The Summer of 2014 is upon us and as you know, that means 100+ degree weather. Summer pool parties. Summer snow cones. Summer sleep ins. Summer naps. Summer Volleyball. Summer fishing. Summer jobs. Summer trips. Summer school (for some). Summer BBQ's. Summer Soccer. Summer SAC camps. Summer babysitting. Believe it or not, your summer can be all of that, plus more. Imagine coming back to school from an awesome summer of the above activities, plus one more: Summer wickedly-hard core-certified-XC-bad (shut your mouth)! For me and our team, it means training, training, and more training. Six days a week. Summer is when champions are made or held back. As the great Yoda once said: "Do. Or do not. There is no try." Many of you know about my belief that the Karate Kid movie holds all, and I do mean ALL of life's lessons in a 126 minute synopsis. If you did not know that, just spend a day with me. Here is a snippet of knowledge from Mr. Myagi as an example: I am a firm believer in this philosophy for excellence in Cross Country running. "Walk on road, hm? Walk left side, safe. Walk right side safe. Walk middle, sooner or later [squish]. Get squish just like grape. Here, XC same thing. Either you do XC "yes" or XC do "no." You do XC "guess so," [squish]. Just like grape. Understand?" The reason why I believe so is two-fold. First, if you do not buy in 100%, you will NEVER reach your potential, and you will let yourself and your team down. Second, if you do XC "guess so," and skip some steps such as summer training, you will get injured by pushing too hard.
Your Summer of 2014 should become the Summer of Commitment. Commit 100% to the program and to your teammates. Hold each other accountable. Become responsible for your training as well as others. To reach our goals, we must have EVERYONE on board. I know it is easy to slack off from the training, but that is why you have awesome teammates that will motivate you and encourage you along the way. Our training program takes 4-5% of your day, so there should be no excuses. Get up early to knock it out and enjoy the day knowing you did your part to improve yourself and your team. Reach out to others via text, email, Twitter, FB, IG, snail mail, smoke signals, whatever. If you see them at church, HEB, Jalisco's, the mall, keep encouraging them. Go for runs together when we aren't meeting at the school. I want to see and hear from you this summer. Feel free to comment on the blog. I am hoping to write here regularly, but you know how that goes sometimes. If there is good feedback and dialogue, it will make it much easier to continue this blog and make it worth the effort. I am also available via several channels. You and/or your parents can reach out to me at: 512-784-7774 [email protected] Twitter: Cedar_Creek_XC Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/228788513813698/ |
Coach Stephen MoralesHead Coach for the Cedar Creek High School Cross Country Team. The personal opinions expressed here represent my own and not those of my employer. Archives
October 2014
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