The pre and early season is always such a great time! It's filled with anticipations and excitement. New "stars" are starting to come into their own.
We had our first meet today and it felt like my first cross country meet in Victoria 32 years ago! I was so anxious for every race. I felt like a kid on Christmas morning unable to savor each gift because of the excitement of tearing into the next one. Most of my thrills come from watching young athletes who may not have been blessed with a great deal of raw talent, work day by day, off- season and in, and then to get to witness them make a breakthrough; that moment when the light come on and they reach a goal. I'm sure that many say to themselves "no one else thought I "could" do it, but I knew I "would." I've seen it happen thousands of times and it's still a rush.
There is, however, a danger lurking around the corner for every breakthrough. That danger is complacency. My college Track Coach, Augie Erfurth, called it "arriving." He would constantly remind us as we reached goals, that as soon as we thought we had "arrived" (found greatness) we couldn't be further away from progress. Progress comes through not just a desire to succeed, but a HUNGER to succeed. It lies within that which we know we MUST have. I have heard countless coaches say to their athletes "you gotta want it!" Assuming "it" is winning, I find that rather odd. Seems to me that if asked if they would rather win or lose most athletes (or breathing humans for that matter) would answer with a quick "duh win." That being the case what makes one finish first and another finish second. The pure talent difference in the one who finishes first and the one who finishes second is typically not that great. Now let me stop and qualify that. Jamaica's Usain Bolt just defeated the best the rest of the world had to offer in 100 and 200 meters at the world championships. He won the 200 by -+ 10 meters! He may be one of the anomalies that are indeed in a league of their own. But for the most part "pure talent" is often similar within the close races. So what separates first and second or 28th and 29th? ... and what causes upsets? Those moments where the one who should have been second (or third) wins the race? I believe that for the most part it is a result of an athlete with hunger; an athlete that knows that they MUST succeed. It is so much more than wanting to reach a goal. Everyone wants to. I want to grow hair, but I'm not willing to go to Hair Club for Men, so I must not really want curly locks all that badly. To breakthrough, the individual must take themselves to a new and unfamiliar, place. Oftentimes one that ONLY THEY believe they belong and one in which they can succeed.
I am one of the luckiest guys in the world. I have had the opportunity to witness countless numbers of young student athletes dare to go to that place. Sometimes they succeed and sometimes they fail. But even in failure they learn something that will help them offer a better effort next time. I suppose it's little like when I play golf. I have heard, and come to agree with the statement that 100% of the putts that I hit "short" will not go in the cup. If the young athlete never goes out on a limb or never dreams bigger than anyone else thinks possible they will NEVER reach what they wish they could have. If they are hungry enough to believe it possible (regardless of what the synics say), who knows...
I'm hungry. Think I'll make me a sandwich. More later.