DJs Partylist

Ok so we had Mt SAC and as per usual it is the official opener for those I train. Well it was supposed to be at least. Here is a quick rundown.
Ryan I pulled on Thursday because he had a runny nose or something like that and we are taking zero chances this year. LOL No he had a hot spot in his hamstring, had to pull out of a hurdle session and I was not taking a chance. He has plenty of races coming this year, I am in no rush, we have to be ready at the end of June beginning of July and no earlier.
Kenny is coming along fine. Taking our time getting him in race shape.
Jonathan is having a nice early season.
Tasha is ready.
I do not have time to run through the WHOLE group so I will stick to my four musketeers.
Now for this weekend.
Tasha had a busy day doubling in both hurdles. I love having her run the short hurdles because it is pressureless and something she can be good at. Sometimes I wish we could dedicate more time to it but oh well. So her first 400h race went awry but it was a strong run. Post race evaluation says she was too relaxed about the race. Something she and I both took fault in. She smashed hurdle 2 with her trail leg and almost fell, and she almost stopped. That stumble cost her coming home. I was proud of the way she fought back over the last half of the race. She was smooth with it and not at all busted by the run. In the past she would have been laid out for 45 minutes after her first trip over ten, but this year she was on the phone to me the minute she got to her bag. After putting away a few old demons we got to the business of evaluating her performance and not breaking down the performance. I have learned this year that outsiders eyes can prove to be a valuable tool. Everyone had wonderful things to say about her run and that lifted us both up. See we set out to win everything this summer, and not to lose or run anything slower than 54s. So the result had our emotions for a minute, just for a minute. Now back to work.
Jonathan conquered some serious demons this year. I am so proud of this young man. As a coach you always have your personal favorites and you have your personal joys. Watching this man develop, grow and realize himself is a joy. He stepped out there and ran the race with some top level competition and learned he belongs right there with them. That is what I wanted him to get to this year. I have promised to make him a new athlete, to run with confidence, and I will be damned if I am not watching him grow right before my eyes. I sound like a father. Anyway he ran a strong race. There are some technical issues he needs to continue to work on but he is truly a work in progress. The beautiful thing is he is Belizean so we are booked to Beijing already. It does not get any better than that.
Ryan watched from the stands. After seeing the line up and the results he was glad I pulled him. As of Friday he was still campaigning to run because he wanted to compete, but he realized he did not need to run. LOL
Kenny almost did not get a chance to run. He sat around all day waiting to run the relay and we were a man short by the time it came to run. Luckily we found a fourth and he went out and did a good job. He smiled half way down the backstretch when he heard folks calling his name. And then again when he felt a challenger. I am happy his leg is acting right and he showed some of his old self out there. he was able to turn on the after burners and that was encouraging to see. Now we get him ready for his hurdle debut in three weeks.
I am off to Penn Relays for the first time in ten years and then to the Caribbean to island hop these little meets. It is showtime folks and I cannot wait. Going to be difficult being away from my athletes but they are in good hands and I have their workouts ready.