A difficult way to learn...

Cross Country Season came to an official end today for the Gatesville XC team and Abate. The team had one boy and one girl qualify for the individual State meet, but the team will not be going on. A few of the runners had bad days. One became dehydrated and struggled to finish. Abate struggled with the crowded field of mostly Jrs. and Srs. that were much larger and more aggressive. His thigh also hurt him for most of the race, he was well off his best pace. Disappointment, sadness on our part. Abate was very angry with himself.

While it is a difficult time for him knowing that if he could have run the race he knows he could have they might have qualified for State. He now sees the level of talent that he will have to compete against and knows he has to step up his training and prep. He also knows that he has to train and stretch and get in better condition to avoid injury. It was the injuries caused by his muscles not being as limber and stretched as they should be that caused so much trouble towards the seasons end. He knows that training has to become a year round passion. He can't go out in August and start running and expect to be a top finisher every week. Running will have to be his life, his passion, his love. I now know that I have to encourage him, push him, remind him and be the occasional bad guy to help keep him focused on the end prize. It will mean early morning runs year around. Entering him in every 5k and 10k that's within driving distance ( his first one will be Thanksgiving morning). It also means that summer vacation this next summer will be spent training, and not just running, but high altitude running in Cloudcroft NM. 9000 ft elevation,and numerous trails. It the place to go for serious runners. We may even try to organize it as a trip for the whole XC team if we can get enough people on board for it. The team loses 3 of it's 5 top runners this year. The runners coming up need work and experience. I think it means that the team will be rebuilding again for a year or two.
So the lessons have been learned, will they be remembered?