YOU KNOW YOU'RE A COACH:A TOP 10 LIST

"Being a coach is easy. It's like riding a bike. Except the bike is on fire. You are on fire. Everything is on fire."

I've been coaching cross country and track at Lexington High School since 2011.  I love it.  I started as a volunteer and am now the head coach for all three seasons - cross country, indoor and outdoor track.  Funny how that happens.  Is it hard?  Yes.  It is exhausting?  Also, yes.  Is it fun?  I wouldn't be doing it if it wasn't.  Truth?  Not a day goes by where I don't realize how lucky I am that I get to do what I do.  As I drove home from NH last night, I started to think of all the telltale signs that someone might be a coach.  And while I came up with many, I pared it down to the top 10 list that you see below.  I'm not gonna lie, this piece gave me a good laugh.  I have to believe if you do anything similar - work with kids or athletes in some way - that you can relate to most of these.  Mind you, these aren't complaints.  Just the facts.  And I am just out here living the dream.  In my sneakers.  With my coffee.  On Saturday.  

TOP 10 WAYS TO KNOW YOU ARE A COACH

1. Saturday means, well, nothing really.  You probably have to go to bed early the night before because you have a meet the next morning.  And if not, you have practice.  But either way, you're not jumping for joy when Friday rolls around.  And, in reality, you probably haven't had a weekend off since summer, which, in my case, is the only season I'm not coaching.

2. Your main source of sustenance while you are in season is coffee and protein bars.  

3. You spend more time on a bus than you do in your car.  

4. You have two wardrobes.  Regular.  And coaching.  Which, for me, is athleisure (thank the Lord).  You probably have double the amount of clothing in your coaching wardrobe than you do in your regular one.  And let's be honest, you're rarely pulling clothes from the regular wardrobe.   Because who has time for life outside of coaching?

5. You are always cold.  Spring?  Fall?  Doesn't matter.  You're typically standing around for two hours or more essentially not moving.  Wind picks up, sun goes down, rain starts to fall. Boom. It’s over. Don’t fight it. You’re going to end up freezing.  It's just what happens.

6. You are a walking medical kit.  Band-aids, ice packs, tape, antibiotic ointment, tweezers, Advil?  Yes.  If someone needs it, you have it.  

6. Your car is both a locker and a lost and found.  

7. When you go to the store, you get excited about things like clipboards, stickers and fun pens as opposed to anything you might actually need for your life outside of coaching.

8. You consistently repeat yourself to your family and friends despite them not asking you to because you assume they're not listening.

9. You consider blowing your whistle any time you're in a large crowd and need to find someone.

10. You don't answer to your name but any time you hear "Coach" you assume it's directed at you.

Listen to this:

Levitating by Rüfüs Du Sol

RÜFÜS DU SOL · Levitating