The Other Side of the Lines
~ Written by Dan Johnson, SBR Athlete since 2009
Growing up out in the country and on the farm, it was long days cutting wood, cold nights doing chores, and long Saturdays of bailing hay. It was tough work, but it has now allowed me to appreciate the empowerment and gratitude you get from a days hard work.
Now that I look back, I did hate those days and argued with my parents about the work. However, it has definitely defined me and has been a major part of the foundation of my morals, theories, and achievements in my life. It's why I do what I do. I'm not just a biomechanic physiologist. I'm not just a coach. I'm a person who loves to work with others to achieve the success they dream of.
To truly be a part of someones success, I feel it is very important to be more than just a workout creator. Creating workouts is about 20% of what I do as a coach. The workouts are the easy part. It's the relationships, the educating, the caring, the friendship that really make it worth getting up when the alarm beeps super early in the morning.
One Sunday morning, I invited one of my friends and athletes, Dan Johnson, to hang out with me while I watched my athletes run the 2010 edition of the Milwaukee Marathon. So, instead of listening to me talk about the day, I asked Dan to give his perspective, from the other side of the lines.
"I was going to run a couple miles at the Milwaukee Marathon with a friend who has been discouraged about her training and I thought it might help keep her spirits up if I ran with her a bit. When she withdrew from the race I thought what the heck I would go anyway and hang around with Jessica Laufenberg, my coach. I have never watched a race from the "other side" and wasn't sure what to expect.
Our first stop was at mile 5 where we had a great vantage point to wait for the athletes she had in the race. I was anxious to see the first speedsters of the pack come by. They look effortless and certainly make a marathon look easy. Jessica was predicting when her athletes were going to pass us and she was pretty much not even a minute off for each of them. With all the athletes she trains I was surprised that she could know so much about these athletes. After they passed we were off to spot number 2 but first a stop at Einstein to get a bagel and then Caribou for coffee and off to mile 13.
We ate our breakfast and waited for her athletes to get to the half way point. We were clapping and cheering along with the crowd but Jessica was always aware of who was coming next and what their times were going to be and wouldn't you know it everybody came along right when she predicted.
Getting to our third spot was made difficult by construction so with some improvising and a little detouring we found a spot to park and then waited at the 25 mile point. After watching her first runner come by we then had to run to get to the finish line to watch the end of the race.
Watching Jessica at a finish line is something to marvel at. She was a blur of activity making calls - getting calls - talking with all sorts of people and on the phone trying to get results for other athletes she coaches in a marathon somewhere else, yet always aware of when her athletes were supposed to cross the line. She was clearly excited to look for, cheer for and run along side of her athletes when they came past us.
I had no idea what to expect from being on the other side of an event. Excitement was everywhere and it really makes you want to go out and run. Darren Fortney, a real long distance runner, came by for a while and he was so excited for the good weather and the tailwind that I thought he was gonna run home.
It was a perfect day for a marathon. I was encouraged to see that marathons are run by every kind of person and it was fascinating to watch them all doing their thing in their own way. I saw so many smiling runners at the end of the race that I want to remind myself to smile and enjoy my next event.
As a newbie to multisport, everything interests me and it is all so exciting. My overwhelming sentiment was how impressed I was with Jessica's passion for all this and how lucky I am to be coached by her. I can't imagine a coach with more knowledge and personal interest in the people she trains and there are so many details and things to coordinate it makes you want to laugh to watch it all happen. Sure there are some down times where things are slow but she makes the fast times look it like a fast paced choreographed ballet. We got to see everyone after the event was over and sure they were all taken care of.
All in all the day was a roaring success. The goal of this group of SBR runners was mostly to post a new Personal Record (PR) or to qualify for Boston, which I now know is called BQ, and I think that everyone who wanted to qualify did, and a couple of the group ended up with PR's to boot. I did get a chance to run along with a couple SBR runners and found them in pretty good spirits for the end of a marathon.
Jessica told me once that she considers her athletes like we are all her kids and it's easy to believe now. I am so impressed with what she does and how she does it that even if Joe Friel calls I want the coach I have now.
It was a marvelous experience and I am glad to have had the opportunity to do it with her and would do it again anytime. I am ready to "sherpa" for her anytime she needs it."
~Dan Johnson, SBR Athlete since 2009
