Developmental Meet #1

Saturday was a full day. I got my run in. It was perfect weather and I ran for 1hr 26minutes. I didn't measure, but it was around 10 miles. As soon as I got showered and ready, we headed off for the track meet.
This was our first meet to attend put on by Alabama Striders. Striders is a youth running program founded by Dewitt Thomas, a true veteran track coach. He has coached several nationally and internationally competitive athletes, including Olympian Vonetta Flowers, the first African American Woman to win a gold medal in the Winter Olympics.
The meet took place at Woodlawn High School, a beautiful, old building in the city, with a less-than-beautiful, old track. It was sufficient for our needs, though. That's the beauty of the sport of track and field--all you need is a stopwatch and a measuring tape.
The Striders team was made up mostly of inner-city kids. They were very talented, seasoned, good sports, and STIFF competition for our team. My kids didn't place first at this meet as much as at the meet we had on Thursday in Hoover, but they all improved. Only one didn't get a personal record, and that is just because she tied her best time in one event, and ran 2 other events for the first time. They all got to do the long jump and shot-put as well (and fared very well).
Coach Thomas and his staff were all super nice and encouraging to me and our team. Our kids all left with many ribbons and trophies--and I think felt very good about the day.
I don't want every meet we have to be with the level of competition we experienced on Saturday; it was good in that it gave the kids a chance to improve; the downside was not winning. Thursday's meet may not have produced the several-second P.R.'s that this one did, but it helped build confidence. As the kids get older, their times will mean more and more to them. But for now, they measure their success largely on whether they cross the finish line first or not.
As a side note, we all got sunburned. We put sunscreen on the kids, but it needed to be reapplied, I guess, because they are toasted. My neck and the back of my arms are the worst. I always feel so irresponsible when me or any of my kids get sunburned. It was cloudy and cool when we got there, but it turned warmer and was very windy. Oh, well, live and learn....