I really want to tackle the subject of integrity and the importance of sticking to your goals. As a long distance athlete more than half the requirement of our sport is being mentally tough, staying focused and prioritizing what's most important. I've seen a lot of my old teammates and friends who I used to run with fall off the bandwagon because they stopped focusing on their goals.
One of my favorite sayings is:
The difference between who you are and who you want to be is what you do.
This is so true and can be applied to any aspect in your life. If you want to be the strongest, fastest, best athlete that you can possibly be you have to act like it. Skipping practice, doing the bare minimum, having a bad attitude, and not prioritizing your goals will get you nowhere in the long run. In high school I used to get so frustrated with myself when I didn't meet my expectations. I expected myself to always place in the top of every race and always be standing on the podium. When this didn't happen I would beat myself up over it and psycho analyze the race to figure out what went wrong. My old coach used to pull me aside after those bad races and tell me, "Ten minutes. You only get 10 more minutes to be upset but then I need you to focus on the next race."This advice has gotten me through this current cross season so far. Yes I'm a little out of shape. Of course I'm not running the times I used to before my injury. Yet. Obviously I'm pretty dang sore from our Monday workouts. Am I where I want to be? Not yet. Am I going to beat myself up over it and cry because I'm not easily accomplishing my goals? ABSOLUTLY NOT.
But I'll tell you what I'm going to do. I'm going to maintain a positive outlook. I'm going to stay focused. I'm going to put my health first and stay true to my training. If there is anything in my life that isn't setting me up to accomplish my goals, I'm going to get rid of it; toss it in the trash. I'm going to surround myself with athletes who are strong and fast and have the same goals as I do. I'm going to come to practice to deliver and contribute.
In long distance running you very rarely get results immediately. It's a process, if you want to run a marathon you train up to a year in order to be healthy and fit enough to run that distance. If you are going to race a marathon you train for YEARS to build up the endurance, speed, and base needed to not only finish the 26.2 miles, but race them as well. I like to look at my running career the same way, especially after coming back from this major injury. It's a process. It takes focus, patience, hard work, and smart training to get to where you want to be. And I'm going to trust the process because my goal isn't to be as fast as I was before I broke my leg. It's to be faster.
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