Farewell to Coach BB

Coach BB and I in our usual workout attire

Today I had my final workout with Coach BB, she's leaving this weekend to move back to the US. We did a 35 minute tempo run finishing up the hill and it ended in classic Heather/BB fashion with her screaming at me to stop knocking my knees and stop crossing my arms and get my shoulders down and all of her favorite topics. She has really been trying to get me to correct my form and has had little success in that area. I tried to convince her that it was my "signature style" but she pointed out that there are no runners who share my style and run fast. Ok, point taken. We were scaring a few people walking to work up the hill but now I'll remember that every time I run up that hill.

I'm really grateful for all the help she has given me and I'm going to miss having her around for the rest of my marathon training. But not to worry, Gus has started getting up at 5 am so I think I can recruit him to do the speed workouts with me. I'm pretty sure he can run a 3:35 800 but the question is can he do it and yell at me at the same time? That might take some work...

Here are the highlights of what I've learned from Coach BB:

-Yoga!!! I remember the first time we met and she told me she wanted me to start doing yoga once a week and I was soooo skeptical and afraid of making a fool of myself. But I started with an easy DVD and have been working away at it and am slowly getting better. I definitely think it has helped me stay injury free (knock on wood!) for over a year-lots of good deep stretching for the old hip flexors and IT bands.

-Form. As in mine is terrible and I'm never going to get better unless I stop hunching over and scrunching up my shoulders and knocking my knees. I know she's right but it has been hard for me to change even though I know it pains her to see me run so inefficiently. 

-Mind over miles. Coach BB called me out on my just show up and check the box attitude. She was constantly setting expectations higher because she knew that I could meet them and she believed in me when I doubted I could do it. 

-Abs. She has encouraged me to start building up my core because she tells me it will help me improve my form (see above). If I actually have muscles in my abs, I guess they'll be able to hold up the rest of me so I don't hunch over and run like a troll. So I have embraced planking and crunches and I keep telling myself it will pay off in the end. 

So I'm going to miss her but I feel like I'll be able to take what she has taught me and move forward towards my goal-BQ at Rio!