Hello track season! I don't know about you but I am super excited for this season and what it has in store. With it being another season, you better believe that I have some more lessons to be learned!
I started off my season this week at the Lake Brantley Invitation. Man, can I say that I have missed track meets so much -- the community and competition that it brings. Lake Brantley hosted a wonderful meet with over 32 schools.
After spending my time with my teammates and cheering them on, I ran the 3200 with two of my best friends. I cannot tell you how much I have missed running eight laps around the track as strange as that may seem.
This week's lesson wasn't learned in the race, but after the eight laps of fury. I ended my 3200 with a 12:21 -- not bad, but definitely not what I'm capable of. I finished my race and immediately my teammates and coaches were congratulating me for my performance saying that "you looked awesome out there" and "you ran an amazing time."
While I wasn't disappointed with my race, I wasn't ecstatic either. In fact when my teammates and coaches complemented me I didn't quite understand because in my mind I am "capable of so much more."
That's just it. Constantly our minds tell us that we are inadequate, that we won't achieve our goals. From the fifth lap of the 3200 to the 200 of the 400 to the very beginning of a sprint, jump, or throw, our minds try to limit what we are capable of.
But, I have noticed that, with time and constant training of the mind, your thinking can begin to shift.
Never Settle
This week I finished my race knowing that this season -- regardless of the fact that I am a minute and 20 seconds away from my goal -- I am capable of so much more. I am capable of anything I set my mind to, if I'm willing to pay the price and work for it.
Today, realize that you are capable of so much more than what you run in practice or what you raced this weekend. Realize that the possibilities are endless for you -- with hard work and persistence you are capable of so much more than what you ran, jumped, or threw today.
"If we all did the things we are capable of, we would literally astound ourselves," Thomas Edison. I don't know about you, but how about this season we "literally astound ourselves" because, to me, that sounds like a pretty darn good possibility.
I encourage you to know that you are capable of so much more -- you just have to believe that you are! I'm looking forward to us "astounding ourselves."
As always, run with heart, grit, and the passion to pursue your dreams. - Adair
