~:[CH11 - Day 267]:~ Overcoming

 
~:[CH11 - Day 267]:~ Overcoming

You already got the sense that today wasn't going to be a PR day. While a few may have actually done just that, most of them did not and that is perfectly fine. For all of these athletes, daily the spend additional hours after school practicing for these moments, they wake up at 5am to get to school to make the bus on time and they go home after a long day of school and practice, to do what they need to do to recover such as icing, stretching and massaging. Whether or not an athlete PRed today, they succeeded. They showed up, they put their best effort forward, they finished and even if they didn't, they tried their best. For the handful that had to sit this one out, they took on their role and they also cheered on their team. Some athletes medaled today and others did not, but the medal also didn't determine the effort they each put forth. It was hot, the course was tough, but these athletes overcame all that and competed. At the end of the day, I think the smile one the bus were because we were sitting on an air conditioned bus heading home and while some of their schoolmates may have just woken up, they already had been out and about for over 1/4 of the day. This year may not have the fastest runners I've ever coached, but it doesn't mean I shouldn't work as hard. In fact, I now am motivated to work harder to try and get them to improve so that they can all progress to that next level and as long as they're putting in that effort, that motivation will remain. My body was definitely exhausted from running around in that hot sun all morning, but just like these athletes, I overcame it and had my own smiles as we drove home. There weren't many PRs today, however for all these athletes overcame today, today was beyond successful.