This morning I stumbled across something humorous, as one does, on an ancient social media site that you kids have possibly never heard of: Facebook. The comment came from a community page for Farmington (this is where the most unhinged comments arise with the greatest frequency - something about open forum city pages bring out some wild stuff). The post was in regards to some reckless driver, and someone commented saying "I have yet to meet a good teenager in this city." Hahahahaha I legitimately laughed out loud. I love this crap. I couldn't help but feel a little bad for this poor stranger because there are literally thousands of amazing kids from our town and school, and I work with the best of the best on our team. I literally thought, 'man, this person obviously hasn't met a cross country kid yet.' You guys spend time each day working to improve yourselves, support your teammates, and engaging in things bigger than yourself, all while balancing a litany of other responsibilities.
Yesterday I loved seeing Macie and Will out and about the course supporting their teammates even though they weren't racing. I loved seeing Koda going ham for our final two runners in the JV race, an hour or so after he finished on empty in his own race. I loved seeing our team spread out around the course yelling for the JV girls first thing, most notably Farrah in her return to the scene of her first race's challenge. I loved seeing your parents and siblings out at the races too, to watch and support. I heard words of encouragement to your teammates who struggled, I heard praise for effort and hard work. It was amazing.
If this person had met any one of you on our team, their worldview would be completely realigned. On the one hand it's upsetting (how dare you say that about these kids??) But on the other hand it's kind of sad on the quality of people they are missing out on.
In regards to our race, that was one race of many, and really only serves as a starting point for where we are going. We have to start somewhere. Some of you saw big improvements from last year, while others little. Some were very pleased, some a bit discouraged. However you feel about the race, remember that we are just getting started, and if you work consistently and with a positive attitude, you are going to see improvements. This race was necessary to help us see where we are and where we need to go. With each race the path seems more clear on what is needed.
This week
Summer is over... in like 3 days.
We are going to practice in the morning on Monday, Wednesday, and Thursday (in class in Thursday), and in the afternoons on Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday. I'll explain more about the class schedule and after school practices below. Please just note the times.
1st period practices
It is not required to be in the first period class, but it is highly recommended. Those morning runs will almost exclusively be chill, easy runs. For those of you who are still running low miles, you need to have a bike there that you can ride for your morning workout. We have a few stationary bikes, but there aren't enough for everyone, plus, they're mad boring.
We will meet at 7:20 on A days (9 AM if it's a Wednesday), we'll just meet on the track, near the locker rooms, for a couple of minutes before heading out for the run. At 8 AM we will return for a team breakfast if one has been provided, get cleaned up, and head to class. Thank you so much to all the parents who have already signed up to provide a breakfast, you guys are amazing.
After-School Practices
We will be practicing each day after school at 2:40. Our workouts will be done after school, usually every other day working backwards from our next meet, but not necessarily that way all the time. Each day we have a class period is a planned day for a double run. The afternoon runs will subsequently be shorter because of the morning miles already done, but we'll still be holding practices. These are the practices that will contribute to who is going to travel to NXR.
Attendance will be taken at both the morning and afternoon practices. The morning, for school attendance, the afternoon to determine who is racing. Missing practices will now result in not competing in the varsity race, or not competing that week at all. We will be working to improve our accountability and consistency, so those things will be rewarded. We are a team, we work together as a team, and race as a team. In the past we've had too many kids opt to run "on their own" instead of with the team, but that won't be happening once school is in session. Being at practices with your team strengthens the team and makes us all better. Going out on your own instead of running together causes us and you to miss out on that benefit.
Those of you in 9th grade have a few options. One is to get checked out a bit early from the afternoon plt or whatever it is you have, or just hurry over to the school afterwards. I know that can be difficult. You 9th graders can also be in the first period class. Please feel free to contact me to talk options if you'd like.
Upcoming
Our next meet is pre-region, and the date has changed. It will be on 8/24 at Layton City Park in the morning. Stay tuned for more details there.
