Home Run

Thoughts from Cheryl Kruse Shwe, coach of Teresa McWalters:

(as told to Stephen “SteveU” Underwood)

1. Coach Shwe on Teresa’s introduction to running:

“Teresa attended, merely by chance, a small high school girls' running camp I coached in the summer of 2000. She was 16 years old and was going to enter her junior year in high school (of course, home schooled "high school.").

“I immediately noticed that Teresa had some pretty incredible talent. From the get-go, she ran with or just behind the fastest gal "of the day". (Note: one of these gals went on to American University on scholarship and another to UC Davis.) Although Teresa played some tennis and rode horses quite regularly, she really did not have a solid aerobic base and hadn't done any formal running prior to the camp. That said, she clearly had an affinity for running and her graceful, flowing stride was apparent from the beginning.

“Teresa enjoyed the camp and was sad that she wouldn't have a "team" to join for cross country. She still was actively participating in equestrian activities, so she really didn't have a lot of time to run come the fall of 2000. We kept in touch and Teresa would occasionally attend my early morning track sessions with other "working" women. By spring/summer of 2001, she was definitely interested in pursuing more running. She started attending the early morning track sessions quite regularly, continued to improve and really became committed by the end of the summer.”

2. Coach Shwe on Teresa’s first race:

“Teresa ran her first race in September 2001: The Jamba Juice 5k. The goal for many at this race is to beat the banana man. (Basically, the first 25 men and 25 women to beat the Banana man win free smoothies for a year.) Teresa was set to do this. Although she had the speed to easily make it happen, she was still pretty limited with endurance. She, like many, went out too fast. She managed to hold herself together to finish 24th or 25th, just squeezing in to get her year supply of smoothies.

“But the funny thing about that first race was, that in her innocence, before the race even started, Teresa TORE off the "do not pin" portion of the race number/bib. (She thought that if it wasn't to be pinned - like the rest of the bib - then it wasn't needed.) Well, you can imagine the troubles at the finish - no tear portion of the bib, coming in at the wire within the top 25 women. Fortunately, they were able to grant her the placement, the time (19:28ish) and the smoothies! (Believe me, I now tell all "new" runners to keep on the tear tab until they go through the finish chute!)

3. Coach Shwe on coaching Teresa as a home-schooled runner:

“My only (coaching) experience with home-schooled students is with Teresa. I noticed immediately that she was a unique gal. Surprisingly (for a 16 year-old gal when we met), she seemed to be comfortable in just about any circle of people!

“Teresa seems incredibly well-adjusted and the home-schooling environment has clearly worked quite well for her (and her brother). Eventually, (it is my understanding) they started attending classes run by college professors (current or retired) that were set up exclusively for home-schooled kids in the Bay Area. She'd travel to different cities a number of times per week for a variety of classes. The home-school network seems pretty incredible – the classes Teresa attended seemed quite similar to small private school classes. She now attends classes at the college level as a high school senior.

“As it relates to running, Teresa's drive is part innate personality and (I'm sure) part due to her educational experience. Teresa has learned how to do things on her own and take charge of her destiny. She is highly motivated, driven and self-sufficient. When she wanted to make "a go of this running thing" in September of 2001 (and stopped riding horses), she has been on a steady trajectory UP!”

4. Coach Shwe on her coaching background:

“I have my own company, Run 4 Life, where I mainly coach adults. Teresa is currently my only high-schooled age runner, although I've coached middle school and high school (cross country, track, volleyball & basketball) when I taught in the early and late 90's. I am USATF level I certified. I, myself, run on the Impala Racing Team, a competitive women's racing team.”

5. Coach Shwe on Teresa’s racing development:

“During the fall of 2001, since Teresa didn't have a high school team to run with, she ran with many of the gals I coach in the early mornings. We targeted some of the Pacific Association USATF cross country races and a few 5k road races that fall as well.

“Teresa did run Foot Locker Western Regionals last year, but unfortunately did not have a great experience. She was still so new to running and, although she had some speed, she/we didn't have a good grasp on how much she could handle. I knew, however, that she needed to run Foot Locker last year because she needed to have one year under her belt before racing it this year.

“Following Foot Locker last year, Teresa had a renewed spirit to really push herself to the next level. Although she was fully committed before, she was so disappointed with her performance at Foot Locker that she wanted to prove to herself that she could do better. I did not doubt any of this. Teresa is a COMPLETELY different runner now compared to last year.

“I wanted Teresa to get some track times but unfortunately there was not a lot out there for her. The youth teams did not really meet her needs … (but we) were able to get into some USATF youth meets as "unattached" and enter some open meets at the college level. The fact that Teresa was home-schooled probably helped in this adventure as well. She was used to doing things "out of the box" so it didn't necessarily seem unusual for her to not run with a youth "team."

“The first "big" meet was Brutal Hamilton at Berkeley, where she ran the 3000m in 10:27. Prior to that she ran a youth meet where she ran a 2:24 800m and 4:43 1500m. Then she ran in the USATF finals at Stanford in June where she ran another 4:43. Finally, Teresa also ran the famous Dipsea race in June and won the runner's section - a huge feat!”

6. Coach Shwe on Teresa joining the Impalas and CIF decisions:

In the spring of 2002, I invited Teresa to start running with the Impala Racing Team, the team I run with, during our Saturday workouts. I recognized that Teresa needed more FAST gals to run with and she could also learn from others who ran at the collegiate level - either recently or a while ago. This started to elevate Teresa to yet another level.

“As the summer progressed, we were at a crossroads of sorts in terms of training and competing. I liked how Teresa was performing with the additional Impala workout and wanted her to run with us more regularly. The team decided that it would be great to have her at our Tuesday night interval workout in addition to the Saturday workout. I knew then that Teresa would continue to improve and more importantly really get a "team" environment.

“The other issue we had to deal with was to either take the CIF route (running for her local public high school, (going through tons of bureaucratic craziness) or run a selection of races leading up to Foot Locker. We figured the main drawback of not taking the CIF route was the inability to run in the State Meet. Minor in the entire scheme of things. Secondly, she wouldn't have much high school competition, but we knew that she'd get incredible competition with the non-CIF route.

“Once the decision was made to not go CIF, I started mapping out a racing season leading up to Foot Locker. I fine tuned some racing options with the two Impala coaches, Brian McGuire and Tony Coffey, who have been instrumental in Teresa's development as well.

“Teresa has really blossomed as an athlete and LEADER through her experience with the Impalas. In the Impalas, Teresa has more of a team (I suspect) than many high school girls running cross country! She is getting all of the same support as a high school gal, if not more, in such a positive environment. Teresa is so poised and is so mature that the situation she is in right now is truly the best for her.

7. Coach Shwe on what makes coaching Teresa special and Foot Locker hopes:

“I feel so very fortunate to be able to coach an athlete like Teresa. I am able to share so much more with Teresa than I'm sure many high school coaches get to share with their athletes. I share specific training theories with her and we discuss how/why I'm putting something down in her schedule. She really can handle a lot of information. I feel that we have a pretty good relationship. It is definitely more adult-adult coaching vs. adult-student coaching.

“That said, Teresa is a very young runner and I've been very careful to keep her reigned in. I've kept her mileage quite low and we regularly discuss doing/not doing certain things within her training.

“Coaching Teresa is one of those "once in a lifetime" experiences. She is such a talented runner but also an incredibly poised and mature gal. And she performs. She consistently hits the goals of workouts and races. And can this lady pull out the gears of toughness! She races like she's been racing for years! She is such a mature, smart runner with plenty of guts to hang with the best!

“We are both very excited about Foot Locker West. This was the focus of the season. She's primed and ready! Although she hasn't competed with these runners, we are confident that she will do what Teresa does best - perform, dig down deep, run with guts, and run like the wind!”