Fun times

5km running time trial down at coaching tonight. It may not sound like it, but it was actually a pretty fun time.

One of the clubs I help with run this 5km time trial every few months. The idea of the run is that everybody nominates a time (typically their 5km PB) and then they try and get as close to it as possible. The person who gets the closest is the club champion until the next time the event is run.

As well as being a very fun atmosphere in which to run, the camaraderie and squad atmosphere also produces some good results. I am not sure how many 5km PBs there were tonight, but it was quite a few. There were lots of happy faces despite it not being the nicest of nights out.

What was interesting to watch was that nearly everybody running beat their nominated times. Some only beat them by a little bit, but most beat them by significant margins. I am not entirely sure what that says about the human psyche, but I am sure it is something interesting. I suspect it is something about an inherent lack of confidence and also an inclination to play it safe in our predictions in order to avoid disappointment. I think we probably prefer to aim low and beat our goal rather than the other way around. Beating a goal always feels better than missing one after all. Whatever the reason, I thought it was an intriguing look into human nature.

I also found it interesting that between us, the coaches at the session had pretty accurate estimates of what the times would be. We encouraged the athletes to aim a little bit higher, because we were fairly confident that they could achieve those goals, which they did. Just goes to show that sometimes you should listen to your coach.

All up a very fun night out. It just goes to show how powerful a training tool it can be to get out and train with a group of like minded individuals.