I started the Stay at Home with good intentions of writing consistently. I had many witty stories lined up to wow the Johnnie Track and Field fans along with insights into the finer points of coaching. Unfortunately, I found it hard to sit down to write. Maybe I stopped writing because I didn’t want to think about the season or the uncertainty of the summer and fall.
Instead of writing, I found myself surprisingly busy during this time with coaching, recruiting, and family. Sometimes these areas overlapped with detrimental results. Coaching looked a little different during the past two months as I have spent a lot of time rewriting our off-season training to accommodate the extended break and lack of facilities. Our normal summer training is focused on general training to recover from the previous season and building qualities for the upcoming season. Athletes didn’t need much recovery time from the shortened season, so we could be more aggressive with the training. It also took a little creativity to accomplish some of the strength goals, but I’m confident the team will be ready.
An extra emphasis was placed on late season recruiting as more high school students delayed their decisions. Some recruits will always wait to see if the magic scholarship appears based on their senior-year improvement. Early in the quarantine, high school seniors refrained from making college decisions in hopes of having a few track meets. Later, they waited to see if schools would be opening in the fall.
With most of the recruiting wrapped up, I’ve had plenty of time to spend with my wife and two eight-year-old kids. We have been canoeing weekly, trying out different swimming spots, completed our first overnight backpacking trip, and I have been coaching. I just can’t help myself. Apparently I get out all of my coaching needs at track practice and it has been building up. It was first evident that I had a problem while playing Chinese Checkers with my daughter one day. I was simply trying to be helpful and suggest a better strategy. She didn’t see it that way and she let me know that my interference was getting tiresome. After a brief intervention, I am now only allowed one coaching comment per game. I find it difficult to restrain myself and need to be creative so they don’t realize they are being coached.
Throughout all of the uncertainty, I need to remind myself of the positives that can come out of this situation. I always say that our track team has a shared hardship that helps build relationships. Collectively, we have that shared hardship now and can use that to build our community. I am missing the time with the team and am looking forward to being back at the track. In the meantime, if any of you are reading this and you’re interested in being coached in something- let me know, I know my kids would appreciate having the spotlight taken off them.