4 posts tagged “coaching”
just got back from hillsborough, nc. its a small town outside the triangle that has little to offer. but, it does have a pretty sweet sports complex that combines an ice skating rink with an 11 lane competition pool and 3+ lane warm pool. so in fact, it may be even better than most suburbs. but, theres still not much there besides that. i was in charge of driving, so in our off time we took a scenic exploration of the area but were unable to find anything of real interest. we were mostly in search of food, and though they have a walmart and some chain fast foods, there werent any local eateries except for this one place that was a swim meet sponser, vinny's. it was pretty good, fresh sauces, i dont think there were fresh pastas, maybe the ravioli and lasagna, but all in all, just a good local italian place. of course, to get there, it was a short trip from the hotel using two lane roads through the wilderness of north carolina. i did drive into durham, but it was only to scout for food, and we didnt get very far because we were starving so we hit the first reasonable place we could find, only to end up at subway because of the wait. but yeah, maybe one day ill have better reason to go down there and see whats going on in terms of civilization.
overall, great meet. well organized, super effecient, highly effective meet staff. as for competition, there was a lot of mediocre ability with a few stand out stars. olympian chip peterson was there to swim against, as well as some of his college buddies (i assume). but mostly it was filled with normal kids in age and ability ranges. nothing our senior team and advanced team was unfamiliar with. as usual, i placed somewhere between fast and good. dropped a little bit of time, went a 1:57 in my 200 free, 23:7 in 50 free, and 51.7 in my 100 free. oddly, i tied with the person next to me in the 200, and then tied with him again in the 50 even though we werent in the same heat that time. in the 100 i blew away everyone in my heat for some reason, just by going my seed time. so, looks like my weekend warrior tradition continues to be an effective form of exercise. even without being a reasonable form of training. most of the kids did ok, they all dropped serious time in some things, and added in some other areas. but it was a fun meet, mostly because it was timed finals, so we didnt have to wait and come back for another swim, we were simply done by 11 (for seniors) and 3 (for 12 and unders). so we had some good chill time in which we did nothing and i was forced to supervise and babysit - sort of. most of the kids came with their parents, so i only had to really worry about a handful and even then, with their interaction with the chaperoned kids, they were limited to the trouble they could get into.
so this weekend im heading up to new jersey for a coaching conference. its in cherry hill, so im totally going to check around for a white castle out of sheer love of the movie harold and kumar. so yeah. ill hopefully post tomorrow from school with some of my work stuff. and then im out for a while. take your scrabble turn and ill get to it on monday.
basketball. although i dont know anything about basketball, i have been following the ncaa tournament like mad simply because i put in a facebook bracket. i guess im just super competitive; even if its based on random guessing. all the virginia teams are out. well, except georgetown, which im not really sure is virginia, i think theyre dc and that doesnt really count. in any case, it would have been cool to see vcu go a little further, as well as tech, but oh well. regardless of how far i put the va teams, my bracket is still holding its own in my pools. im actually not doing too bad which is highly surprising since i have absolutely no knowledge of basketball.
swimming. we're almost out of short course season! all thats left is junior nationals (which is in florida and is only for one of our swimmers, so im not going) and zones (which is in buffalo and includes three of our swimmers, im also not attending that). so all i have to do is hold down the fort here with practice and then in a few more weeks we're into long course and it all starts over again. its like a never ending job that doesnt even slow down. with new kids coming in every week, it doesnt seem to have any sort of convenient stopping point, you start to know them and then youre hooked. you start caring about their goals and their grades and their lives and theres just nothing you can do but keep going back to practice.
music. i have been sort of stuck in a rut with music, pushing the same tunes and bands that i always fall to. but then scott gave me the new arcade fire, and god dammit its wonderful. every time it reaches the end of the cd, i think about what else i should put in, and it just loops around and i listen to it again. my commute is practically a reason to get more of these songs stuck in my head. it gets me up in the morning more than free chickfila breakfast tuesday (tomorrow is free mini 3pack!) in any case though, go find a copy of the arcade fire's neon bible. its outstanding.
endurance is all.
when your voice is thin and frayed and the blood races through your head faster than your thoughts, theres not much more evidence you can provide to show your spirit. but as much as you scream and wave, there is no direct emission of energy that you can send to your pupils. for as much as youve told them, as much as youve warned them, as much as youve guided them; its only them, now.
because you cant do it anymore. you havent been the one in training. there are certain things youve told yourself that youve accepted. youve created your own physical defeat. but a failing body and healthy mind only drives one into madness. so you sit on the side and call the shots. and you plan and worry, pace and watch, and wonder if you could have been as good.
