The Die Is Cast

As we move into the second week of our late-starting season, it's time to reflect on the first week. The N City runners are still not in the best running shape and no one is able to complete the 2.1 north loop in the park without stopping. But they all do give it their best effort as they complete the task.

The roster is finally settling down to a constant number. I really don't want to take on any more new runners after ten days, so right now we are looking at 7 girls and 3 boys. One of the girls pulled up lame on Saturday, and she will be shut down until she is 100% healthy again.

Of the 3 boys, two show a lot of talent and it's a shame there aren't enough other boys to build a team around them. They'll probably enter any future races as individual runners.

Of the girls, 4 show some nice speed and the other three (including the injured one) are all determined to improve. Of the fast ones, there is one girl who is very talented and extremely dedicated to running. If I had a team of ten of her, this would be a team mentioned in the Ledger!!

The only concern at this time is the number of practices that the runners are missing. Most of the excuses seem to be legit: doctor's appointment, sweet 15 party practice, church, sick, too sore, etc. I'd prefer that they run if they were sore--that's the only way to improve--but I'm letting them heal. I don't want to play "bad coach" and drop any hard team rules regarding attendance on them for fear that that would turn them off towards being a member of the team. And this week will be a tough one--I mentioned in my first posting that these students work one day a week and miss school and practice. Well, once a month they work two days a week--the extra day being the Monday (today).

And now for the latest news. The AD wants us to participate in the Arts High School Invitational on Wednesday, October 1. That's only 9 days away. So in the practices available before that race, I will determine if the girls are ready to participate as a full team (need to run 3.1 miles). If not, I'll just select individual girls to run as well as individual boys.

So stay tuned.