with people who are faster than you. You need to train with people who will push you. You need to train with people who will pull you along to a quicker pace. You need people to grind out that bad days and to fly through the good days. You need partners for the cold, rainy spring days; the hot, humid summer evenings; the gorgeous fall days; and (maybe especially) for the frigid, icy winter months.
Stop making excuses.
You want to get better? You need team camaraderie like you had in high school and college. But hey, maybe you like to run solo. That's fine; there are still four days in the week that are all yours. I just want you for the three keys days.
I don't care how fast you are. I don't care if your goals are the Olympic Trials, sub-15, Boston, or anything else. If you want to train -- if you want to compete -- then this is for you.
So what do you think, Cincinnati? How good do you want to be?
Let me know. Comment on the blog, shoot me an email, send me a tweet (@kauffmannt). Let's get after it.
Dayton could use this
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