Instead of asking "Why are you running,"...because YOU are obviously running, we felt it was more appropriate to ask, what is it that YOU are Running Towards?
It appears easy enough to set some goals in the beginning, but sometimes things just don't seem as "smooth" as we assumed they would be (notice, we didn't say "easy"...we all understand that work, some sacrifice, picking yourself up, were all going to be part of it! At some point, WE must realize that in the daily grind of doing this day in and day out, that getting back up when we struggle, that being a part of something bigger (like this Team), that choosing to see what you are Running Towards...that is what allows us to keep going, to want just a little more, to keep doing the workout even though you may have felt like sleeping in...to take a step back sometimes (see the great things you have done, soak it in, and then start up again), to believe that in the end...
IT IS ALL WORTH IT!
I recently read a very profound quote by someone that really reminded me of what makes Running to US, so special. We tend to look at others, each other, and compare. We think that someone has extraordinary talent, well beyond your own, and that there is no way YOU will ever become "that!" Sure, there are people with more talent than US, but that does not make them extraordinary! What we need to realize is that ALL OF US ARE ORDINARY! Being human is an ordinary thing...we are all made similar, we all have similar opportunities, we all struggle, we all love doing well, etc! So what makes something "ordinary" become "EXTRAORDINARY?" IT IS SIMPLY A CHOICE! We are ordinary people CHOOSING to do EXTRAORDINARY things with what we have been given! That is what separates the GREATS from the goods. That is what allows even the back of the pack runners to experience bliss by improving MINUTES off their times...to help the varsity level runner realize that the Little Things (times, attitude, perspective, each other), are combined TOGETHER to make something just ordinary (LIKE RUNNING), and make it EXTRAORDINARY!
So...we ask YOU to remind yourself about what it is YOU are really Running Towards? Take that "ordinary" Moment (of getting to practice, showing up when you're tired, encouraging someone else, getting back up, taking a step back if needed to reset, to go a little farther than last time...etc!), and make is Extraordinary, simply by CHOOSING to make it that way! Running in the mountains this last week, with no technology/service, I was reminded that the BEST way to make this running thing EXTRAORDINARY, is to simply just ENJOY what I was doing...it didn't matter how fast I went...I just went...and I loved being able to do just that!
Extraordinary results require much patience on our part--and a couple other things,too! There is a long chain of moments along the way to anything extraordinary. Many of the moments are almost too hard while we are in them, but they also create a memory that fuels our pursuit of the extraordinary. We simply can't have one without the other. The key to extraordinary is to realize that past extraordinary results are the new ordinary for us...yikes! That means we can't rely on what worked last time to construct our new extraordinary result. We must modify and tweak last year's great habits and practices and attitudes, etc., so we are just a little bit uncomfortable physically and mentally as we run towards our next extraordinary result. The short version...if we want to run a sub 16 minute 5k, we can't train for a sub 18. We will get what we train for!!! So, make the adjustment--build on what was extraordinary for you in the past and create your new extraordinary!! We believe you all have a new extraordinary moment ahead of you...run after it!
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