Five things . . .

 you may never hear me say . . .

1.  Run through the pain.  Quite the contrary in fact.  One of the first things I ask before practice and the last thing I ask at the end,  "Any injuries I should know about?"  Injuries happen.  We all know that.  But if you have an injury that in any way adversely effects your ability to put in a 100% effort, I want to know about it. Occasionally, I can make a suggestion to correct the problem, or rest you to allow for recovery.  But more often than not, I'll direct you to our trainer, Nick DeCastro (and he is a good one!)  Other times I'll suggest you speak with a parent and possibly seek medical attention for persistent injuries and/or illness. Then there is the rare occasion where none of the foregoing is a fix and I seek advice from other sources (AD, Guidance, etc.) before making a recommendation.  I can't remember suggesting an athlete ignore a problem.  While CARE  is part of my job description, WORRY  is not.  Nonetheless . . . I WORRY about you.

2.  Your goals are unrealistic.  I was very lucky to be raised in a supportive environment.  I was never pushed, always encouraged, scolded when appropriate, and consistently reminded I could attain anything for which I was willing to put in the effort.  In our sport, you set the bar.  We ask about your goals and do what we feel is necessary and appropriate for you to accomplish them.  We share the good and bad days with you and try to keep things in a very positive light.  We always remind you that what you do is hard work.  And we provide every opportunity for you to improve, succeed and excel in distance running.  We feel there is nothing you are incapable of achieving.

3.  I'm disappointed with your race. OK, honestly, I am, at times, disappointed with the effort, the results, the demeanor, the excuses, but I never need to express that.  There are two primary reasons for this.  First, you know my expectations for you before you run.  You know what I believe you are capable of and we plan our training with that in mind.  Now that doesn't mean I won't react to those situations that require intervention.  That's part of the job.  Second, because you know what is expected, you don't need me or anybody else to tell you that you fell short of  those expectations.  I always knew when I didn't do my best.  I suspect you do too.  

4.  You have to work harder.  On any given day there may be dozens of reasons for under-performing.  I understand that.  What we ask from you is to set aside those thoughts and feelings which may have you feeling out of sorts and simply "do your best."  The coaches establish the training intensity level each day.  When you follow the plan, you're working hard.  In retrospect, running provided me with a diversion from anything that weighed on me or troubled me.  It gave me perspective and put order in my life.  As a result I was able on most days to put 100% into my workout knowing I'd soon be returning to those other daily tasks.  Oddly enough, when I got back to those tasks, the same effort continued and resolution followed closely behind.

5.  Forget about failure.  Following yesterday's meet, I found myself looking for answers.  Along with a theme for today's blog entry I found the answers in a short article which can be found here: https://betterthansuccess.com/5-reasons-why-failure-leads-to-success/#:~:text=5%20Reasons%20Why%20Failure%20Leads%20to%20Success%201,like.%20...%204%20Courage.%20...%205%20Growth.%20

The article points out the positive side of not getting the job done.  I needed that.  While the article may have more than its fair share of cliches, they seem appropriate and in this case, they work.  Today, we move on and get ready for next week, grateful for the opportunity.

See you at 2:30 . . .