22.5 Percent Better Than My Bestest

Running in its basic form is a solitary endeavor, but having others around to motivate and challenge us can lead to milestones we may not have reached on our own. In track and field a couple of weeks ago, we saw Tyson Gay's aspiration to catch World's Fastest Man Usain Bolt help propel the American sprinter to 100-meter victory in Stockholm.

Of course, I'm in a universe apart from Bolt and Gay -- who can both break the speed limit by running through a school zone -- but I did take advantage of the same principle on this morning's Katy Fit group run with the Red pace group. Coach Doug led us 10:1ers out slowly on a planned negative-split loop. By the time his last mile brought us in at a significantly quicker 11:30 pace, I was at the tail end of the pack toiling to keep up. But if I was by myself, I probably wouldn't have been pushing myself like that in mile 3.

This week I was thinking about the limits of coaching as I finished reading Lucy Kellaway's Who Moved My Blackberry? The main character, Martin Lukes, is representative of the self-interested excess and double-speak in corporate executives nearly universally despised by all of us. In a hilarious tale told entirely through glimpses into Martin's email, we see messages exchanged with his executive life coach, Pandora. At first Martin pledges to put 105% effort into improving his performance. Pandora insists that this is small thinking; her coachees are challenged to achieve 50% above their maximum capabilities. Martin ultimately agrees to split the difference with a promise to work "22.5 percent better than my bestest." (Luckily for his employer, Martin's job doesn't require proficiency with numbers.)

22.5 percent better than my bestest would result in making me a 20-minute 5K runner, which I don't ever see happening, even with the bestest coaching, but it's a nice dream. In various aspects of our lives, how valuable do you think a coach can be? Certainly they can provide a third-party perspective on our stated goals and what is required to achieve them. How far do you think an effective coach would be able to push you beyond where you might be on your own?

Random postscripts:

• The excitement of the morning came in our first mile as a runner found the edge of the pavement with her stride, going down for a scrape a couple feet long. We doubled-back to make sure my new scab-buddy was OK. As a fellow Red squirted ice-cold water over the freshly minted trail burns, I congratulated her on getting the stumble over and done with now, which means race day will be flawless. Hilariously, her first concern was whether the skid had chewed up her calf tattoo.
• Those who didn't get picked in the Houston Marathon lottery are likely looking at alternative goal races. Here's one more: After an absence of a couple of decades, a marathon-length race returns to the Isle. The Galveston Mardi Gras Marathon and Half Marathon is coming February 20. (As always, my blogging alter ego continues to track events at Houston Running Calendar.)
• As a regular NPR listener, I'm mostly glad to see KUHF expand its public radio services to a second slot on the FM dial by taking over Rice University's 91.7 station. But will they be able to fill the airtime with compelling programming? (Oh, and while I'm thinking about it: KUHF, where's my app for streaming audio on Android? Those iPhone users have all the fun.)
  
• If you use Facebook, be aware that a new feature called Places was rolled out last week. Yes, if you're not interested in sharing your locations with others online, begin by simply not using Places. But also be aware that by default, others can "check you in" to locations without your permissions. Lifehacker has a good guide on how to turn that annoyance off.