That Time of Year

This is a special and in some ways a magical time of year
for those of us who are involved or wherever involved in Track & Field as
coaches or athletes. This is the time of year that the all the training is
pointed toward, the peak competitive season, the time when you reap the fruits
of your labor. It is a time of great anticipation and doubt. Doubt because you
have more time to think, have I done enough or have I done too much. The real
cool part of it all is that it will come out on the track or in the field.  You have to lay it on the line. As a
coach it is your final exam. I remember one of my athletes at Cal setting a
personal best in javelin in our dual meet against Stanford, getting the
measurement and running back down the runway and yelling – I am peaking, I am
peaking. She was and she did, going on three weeks later to win AIAW National Championship
in the Heptathlon. This is the time of year when I really miss being a track
coach. This week is the Masters Meet in CIF Southern Section, wish I could be
there. Next week is California State meet. I have so many great memories of
the joy and the disappointment from those meets. For those of you who are
coaching track now, enjoy it, be confident in your preparation and let the
athletes perform.

As an aside it is 75 year ago today that Jesse Owns set four
world records in forty minutes. In my book he is the greatest of all time, one
of the few athlete heroes that I have. I got to meet him in 1969, in my first
week of coaching when he came to talk to the team at Santa Barbara High School.
He was a real class act, a man who should be an inspiration to us all.