Day 78 / 105 - Spring Track

Our son is in the yellow uniform.  His team always joked that they looked like giant bananas on the track!

Once again, we are grateful for the opportunities in Charlotte.

Yesterday, our son finished his spring track season.  Since February, he's practiced five times a week with a peer group of mostly high schoolers and a phenomenal coach.  He competed in three events at half a dozen meets: 800 meters, 1600 meters, and occasionally the 3200 meters.  Most of his training was in preparation for cross country next fall, as that is his sport of choice.

He had a few goals throughout the season.  The first was to bring his 1600 meter time under six minutes, and the second was to clock in somewhere in the 2:30's for the 800 meters.  He logged an impressive 5:35 for his best 1600.  His best time for the 800 was 2:31. (Bragging rights: His 800 time has him at 22nd in the state for 8th graders.  Had he been able to shave another 3 seconds off his time, he would have listed in the top 10!)

Since he is still fairly new to the sport of running, we are looking forward to seeing how he improves as he keeps training and developing.  He will continue running with a club team over the summer.

A highlight for me (besides seeing him win several events) was watching him mature throughout the season.  Since his team was mostly older students, he began to act and behave like a much older person himself.  He took full ownership of the entire sport.  He often arranged rides for himself if we had a conflict.  I never had to convince him to go to practice or remind him of what he needed to take.  Also, he understood he needed to eat properly and sleep properly if he wanted to perform well.  It gave me a glimpse into his adult disciplined life!