Ok Team — put your arms around the shoulders of your team mates and Huddle In. Heads together. Look to your right – “How’s she doing?” Look to your left – “How’s he doing?” Yeah. Me too. We’re tired. It’s Ok. We’ve been at this training for 13 weeks now. It’s Ok. I’ve got good news. I had a chat with the Coach today (aka Marathon Brian), and I’ve got some info that will pick US up. Huddle in. Let’s Chat.
So here’s the good news……..Coach 🙂 says, “We’ve amassed enough training that if we had to, we could run the Half right now. Today. Liiiike, right now. How AWESOME is that. I told him we were starting to freak out a bit because the race is starting to feel close, and we’re getting nervous. I told him we were sick this week, and missed 4 out of 5 runs. Nerves again! Coach says, Chill. It’s Ok. We’re forgetting one really important thing. The Race isn’t really a Race. I mean, not in the sense that we’re looking to beat anybody. There’s only gonna be 1 winner of the Half, and we’re not gonna be him! LOL (So true!) So, we’ve got to remember that this Race is just a Run. A Run that comes with the capability of bringing tremendous amount of satisfaction simply by having accomplished it. Yeah. HEY! You’re looking like you feel better already. Me too!
There’s more! Coach said not to worry about the missed runs. He said, just move forward and get back in the saddle. Forget last week, like it didn’t happen. YEAH! Cool. We can do that. He said, don’t try to “make up the runs”. Don’t go crazy! Coach doesn’t want us risking an injury and putting ourselves outta the game for good. So, were going to slide back into pace this week, and every day we run, we’re going to feel better and better, more and more like “ourselves again”. Yeah, go ahead and cheer! It’s freaking awesome news!!
Ok, …hold on. Huddle back Team — I’ve gotta share one more important thing Coach said. And you’ve gotta toughen up for this one. It’s a biggie.
Coach said…..this is the point in our training where it could be very easy to just Quit. 🙁 Yeah. Just give it all up, and walk……. away. I know, SHOOT!! My mouth dropped open too when he said it. He said, we’ve gotta steel ourselves against it. Not let all the work we’ve done for the past 13 week just s.l.i.p t.h.r.o.u.g.h. o.u.r. f.i.n.g.e.r.s
Shoot……I had to admit to the Coach….that I actually had that thought this week. Yeah, I said the Q word to him. I had to just admit it, and get it out there, ya know! Get it OUTTA MY HEAD. He didn’t ball us out. NAH, he was supportive. But he said we gotta be careful and not LOSE THIS WHOLE THING. Yeah, he scared the Ba-Jesus out of us. But that’s good, right? It’s better knowing….so we can tighten up and be strong this week. Yeah! That’s what we gotta do!
Ok, one last thing, before we break and GET OUT THERE and POUND SOME PAVEMENT! Coach told me this one last thing. He said that when he put our training plan together, that he pulled the plan for the Above Average Runner. What? Um, roll back the tape and play that slower please. Above Average Runner? Yeah. That’s what he said. He said the plan’s NOT a beginner plan. And well, D@mn that made me feel GOOD. Not just good, but GOOD. Yeah….we’ve been hittin’ it with no apologies, and now we KNOW why it’s been hurtin’. But that’s OK. We’ve been up for the challenge. So, I want to end this Talk with this one thought. COACH KNOWS WE GOT THIS! And he’s been believing in us all this time, waiting for us to build up our belief in ourselves. And we’re there. His parting words today pretty much sums it up…….”Whatever your Mind Believes, Is What’s Gonna Happen.” So, the questions we gotta ask ourselves it this…..What are we gonna to choose to believe?
Ok, now go run some miles, and I’ll see you at the finish line of the Unite Half!
Now…….B.R.E.A K!!!
Ciao for now…….Diane