Coaching them to their first 5k

A few weeks ago, I was talking to my brother, Cedric, and his roommate, Robert, about running: Why I love it, how I do it, etc. I know I was probably boring them the tears, but at the end of the conversation, they both asked me to help get them started running.

Me? Be a running coach? Hey, why not, I thought.

I showed up at their house at about 9 a.m. Sunday. I wasn't real sure what either was capable of , but I knew I should take it easy. Both guys were in their late 30s. Cedric had last run one mile _ and I mean just one mile _ in 2005. Cedric, who is two years younger than me, had always weighed less than me until recently, when his new girlfriend's delight in making homecooked food had pushed his well past 165, maybe 170 pounds. (I'm sitting at 160 right now). Robert was an athlete in high school and lifted weights, but I suppose being a homeowner and the demands of his job are two reasons that have kept him from exercising much anymore. Robert is my height and weighs 240. (Hope he doesn't get mad for writing that!)

Anyway, before Sunday, I researched some beginning running programs, Couch-to-5K stuff. I figured we'd take this 1.5-mile loop around their house. My plan was for them to run 60 seconds, walk 60 seconds, until we finished. Both thought they could run more than that (60 seconds on, 60 seconds off) and said lets just run by feel and we'll tell you when we wanna stop.

Ok, I said, and we were off. We took Cedric's 11-year-old daughter (Alexandria) with us. Cedric did better than I thought he'd do, and after the 1.5 mile loop, he asked me to take him out for one more mile. He had to stop and walk for a little but was proud that he finished the mile in 11 minutes. He was also proud that he covered 2.5 miles. I was proud of him too. "Dude, just a half mile more and you've just about got your 5k distance covered." Robert completed his 1.5 mile loop and though he had to mix the running and walking a little more than he thought, we all felt a sense of accomplishment for him. He kept asking if he should be faster, and I knew this run may have taken a hit on his pride. Running, I told Robert, is not so much a macho thing. Its not like lifting weights, no pain no gain.

I was encouraged by the fact that both want to keep this up. I told them that if they can do what they did Sunday at least two to three other times a week, they'd be ready for a 5k in two months. On the weekends I'm not in Austin with my son, I plan to "coach them up" for the Turkey Trot in Dallas on Thanksgiving.

I don't care how fast they run, or walk. I just want them to have fun, finish, and remember the experience of running their first 5k.

WRITING UPDATE: Over the weekend, I published a story about a city councilwoman who is a defendant in a civil lawsuit that stems from a $2.4 million judgment against her husband in 1992. The plaintiffs claim the councilwoman and her husband have been hiding money from their creditors. Needless to say, when I got the councilwoman on the phone, she wasn't very happy that I was writing the story.