Future Quarter Miler????

I must be the proudest Mama in the whole United States this morning! Wyatt rocked his trackmeet yesterday! Things started out a little rocky but soon got much better.

He started the meet with the long jump and got third place and was completely devastated! This was the first time that he even tried to long jump and even so, he was crushed. He decided right then and there that he was going to have a horrible meet and would not run well either just because of some stupid field event. Track is one of those sports that just takes some time to figure out what events you are good at. I tried to explain that too him but it didn't seem to sink in.

By the time that we started to warm up for his 50 meter dash, he was more relaxed but was pretty irritated at me because he didn't see the point in warming up. At that age it's just hard to impress upon a child how important that is. He ran a good 50 meter despite a really crappy start and got second place and was thrilled with that.

His 50 meter was a great warm-up for his 400 meter that followed shortly after. I really felt like this was going to be his race, but then until you actually get to see your child compete, you just don't know. We had talked strategy quite a bit beforehand and he actually listened really well and it showed in his race. Most people probably don't understand how much thinking there really is to do in a race like that, but there truly is. You absolutely have to run a smart race and he did amazing for his first time out. He had a really relaxed first 200 meters and then slowly and smoothly sped up through the next 100 meters. The plan was that when he hit the straightaway for his last 100 meters he would be at 75% speed and then from that point he would roll into a full out sprint for the last 50 meters. At the last 100 meters I thought that he was out of gas because he seemed to be just loping. I think it might have been more due to the fact that there was no one close to him and he just thought he could coast. When he got to the 50 meter mark I yelled, "He's coming up right behind you Wyatt!"

At that point I didn't know whether he had any gas left or whether he was pooped, but when I yelled out to him he took out like a rocket! It was actually pretty funny because everyone laughed because it was such a drastic burst of speed! He obviously had a lot of gas left and could have poured it on according to plan!

So he had an amazing race and really showed us what we had suspected all along, which is that Wyatt has the potential to be a great middle distance runner. He has an amazing naturally long, smooth, graceful stride that is just made for the 400 and 800 meter runs. It was so fun to see a child of mine on the track. I spent so many years competing and just loving the sport and to see a child of mine enjoying it too was just amazing. I know how Andy feels when he watches the boys play football. It just brings back memories.

So since Wyatt qualified for State we will travel up North so he can compete at the State level. I tried to explain to him that it's a whole different ball game up there and that the level of competition is going to be much more intense. That said, I really think that he is talented enough to do well up there. Most kids at that age are wanting to run the 50 meter and the 100 meter and are not thinking about the 400 meter. That said, there will be some tough competition up there but win or lose, it will be a great learning experience for Wyatt.

As we walked back to the parking lot Wyatt still grinned ear to ear. I told him that it looked like he had caught the bug. He grinned harder and agreed that he did. It's hard to explain that feeling that you get. For me, track was a love of racing. I didn't love running, I loved racing. Practices were grueling and I really never loved that part, but I loved the adrenaline or racing. I think Wyatt felt that yesterday.

We asked Cole on the way home if he wants to run when he gets old enough. He just said, "No!". He said later that he might but really didn't show any interest. That's really fine with me. Every kid had to decide what they like and what their strengths and weaknesses are. While I think that Cole has the build and speed of a sprinter, he may not ever have any interest in track at all. And that's fine with me.