bmc pool strikes back wrote:
or it helps them hate their coach. college kids are going to drink no saturday night no matter what they have in the morning. also, if the coach isn't creating an atmosphere where the kids want to succeed on their own and have the dedication to get out and run on their own sunday (regardless of the time of day) then he's got a problem.
I don't really agree with your first statement - I certainly drank less knowing that I had to be up early for a long run. And also that I needed sleep to recover from Saturday's race. Absolutely no one disliked the coach for Sunday long runs. We all knew it was in our best interest, even if on Saturday night we didn't really feel like going to bed at 2 am rather than staying out and getting in at 4.
I will agree on your second point though. That's a whole other issue, on how a coach can motivate certain athletes to do things on their own. I won't entirely blame the coach, some kids on my team just weren't very dedicated and nothing the coach could do was going to change that. In a perfect world, yes, all the athletes would be self-motivated enough to do a long run on their own on Sunday without an official practice. Most coaches know the reality, however.