My team has 2 meets coming, Friday then Saturday. Original intent was letting my JVs race Friday in a local dual meet, then taking my better athletes to an elite meet on the other side of the State Saturday. The dilemma that I’m coming upon is weather. Friday will be mid-60s and sunny, Saturday is low 50’s with a chance of rain (and its on the coast so the breeze won’t make things better).
So now I’m wondering if I should just take my field event and distances guys Saturday (who will be less impacted), and race my sprinters Friday in the warmer weather. Am I just babying them or is this smart?
What’s later on in the schedule? When is the next meet after that weekend? Are you just trying to get good times or elicit a certain stimulus? The elite meet will usually produce a higher stimulus even if the times don’t reflect it, if you’re just chasing times for a one-off weekend the nicer weather may be better.
Next meet is the league championships the following Friday. All the guys going are already qualified for every remaining championship meet (league and divisional) so the original intent was exposure to higher level competition, though with my best sprinter overcoming a small injury, this was also going to be a chance for all of them to hit some big marks for some confidence before the championship meet. g** d***** New England springs…
The high school kids that I am coaching were talking about running into the wind for practice. That’s funny because most people with zero background with experience might think the same thing.
It’s all about resources you have and setting yourself up to succeed or in this case setting your athletes up to succeed. If you have to run into the wind at a qualifying meet there is little to change as you Must run to qualify.
But don’t lose sight of what your goals are and generally speaking the goal is to improve and there will be plenty of crappy meets you don’t plan for that you have to participate in so take full advantage of choice and if and when you have choice.
In the bitter irony department - I bagged the Friday meet and ran the guys in the better weather. Best sprinter and jumper (2 different guys) came up lame in the same 100 heat…haven’t quite gotten over feeling sick, sad and/or angry with the situation yet. Reflection time will be fun.