Youth Running

I found an unfinished blog from Sept of ’07, prior to getting opportunities to coach at the high school level. I thought I’d share it with you and I’ll probably follow up with some rant on modern athletes and athletics…

As I have mentioned before, I grew up running. There are pictures of me at age 7 holding a trophy for some run I did around a block. I actually remember bits of that day, and if you know me and my memory skills, that’s impressive. I can’t remember names of people I just met 3 seconds after they told me. Anyway, what was I talking about? Oh yeah, running. Recently I had a brief conversation about running at such a young age, what I use to wear, how involved were my parents, etc. And watching young children run today makes me shiver about what it must have been like for me. Granted, I recall never being pushed by my Dad to do anything I didn’t gravitate toward; I guess I was just a naturally good runner and enjoyed being good at something (I think most kids feel that way). But when I see kids coming out to summer track meets wearing Underarmour shirts and Nike spikes (seriously? At age 8?) I wonder about how much of a say they had in that decision. We have High School kids breaking 4 minutes in the mile and sprinting faster then at any point in history and you wonder why many athletes are turning to performance enhancing drugs. Is the pressure too great in High School sports? Kids are getting started younger and younger and parents are demanding more and more. It makes me reconsider going into the coaching profession all together. I remember my running career as being rather enjoyable (until I got to college); interacting with teammates and coaches, running at races, long-slow runs spent throwing rocks at power lines. I honestly believe that sports must be enjoyable for young athletes, particularly if you want them to continue in the sport beyond middle school. Success certainly makes sports more enjoyable but what does success cost? Sports are institutions that foster positive environments for the young and old, but when sports are driven by results, success, winning, then the environment turns to pressure, frustration, cheating, and money…just ask O.J., McGuire, Sosa, (Lance Armstrong) and an endless number of athletes that didn’t even find wealth and popularity but suffered the ill effects. Sports have become an economic beast but does that need to trickle down to 6, 7, 8 year olds? Running provided me an outlet of stress, an inlet of sportsmanship, life long friendships, and a perspective on the world that most miss. It paid for my education at a top University but once it became a necessity and not a desire, it became a burden. 

And here's proof (aren't I adorable?)

Track and Feel

Let me tell you how good it feels to be back in the Track and Field environment. Think of your least favorite job….got it? Now, imagine the coldest day of your life….ok? Imagine every dream you have ever had of falling…you know those ones that jerk you awake in the middle of the night in a cold sweat? Alright, put them all together with being stung by a swarm of bees in the middle of an episode of American’s Next Top Idiot Who Isn’t Smarter than a 5th Grader but Thinks That By Singing on America Idol They Will Get Them On Real World/Road Rules Physical Challenge (good ol’ Double Dare). Now think of the exact opposite of all of that and you have what it feels to be back inside the oval.

Track is so familiar to me that it almost feels like yesterday I was fighting back the butterflies while warming up for my next race. Its like a second skin or a warm comforter, or being back in the house you grew up in and knowing every little creek made in the floorboards so you can make it from your room to the back door without making a sound. Yet this time it is different…almost better. I am coaching and not competing. Trust me, I miss the competing, but not everything that comes along with it. I see the anxiety of the faces of my runners and I am thankful for just being a coach – much less stress. Being out and around the track again just reminds me why I am going through all this other crap. This, and teaching, is what I believe I am meant to do, it is what I know best, and what will benefit me, and the future generation of runners mutually, the most. After spending afternoons outside in the sun and nature with mostly good natured and eager youth revolved around sport/running, I have no idea how I can spend my mornings answer phones in a windowless, florescent light aura cubical maze, vertigo inducing environment that drains any life or happiness you might have had prior to 8:00am. It will all be over soon enough and I can make this education/coaching thing a permanent gig.