R and J in the USA

As we headed back to the van after our modest and cozy Texas 5K in Pflugerville, we struck up a conversation with the winner of the day’s race. It wasn’t the fastest field that day and Aamir had claimed the top spot with a 20:38. Definitely a fast race by either of our personal standards (though Ryan did break a 20 minute 5K a few years back), but for a 5K race, not the fastest fastest time. But there is a more interesting story behind the numbers, as is usually the case.

It had been clear from the beginning of the race who the top three runners would be as they all popped out of the gate with speed orders of magnitude above the rest. And in a race with only 23 contenders, it is easy to get your eye on where everyone stands. It had also been clear from the beginning of the race that Aamir, who was in second place for a while, would ultimately win the race. If you’ve been running long enough and racing enough races, it becomes easy to tell who knows how to run a race. Ryan is great at pacing and great at telling who else is. Despite the fact that Julie has clearly shown that, without a coaching plan or race plan, she has trouble determining by feel what a realistic race pace will be, at least when doing 50 5Ks in 10 months, she can still tell who is in control of their race and who is not. So, from early on in the race, we could tell that Aamir knew what he was doing and the gentleman that started out in 1st place was a little bit more guts and glory than what’s required to maintain a pace for the duration. In the end, Aamir’s steady control gave him the leading edge.

Aamir didn’t always have this knowledge. It was something he had to learn the hard way. 

As we chatted with Aamir, we found out that this solid, race-winning time was just a training run for him – what us mortals might call a casual jog. He was en route to a marathon in the spring followed by his first 50K ultramarathon not long after. The conversation quickly turned to the ins and outs of training and the insights learned about what it takes to strategically work up to different race capacities. Despite the fact that Julie had done little of that beyond what it took to get ready for the first 5-10 of our 50 races, she has done it many times before and loves to nerd about the process and the numbers. Ryan was happy for Julie to get the chance to find a fellow number running nerd to chat with. 

Before long, we learned how Aamir had learned his lesson the hard way. 

“The first marathon I did, I didn’t train for at all. It was awful.”

It turns out that Aamir had decided the day before a marathon that he would just sign up and give it a go. Yup, you read that right. The day before the marathon. No training, no prep.

”And I just drank coffee on the way there.” He added.

He went on to describe how excruciating and terrible it had been. It was a painful way to learn the lesson, but it did the trick. Since then he has been on track with his training, and he is clearly on his way to some serious numbers.

The conversation continued and we eventually got some insight into how Aamir got himself into that marathon pickle to begin with.

He had served in the Army and been in Iraq for a year. The military was putting on a half-marathon right there in the combat zone and flew people in from all over the area and the various different military branches in Iraq to compete in it.

Aamir had thrown his hat in and run that half marathon…and won it. 

We are not talking this wonderful but piddly little family-friendly race of 23 competitors in Pflugerville, TX. We are talking the men and women of the United States military, Army, Navy, Marines, Air Force. And, Aamir had technically done no training for that race either…but when you are in the Army and deployed in a combat zone, life is training. 

Aamir beat everyone else, literally by a mile. He completed the half marathon in 1:17. This is a serious time. Not typical for first time half marathon that one does on a lark.

“So, yea, I figured I could do it again.” He said, referring to the marathon.

It was all making sense and we all laughed together at the understandable folly of youth.

”I didn’t think about the fact that it was 2 kids and 20 pounds later.” Aamir added with the wisdom of hindsight and hard-earned maturity.

Well, whatever way lessons need to be learned, the key question is whether someone takes the opportunity to do the learning. He’s still got those 2 kids, but the 20 pounds are a thing of the past. Aamir is clearly the type of person to learn lessons well. We’d wish him luck on his upcoming races, but after chatting with Aamir, it is clear he won’t need it.