SMJO wrote:
Do calisthenics and run in place while he's yammering away and then tell him the story of Zatopek. Tell him an extra hour of running will beat an hour of talking about it. Switch it up a bit and talk like Lindgren when you speak to him.
I really like this idea. Seriously.
What state are you in that HS starts at 8:45 and ends at 4?
That's more than 7 hours of school a day and those are times elementary schoolers go to school.
I can't offer much help but I just gotta say that "Just Want to Run" is cracking me up over here. You have a future in comedic writing, seriously. The part about how he got injured running roads so you guys got to run roads and he sympathizes was lol.
Find an easy class with no homework (art, shop, CAD class), which coincidentally only occurs during 7th period. Talk to the teacher and stir up a sudden intense desire to be in the class ASAP.
If what you are saying is fact.
You have identified another one of those nutter people who don't know when to shut up.
They have always been in schools and always will be.
Congratulations on having the nous to know when someone is wasting your time and their time.
The question is what are YOU going to do to change things?
This is what you do, invite your coach to start running with you and he can BS for the whole run with you as long as he keeps up.
I had a team meeting yesterday and it took about 4-7 minutes, then I went and ran with a couple of guy's and shared my lame BS stories with them for about 7 miles.
It should be noted the two guy's I ran with are in terriable shape and were not able to drop me.
Problem resolved.Good luck!
Caboose-Remember his coach is injured from training on pavement-where he has his runners doing their training. I think the following scenario would be amusing as hell, and possibly very effective:At the beginning of 7th period, everyone shows up for the meeting, except for our poster "Just Want To Run (JWTR)". As the coach begins his drone, who appears in the window behind, doing a strider on the grass, but our hero, JWTR! At first only a few notice as he zooms past. Then here comes JWTR, going the other way. By the 3rd or 4th strider, everyone is cracking up and the coach is flustered. Finally, the coach looks out the window and is shocked. The coach yells out the window "JWTR, what the hell are you doing".JWTR (innocently, but with a glazed expression): "I was too revved up, thinking about your Deena Drossin/teammate story, and I had to get running or I was afraid I'd go insane!" . Well, get back in here!" "Sorry, coach, I'm WAY too inspired!" and off he goes for another set.If JWTR gets kicked off the team for this, he gets the fame of getting kicked off of cross-country FOR RUNNING! He doesn't play the bitterness card; when asked about ithe just stares off into the distance, and says "I just had to run...." Then he can train on his own, stay healthy, and end up in San Diego in the first week of December!Go JWTR!
The real Coach Caboose wrote:
This is what you do, invite your coach to start running with you and he can BS for the whole run with you as long as he keeps up.
I had a team meeting yesterday and it took about 4-7 minutes, then I went and ran with a couple of guy's and shared my lame BS stories with them for about 7 miles.
It should be noted the two guy's I ran with are in terriable shape and were not able to drop me.
Problem resolved.Good luck!
You wouldn't believe how many lame, boring, high school coaches there are out there who never stop talking. It's really a horrendous aspect of our sport. You have my sympathies but there's nothing you can really do although I like the Zatopek idea. Be good natured about it and try getting a group of guys to join you - it's easy to punish one guy - it's hard to go after a group. Hopefully he'll be so flustered he'll just let you go.
There are way too many uninformed idoits "coaching" track and XC. The horror stories you hear out there just make me sad. These people chase off young prospective runners and make them hate the sport.
I worked with an XC coach that was such an ego maniac he threatened to kick a kid off the team if the kid wore the new racing flats he had just purchased, instead of the spikes the coach recommended. We aren't talking about the state finals either, just a run of the mill 3200. The kid was one of the top distance runners in the state that year too.
As far as how to address your problem. Ask the coach of if you can run early during the time he usually give his speech because you have to get home, or your parents are going to make you quit if you can't get home earlier.
Good luck, he sounds like a tool.
1) Put on your running clothes and go for your run, or do your warmup and then run your session. Warm down, shower, go home, do your homework and relax.
2) See 1).
3) See 2).
4) If the coach kicks you off the team, count your blessings and run road races instead. Think of transfering to another school that allows you to run as you wish.
5) Do NOT put up with his BS, or you will regret it for the rest of your life. There was a jackass band director who used to push me around in high school, for example one day he had us play the introduction to some piece that we'd never seen before and it was all high C's, as I was first chair trumpet and the other guy was absent that day. He had us play just the intro 10 or 12 times and I hit every note which I think really pissed him off, then he growled to let someone else join me in that section while the other guy was absent. We never played that piece before or since. There were other things like he gave me an F one quarter for going to a track meet on a weekend when he said there was a marching band practice, but I was NOT IN marching band. He was a total jerk. I should have stopped playing in band and joined debate, choir, wrestling, the chess club or anything else and kept on enjoying my running MY way. One think you will learn eventually is that your life is all about you and what YOU do with it, not some bully jerk asshole teacher in high school.
J. R. wrote: I should have stopped playing in band and joined debate, choir, wrestling, the chess club or anything else and kept on enjoying my running MY way.
Wow- you must be the biggest geek in school. You are talking about BAND for god's sake!
Thanks!
Yes, I was very talented and still am.
dean moriarty wrote:
My coach used to do this, only his "speeches" were filled with condescending gay bashing and profanities. He was a bitter, bitter man.
We just went out the back door and ran before we saw him each day. If we had a workout, we'd just run the warmup before he got there so that he wouldn't give us a speech. It worked out great.
he was a bad bad BAD man. and his nails were atrocious!
8:45 school start? I have to be at school at 6:45 twice a week for morning runs. We still run in the afternoons as well, so to you i would have to say suck it up. Or start getting your mom to write BS excuses for you so you can leave practice early before he talks. Your coach sounds like a moron so you might be able to pull off "I have a doctors appointment at 6" everyday for the rest of the season. Actually probably not but hey its worth a try.
Also our football team practices after school from 3:20 to anywhere between 6:30 and 7:30. I go to a private school so a lot of those kids live considerable distances away. Again, suck it up.
Our old head track coach used to give ridiculous long talks too. Then he got fired for drinking while driving the girl's bus to state. Oh yea the bus broke down on the way and he had the girls get out and push it. So another piece of advice would be go talk to the administration about it. I'm not saying get him fired, but I'm sure if you tell your athletics director that these after practice talks are interfering with the teams academics, then he will talk to the coach. Unless your coach happens to also be the Athletics Director. In which case, suck it up for the third time.
c-level runner- I love the idea! SOunds brilliant.
Basically- you individually talking to this guy in a confrontation is not going to work, so way I see it you have four options, assuming you don't want to just quit the team.
1) Just live with it, okay it's dull but you have to. Maybe find something to do during the time.It's a pity it's an hour a day, if it was an hour a week, I'd say get out your training log and fill it in, and if questioned say you're taking notes! and "inspirational" quotes
2) Go up to him and try to compromise, non-aggresively, lots of good ideas for that above
3) Make up an excuse as to why you have to get home earlier so need to train earlier. Parent pressure is a great idea
4)Actually get your parents to kick up a stink. BUt given that it's a relatively minor matte r( i.e. no one is actually harmed at all! Just made to wait around) it's unlikely this'll accomplish much given they've already had a meeting.
Group will work better than alone for whatever you do.
Maybe take notes each day, then after say two weeks present them to him with it highlighted the bits that are exactly the same each day!
Best of luck, sounds likea very dull situation, perhaps do some freelance comedy writing if you can get away with it!
FInal potential option is to try and get another teacher to speak to him, but this is quite a serious step, especially if you go "over" his head.
Thanks for all the gread ideas guys. I think I'll try telling the Zatopek story. If that doesn't work then Striders out the window should work. If worse comes to worse, I'll just go to a different school.
Fart.
A lot.
just quit the team
Duct tape solves a multitude of ills.
my practices in HS always ended at 6pm no sooner unless we were getting ready for a meet. sooo quit bitchin..