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Track and Field: Managing Athletes and Personalities

 Track and Field Managing Athletes and Personalities     I first started track and field in 5th grade. Once I did that there was no looking back, really. All these years later, I am coaching more than I train and participate, although I still am able to throw some with my athletes, most of my track and field training is done alone, so I am more in teacher mode when I am with them. What I have learned as a head coach of a high school team is that you get a lot of kids with a lot of different personalities and motivations. Being a successful coach means you have to first figure out what defines your measure of success. That is a constant evolutionary process as you go from season to season. Even more so when you are building a program to reflect your point of view and methods within the world of track and field.      Do I have a formula for explaining how I manage such a large number of athletes, all with different personalities and tendencies? No, I do not have the formula for that, at
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Training

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  TRAINING in track and field: Meditation in motion     I had the most blessed opportunity to be on the track yesterday morning at 7 am with my athletes. The above photo was the view of the track before the sun rose all the way up and started to heat the day. For my young athletes, morning training was definitely a new experience. They have been used to working out late in the day and finishing the day off with a workout. Of course, I had to coach them about what happens in the morning as opposed to the afternoon and evening. I know because I have done both. Waking up, getting moving, and understanding how your body reacts so early are all factors that I needed to teach them. Of course, there was a certain excitement in the air for them to be running at sunrise. I felt it too. I wanted to workout. It reminded me of those times I used to workout at the track in the morning.      There is a lot to say about training, and it is difficult to know where to start, but I would say the thing t
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Hope of a Dream

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 Track and Field Times Hope of a Dream Track and Field is one of those sports that captivates the imagination. This is for many reasons, some for obvious reasons, others for not-so-obvious reasons, but all the reasons are inspiring and valid. My track and field career stretches all the way back to 5th grade. I remember I was so excited to compete in a race against other kids. I think it was a 75 yard dash. . I do remember getting soundly beaten. I did not really know how to take that. My elementary school did not really teach us anything in 5th grade about track and field, they just threw us out there and told us to run. Fortunately, I switched to another K-8 school in 6th grade that had a much better sports program that actually taught us things and they were better organized, so the next time I competed I had a better understanding of what I was doing.  But those were such small steps into a giant world of track and field. Little did I know that many of the track and field events str
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