Confession: Sometimes when I sit down to write my column I don't know what I'm going to write about until it's done. Before that, I will struggle for an idea, sifting through all my options. I could write about the latest big news, but this week that would be a couple of track meets I wasn't able to attend.

I could rant about one of my pet peeves, but I only have a limited number of peeves, all of them written about. I don't mind cycling them occasionally, but I want to wait a respectable length of time to allow my readers to forget the last rant.

I could travel down memory lane, but there's only so many times you can beat a dead horse before it starts to stink.

It's not like I've been completely wasting my time instead of shaking the bushes for stories. Some of you may recall that I do a little bit of coaching on the side. We just got through our state championship, and our team banquet. I helped organize a run this weekend for our local club. That was a handful. Spending all those hours under the beating sun that was absent for most of the Midwestern track season drained me completely.

Bits and pieces of thoughts keep floating into my fingers. I keep coming back to something that slipped out of my mouth at our team's season-ending banquet. "It's not about the running, but about the person that running helps you become."

That's one of the truest ideas I've ever come up with, and one that gives me a mission now.

I was never a stud runner. Talentless I came into the world, at least in running terms. The proof: I still have not encountered any able-bodied male with a slower 100-meter lifetime best (14.1). I worked my tail off, had a couple of good seasons, and have spent the many years since then battling a dizzying number of injuries, all of them subtle messages from a kind God that I should move on and leave running behind.

Blame Tom Reason, a one-time Division III decathlon champ, for asking me to coach. I have alternately thanked and cursed him for the invitation. I have never been involved in any pursuit that has involved more passion, heartbreak, depression and excitement. It has unlocked my inner bipolar demon. Yet I never saw that, never dreamed of it happening that way for my coaches when I was younger. I only saw myself, and the world I was making for myself through my running.

That's all I ask from my runners. They don't need to see where I'm coming from. They need to see where they're going. Few tools are as effective as running in building self-esteem, and in demonstrating that they will get out of life what they put into it. This is one sport where success doesn't depend on whether the ball is passed to them, or whether the coach lets them off the bench. It comes from within, and the role of the coach is to unlock that vision.

Yet not all of my charges believe in themselves enough to see that investing effort in this pursuit will pay off. Not all of them are open to the lessons that are taught with every run. I lose some. Just as the greatest teachers in the world can't reach every kid, for many I am not able to shake off what they have learned from society over the years: that they are not worth the effort.

I would give up, except for the fact that sometimes I win some. One of my athletes wrote this to me recently: "I want to be able to impact lives the way that you have impacted me." To be honest, reading something like that is better than any paycheck.

Over the weekend, I encountered for the first time "The Paradoxical Commandments," a set of rules to live by, penned more than 30 years ago by Kent Keith. Some find them banal, but there's something about them that rings true if you are in the right place in your life.

I saw these commandments on a classroom wall, and read them with great interest. "People really need help but may attack you if you do help them. Help people anyway," reads No. 9. Coincidentally, an hour later, I head someone in a commencement address recite the same words (attributing them to Mother Teresa, as is often and incorrectly done).

Coaching running is not the same as changing the world, but if it can change a few people's worlds -- and inspire them to change a few other people's worlds -- then maybe it's worth it.

Next week, maybe I'll get back to writing about track. For now, I kind of enjoy not knowing what to write about. For those of you who need a track fix now, read on.

Golden West lets high schoolers shine
For nearly 70 years, the Golden West Invitational in Sacramento has been bringing together some of the best preps in the nation for postseason competition. And since very often the best high school track stars are big fish in small ponds, when they come together, the resulting performances jump to a new level.

One of the best high school sprint doubles ever came last weekend as Brendan Christian of Texas blasted 10.20 in the 100 and came back with a 20.1 in the 200. Behind him in that 100, Ivory Williams of Beaumont hit 10.27, a national sophomore record.

Another Texan, Kelly Willie, won the 400 in 45.52. Chris Lukezic of Washington ran the fastest prep mile of the year, 4:06.84. Bershawn Jackson of Florida cruised 35.66 in the 300 hurdles.

Colorado's Megan Kaltenbach won a great 3200m duel against Laura Ziegle, winning 10:03.35 to 10:11.45. Oregon's Jacob Gomez won the boy's race in 8:52.74 on the strength of his big kick.

Jeff Skiba, the one-legged high jumper we wrote about a couple weeks ago, jumped 6-10 for fourth as North Carolina's Jesse Williams won with his 7-4.

Erica McLain won both horizontal jumps, 20-3 and 42-10. Michelle Carter, daughter of NFL (and shot put) great Michael Carter, won the shot at 53-0. Meanwhile, California's Chelsea Johnson just missed a national mark in the vault with her 13-6.

Texan Ashlee Williams ran a nation-leading 13.57 in the 100s, and came back to nearly win the battle of the Ashlees, finishing a hundredth behind the 42.36 of Californian Ashlee Brown in the 300 hurdles.

Distance meets in Minnesota, Michigan
The Minnesota Distance Classic produced some nice four-lap performances. Notre Dame's Luke Watson clocked a 4:00.68 for the mile, and Carrie Tollefson produced the fastest 1500 ever in the state, 4:10.88.

At the Midwest Distance Solution in Hillsdale, Michigan, NCAA 10,000 champ Boaz Cheboiywo ran 13:46.92 for 5000, and Matt Groose won the 800 in 1:48.55. Paul McMullen ran third in 1:51.98.

Hammer records at West Point
The still-developing hammer event saw Anna Norgren-Mahon break the U.S. record twice during the Holmdel Invitational at West Point last weekend. First, she threw 233-2 to add more than a foot to Dawn Ellerbe's old record of 231-8 from 2001. Then in the final round she went two better, popping a 235-0.

European road trip
A few Americans have already hit the European circuit, a trip most don't make until after the USA Champs, set for June 21-23 at Stanford. In Seville, Nick Hysong won the vault at 18-0.5., and the long jump went to Savante Stringfellow with a 26-3.5. Kevin Dilworth placed second with a 25-11.5. Andy Bloom threw third in the shot at 66-2.5.

Another group of Americans competed in Turin, Italy, on the same day. Jerome Carter ran 49.28 for second in the 400 hurdles. Chryste Gaines took second in the 100 (11.29), and Sandra Glover copped another second in the 400 hurdles, 55.05. The highlight of the meet came in the 800, where Russian phenom Yuriy Borzakovskiy ran 1:44.25. David Krummenacker ran third in 1:44.58.

Many of the top Americans tuned up for nationals by running at the Oracle meet at Stanford, while some, including Maurice Greene, ran at the Athens Grand Prix.

Regionals are back
USATF has experimented with regional track championships in the past to try to boost club track in the United States. It's a worthy effort, though a little bit daunting. The first weekend in July will see meets in Seattle; Jackson, Mississippi; and New Haven, Connecticut. Two weeks later (July 20), a National Club Championship will be held in Bloomington, Indiana. Club scoring will factor in all the meets, and $500 in travel support will go to the winning regional teams to help them get to Bloomington.

Coming up
The biggest of the high school postseason meets, the adidas Outdoor Championships, will surely produce scintillating performances in Raleigh, North Carolina, next weekend.

Jeff Hollobaugh, former managing editor of Track and Field News, is a regular contributor to ESPN.com. He can be reached by e-mail at michtrack@aol.com.