Do it or else . . .

Looking back to sports I played in my youth I recall vividly a high school football drill called the board drill.  Two players start in a three point stance at the middle of a 12 foot board, each foot outside the board  The object?  To push the other guy off his end of the board and get him to the ground if possible.

Sounds easy enough.  In the heat of August, back in the day when two a day practices with contact was the norm, it was the drill we hated most.  In one afternoon practice, I was pitted against an upperclassman who was already all-league and outweighed me by a considerable amount. I surprised everybody by staying with him for what felt like a minute or even two, but I think he was toying with me. After tiring a bit, he proceeded to run me out about 15 feet or so and take me down.  My reward?  I got to go again, this time against another upperclassman twice my size.  I lasted about 30 seconds this time before being tossed to the ground.  This continued three more times against opponents I probably would have beaten in my first go around.  Each time I was soundly beaten.  I was, figuratively speaking, dead.  Finally, the coaches put a scrub player up against me, and had a good laugh telling me I'd never see the field if I couldn't beat "Andy."  (I never gave a  thought to how Andy felt hearing that.)  It wasn't easy, but I ultimately prevailed against Andy, after which I walked, in a daze away from the team to a nearby shady spot, literally sick from the experience.  The coaches seemingly didn't give me a thought.  But they'd made their point.  A valuable one at that.

In retrospect, I have no regrets about the path I chose.  At the time I thought perhaps I should return to Cross Country, which I'd run as a Sophomore, but chose to stick with football and even continued playing for a time in local "semi-pro" leagues.  At 28 I finally returned to running, and as most of you know, didn't stop for nearly 50 years. If I have any regret it is that I never really ran competitively.  I loved game day and know that racing, with the possibility of winning, would have been a tremendous experience.  I envy you with that opportunity before you.

These days I am more than content to be an XC coach, and truly enjoy watching each of you grow as runners.  My belief is that you are mature enough to determine at what level you want to compete.  And my promise to you is that I will never discourage you or belittle you if you, like me, never win a race.  What you do is incredible.  It is not easy getting out each day in the heat, in the rain, on days when you could be doing something less difficult.  But I hope you will stick with it.  Train each day with the simple goals of gaining strength and improving. Each day is your board drill.  Hang in there, winning comes in many forms in our sport.  The first, of course, is overcoming that part of you that wants to give up. (The lesson I took from the board drill.)  After you've achieved that, the sky is your limit.

As I write this, you have 58 days and 14 hours until our first formal practice.  And while I won't say, "Do it or else," time is ticking away.  Forewarned is forearmed let's say.  What you achieve in the upcoming season is in your hands.  That should be all the motivation you need . . .