In Missouri our high school track and field season is going to begin in less than a month. When we get to this point in the pre-season a coach like me can’t help but look to the future of this upcoming season. As a coach it’s important that you lead with confidence and set realistic goals on what your team can accomplish. We put the kids through a number of tests to measure their fitness. A number of our young men ran a time trial 1600 on a cool, wet, and windy day at the end of last week. Most of the kids were close to a personal best performance. After the performance I could tell some of the young men were slightly disappointed they did not destroy their Personal Records. However, I was very excited because I know when we get into the regular season they are going to run really fast as they get into racing shape. My excitement comes from the fact as a coach if you keep records (testing, training, and racing) and a stable program you know after a few years what progress you kids can achieve in a season. As stated in the previous blogs I KNOW our ranges of improvement at the end of a competitive season can be predictably 20 to 25 seconds. Well, one young man ran a 4:33 in our tests all by himself for most of the effort. I think we would all be happy to have a young man finish their high school career with a new PR of 4:13! Testing can help you predict the future, set goals, and give kids the confidence they need to reach heights they have never seen. It’s important to share this info with your athletes. Once informed they know where they should expect to be in the end of their competitive season.
