And it wont be the Only High Light of her life. Applying yourself has it's rewards like a better choice of colleges offering scholarships! "Life is not a practice run"!
Is Grace Ping Update?
High School Running
Distance
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Ping Fan wrote:
"Life is not a practice run"!
How do you know? Seems like everything about life is a practice run. -
physiologist or psychologist wrote:
I think Tinman is a very good coach. The issue though for me is that coaches like that have strong backgrounds in physiology but sometimes lack a strong background in developmental psychology. Same with Salazar. The point being successful training gets you so far but true success also requires a strong psychological approach that is rooted in human development. Kids sometimes appear to being force fed in the athletic world where either their talent or training doesn't match up with their other needs like friends, other experiences and hobbies..... Sure training/mileage is one component that needs to be monitored but chasing around the country, trying to set meaningless national records, etc puts too much emphasis on the sport and the result is often burnout. There should be no rush to success. Patience is a better approach. I doubt that the Ping girls came up with the idea on their own to travel to Carlsbad to run in the 5k or any other high level national class meet. That was probably suggested by parents or coach.
You are right, but this is also exactly the reason why Tinman only has a male elite team. The Pings he is coaching are an exception, he hasn't taken on any female post-collegiate runner yet because he knows there is more to coaching than just prescribing the perfect training.
He is taking things slowly, give him 5-10 more years and his name will be up there all the way with Lydiard, Coe, etc. -
The Pings are on the move again. This family is burning out some great runners.
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When I heard the Pings were moving to Arizona I assumed it was some place mile high.
Anybody who wants a career at middle distance or longer needs some altitude.
Minnesota doesn't have it, so if they are serious about running then leaving makes sense.
But Phoenix is barely 1200 feet. You have to drive an hour north or east to get to 5000 feet.
https://www.milesplit.com/articles/264834/grace-and-lauren-ping-are-joining-a-new-power-program-in-az -
stateroftheoblivious wrote:
When I heard the Pings were moving to Arizona I assumed it was some place mile high.
Anybody who wants a career at middle distance or longer needs some altitude.
Minnesota doesn't have it, so if they are serious about running then leaving makes sense.
But Phoenix is barely 1200 feet. You have to drive an hour north or east to get to 5000 feet.
https://www.milesplit.com/articles/264834/grace-and-lauren-ping-are-joining-a-new-power-program-in-az
I think it's a good decision. The Ping's haven't nearly maxed out their possible improvement on normal elevation, why put them on altitude already?
Tinman can get them down to 15 mid without altitude, and then use altitude to bring them to an even higher level. The team seems to have great spirit, the boy's team is best in state if they need pacers/training partners and Arizona has perfect conditions to train from October to March.
I think there are way more important factors for them to consider than being at altitude at this young age, like do they fit in with the culture, do they like the place, are there trails etc and the school seems to match all.
Important will be to still have coaching influence from Tinman, and not hand such big talents fully over to a random HS coach. -
Very sad to see them leaving MN. I was looking forward to seeing them run several times again this year (Roy Griak, perhaps Mayo, State XC, Hamline Elite, State Track, etc.......).
Wow, the AZ school just hit a double jackpot though! One way or the other (whether as individual or team qualifiers), I still expect to see them running at Glendoveer this November. -
Hoping they find whatever they are looking for but it appears that these girls, like many, peak at 15 years old. Neither will ever run 15 minutes. They will certainly be big contributors to their new team but I don't see them doing the same at the collegiate level.
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LateRunnerPhil wrote:
...the boy's team is best in state if they need pacers/training partners...
Yeah, @ Cotter (a small, private school) they've often run/trained with the boys---but @ Cotter the boys struggle to keep up with them.
It has been the case numerous times that at various meets (Same course, same day), the Pings end up running faster times than any of Cotter's boys.
So it can't hurt them to run with some boys who will really push them. -
Sure it can hurt them. Teen girls shouldn't be training with boys.
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Coach of coaches wrote:
Sure it can hurt them. Teen girls shouldn't be training with boys.
I routinely have boys and girls of similar ability run together. Why not? In fact, if they are running trails, I prefer to have a boy or two with the girls because I'm old fashioned and think they are safer that way. -
Coach of coaches wrote:
Sure it can hurt them. Teen girls shouldn't be training with boys.
I didn't mean that they should try to match Cole Sprout or Easton Allred full-out. Just that doing some running with others of equal or better ability can provide motivation...... -
Comradre. That is when trust is built. Boys talk freely about girls and videogames and bodily functions.
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Of Minnesota's (arguably) 6 top runners from the 2018 XC season, only one will be running XC there this Fall:
Emily Covert and Lauren Peterson have graduated, and are off to college.
Tierney Wolfgram switched schools locally, and per transfer rules can't run varsity this Fall.
With the Pings off to Arizona, that leaves Anna Fenske. She ran 10th at NXN in 2017, and she was the MN 2A XC champion in 2016. (She placed 2nd in 2017 behind Covert, and 3rd last year behind Covert and Peterson .) I believe Fenske had some issue with one foot last year though, and she didn't run up to her usual standard. I've heard she's 100% back on-track now though, so the loss of all of the above as competition makes her the odds-on favorite in many Minnesota races. -
so did they move for running purposes or was it something else like job opportunity/transfer? Wondering how Phoenix was the landing spot. Geez- if they moved for running purposes then something seems out of whack.
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In Minnesota's class 1A, rising-junior Morgan Gehl placed 3rd to the Ping sisters last Fall in XC, and also 3rd to them in the 1600 and 3200 on the track this Spring. So she just became the presumptive favorite to win some state titles in 2019-2020.
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3rd move in 4 years. Of course it is for running. Grace Ping is a multiple world record holder.
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running realty wrote:
so did they move for running purposes or was it something else like job opportunity/transfer? Wondering how Phoenix was the landing spot. Geez- if they moved for running purposes then something seems out of whack.
Arizona is great for running 8 months of the year. The winter's are amazing, just like Florida's are. You can train outdoor every day in the winter and build a lot of Vitamin D. Then do some recovery or cross-training in the pool.
Then in the warmer months you move up to Flagstaff.
I'm from Europe, so I'm not biased and can tell you Arizona is way more interesting than Minnesota. -
LateRunnerPhil wrote:
Arizona is great for running 8 months of the year. The winter's are amazing, just like Florida's are. You can train outdoor every day in the winter and build a lot of Vitamin D. Then do some recovery or cross-training in the pool.
Since the Ping sisters both swim like dolphins, I'm sure they're looking forward to that.
Minnesota is not good (ahem) for winter running. Anyone else hear that? =) I remember Grace saying she had to do A LOT of running on the treadmill in preparation for March's U20 World's race. -
Many great distance runners grew up in Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Michigan. The winters increase toughness while forcing athletes to take some days off. It pays off in the long run. The Ping parents think they have the next 2 Olympic 5k runners.
