Mileage Matters and Other Stuff

Got to brag on a few folks yesterday, which is always fun for a coach. For the last several years, we've been preaching the gospel of "mileage". Put simply, miles matter. In distance running, if you want to improve and succeed, the route to that destination is long and it's measured in miles, not feet. Likewise, we've encouraged our athletes to keep track of their miles, it's a great tool in the runner's tool bag; it builds confidence on race day when you know how much you've done in preparation for the Big Day.

Well, yesterday we honored with a free pass to Juice It Up the top three boys and top three girls who've steadily logged their miles on http://www.running2win.com/ since Memorial Day. Ethan Park, Nick Hernandez, and Derek Nelson have each gone past 500 miles, while Jenna Kordic, Rebecca Asplund and Stacy Yarbrough have been the mileage leaders for the girls. Great job people! Enjoy your smoothies!

And finally, our Sponsorship Contest was concluded recently and we had four guys end up on top. Ethan Park and Zaid Yousef each collected five sponsors, earning $100 each to the Tyler Mall. Charlie Alvarez and Rafi Perez snagged four each, and their reward will be presented and announced on Monday!

WELCOME TO ADVERSE CITY!

Hell has officially not frozen over. This week proved that. With school starting, temperatures hovering at 105 and above and then monsoonal humidity -- goodness. This one was a tough one.
But you know, tough weeks are part of life. They sneek in usually when things are on cruise control, like a culdesac on the boulevard. Just when you got things nailed down, a hurricane of adversity comes in and rips up the plywood over your windows.

Running can be like this week. You're cruising along and then -- WHAM -- a tough mile jumps on your back like a monkey. Or you think you've got the race won and then -- WHAM -- some dude in black jersey goes by you.

It's tough, but adversity is part of life. The sooner we can accept this notion, the more equipped we are to handle it when it jumps from the shadows with a big "Boo!" It's kindof like Knotts Scary Farm -- why everyone gets the creeps when they know the goolies are gonna jump out at them (that's why they paid money to get in the park) is beyond me.

So let's not get freaked out over a week that didn't go well. The streets of Adverse City are not paved with gold, but there are roads out of town.

Let's hit the road!