Coaches all over the state probably spent all weekend wrapping their minds around performances from a busy cross country Saturday. All of the race times, and team scores going back and forth in your head buzzing around for you to remember just in case one of your athletes asks you on Monday, "Hey coach, what was my time on Saturday?", because you know someone will ask. There is a lot of other stuff going through coaches minds based on how things played out over the racing weekend. Trying to figure out what went right, what went wrong, what to do next, and many other questions.
In this "Monday Motivation" series, I will ask coaches throughout the season to help us all out a little bit and be a guide in what can be a long season. Having coaches help propel a team if they need a little motivation and be able to give some insight into what they saw in their teams, and what they see moving forward. Maybe other coaches that are struggling can use this advice to help them push the right buttons, or move the right pieces around for the week ahead.
To get us started in the "Monday Motivation" series, I want to share some thoughts on how to approach the second week of a season after finally getting to see your team race after a long offseason.
Whether you felt great, good, or even bad about your team's performance this weekend, the most important thing to do is to not overreact and to just be patient. It is only the first week after all. Over and over this past week I would tell our group that I am excited to "see where we are at." After a long offseason of hard training without racing, sometimes that is the best thing to do. Just "see where we are at." I hope after that first weekend, coaching staffs out there now have more information about where their team is at to help them progress forward.
NBA fans and especially fans of the Philadelphia 76ers know the phrase "Trust the Process." It is too early in the season to cut loose on training plans based on a performance from one Saturday. If your training program has been good to you in the past and it is something that has continuously worked, just stay with it and "Trust the Process." The season has only just begun, and hopefully you are getting a few good chances to see where your team is at.
Again, it is only week two of this young season. So, stay the course, control what you can control, and stay positive. That is something I will be making a conscious effort of this week, is continuing to put positive thoughts and ideas in athletes minds, in hopes they can have the best mindset possible for another week of training, leading into another Saturday of racing.
It was a great first weekend back out on the cross country course. Good luck to the remaining teams waiting to start their seasons this week. I'm already looking forward to getting to share more "Monday Motivations" from other coaches around the state this season and beyond.
If you are a coach that wants to be a part of the series this season, reach out to us at milesplitin@gmail.com for more information.