Tired

I am tired. Plain and simple. That explains all of my behaviors the past three or four days. Pulling the Mt. SAC trip together was very difficult. More difficult than anyone can imagine. It was a lot of time spent in front of the computer, a lot of time on the phone, a lot of time crunching numbers. It was too much time planning the trip, and not enough time actually coaching, in my opinion. From keeping track of all of the entires and payments, to begging the meet directors to let kids in if they didn’t qualify, to trying to co-ordinate 28 kids and nine other chaperones, and every other little thing that I was in charge of; it drained me more than anything else I have ever attempted. I was tired going into the trip, which is a horrible way to start. It ‘s crazy, I did not procrastinate at all in the preparation, and I was still burning the candle at both ends for weeks right up until the time we actually got into the bus to go to the airport.

The trip was a success. No doubt, the trip was a success in my eyes. There were some bumps in the road, bumps that I will take care of next year, but I really thought we accomplished our goal of representing the team in a positive manner. Remember, we went there to compete and race. And we did that very well. If some kids thought the trip wasn’t “fun” enough, they need to remember that we went to run fast, not to tour Southern California. (Although I don’t understand how kids can think we didn’t have fun, as a day at the beach in lieu of training certainly qualifies as fun to this writer)

I am chalking up the bumps in the road to tiredness and crankiness. I think we were all tired and cranky, especially on Sunday, and that might be where some of the animosity arose. I had to make a great effort to not be tired and cranky on Sunday, as we had a busy travel day in front of us. That "face" I had to put on is why I am tired and cranky this week. It always catches up to me, I am lucky I am not sick in bed, as that is what usually happens to me when I get run-down to this degree.

What did I learn? I learned I am a great distance track coach (see: boys 4 x 1600), but I need some work in trip planning (see: driving directions). However, what I need to do now is put all of that, and all of the drama and conflict that some people think dominated the trip behind me. I am focusing on the Mullen invite. I need to focus on what is ahead, not what is behind. The ol’ saying of “Don’t Look Back” is very applicable in this situation. Maybe when the season is over I can reflect back and see the true pros and cons of doing the Mt. SAC trip, but for now, I gotta keep the throttle on full, as we have worked too hard, both coaches and athletes, to let the season slip away.