Kyle Rago

Some of the biggest negatives in my life, that absolutely destroyed me in the moment have turned out to be some of the biggest blessings in disguise. My takeaway: always weather the storm and keep pushing through no matter what. Time lends perspective

@CoachLatnie @ClevesDonogan Woah woah woah - As the coach of a middle distance based school, it is 100% necessary!!!

@ClevesDonogan Absolutely not! But it does help with the drama.

I really think NAIA Track & Field has a better National Meet then NCAA 1 & 2. 🤷🏿‍♂️. More storylines, different schools, no entitlement, closer scores, you even have universities from other countries.

At 10:06am we had our first rail fail of the season! Within 30 seconds of that first failure, we had two more. Rail monster is out to get people this morning!

Heidi Heldt’s progression: FR year 249th at Nationals ➡️ SR year 6th at Nationals. What a transformation!!

How much can low iron hurt you as a runner? Heidi in 2024 averaged 6:13 for our 4x1 mile workout. Last night she averaged 5:24! What a difference one year (and some iron!) can make!

Alarm went off at 5:00am (didn’t sleep all that great) and it is now 9:00am and I already ate the lunch I brought for later … not off to a great start today so we’ll need an afternoon (maybe late morning??) rally!!

Today at practice I learned that my women’s XC team has a fantasy football league. I’ve never been more vested in something that I am not a part of. This will not be the last you hear of the league!

I find it hilarious when I let an athlete borrow my watch and I have to tell them to not save any data. Don’t want them accidentally messing up my strava. I can’t have my watch thinking I am fast all of a sudden!!

People who don’t understand the zipper merge method are prolly the same type of people who think it’s OK to drive in the left lane on the highway no matter what speed you’re going.

@CoachMullikin Miss you sir!!

Here is my running hot take: strava tax doesn’t bother me. I would be completely fine ending a run at 5.98 miles as opposed to doing laps out front to get to 6 total miles. I know this will be unpopular, my team thinks I am a freak for this.

We’re going to see some changes to NCAA track and cross country programs very soon. Today, Washington State announced it will be shifting to a “distance-focused approach” and “field events (e.g., jumps, throws) will no longer be supported, effective immediately, and the number of sprint and hurdle opportunities will be limited moving forward.”

Just the beginning, it is going to get worse!

I played pickleball for the first time today. Nothing like being embarrassed by a bunch of old people at a random YMCA. I swear I use to be athletic 😂😂😂

@NolanJLamoureux @lthsathletics @LockportTrackXC @IllinoisRunNews @MSHeartland_ @milesplit Great job!!!

800m PR 1:52.97 IL#1, US#55, Meet Record

Day of giving for the cross country/track and field teams!!

@baronsunburst Welcome to the big leagues!

I hosted harder than you 🫤

I love when I tell someone what I do for a living and they then proceed to ask of that is all I do. 🤦🏻‍♂️🤦🏻‍♂️🤦🏻‍♂️ I am going to start asking them what they think my job entails.

I need to start recruiting high jumpers from the hobby horse world apparently.

@BrettHespell @pntrack Hespell still using the word boondoggle 21 years later!

@pntrack Gobbledygook! I will commend you on a baroque analysis of some mellifluous words from an expert that has a predilection for pernicious vocabulary creating a complete boondoggle! (Looked most of those up, hope I used them correctly!)

I wrote this a long time ago after listening the podcast of an "expert" in track & field. It took me days to transcribe the podcast and try to define the terms. Reminds me to never accept the "expert" label. trackfootballconsortium.com/the-echo-chamb…

@RunCoachTripp I am bucking the trend then! Love being the HC of both sports!

@Coach_Rago I get the why. Also, 20 years ago, most track and field head coaches were also XC head coaches. The culture of the sport has changed significantly. We are seeing fewer and fewer XC coaches wanting to remain on as Track & Field head coaches.

Woke up this morning on a soap box. At all levels we should decrease how often we are promoting Track & Field and Cross Country as a collective item. They are two completely separate sports. Yes, they both involve running, but so does football and soccer. We need more shirts that say: Football / Track & Field Soccer / Track & Field Basketball / Track & Field