Friday night, I got a series of text messages from Coach Triya. You may or may not know that Coach Triya is training to race her first marathon in December, and she is cranking out more than 60 miles per week while helping MVXC25. Message highlights included…
…did the 4×1200…I’m happy with [the pace] given how [iffy] i’ve been feeling…
…it took a lot of mental strength and positive self-talk…
…i felt so stiff and heavy at the beginning and then felt normal at the end…
…i don’t feel amazing yet but i know everything will click soon…
There is so much good stuff to unpack in these messages, and this gives a lot of context to the workout that MVXC ran this morning. Today, 17 MVXC athletes got up to run a three-mile tempo run on the Palm route. Like Coach Triya, it takes some effort to get out of bed and be at school by 7 AM, ready to run. We don’t always feel like it. I can come up with a dozen reasons–I was up late doing homework, I’ll run better if I sleep another hour, it’s cold, my bed feels so good, I don’t think my usual running partner will be there, I can always do this on my own, I read on the internet that another workout is better, I read on the internet that I need rest, my toe feels funny, my friend on the wrestling team says I should take the day off, I can stream the Brentford-Manchester United match on Fubo…seee, there is a dozen! But, but…if we get up, even though it takes some mental strength, even if it takes a lot of self-talk to convince ourself, and even if it feels a little stiff (or a LOT stiff!) at first, after we get rolling we probably feel pretty good.
I’ve felt this myself hundreds of times; getting out the door is the hardest part, and after that it almost always clicks in. And you all demonstrated that. Here are what some of our runners ran this morning compared to last year:
Palm 3-Mile Tempo Results: 9/27/2025 V. Prior Year Best Marks
| 2024 Best | 9/27/25 | Delta | |
| Kento | 18:56 | 16:52 | 2:04 |
| Tarun | 18:47 | 17:18 | 1:29 |
| Riu | 18:38 | 17:20 | 1:18 |
| Sam | 20:13 | 18:18 | 1:53 |
| Ritik | 20:30 | 18:39 | 1:51 |
| Yibo | 24:00 | 22:31 | 1:29 |
| Melinda | 22:50 | 22:36 | 0:14 |
| Vikram | 24:15 | 22:51 | 1:24 |
That’s right–these kids were running 20 to 30 seconds faster per mile than they did last year on the same route! I think that was worth getting out of bed for, and I feel that all our runners (not just these eight) felt like today was a worthwhile morning, too. Taylor got a chance to run three miles paced by Coach Triya. Kaitlyn and Yibo knocked time off their last tempo. It feels good to have a good run on a cool morning, laugh with friends, pet a dog, have some breakfast…and still have the entire day in front of us.
By the way…you might see that Tarun, Riu, Sam, and Ritik, as well as Darin Young, ran faster times than what Kento put up when he was a sophomore. Past results are not necessarily a prediction of future results, but Kento’s improvement from his sophomore to junior year is a demonstration of what is possible with consistent effort.
Like Coach Triya, we need to have faith that if we keep working away, it will all click into place.
Saturday mornings are not just for varsity, Saturday mornings are for anyone.
I enjoyed my morning with you, MVXC! Everyone who was out, keep coming. Everyone else…give 7 AM a try next time!
