Thanks so much for posting! Coach Gartland is my former middle distance coach and a good friend to me. He is a class act!
My very first college track practice as freshman (obviously) he chewed me out pretty good - for passing a kid on the inside on the rail of a final repeat in practice. Note to self: Don't pass your teamates on the rail in practice months before the start of the season...
For the record I might have been yelling back at him - don't really recall how that went, but I was fired up. lol
Agreed. I was one of those guys who didn't realize my best days as a runner until after my ISU eligibility had run out, but Coach Gartland's involvement was one of the reasons I eventually came around. He wrote great workouts and was an even better motivator.
I owe a debt of gratitude to Coach Gartland and Coach McNichols for letting me hang around and train with the team for a few extra years, even though my time as an "official" team member had expired.