Sunday, June 30, 2019

COMMITMENT!!!

This current week is a mandatory moratorium, which means no official practices with coaches can take place from June 30th to July 7th.  You as runners can still meet together and run as a group - it just can't be under the direction of a coach, according to Utah High School Association bylaws.

I chose commitment as a theme for this week because that is what we must do each day in order to achieve success, reach our goals (as individuals and a team), as well as continue to improve the Murray XC program.  This is why it is important.  This is why we train, why we get up every day, why we feel sore and tired (yet stronger every week), why we encourage the mind with positivity, why we sacrifice, why we sweat, why we hydrate, why we go to bed early, and why we are considered "crazy" by most peoples' standards.

We do this because it is a passion!  A passion for running.  A passion for life.  And a passion for becoming something greater than we currently are.  We can all do hard things, we must believe in ourselves, believe in others, and believe we as a team can accomplish many great things.

There was once a middle-distance runner named Roger Bannister.  When he was trying to break the four-minute mile in the 1950s, experts told him it was impossible.  But that didn't stop him.  He failed again and again, but he persisted in trying anyway.  When he ran his historic mile in 3:59:4 on May 6, 1954, he didn't just break a record - he broke the floodgates just by proving it was possible.  Six weeks later, his record was broken.  By now, over 1000 runners have done what was once considered impossible.

You can't let a simple failure derail your mission, or let it take over your brain and sabotage your goals or relationships with your team members. Everyone fails; life isn't supposed to be easy. We have to believe in ourselves, believe that we can accomplish things that may seem impossible to others.  It is through this belief, hard work, commitment, and perseverance in the face of failure that we make the impossible possible, just as Roger Bannister did.

Don't focus on what you think you deserve.  Take aim at what you are willing to earn.  Because you are on your own this week... What are YOU willing to earn?