So, I am the assistant soccer coach at the high school I work at and conditioning for the season started yesterday. Naturally, I dress out, because I am the coach and I specifically remember during my high school career promising myself that if I EVER coached I would dress out, run and do whatever activities I would ask of my team because it would really get my nerves ticking to see a coach yell commands at me when I would doubt their ability to do it! Whew, that was a mouthful... Sorry for the venting session. Anyways, I dressed out and meet the team and head coach at the track.
Our first task was to run for 20 minutes, no walking. Just running, at any speed. So, to keep a promise to myself, I hit my watch to keep time and started to run. I wish I could tell you right now that I stopped when I was tired, I didn't think about getting ahead of people or that I wasn't self conscious/holding my breath so my real huffing wouldn't be heard/trying to act cool every time I would come in close contact with anyone else. However, if I did say that, I would be a liar. And I'm not about lying, its very unattractive.
When I passed the head coach, as he walked, he said to me "Hey, you can stop running. You don't need to push it! You got nobody to impress, seriously." Quickly, because I couldn't afford to lose any ounce of breath to talking, I responded by saying "Oh, I know. Its for me though!". I then proceeded to look at my watch and see that it was at 15 minutes and 30 seconds and thought to myself, "You are an idiot. You're not trying out for this team. You are the FREAKING coach! You can stop whenever the heck you want and who cares if you don't pass the ONE girl you haven't! I have NOBODY to impress because YOU ARE NOT IN HIGH SCHOOL!!!!".
Then, as I finished my last lap, I pulled over at 18 minutes and 15 seconds, heaving with pain in my guts and gasping the time left to the students as they passed me. That minute and 45 seconds was glorious to me. I stood there as girls passed me, boys sprinted past me without shirts on and the baseball team stood in the middle of the field warming their arms up and realized that I was 100% comfortable in the fact that as a coach, I will enjoy the responsibility of being able to make the calls and participate when I want to.
Plus, I am ridiculously sore today and almost embarrassed to walk around because of the janky way my legs tend to move with muscle soreness.
With that said, I will keep you updated on my involvement this soccer season! I have really no clue what I am doing but I gotta do what I am called to do. I can tell you this- I am definitely not in high school anymore whether it means age, physical ability, maturity or experience. Sometimes its harder for me to remember that because I have grown really close to some students here, on the volleyball team, etc., but I have much more under my belt than they do. I have done the try-outs, I have made the teams, I have gone to college, I have the best friends in the world, I have a boyfriend who loves me more than any student could ever even imagine, and I do this all on my own- I am a grown up! And I have nobody here to impress.
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