Most of us, since we are human beings, have days when we are less motivated and days when we are more motivated–motivated to be active, to work hard, to learn, to get tasks done, to feel joy.
For high school runners, the middle of summer summer running can be a bit of a test sometimes. We have been running consistently for several weeks but we are still four weeks away from the excitement of our first practice as MVXC21 on August 9*. Some days the alarm goes off and it’s easy to think, ‘why have I got to do this? I can skip today, right?’ If you feel that way, well…I understand.
But, but…a couple thoughts.
First…perspective. Running at Monta Vista is a ‘get to’ not a ‘got too’. You do not HAVE to do this; if you told your parents that you have decided to skip XC so you can spend two hours more studying math every day, your parents would want to set off fireworks! Running is not a ‘got to’. Running is a ‘get to’…you get to train with other runners every day, you get to see friends how are motivated to do more with their bodies than most people do, you get to feel your own body gain strength and resilience. You get to look forward to a new fall cross country season. You get to be part of a team that went to the Central Coast Section championships every single year during the 2011-2020 decade. And while we are at it (though I know I am venturing into the territory of a parent telling a child to eat their vegetables because there are kids starving somewhere in the world 🙂 ), you get to go to a great school and live pretty comfortably because you have parents who have made the choices and made efforts to make your future pretty bright.
So you can choose your perspective. What you feel at 6:15am when that alarm shocks you awake can be “oh, man, this is early” or “let’s get going! My friends and teammates are waiting!” (To be fair…you can feel both!)
And second…some wisdom from your old coach.
We don’t get to do this forever. You get four years where you get to pull on a uniform and represent your high school. A few of you will be able to continue running for a college team (seven Monta Vista cross and track athletes from the class of 2021 will compete in college), and I hope that many of you are running road and cross races when you are my age. But high school is different. I can still remember the names of all my high school teammates, and the order we placed in our last varsity race together (Mark, me, Ted, Danny, Tony, Jerry and Nabor in case you were wondering 🙂 ). I can still remember my PRs and So I can tell you from personal experience that if you work consistently this summer, and for four years at MV, you will have a lot of good memories, you will feel a lot of satisfaction.
The friendships come from time together with others that are working to improve, the satisfaction comes from knowing you made a commitment and followed through with consistent effort. I think it’s hard to picture the feeling you will have in November after the SCVAL meet, when you reflect back on the five months of running that brought you there. Our juniors and seniors have some memories to fall back upon, but even for you, every season is different…and I imagine that after a year of virtual and major modifications in how we do things, XC21 will be different for us also. My advice is…well, trust me! I value the memories my cross teammates and I made in high school, and the journey we made together, and I know you will also. The effort is worth it, no matter where you end up; the journey and what you put into the journey is the reward.
So let’s get out this week…and the week after…and the week after…and record some miles!
CCS Top 100
The Central Coast Section all-time top 100 track marks have been updated, and Monta Vista athletes are part of the new records. Zoë Wang’s 11’6″ pole vault mark is the 57th best all time in our 150+ school section, while Sylvana Northrop gets on the list twice, with the 73rd best 1600m mark (4:58.62) and the 34th all-time 3200m time (10:37.62). All these excellent marks are also new Monta Vista all-time school records. Both girls will continue to compete in college (Syl at UC San Diego, while Zoë heads to Middlebury College in Vermont). Congratulations, once again, on fine high school careers!
And to Play Us Off…
The Faces’ song, Ooh La La, has been echoing in my mind all week. The song is about a grandfather giving his grandson girl advice, but I think the song is really about the difficulty of giving young people advice–part of the song says that the grandson is going to have to learn the hard way! This song has been on repeat in my mind this week as I thought about how to tell all of you, I could somehow find the words to explain the satisfaction you can feel after running consistently month after month, I could make it easier for you to get up and out the door…I hope I succeeded just a bit!
The Faces were kind of an important British rock group. They were in the shadow of The Rolling Stones and The Who in the early 70s, yet The Faces were innovative, respected and had a number of strong musicians and songwriters. The Faces helped launch the decades long career of Rod Stewart–Stewart and his distinctive raspy voice had hits in just about every decade since and he was knighted by Queen Elizabeth. I feel like it’s hard to remember that the name of this song is Ooh La La, most people remember this song as ‘the one that goes If I Knew Then What I Know Now’–which I think is the point! Here is Sir Rod Stewart singing Ooh La La live with the Corrs. You are welcome.
*Yes, our first practice is only four weeks away!