~:[CH14 - Day 122]:~ Just a Second

 
~:[CH14 - Day 122]:~ Just a Second

Sometimes you accomplish what you want and sometimes you fall short. In either case, it didn't mean you failed. Entering into league finals, I always know there will be ups and there will be downs. We were already down with our best girls frosh/soph athlete out due to a family emergency, two more who didn't show up, and a few athletes here and there who were injured. It's part of the territory. Running the meet, there is never a dull moment as I have to make sure that everything is taken care of, but at the end of the day, it's nice to be able to look back at the end of the day knowing the meet went as smoothly as possible. Of course, my meet was complete by the first few events on the track as one of my seniors reached his goal. He told me that since freshman year, his goal was to break five minutes. Most years, he got off to a great start and then faded towards the end with an injury or illness derailing his season. This year, he had a few shots at it, being on pace during the first half of the race, only to fade. With a blistering start, I knew the fast pace might hurt his chances of hitting his goal and he was fading at the end of the race. I watched him pushing through with everything he had as the lactic acid built up and as he crossed the line, I couldn't look at the time. With the last look at my watch, I thought he made it, but it was confirmed when I heard the crowd roar and a few of his good friends screaming out in joy. You root for that person who really wants that goal and works towards it. In practice, his splits showed he should be running 4:50, but when it came to race time, he always faltered. Today, he did not. With less than a second to spare, he crossed that line under five minutes. To some, it may not seem like an incredible feat, but there are only a handful of moments that could match this moment that I could think of off hand. While we had our moments of stress through the night, I celebrated the ups and dealt with the downs, trying to keep the athletes focused until the very end. The girls frosh/soph lightened the load on my shoulders as despite not winning, they did what they needed to do to secure the league championships, nearly knocking off the top team despite the loss of about 30 points from the missing athlete. I wish a few more people qualified, but that is part of the sport as mere seconds separate those who qualify and those who do not. In the end, these athletes will remember these moments that for some will be just a race that lasts for seconds, but they will be a trophy on their mantle that they can tell stories to their grandchildren about in the distant future. You don't fail when you don't PR, you don't qualify, or even if you don't finish; you can only fail when you quit, you don't put in the work, or you don't even give it a shot. Most people think that someone who finishes last should just have quit since they didn't have a chance to win, but those who put themselves out there knowing that are truly winners in my book. They don't get discouraged and they put themselves out there to see what they got. There are many seconds in our lives, let's be sure to give ourselves a shot with those seconds and instead of second guessing if we're good enough, we should just put ourselves out there and give it our best shot. A little freshman four years ago wasn't sure if he'd ever get there, but today he did and I hope that you can as well.