High School

Remember the high school swim team? Track or cross country?  Softball, baseball, football, soccer?  Whatever sport it is that you participated in- you remember how it made you feel?  The practices, the meets and games- and bottom line- how incredible you were at it?!  At the time, we didn't think much of it, we strove for more, wanted to be faster, better.  We looked up at the college athletes, the pros, the Olympians, and we dreamed of more.  The truth is, we were awesome!  Most of us better than than we would ever be again.  A few got better in college, and even less than that went on to continue improving.  All of us, every one, took it for granted. :)

That realization struck me tonight as I finished out an hour long run.  In the last minutes of my treadmill trudge, I cranked up the speed to see what I could do.  I let it go until 8.6 mph, a point where my turnover was far faster than usual.  I could have probably gone faster, but didn't want to hurt myself because I was sure I would have face planted on the treadmill.  As I was moving, I tried to figure out how quick I was going, and got a general idea and thought, "wait, I'm going faster than that- I have to be..."  I scrolled through my options and hit pace:  that's right, your math is correct, 6:58 minute miles... and I did it for a whopping two minutes.  HA!  In high school, I ran a sub 6 minute mile, it wasn't under by much, but it was under 6 minutes.  Now, I ran 2 minutes at a slower pace and was so impressed with myself!  HA! (again) :)

Every day, we need to look at ourselves and give a compliment, because we're good, damn good, at what we do.  Have we been better?  Probably, but that being said, we are good because of what we do, not how fast we do it or what place we come in.  Look at any comparisons that you may hold, and giggle, but then continue to strive for the best.  You can admire the pro's, dream of being on Olympian, but in the meantime, keep going, keep doing what you do, because in this moment, and every other, you are awesome at what you do.