It’s been a long time since my Last Post. When I started this endeavor, I told myself I’d make at least one post a month, unfortunately it hasn’t worked out that way. However, there’s good reason I haven’t made more frequent posts. I’ve been working on my coaching skills and studying some of the finer points of race craft. My goal was to improve my racing knowledge and convey this newfound knowledge to Enabran. Fortunately, my efforts and Enabran’s hard work have paid off. As you may know, our home track is the Little99 go Kart track in Stockton CA. When Enabran started driving his x30 Tony kart, about 2 years ago, his average lap time was around 45 seconds, more than 10 seconds off the ideal lap time. In the last four months we’ve reduced his lap times to ~34 seconds, with his best time at 33.5 seconds. The reduced lap time isn’t just a byproduct of my coaching skills but a significant improvement in Enabran’s ability to follow directions. I think a few things contributed to his ability to follow directions. The first is his desire to compete against other drivers. He has been pushing himself harder to keep pace with a more advanced drivers. He seems to use competitive engagement on the track as a means of social interaction. Also, I picked up a device called a RaceBox. The RaceBox mounts on his go-kart and tracks lap times, speed, path around the track, and a variety of other metrics. The results from each session can be displayed on a mobile device for review. The intuitive graphics and informative data are easy to interpret. After each session, Enabran and I review the data from the RaceBox over drinks and snacks. Enabran has become more receptive to criticism and is implementing constructive comments. Lastly, Enabran is maturing as an individual and has started asking questions pertinent to his future. I know it’s only driving a go Kart but every advancement in his cognitive abilities adds to his quality of life.
