Viking21 wrote:
The coach apparently didn't say a word about weight.
Yeah, fit in running doesn't mean weight. My weight stays about the same year round. But My fitness varies due to my training cycle.
Viking21 wrote:
The coach apparently didn't say a word about weight.
Yeah, fit in running doesn't mean weight. My weight stays about the same year round. But My fitness varies due to my training cycle.
XCMomma wrote:
After my daughter's most recent XC Meet, her coach sent out a mass text to all runners and their parents (he was very upset with our team's performance). His text read, "Times 30 seconds slower, moreso for those less-fit". I was livid.
He stated facts, and you're upset?
Just because a runner crosses the finish line, doesn't mean they gave everything they had. He knows when athletes aren't putting in a full effort, and that includes practice sessions too! Man, I had coaches that said much worse than that, and we didn't complain, because we knew he was right. If all the coach said was the text you sent, i would think that he'd be in a good mood, actually.
You ever hear the story about that one coach who used to pee on his athletes in the shower? Or take his brass key chain and put it on their thighs in the steam room? He went on to coach some of the best runners in American history, and started this little running company called Nike.
Cool your jets XCMomma, and enjoy the ride! Help your daughter by keeping the sport enjoyable. Don't talk about it during dinner time, and relax...
(and regarding the articles, no one takes Runners World seriously. I'm sure your coach has read many journals and articles and books--don't insult him by giving him more.)
XCMomma wrote:
After my daughter's most recent XC Meet, her coach sent out a mass text to all runners and their parents (he was very upset with our team's performance). His text read, "Times 30 seconds slower, moreso for those less-fit". I was livid.
Curious. Did the coach say he was upset with the team? Dissapointed with the race performances?
And 30 seconds slower than what -- the previous meet? Last year? Another team? A different course? A cooler day?
If he was simply putting the finishing times in context -- say, comparing results on a different course, or different weather, then it makes sense that the less-fit runners would see a difference greater than the 30-seconds slower average.
Maybe he was just saying, "Don't worry about the slower times." In case some of the runners were upset or disappointed. Or some of the parents.
And, as has been mentioned, "fitness" would refer to aerobic fitness, VO2 max, lactate threshold, etc, not body shape or size.
What was the main point of the "runners' parents" article the coach shared? I assume you understood it to be critical of you or the other parents, is that right? Did it offer any helpful information?
Regarding diet, a sweet snack and pizza aren't necessarily the most nutritious foods (although pizza can be fine), but in moderation there's no problem. As a high school runner, my diet was awful (don't blame my mom - I "augmented" with a lot of sweets!), but it didn't hurt my running. I'm middle aged now, healthy and have never been overweight.
Anyway, best wishes to you and your student athlete. Hope her ankle is better.
XCMomma wrote:
His text read, "Times 30 seconds slower, moreso for those less-fit". I was livid.
The coach is a jerk, and should not be in coaching.
This is a coach who routinely allows team dinners to include greasy pizzas, and other extremely unhealthy things, the night before the students race.
He sounds like a football coach.
I ended up replying to his text with, "Less-fit? Insensitive, to say the least".
Good for you! Well said.
He responded by sending out an article on how to be better cross-country parents.
Oh I would not like that at all, would have a good talk with the Principal and the School Board.
Personally, I'd have him fired if I could, and replaced.
XCMomma wrote:
Wow, I never expected to be bashed and insulted.
You must be new here. LRC is one of the most bigoted, misogynistic websites on the internet.
Just ignore the trolls.
Be careful to not step on one and squish it, because that would make a disgusting mess.
dunes runner wrote:
XCMomma wrote:
His text read, "Times 30 seconds slower, moreso for those less-fit". I was livid.
The coach is a jerk, and should not be in coaching.
This is a coach who routinely allows team dinners to include greasy pizzas, and other extremely unhealthy things, the night before the students race.
He sounds like a football coach.
I ended up replying to his text with, "Less-fit? Insensitive, to say the least".
Good for you! Well said.
He responded by sending out an article on how to be better cross-country parents.
Oh I would not like that at all, would have a good talk with the Principal and the School Board.
Personally, I'd have him fired if I could, and replaced.
I can actually hear you wringing your hands over the internet.
XCMomma wrote:
I have considered suicide as of late. I suppose I have been more sensitive. Your insults will stay with me. I never expected to be genuinely hurt by the responses of heartless people like you.
Don't even consider such things.
There are many kinds of idiots in the world. Don't let them affect you in their negative ways.
Just focus on getting by them with as little damage as possible, and keep moving on to much better things.
Viking21 wrote:
I can actually hear you wringing your hands over the internet.
Around your neck I presume.
He's within his rights to complain about a lack of effort, however he either didn't inspire his athletes to run, or he is a simply a bad coach. Otherwise most of his athletes would be improving and having good races.
XCMomma wrote:
After my daughter's most recent XC Meet, her coach sent out a mass text to all runners and their parents (he was very upset with our team's performance). His text read, "Times 30 seconds slower, moreso for those less-fit". I was livid.
My first instinct was to send him articles from Runner's World and Scholarly Journals, regarding CrossCountry being the number one high school sport with girls with eating disorders. (This is a coach who routinely allows team dinners to include greasy pizzas, and other extremely unhealthy things, the night before the students race).
I have read in numerous articles on the proper fuel and nutrition for cross country girls racing in high school. I have tried, desperately, to impart to my daughter. However, she comments that she will eat what the coach says she can. Unfortunately, to my knowledge, there has never been any at length, in-depth discussion regarding such things as the difference between whole-grain pasta and white pasta, etc. Some parents even bring sugary snacks, as things for the runners to eat, immediately following a 5K, i.e Rice Krispie treats!
My daughter went through puberty late and is just under 5 ft tall. I felt his comment was targeted toward those girls on the team who have thighs and do not look underweight.
Important to note here, I thinkoh, that my daughter Twisted her ankle in the first K of the race but still finished, hobbling all the way. I have shared with my daughter multiple articles from women's Runner's World and she still refuses because it isn't anything the coach has instilled in them. I'm just a mom oh, so what do I know?
I ended up replying to his text with, "Less-fit? Insensitive, to say the least".
He responded by sending out an article on how to be better cross-country parents.
Am I overreacting? I would greatly appreciate your thoughts, comments, and how you would have replied to the coach. Thank you, in advance!
What the coach said appears to be a bit too negative and not helpful but it has been taken out of context here so it is very difficult to judge.
The comment of "less fit" might seem like a reference to weight and I can totally see how it can be taken that way, but from my perspective as a distance coach it has nothing to do with it at all.
If evaluating our athletes by appearance, for some, it would be difficult to figure out who would be a varsity runner on our team. Some of these athletes that might look fit are simply not because of a lack of training. It's not a weight issue. Again, I can see how someone can get confused by this.
XCMomma wrote:
His text read, "Times 30 seconds slower, moreso for those less-fit". I was livid.
If you want perspective from those with more experience you should let us know what the rest of the text said. We don't have any real context from that one sentence.
As a high school cross country coach my experience is that kids who have it in their minds there are "healthy" and "extremely unhealthy" foods are much more likely to have disordered eating. I try to teach them that it's not a food that is healthy or unhealthy, it's a person that is healthy or unhealthy.
You may be surprised what world class athletes eat. It's largely the same thing the rest of us are eating, which is to say a great variety of diets are able to support elite athletes. Many of them are not what one would classify as "healthy" either.
“ Wow, I never expected to be bashed and insulted.”
Welcome to the internet, we’ve been waiting.
XCMomma wrote:
After my daughter's most recent XC Meet, her coach sent out a mass text to all runners and their parents (he was very upset with our team's performance). His text read, "Times 30 seconds slower, moreso for those less-fit". I was livid.
Am I the only person having trouble understanding what this means?
let them be kids. I am a coach, and i take my kids for pizza, arby's, mcd's, texas roadhouse, etc. ALL THE TIME! For most of them, it will be the thing they remember most about the team. We run a lot, and when we are done, we reward ourselves with what we like. They are all fit and trim, and we do not worry about weight.
The only kids I worry about weight with are the ones who take seasons off to sit on their ass. The weight will back on fast with 4 months of laying around in the winter .
Coach didn't say anything insensitive. He was giving a fact. And there is a very good chance he was NOT referring to YOUR daughter.
You and your daughter are not the sun. The world does not revolve around you.
To give you a sincere and rational response, but is pretty much in line with what others have said: (1) no, it was not "inappropriate" in the sense that you were taking it because it was not at all a clear reference to weight (in running jargon, "less fit" doesn't necessarily mean "overweight"); and (2) yes, agree with others, a short and caustic text seems a poor way to convey disappointment to the team and probably reflects that this is not a great coach.
And as some tough love here, your response was inappropriate because (1) you jumped to a conclusion that wasn't merited, and (2) if you were concerned about what the coach was implying, you should have communicated it to him in some better format than a terse text. Coach could have handled that better too though.
The coach called my daughter "less-fit"...
Waaaaaa
Waaaaaaaaaaa
Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa
Wow, this Mom is an absolute lunatic. Less fit means that that person is not as fit as someone that is more fit. In XC, that means the more fit person usually runs faster than the less fit person.
If however, if this Mom thinks that less fit means fat, then maybe she should understand that successful XC runners aren’t porkers.
Her daughter probably ran a 23 min 5K and the Mom dreams of her running D1.
If you’re the only parent who say an issue with the text I think you may be over reacting in a way. Also, you make a large assumption in assuming he was targeting certain people on the team. Third, and most importantly I would say if your daughter does not seem upset about it, it’s not too big of a deal
“Extremely hard summer and winter”.
Mom, search this blog for -
“The Summer Of Malmo”
“Why I Sucked In College” by Wejo.
xccoach #100000 wrote:
As a high school cross country coach my experience is that kids who have it in their minds there are "healthy" and "extremely unhealthy" foods are much more likely to have disordered eating. I try to teach them that it's not a food that is healthy or unhealthy, it's a person that is healthy or unhealthy.
XCMomma, keep in mind there are many terrible high school coaches, many of which post on LRC like this one.
