We could spend hours and days, trying to get you excited and motivated for the “ADVENTURES” ahead (and we will always keep helping you get and feel ready for the MOMENTS coming), but when you are in that “MOMENT”, it is what matters to YOU that will get you through anything! How much you are honestly willing to give, fight, or do, is a decision you GET to make and hopefully have been training your mind to CHOOSE the “Road Less Traveled!” (Read last weeks blog).
For Region this week, we will have you ready…ready to run, be fast, know what strategy will be most effective…but what matters most, is what you are willing to do for YOU…for YOUR TEAM! Only YOU can decide what you are willing to give and how much BELIEF YOU are willing to go after at this race! How much discomfort are you willing to go through? How much do YOU realize “that discomfort” is for only a short moment in time and the chance to fight or work through the whole race will last FOREVER!
So, spend this week building yourself up! Reminding yourself that YOU are worth it! That we have worked very hard to not only run our BEST and FASTEST, but to take a chance on ourselves…on EACH OTHER!
With all the things going on in life, we sometimes "MISS" the beautiful things that CHANGE US! We don't realize the MOMENTS we have IMPROVED ON and the chance to take the ROAD LESS TRAVELED! Not because we have to or need to be different, but because our HEARTS long for doing the right thing...the LITTLE THINGS THAT MATTER! Helping someone and making them SMILE...looking back and seeing the improvement you have made...taking the CHALLENGE and looking forward to it instead of dreading or worrying "IF" or "WHAT" could happen (make it happen!)...working on your perspective and realizing that ATTITUDE changes the perspective!...doing your best to be prepared, but ENJOYING AND BEING IN THE MOMENT!...
We all have MOMENTS that doing the LITTLE THINGS have changed us! Just don't let life pass you by without realizing that having a BALANCE of...
ENJOYING...CHALLENGE...PERSPECTIVE...TOUGHNESS...SOCIAL...INTELLECT...CONNECTION...we will miss out and "WALK RIGHT ON BY" the things that matter!
We believe that RUNNING has helped (and will keep helping), all of us find this balance and discover the ROAD LESS TRAVELED!
You may not always realize it or even see it...but we are sure that most of you have FELT it at times...but we, your Coaches absolutely care about you! It may be hard at times to make sure every single one of you knows that your thoughts and feelings about running, school, life in general are heard, but we try really hard to let you know that we see/watch you and hear you often. We talk with you at practice, on the bus, at warmups, at the starting line, cheer for you, talk after your runs, after your races...we witness the ups and the downs that you all face! We see the smiles, the heartache, the tears, the sweat, the desire, the missed chances and we just want you to know that we really do understand! WE HAVE BEEN THERE (we still are in our own challenges), WE HAVE FELT IT, WE HAVE LIVED IT (once again, we are still living it!)! We just want you to realize the greatness that we see in each of YOU!
These 2 words kept sticking with me as I thought of where we are at as a Team and where we still want to go! PURPOSE AND PEACE!
If we have a PURPOSE...it give more meaning and reason for "working through" any type of situation or moment! Just simply stating what you are trying to accomplish that day (at practice), or getting to bed earlier, or at a race...saying and knowing what you are doing it for gives YOU a much deeper power to overcome obstacles and less likely to waiver in the moment of distress or when it gets hard (and we know that IT DEFINITELY GETS DIFFICULT...no getting around that)! So having a REASON, a PURPOSE every day for what you want to accomplish, gives you meaning and a drive that you might be missing! Look at the schedule and whatever the work out is that day, decide what your PURPOSE is for that day and make it happen!
PEACE! As we talk with many of you, we notice that every now and then, it doesn't seem to go your way and our first instinct is to be too hard on yourself! First of all...we are simply RUNNING! Sure, we hope that it matters to you and that you don't think that running isn't a big deal, but it's just running! What really matters are the EFFORTS that you put in every day...the DETERMINATION to give even when you don't think you can or sometimes even when you don't want to...the CHANCE TO IMPROVE is more important than whether you actually did improve that day! It is hard for us sometimes to see you frustrated and upset when a race doesn't go your way or when you feel alone or you feel like you are just going through the motions...REALIZE THAT YOU MUST FIND PEACE IN THE PROCESS! Be excited and happy for the things you have done...maybe it is even as simple as you are still here trying instead of being done! Finding that PEACE with your PURPOSE will give you the CHANCE to BECOME something you never knew possible! This is why we admire YOU...this is why we keep doing this...YOU ARE THE REASON WE HAVE A PURPOSE AS COACHES and why we care! Find some deeper PURPOSE AND PEACE this week and you will be amazed with the outcome!
As I sat here thinking of this week and the summer, and the race, and the things to look forward to, I couldn't help but FEEL this one word...ADMIRATION!
We know it is not easy in this World, let alone in Running (and school, work, life, etc). But we also know that being a part of this Running program is an absolute DIFFERENCE MAKER! Not just because we have had great success in the past, and have high goals/expectations...but because we CHOOSE to surround ourselves with such GREAT PEOPLE and do HARD THINGS Together!We look at you, and watch you and can't help but feel blessed and excited to keep helping you, to see you overcome your obstacles, to want to keep getting better...that is part of the recipe for success in LIFE!
We admire your determination, to see the good in you, to be upset with "down" performances or days but get back up and see the "LIGHT" and move forward! To work through the "distractions" of life and believe (AND TRUST), that there is GREAT THINGS AHEAD!
We see this in YOU and we just wanted you to know that we notice it and YOU matter to US! YOU guys are absolutely amazing to us and we don't say this to get too confident but WE SHARE THIS WITH YOU SO YOU GAIN MORE CONFIDENCE in what we see in YOU! And to realize the GREATNESS in YOU!
