We are geared to immediate results. It's also really frustrating for those kids that do work really hard at a long-term plan, like I did, when you get beat by kids that are hardly doing anything by comparison. But as a junior you often lose sight of the big picture. If someone is thinking about being in Salt Lake in 2002 or wherever in 2006 you've got to focus on the long-term. You can't worry too much about this H.S. race or that Junior Nationals.
Every elite athlete knows the importance of parents in their development.
It seems like most people only start to appreciate their folks after they've left home. My Dad went to every Nationals until I was about 22. As a junior my parents were great. They were entirely supportive. So much so, in fact, that they'd actually go out and do a lot of the workouts with me when I was training on my own.