These Pretzels wrote:
I think my issue with it is more for the current runners in high school. I have no problem acknowledging I was a below average HS runner, but I'm not a teenager. I think a 16 year old may have more problems/confidence issues with it. Part of high school running is kids working really hard and running to the best of their ability even though they may not necessarily be fast (notwithstanding improvement in college/post-college).
I mean, a 16 year old still has 2+ years to improve in high school. There's no 16 year old who's run 4:30 and thinks to themselves "Well, that's the best I can possibly do. I'm working as hard as I possibly can and I can't improve by 10 seconds in the next 2 years." I think every 16 year old who's run 4:30 either thinks they can/want to run faster, or they don't care much about running.
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It has to be a hit to your self-esteem when your 15 and your coach is selling t-shirts saying a time beyond your best ability isn't fast.[/quote]
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I don't think any freshman at NP saw the shirts and felt like they weren't fast. They probably saw their teammates winning national championships, shooting for sub-4, sub 8:30, etc, and felt slow in comparison. I think there's also a difference in your coach saying "4:20 isn't fast" because they want to break your mental barriers about what you can do, and saying "4:20 isn't fast" because they're insulting you and trying to discredit all the work you've put in. I think Brosan is definitely the former.