So, I couldn’t find an athlete to do a blog post about the MCC meet, and
I procrastinated way too long to do a
good one. So, I’ll just update everyone on how the team is doing, in a super
casual (read not edited) style.
With the MCC meet
behind us, the team has shifted its training and focus for the remainder of the
season. For the first time this season, the JV teams and Varsity are split to
accommodate the differences in scheduling; the varsity squad will focus on the
district meet next Saturday, and the JV/frosh will focus on their final meets
of the season, starting this Saturday at Borgia.
The end of the season
always catches me off guard. I stop looking for improvement based on fitness,
and start looking for improvement based on pure grit, which everyone is
starting to develop at this point. It’s fun to watch massive PR after massive
PR, week after week, no matter the course or weather. JV are shifting the
balance of the Varsity, and Freshmen are developing their own personality as
well as their place on the team. But it’s not just performances and places on the
team I am noticing changing. They have all grown so much during the last two
and half months. They’re fitter, leaner, stronger, and can endure the constant
pounding on pavement, as well as the late nights caused by the demand of daily
classes, homework, and school. However, they still have this fire in their eyes
that's almost entirely new to this young team. Leaders are emerging and
attitudes are being focused on their own. It used to be a battle to get this
year’s varsity to focus on a race the next day when they were freshmen, and now
this year’s freshmen are modeling them so well, that battle is now just a minor
struggle.
This team wants to
get better, and they are just now developing a pack mentality as well as a
responsibility for their own fitness and health. A frequent question I am asked
is, “(Coach) Boehm, what’s my sandwich time”, to which I will respond with an
outrageous time for that person. Unfortunately for my bank account, it isn’t
too uncommon for me to owe that person their sandwich the next week. However,
more and more frequently, they just want a time. They don’t even care about the
sandwich (Thank God); rather they want a mark they know will be just out of
reach. They also started to take care of themselves, largely without a coach’s
direction. I realize that all of this sounds so small, but self-motivation,
self-responsibility, and goals are the building blocks of a great team, and
these guys have it.
I am stoked about
the last couple of weeks of the season. Let’s make it a good one.
Sorry for the late blog post
