My two-week lesson on eating Moroccan food before workouts, winning first-time trophies and much more -
Melissa Ferry,
Student-Athlete-Interim Coach,
West Chester Henderson
Melissa after the two-mile mark at States (photo by Dave Ferry).
Wednesday, September 24
This afternoon we had our last league meet before the strike, and it was mandatory that all the girls go home on the bus afterwards. Once we got back to school Mr. Lott gave us his farewell 'speech'. He noted to all the girls that while he is gone I get to be our stand in coach. In addition to my own running, everyday now includes managing the workouts, attendance, busing to the meets, and any injuries. There is the possibility that Mr. Lott would be gone for Steel City, our last dual meet, and Ches-Mont Championships because state law says the strike can go on for almost three weeks. His words of wisdom were those of "You'll be fine, coach. Just have fun!" Fun? I'm supposed to lead a team of 32 girls without ever having coached in my life. Mr. Lott gave me a clipboard and the lone piece of paper with our workouts. That was it; I had a piece of paper, the assurance of my coach and an enormous amount of butterflies in my stomach.
Thursday, September 25
Today was our first practice. We planned to still meet in Mr. Lott's classroom for attendance, and I arrived really early so that I would be the first person there. I sat down in the chair behind his desk, and stared out at the empty room. It felt weird to be at practice, not only as an athlete but also now as a 'coach'. Instead of doing my stretching, I took attendance as everyone arrived. And rather than talking with friends, I went over injuries with some of the girls who are hurt. Because of my nerves, when I began to talk to the girls about the upcoming week and practice schedule, I couldn't stop talking. Somewhere I managed to get out one of my main points, which was that as a team the motivation to do well has to come completely from yourself. No longer would Mr. Lott be there at practice to yell when you run too slow, or to tell you what you did wrong. The rest of the season is mental, and self-reliance is key. As much as I'm supposed to coach the team, I have to run my workouts at the same time everyone else does. I'm worried that I might ruin the season for the team. I've never done anything like this. As a runner I've always taken directions, but never given them. I'm a member of this team, but now I'm also the person held accountable for our successes or our failures.
Saturday, September 27
This morning was not fun. We met at Oakbourne by 7AM for our workout, but didn't start until about 7:45. The school assigned an administrator to our team to act as a supervisor, and we were waiting for him to arrive. But because of the different schedules with the boys and girls teams, our practice got confused with the location of the boys' practices, and we ended up running practice without our administrator present. I was so scared someone would get hurt while we ran, and since we would all be separated through the course, I wouldn't be there to help. The mandatory rule for practice is that I must have the medical cards with me at all times, or else we can't run. They sat in my bag, and I quietly hoped I wouldn't have to be using one of them this morning. We were supposed to run repeat 1000's, but I really wouldn't call what I did running. Last night a group of us from the team went out to a Moroccan restaurant, and even though it was one of the tastiest meals ever, it was one of our biggest mistakes. A lot of girls got sick while running, and some couldn't even finish since the dinner had been so heavy. I felt every ounce of that seven-course meal in my quads this morning, and those repeat 1000's were more like shuffles.
Sunday, September 28
While I was doing some homework today, I caught a glimpse of this picture on my desk; it's a photo of last year's varsity squad at a Kutztown meet. I began to feel those nerves coming back in my stomach, and they just got worse when I started to think about Steel City this coming Saturday. We've done well at our invitationals this year, and I know Mr. Lott expects us to keep it up. But at every other meet he's been there, yelling to go faster, to think ahead, about who to pick off and where to began to kick. He's been the one to watch the clock so we're on time to the starting line, and our warm-ups go smoothly. Then it hit me that I didn't know anything about Steel City. I didn't know the race time, if we had a bus, who our top seven were from the last meet, if I needed to handle numbers or bring managers to handle sticks after the finish. Since it's now my job to coach, I'm responsible for going over race strategies, and walking the course. I don't even know the way the girls prefer to run, because I'm always in the race with them, concentrating on my own running. I kept making myself more nervous, and then came back to the fact it was only Sunday, and I still had five days to go till the meet. Five more days for my nerves to multiply.
Monday, September 29
When I arrived at school today I began to arrange things for Steel City. A bit of paranoia is creeping in again, along with the uncertainty that what I am doing is correct. I found our athletic secretary and she contacted the bus company, finalizing plans for the ride to Coatesville Saturday. I received an email reply today from Steel City's meet director. He has been kind enough to send me the run down of the meet, so I know what to expect come Saturday morning. He said packet pickup is between 8 and 9:30, and that we race at 10:45. Thankfully, we won't have to worry about sticks at the finish line, and I can now let the girls know what size spikes to wear, and what to expect. He said he will check with me on Saturday to make sure everything is running smoothly, and that there are no mishaps since we're coachless. I feel slightly less stressed now, knowing that I have a resource for help in case that we have a problem.
Tuesday, September 30
Today we were supposed to run repeat mile intervals on the track, and when I was nearing the end of the 4th mile, I noticed that not many girls were running on the track anymore. When I finished my workout, I went up into the trainer's office to see what was up with all the missing people. To my surprise, ten girls had stopped practice to go to the trainer. When I entered the door, looking exceptionally bewildered, the new trainer stuck out his hand and introduced himself. He proceeded to say, "You must be the cross country captain!! I think your team is a little hurt! Oh, but don't worry, the other trainers warned me about your team..." For some reason I wasn't really shocked to find that our reputation for injuries preceded us, but I was still incredibly bothered that so many girls appeared hurt. I got my clipboard with everyone's names on it, and pulled out a chair. The trainer told me about all the injuries in all ten girls, and went over treatment and the possible training modifications. I went home trying to figure what exactly happened to everyone. My mind was also contemplating the notion that some girls were perhaps taking advantage of Mr. Lott not being around to regulate practice from the sidelines.
Wednesday, October 1
Today, for the first time, I got clearly mad at practice. I feel like I was a bit hypocritical, since at the beginning of everything I made a point that we had to be there to support each other. The thought of the girls taking advantage of the absence of our coach ate away at me last night. I got really upset over it, lecturing the girls about pretending to have injuries, and faking pain merely to leave a hard workout. It seemed that what I said got through, because of the ten girls who dropped out yesterday, six promptly returned to practice today, without pain. I feel bad about having yelled, but I don't believe that this is an appropriate time to let people give up. Self-motivation may be lacking right now, but I am not going to let that continue without a fight.
Thursday, October 2
Today we began a taper for Saturday, making practice relaxing and enjoyable. It was very disappointing though because one of our varsity girls told me that she has been diagnosed with a fracture in her pelvis. It is a shame that somebody with so much talent has to watch from the sidelines now. I remember not running track one season because of an injury. It was so hard to just observe, and not compete. Setbacks make athletes work harder though. Hopefully something good comes about in the future for her.
Friday, October 3
We had off!
Saturday, October 4
Last night I was so nervous I couldn't sleep. I am not sure if it was from nerves because of having no coach, or nerves because I was competing. The morning ran really smoothly, the registration ladies were great because they knew about the strike, and us not having a coach. Somehow we managed to walk the course properly with all the turns in the first mile and the girls talking the whole time about the rain and mud (and their Friday night social events...). About 30 minutes before the race went off one girl realized she had on the completely wrong uniform, and I about had a heart attack. Luckily her mom rushed over from West Chester with the other uniform, and she was changing while we walked to the starting line. On a personal level, I ran exactly 60 seconds faster this year than last year, and when my dad told me my time I almost began to cry. This season hasn't gone well individually, and it seemed like a miracle that I ran that well despite being so stressed and nervous. The guys team came up to us after the race, and said, "I think you guys might have won, it looked really close with that blue team (Chambersburg)." Of course that sent us over the edge as a team, not only because it looked like we did well, but because the boys' team recognized it too. It was really nice to succeed on our own, and not just be associated with the boys' success. Later, when we found out we had gotten second, yet again I thought I was going to cry (but I didn't...)...as a team we just couldn't seem to put that silver bowl down, and the girls are making plans about how to present it to Mr. Lott when he comes back, because he's never had a team earn one at Steel City, whether it be first, second or third. All in all, it was a really great day, despite the weather...I think the mud actually made the race really fun for us. Four of the girls said it is now their favorite course. The past two weeks have been incredibly boring for the students, and absolute chaos for the adults...Hopefully it is over at the end of this week, or else as a team all 32 of us will be at Ches-Mont Championships without a coach, and if that happens I don't think I'll sleep for multiple days prior to that race!!
Sunday, October 5
I got to read about the meet in the paper this morning at breakfast, which was pretty exciting! It is nice to know that Mr. Lott gets to read it over his coffee, and can see that things are still going OK. Well, as OK as things will ever get without a head coach. I've found that even with schoolwork, I always do better under pressure. It seems that this has been no different, but this time all the pressure has been coming from myself. I am beginning to figure out that I don't need to do that; there is no reason to be so worried anymore. It is evident that things on the team are going well-the girls are competing great! It's about time I just relax, and stop worrying. But as frustrated, nervous and scared as I have been, I was sitting at the kitchen table realizing that it is all totally worth it.
Monday, October 6
Today's practice was relaxed, Steel City is out of the way, and I am not walking on eggshells anymore. The team has settled into a rhythm at practice, getting stretched out, getting out on the road and clocking splits and all their times. The only major dilemma has been getting practice started on time. But that is a good thing if the biggest issue is having girls arrive on time. It is a bit ironic, just as I get used to being a coach/athlete, and feel comfortable in what I am supposed to be doing, it is going to end.
Tuesday, October 7
Tomorrow we have our last dual meet. Our athletic director called, and we have to meet at 8 AM to mark our course at Oakbourne with a meet official. At some point we have to figure out who will walk the visiting team through the course, because Mr. Lott normally does that. Hopefully there will be a few extra girls coming tomorrow to take splits and help organize the team, which will really help because I'll be racing and unable to watch from the sidelines; our athletic secretary arranged the bus to the course. It feels so weird to be dealing with all the pre-meet organization, but then also know that maybe tomorrow we might have to go back to school. Then at this time tomorrow I could be sitting in my desk again, attempting to get mentally focused for a race while trying to learn pre-calculus at the same time. I am actually sad that we might go back to school, I have begun to enjoy being a coach. It is fun, and the more I do it, the more I want to continue. Minus the Moroccan food workout, the never ending nerves, and the shear fear of messing up, the past two weeks have been fantastic. I've been lucky-I've gotten to run, I've gotten to coach, and after a little while, I actually had fun!
Melissa Ferry (#311 in the center of this photo just after the mile at States) ran her final XC PIAA States, running 20:56 on the tough Hersheypark course, 3rd for her 9th place team.