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I was tempted to start with the question, "Where were you during the blizzard of '78." But I realize that the majority of my readers would be yawning, much the way they do when I talk about the team of '86. Just the other day I was using shot put footage from 1991 to illustrate footwork (we were fortunate to have two future state champions on the team that year) and my athletes were quick to point out that most of them hadn't been born yet.

So I guess a better question would be, "What are you doing with your day off!"   Once it was clear that I had to cancel practice, I bet a lot of my athletes went sledding. Though sledding has its own risks, I would imagine it is safer than running on the roads today. If they ran up the hill each time it might even have been a good quad exercise.

After snow-blowing the driveway for the 4 th time, I was convinced to go cross-country skiing with Arlene. It was shorter than our usual route – probably less than two miles, but blazing a new trail was enough work. There were many drifts over three feet and it was more of a walk than a ski. Based on the amount of puffing and sweat I figure I got my workout for the day.

Snow has wreaked havoc with the schedule. The silver lining is that some of the athletes who are sub-par have a little more time to recover. It is also exam week in NA and I'm sure some of my athletes appreciate some more study time. No really – they do study! But next weekend we will have meets both Saturday and Sunday – forcing me to rethink some of our relays. We were also looking forward to qualifying some of our better relays for the McIntyre Invitational. The rescheduling of Classes B&A have forced the cancellation of that meet.

This is the time of year that I also have to look backward. The MSTCA is in the process of determining its awards for the year. Looking back at the accomplishments of athletes and coaches, it is often hard to decide who celebrates and who waits for another year. I will be passing on the results the middle of March.

Saturday NA will be closing off its tri-meet schedule with meets against Stoughton and Sharon. There never seems to be enough meets to reach all of the goals. I still have 1ž2 dozen athletes to get qualified for states and some of the experiments we had planned will have to wait until spring – next year – or never.

This Saturday I hope to try something new for parents. In the effort to get them more involved with the meet I'll be handing out our entries and goals ahead of time.

I just stopped for a minute to watch a couple of runners go by.   The window above my computer looks out toward the road and movement caught my eye. I can usually tell if it is one of my runners by the form – even from 400' away – but the choppy stride caused by the ice-covered road made it impossible. With a view like this I'm lucky to ever get work done.

I just realized that this has been pretty boring so I made a quick side trip to my e-mail to see who has written lately. There was a note from Rachel Venezia (CT) who had just been on northrunning and wanted to propose a category that would fit Marianne Mealey (FX). Apparently Marianne convinced her to go running Sunday morning when most of us were still inside avoiding the weather. How great is it when athletes can recognize and appreciate the talents of their rivals. Harvey Blonder (ST-coach) chimed in that he appreciated the comparison of handoffs I posted from the Class D meet because it helped illustrate some of the points he's been covering in practice. Glad to be of help!

It seems like every week I hear about a new trackster coming into the world. The latest on the list is Emma Katherine Kates. Congrats to Livvy and Rick?

I'm sorry to hear that Farrah Beach will not be working at the Free Press much longer. We appreciated her coverage and wish her well in her new venture.

I try to be apolitical but I have to make mention that daughter Emily found herself inauguration night talking with Hillary Clinton. They both ended up at the same party and Em wasn't going to miss the chance to spend some time with her.

It might be a quiet week but there is a lot going on next weekend. Come back and visit.