Better than YOU used to be!

I have been reading a book for the last few weeks about what it takes to be Great!  Amazingly enough, it talks a lot about HOW WE CHOOSE TO LOOK AT OUR SITUATIONS...OUR MOMENTS!  Do we worry, doubt, and have fear about the things we are pursuing?  Even when it comes to simple things like running?  We often compare ourselves with each other too much, or with the last time we ran it, or if we ran with certain people, or well enough in our minds.  And, you need to know, that it is ok to want to get better, to pursue getting faster and working with your teammates, to help get EACH OTHER there!  But the first step to REALIZING that it is all POSSIBLE, is to CHOOSE TO LOOK AT THESE MOMENTS AS ANOTHER CHANCE TO IMPROVE...not being scared about what MIGHT happen...but to Focus on thinking, doing, acting, and being your BEST!  ATTITUDE!  Instead of looking at your teammate as your competition, look at them as an extension of yourself, because when we finally get out there and compete, WE NEED EACH OTHER!  Look to bettering YOU from where you have started...and that doesn't mean that every run or race, you have to get a faster time (life doesn't always work that way), but YOU will definitely know, when you cross that finish line, or that long run, or whatever type of run it might be, THAT YOU DID WHAT WAS REQUIRED, AND POSSIBLY EVEN MORE, by having a Great ATTITUDE! By being Better than YOU used to be!  This is one of those weeks where we start to separate ourselves...not because we don't want to be with each other, but those who are really committed, decide to keep showing up to practice (but with a renewed desire to better themselves and each other), they communicate regularly with Coaches about situations (their running, their schedules coming up, etc), they understand that what we ask of them, is for the BEST reason possible, they make the little sacrifices of what is asked of them from things like the Run Vivo Project, they go out of their way to check on each other and compliment each other, they do what the Coaches ask of them, because they have asked "why" so that they can learn, they DO what is required...EVEN WHEN COACHES AREN'T THERE!  You see, Running summer miles is not an advantage, but all the items listed above ARE! Let's CHOOSE to have Great ATTITUDES and keep moving forward!
You need to understand that time is going by faster than we imagined (even though it hasn't sped up in any way!)...HARC considerations are just around the corner (less than 2 weeks)!  There are 3 things that we look at really hard to make HARC such a special place.
1. You must be on track for 500 miles for the summer, which means that dailymile is up to date and your mileage is above the required amount (this still does not guarantee you are in, but it is the first thing we look at).
2. We then look at your attendance at practice and/or your communication with Coaches about your schedule!  There is no substitute for improvement than running with your Teammates! There is also no way that, we as your Coaches, can know if you are capable and ok to run the intense HARC runs, without being physically at practice and doing the full runs.
3. We then look to see if the person is truly capable of doing HARC (ability and for Safety!).  This is not about leaving people out...HARC IS THE MOST SPECIAL THING THAT WE OFFER IN OUR PROGRAM...so it is not about favorites...but it is definitely about EARNING it and sometimes, that just means it requires the BEST from you.  If you haven't been giving your Best to do these 3 things, then you probably know the outcome. 
With that all said...NEVER, EVER, STOP TRYING!  Always Believe that it is worth the effort to be your BEST! It doesn't matter if you got a late start, or if the obstacles seemed way too high...YOU REALLY ARE THE REASON WE HAVE THINGS LIKE HARC AND THIS PROGRAM!  So, keep working hard, keep wanting...make this week Amazing...with unbelievable ATTITUDE!