This morning I was looking through Angela Duckworth’s book Grit trying to find a quote. I couldn’t find the exact quote but it goes something like this: No one wants to watch the movie about your journey of becoming…they just want to show the highlights of what you became.
One of Angela’s examples was a story about a bunch of swimmers watching an Olympic superstar swim laps back and forth in a pool. They were watching Mark Spitz flow through the water…the swimmers, who were very good themselves, were exclaiming about how amazed they were: “My god, he is a fish!”. We want to believe that Mark Spitz was born to swim in a way that none of us could. None of us want to sit on the pool deck and watch him progress from amateur to expert.
What she is getting at is this: We all would like to believe that success is all about talent. Then if we have talent, we are going to be successful. If we don’t have the talent, well, then we are off the hook–we don’t have to work hard, because there is no point. Nietzsche, the 19th century German philosopher, wrote: “With everything perfect, we do not ask how it came to be…[instead] we rejoice in the present fact as though it came out of the mound by magic.” We don’t want to watch someone run mile after mile, after mile, as they progress from a new runner to a varsity star…we want to see them blast out a great time at Crystal. We don’t want to watch someone work day after day on their French grammar and vocabulary…we just want a friend who can fluently guide us around Paris. If expertise in running, or French, is all due to talent, then we are off the hook–someone who is simply gifted can help our team get to State or order my meal for me in a Parisian bistro.
But expertise does not come from magic or just appear out of thin air. It comes from sustained effort.
So I can’t tell you how gratified I was when I saw how many athletes on the Monta Vista cross country team were able to step up and run on their own all week. With the temperatures above 100 almost every day, you took control of your running goals and got out there and bagged some miles. I know you are not used to doing this on your own, and I know that you are not used to getting up early and running before class, and I know that being together with your team would make all this easier. But you got yourself up and got some miles in your logbooks.
And on Saturday…I was so happy for you! There were so many athletes that were on the track at 7am on Saturday morning. I think we were all happy to see each other really pushing after a week mostly working apart. I have marks from Anika, Siran, Karena, Katie Lee, Megan, Madi, Manasi, Joey, Sean, Darren, Alex, Tanay, Amogh, Ruhaan, William, Ethan, Juliana, Avani, Hemani, Gene, Lilia, Nerea, Sydney, Agnes, Soham, Nick, Ari, and Jay; and Nikhita and Katie Li while hurt still showed up at 7am and got some work in. And everyone were there to work and push a bit. Watching you was so fun!–I was on a high all day.
Keep doing the work towards something that matters to you! Take control of your lives like you did this week; sure the weather was awful, it would have been easy to excuse that adults were telling you running in the afternoon was dangerous and so you pack it in for a week. But you took control of your destiny and in the face of obstacles, made the best out of it. Try to do the same when you face other issues. If you get hurt, and you need help, push to see a doctor or therapist; and when you get there, don’t let them pass it off with ‘maybe you need some time off”. Push for a diagnosis and for instructions on what to do to be stronger. If you like mathematics are are struggling with a class, don’t let the teacher just tell you to work harder (unless you are not working hard enough, that’s a different problem!); if you are working hard and still struggling but WANT to be better, ask for help and then redouble your efforts.
Nietzsche again: “Our vanity, our self-love, promotes the cult of the genius. For if we think of genius as something magical, we are not obliged to compare ourselves and find ourselves lacking…to call someone ‘divine’ means: ‘here there is no need to compete’.”
Skill is not all divine, skill comes from a dedicated and determined–and gritty–application of effort over a sustained period of time. Keep it up, and apply this grit to every part of your life that matters to you!
Saturday Track September 10
You all crushed it! Everyone was there to work. We were super efficient and you accomplished a lot. Some general reminders…keep testing your limits in these workouts. I tried to keep an eye on all of you, and I challenged a couple of you to see if you could drop a few seconds off your splits. When I did, it sure seemed like the athletes responded and were able to continue to hold the faster pace without being thrashed at the end. So here is a general (and gentle) reminder on how to self-coach when you are running repeats:
- Start out conservatively.
- Do a self-assessment 25-50% through…is this comfortable? Do you feel confident you can finish the workout at the same pace or faster? If you are within yourself, maybe see if you can negative split and hold that new pace.
- About 50-75% through…do another self-assessment. If you feeling like you might be at the right pace, maybe that’s OK…but maybe it’s OK to throw in a negative split before the final rep. It’s not always a great sign to be able to drop a much faster final interval…if your last rep is 10% faster than the previous 7, maybe we would be getting better results with the last two or three being 5% faster than the first 8. Don’t leave it all for the end.
- And remember, it’s OK to make mistakes! There are always going to be workouts where you run out of gas early…that’s OK, that is the only way you find your limits, by exceeding those limits. Don’t make a habit of it, I don’t want you overextending every time, but it is OK if now and then you give into the temptation to see what is possible.
More Saturday Workout Photos
Reminders
- Don’t forget to get me your release for Pacific Grove!
- Photo day on Monday, September 12! Wear your uniform shorts and uniform singlet.
- Nike De La Salle invitational on Saturday the 17th!
Alumni Update
- Vivian Lau (MV2022) had her first race with her Tufts University cross country team at the Smith College Invitational and finished in 20th place. Next week Vivian and her teammates travel to Bates College in Maine for the Pineland Shootout.
- Triya Roy (MV2020) placed 19th for Johns Hopkins in their season opener at the Baltimore Metro race. The Hopkins team will travel to Michigan State for a meet on September 17.
- UC San Diego opened their season with a dual meet against UCLA, with Sylvana Northrop (MV2021) placing 10th for her UCSD Tritons.
- Rohun Agrawal (MV2021) hopes to open his season for the CalTech cross country team at the UC Riverside Invitational on September 17.
Not for nothing…Triya, Sylvana and Rohun were all recognized at the 2019 MVXC season banquet for missing less than three quality workouts in three years. Nietzsche would nod his head with approval.
