Being Connected!

As much as I missed you all, it was just nice to do some running up in the mountains, with no need to worry about my pace, or time, or weather (it was hot and then cold, then raining, then hot...pretty much the mood of a grouchy grizzly bear!).  One of the best runs I have had in a long time was a run that was suppose to be a lovely jaunt of a couple of miles to a big rock to jump from into the lake, turned into an amazing run around the mountain lake, weaving in and out of trees, through bushes that soaked my legs from the fresh mountain rain that had just fallen, along a beautiful single-track trail in the Tetons! With all that awesomeness, I didn't even pay attention to how hard or fast (or slow...it depends on how you look at it!), that I was going.  The boys (scouts), were hiking to the rock (2 miles), but I decided I was going to run there and do a little extra...obviously, I got caught up a little in my run, because the run around the lake was an additional 7 miles to the rock (not to mention that I still had 2 miles back to the car and literally ran 3.5 miles just before that run).  None of this mattered until I thought about it a little later (I think it hit me when I decide to jump 30 feet into freezing lake water!)...I actually got to the rock before most of the group did, not even thinking or worrying about my speed, just enjoying the moment in an awe inspiring place! It dawned on my later that I had to have been going pretty fast to make that distance and get there when I did (I even later checked again the mileage maps because I was a little amazed at what I did)!  Now, I don't share this story to talk about my speed (which is obviously still pretty amazing!  Heehee! J/K!), I share it because I had no real cares or worries in the world, and when I found myself in a place (like the Tetons), that seems like heaven to me, my mind and body just WENT!  I was connected to my surroundings, myself, to nature, to the dirt, tree roots, the lose rocks...you name it, I just felt like I could go forever.  It wasn't until later that I thought about the "CONNECTIONS" that we make all the time, especially in running!  Why did that type of setting allow me to just seemingly "FLY" along the path and allow me to just cruise without much stress on my body?  IT WAS BECAUSE OF THE CONNECTION I HAD MADE!  Then it really hit me...the only difference between running in those mountains and running back home, was the LOCATION! Sure, it makes a difference when you love where you are running and it sure helps on the motivation side of things, but truly, the biggest difference was that my ATTITUDE was at its best!  We all need to continue to work on our CONNECTIONS with our running!  Not every run or race may seem to be the best, but if we can CONNECT better with our attitude and allow ourselves to imagine that we are running on a beautiful trail, or with great company, or on a seemingly normal neighborhood road...we really can run any where and do things that we never dreamed possible!  It made me realize that whether you get to go to HARC or not, what matters is where YOU picture yourself, and where you know and believe you are heading!  Make that CONNECTION with YOU, realize that the power is within YOU!  I may have ran really fast on that trail, but the truth is...I can run that fast anywhere...if I will just make that CONNECTION!

P.S. The moment of truth is here.  When we first started HARC, it never seemed very hard to make the considerations for who would be going...it honestly, was a struggle many years to just get our top kids to pull their heads out of the ground and realize the potential...and some of those years we only took 12-14 kids!  I'm still unsure (to some degree), why so many want so badly to go to HARC...I mean, simply put, we run 2 times a day doing runs that last around an hour to hour and half, to cover 3-6 miles of a MOUNTAIN (sounds worth it!)...we have no real means of bathing (WHAT!?)...we sleep in tents for 3 nights (WOW!)...and we could go on...but amazingly, word gets around that it is absolutely worth it all and more (and it is!).  So please, if you did not get to go this year, realize that we had a quite a few people who had the mileage, but we just couldn't take 35 people...so we had to look at age.  If you were a so called "bubble" person (and you know who you are because you have the miles and you have been working hard and doing amazing things), we went took people on the bubble that were seniors and would never get another chance...so you younger ones, can still get your opportunity some day!  WE LOVE YOU ALL...we really do, or we wouldn't go through all of this...EVERY YEAR!  Keep up the great running!

Attitude!

I was recently reminded of a really cool quote that I have heard before...and it just felt very fitting for where we are right now!  "ATTITUDE REFLECTS CHARACTER!"  We could easily add to that with many other words like attitude reflects Heart, or Leadership, or Desire.  The point we want to share is that some of the biggest concerns we have as Coaches are that with so many things today right at your fingertips, We are easily distracted, or discouraged, and we expect immediate gratification for our efforts.  Truthfully, we understand why it is seemingly easy to feel this way, when you are working so hard, and feeling like you are sacrificing so much (which you are in many ways), but if you were to take just a moment and step back a little, and reflect on what really matters to you, and see how far you have come, and really look deep inside...you will realize that GREATNESS takes time, patience, a willingness to do more (not necessarily more as an "amount", but as a reflection of the big picture or the little things you do).  WE constantly remind you of focusing on things that YOU CAN CONTROL while you are running!  We try to remind you to take cleansing breaths, to focus on using your arms, and one of the biggest ones, is YOUR ATTITUDE!  Just the way you look and think about something will drastically affect the outcome!  We share this with you this week, because all the running can seem tedious and "crazy"...maybe you are working so hard to get to HARC, maybe you will get to go, maybe you won't, but what does that say about you and your character if it does or does not happen (read the P.S. section at the end about HARC)!  Maybe you are just trying to improve your speed, but it just doesn't seem to be getting faster...did you ever stop to realize that maybe they are getting faster also and since you are comparing yourself to others, you are missing out on the REAL Transformation happening!  We know that YOU ALL know and understand the POTENTIAL you have as a team, and truthfully, we really want you to know that you have been doing great things...we have seen people get out of comfort zones more than ever, we have seen kids realize that their biggest strength is being with their team, we have witnessed individuals run faster times on the Canyon run (and other runs) and amazingly, we have all these great things happening despite all the many things YOU ALL HAVE ON YOUR PLATES AND SCHEDULES!  It has been really hard for me as your Coach to really help you as a TEAM, know where we stand with YOUR goals, because we can't seem to all get together as much as we would like.  We don't say that to sound negative...we say this to help remind YOU how important it is to stay focused on the things we can control (you can't always control your schedules and all the many great things you do), SO YOU NEED TO FOCUS ON WHAT YOU CAN CONTROL...and that leads us back to the title of the post...YOUR ATTITUDE!  If we can't always get together, are YOU doing all that you can for not only yourself, but your team?  Are you communicating with not just your Coaches, but your Teammates...remember the story I shared at the beginning of the summer about the NCAA National Champion Colorado XC team and how starting in June and all through the summer, they reminded each other that they were working together to be Champs...EVERYDAY!  And it wasn't about putting pressure on each other...they just really cared about doing everything they could, under their control, so that in the end, they knew they did all they could!  Sometimes we feel like we are little behind or "off" a little, so we tend to shut down or tell ourselves, "what's the point", and that is when YOUR ATTITUDE needs to step up and YOUR CHARACTER rings loudest...by simply realizing WHY YOU ARE DOING THIS, AND THAT YOU BELIEVE IN WHAT YOU ARE TRYING TO DO!  We tell you this because even though we are little more than half way done with "Summer Miles", truthfully, we have less than a month before our first RACE!  (August 15 is our race up Settlement Canon and August 20th is the Sugarhouse Race).  Now is the time...no matter what may still be on your schedules, to keep up your strong attitudes and give a little more for YOU and your TEAM!  IMAGINE "IF" ALL OF US JUST FELT THAT DEEP DESIRE TO DO A LITTLE BETTER...SHOW UP TO RUNS WITH A POSITIVE ATTITUDE (even when maybe, you are not feeling to upbeat that day), BUT STILL GIVE A GREAT EFFORT, NOT JUST PHYSICALLY, BUT MENTALLY...WHAT DO YOU THINK WILL HAPPEN?  We believe you can IMAGINE what could happen, so MAKE IT HAPPEN!

I can't tell you enough how much it matters to me, and to us...the sacrifices you make to do this seemingly crazy thing called running!  YOU matter to us (from fastest to the slowest, to the most experienced to our newbies), YOU matter!!!! Why would we keep doing this every year and set this all up, if YOU weren't worth it to us!  Let's make this next week count...and the weeks after that!  

ATTITUDE!

P.S.  HARC: I feel I need to share a few words about HARC and what it really comes down to!  We know that everyone would love to come to HARC, but to keep it as special as it is, we must limit the number of people we bring.  This is not some kind of "good ole boys/girls club" or a "favorites"...we promise all of YOU that we do not take any considerations lightly and that we are here to reward kids, NEVER PUNISH!  We have taken seniors in the past who never thought they could get there, but definitely earned it, and we have left people who should have been there (we left our top girl one year cause she just didn't do the miles...her senior year), because we believe it what HARC represents! We obviously look first at those who ran the miles needed to go to HARC (only exceptions are injuries...which some of YOU may not know about, so don't assume or judge).  Then we look at ability...we know what HARC runs require and HARC is more about toughness and exploring yourself/team, then about mileage or speed!  After that, we look at attendance at workouts/communication with Coaches and AGE!  We will take a Senior who has met the requirements before we take someone who is younger, because they will not get another chance...I mention that, so that some of you who feel like you have definitely put in the time and effort (and some of you have!), realize that You will always be reward for those things...maybe not always right away, but you will!  HARC does not determine whether you are a great runner or even person...so if you get to go, YOU should be very grateful, and if you don't get to this time...don't be discouraged or hard on yourself...because truthfully, there are only a few of you who may be in this position and we know that your attitude and effort WILL BE rewarded...we just don't have enough spots!  In fact, just know that the last 2 years we have accommodated the EFFORT of you kids by taking more than we have ever taken!!!  Please know that we explain this because it matters to us...that we are not trying to create a separation, but that HARC is a special place, and if you really want to get there, it requires the BEST of YOU, and YOU will get there...someday!  Love, Your Coaches!

Break the "ROPE!"

           

              What holds us back?  We ask you this question, because we ask it of ourselves a lot!  For everyone of us, it may be a little different answer...but one thing is for certain, we all have things that are "holding us back" from becoming what we want to become!  I remembered a little story I came across, a long time ago, and it seemed to share how we are feeling, and how much we want to help you!

As a man was passing the elephants, he suddenly stopped, confused by the fact that these huge creatures were being held by only a small rope tied to their front leg. No chains, no cages. It was obvious that the elephants could, at anytime, break away from their bonds but for some reason, they did not.
He saw a trainer nearby and asked why these animals just stood there and made no attempt to get away. “Well,” the trainer said, “when they are very young and much smaller we use the same size rope to tie them and, at that age, it’s enough to hold them. As they grow up, they are conditioned to believe they cannot break away. They believe the rope can still hold them, so they never try to break free.”
The man was amazed. These animals could at any time break free from their bonds but because they believed they couldn’t, they were stuck right where they were.
Like the elephants, how many of us go through life hanging onto a belief that we cannot do something, simply because we struggled at it once before?

Struggling and "falling down" are part of learning; we should never give up the struggle in life, for that is how we truly TRANSFORM!

Now, that is not to say that we have struggles because we are conditioned or lazy, or bad, or we have horrible luck...what we want to help you understand is that LIFE will throw at us, everything it has...the good with the bad, the ups and the downs, and it is up to US to DECIDE how WE will REACT to those moments.  And truthfully, our "reactions" are usually an automatic response (like the rope situation), due to previous situations we have encountered!  Maybe, we need to focus a little more on being PROACTIVE since we obviously know that LIFE is going to hand us these Amazing moments!  How do we know that they are Amazing?...because the only way to truly understand Happiness is to have felt down...to feel like you're on top of a mountain, we must have felt the struggles of "climbing" to get there!...to understand why we RUN and work so hard for something that seems unexplainable, requires sacrifice, sweat, sometimes tears, soreness, planning ahead, more sweat, more tears, and then over time, we start to see a change!  The "running" doesn't necessarily get easier, but it becomes more relevant, it becomes doable, it becomes worth it, it becomes even fun at times (heaven forbid!), and before you really know it, a TRANSFORMATION has taken place.
BUT IT REQUIRES TIME, EFFORT, AND SACRIFICE, and when you do that, YOU look back and see that what held you back at times, was not LIFE throwing obstacles left and right (that will always happen), what held us back are how WE CHOOSE to see those obstacles!  How do you look at the "ROPE" that holds you back?...Look at your own personal situations and DECIDE that maybe if I tweak my perspective, that the so called "rope"no longer will hold be back, but will allow us to reach higher, to truly TRANSFORM into who you are meant to be!  Look at where you have come in your running and continue to see where it is you want to be and

BREAK that "ROPE" 

and make it happen!  It may be hard to "break through", but the decision to PURSUE this, may be all that YOU need to see it differently!  It is WORTH IT!  Break the "ROPE!"

Earn it!

I have always been very fond of this simple phrase..."Earn it!"  Truly, nothing in this life is worth much or valued, unless it is EARNED!  This has been a part of our program for years...in fact, it was a theme of ours awhile ago...and as you know, themes continue to carry over from year to year.  This stood out to me today because of a movie that I watched the end of over the weekend, with some of my brothers and in laws...of course, it being the 4th of July weekend, there were a few war movies on the TV (edited of course!), so even though this movie has nothing to do with running, it has a lot to do with Life and how we choose to make the most of it.  You may be familiar with the story, but it has to do with a group of Army Rangers, that are sent to find an individual who is behind enemy lines because he has lost all of his brothers in the war and he is all that is left of his family.  The Rangers complain as they attempt to find him, deep behind enemy lines, even losing some of their men to find just one person.  Obviously towards the end, they find him only to have to defend a small town and they are heavily out numbered...in doing the bravest thing possible and protect the vital bridge in the town, they literally sacrifice and give their lives because the future of the war is dependent upon that bridge.  In doing so, the leader ends up being mortally wounded and dying, in protecting the bridge and this young man, and he wasn't even suppose to be there...sacrificing lives, even his own, for seemingly ONE person.  What really stood out to me is this part where he is sitting there on the bridge, having helped save the bridge and the young man, and the conflict was over, he tells the young man quietly in his ear, his final words...to "EARN IT!"  Basically pleading with him to make all that the small group had sacrificed for just him, to be worth it...to have made it all count...to "EARN" what was sacrificed for him.  In the end, it shows the young man at a cemetery, no longer a young man, but an older man with kids and grandkids, standing over the Rangers cross, and tells him that he did everything to live up to what he expected of him...that it didn't just affect him...that he didn't just save him, but countless others because of his posterity who were with him! 

Compared to this story, it may seem that the effort we put into running is somewhat small and insignificant...but we are here to tell you that the story in this movie and your story in running are quite similar.  The things that you find out about yourself through running will change you...Transform your life in ways that WILL affect not only YOU, but possibly countless others...We know this because we are living proof of having running Transform us and never did we imagine the PEOPLE who would come into our lives and how much we would share with each other!

GREAT THINGS ONLY COME BY "EARNING" THEM!!!!!!   

So make this week count...make it mean something for the future...work through the tough moments...and Believe in what we are doing...EARN IT this week!!!!  :)