Ralph Waldo Emerson

One reason I enjoy running alone on secluded trails is that it provides me with the opportunity for thought.  Today's opportunity came with a 5+ mile run along the Abington Rail Trail.  No other runners, no cars, no walkers, no dogs, no sounds really . . . just the trail.  The perfect environment for contemplation. One thought leads to another and before you know it you're done.  Today's chain of thought went something like this . . . I started thinking about our upcoming schedule with a focus on the Amherst Invitational.  Entries include 8 Boys teams and 8 Girls teams which qualified for the All-State Meet last year.  They are all still quite strong and like us, hope to get to Westfield this year. One of those teams is Concord-Carlisle, a perennial powerhouse.  Concord reminded me that I have not yet run this summer at Walden Pond which I drove past a few weeks back and promised myself I would return.  Walden Pond caused me to recall poets Henry David Thoreau and Ralph Waldo Emerson who each for a time, resided at Walden Pond.  Many years ago I studied the works of both and I recalled how often each is quoted (more often than not inaccurately.) Then, wondering how our team would fare against teams like Concord-Carlisle, I asked myself which quotes would apply to the current training level of our team and how that will play out during the entire season. I remembered one such quote which I can now attribute to Emerson (I was admittedly unsure of whose quote it was or how it was phrased precisely) which would relate to those who have not been running as much as they could or should have this summer.  The obvious meaning is that it is too late to change the past, put your focus on today. The quote is as follows:

Finish every day and be done with it. For manners and for wise living it is a vice to remember. You have done what you could; some blunders and absurdities no doubt crept in; forget them as soon as you can. To-morrow is a new day; you shall begin it well and serenely, and with too high a spirit to be cumbered with your old nonsense.

 While locating the foregoing quote I came across another Emerson quote which relates more to our coaching/training approach this season during which we want you all to realize your own potential and capabilities,

"Treat a man as he is, and he will remain as he is. Treat a man as he could be, and he will become what he should be." 

 You will be pushed this season, know that.  But also know that we want you to be the best you can be and we will do everything in our power to insure it. Thirteen days and counting . . .