80 Things Cross Country and Track Taught Me

Obviously, the people and experiences from XC and Track taught me a lot about running,
but they taught me even more about life.

1. Never, ever give up.

2. Success is not found inside of your comfort zone.

3. The pain of training hard is less than the pain of looking back and saying "I wish" or "If only."

4. Hard work pays off.

5. The most important voice in the world is the one inside of your head.

6. "There's always going to be someone prettier than you, there's always going to be someone smarter than you, there's always going to be someone faster that you."

7.  Family includes a lot more than just the people who share your DNA.

8. If you get your priorities in order, everything will fall into the right place.

9. The most important big thing is the sum of all the little things.

10. Some pains need special care, others just need to be pushed through--learn the difference between these.

11. "There are worse things in life."

12. The best kind of high is the one that results from your own success.

13. You don't have to be the best to have the most success.

14. You can't control whether or not you'll be the fastest, but you can be sure that you work the hardest.

15. You may wish you could be as great as someone else, but realize that there are people wishing to be as great as you.

16. Talent may get people to notice you, but your example will get people to remember you.

17. ^If you have both of these things and learn how to use them together, miracles will happen.

18. You may lose today's race, but that doesn't mean you can't win tomorrow's.

19. Don't underestimate the value of even one hundredth of a second.

20. Don't get caught up in the dramatic mind games of your rivals--just beat them.

21. Don't stop because you reach your goals--set new, greater ones.
22. Accept the fact that even though some people don't push half as hard as you do, they may still be faster than you.  We weren't created the same, that's just a part of life.

23. "A goal not written down is just a wish."

24. Complaining doesn't make adversity go away, it just makes it more miserable to endure.

25. Having good sportsmanship doesn't mean you're soft, it just means you're smart.

26. "All things are difficult before they are ever easy."

27. Learn to be comfortable with being uncomfortable.

28. Don't wallow in self-pity, just use bad races to fuel the fire and do better next time.

29.  "Everyone has excuses, but a champion never uses them."

30. The most important record you'll ever beat is your own.

31. There are bad practices, bad races, bad weeks, and even bad seasons.  It's not the end of the world.

32. It's not about training the most, it's about training the smartest.

33. Be patient with yourself.  Success doesn't come quickly or easily.  If it did, it wouldn't be success.

34. It's harder to choose to be positive than to choose to be negative, but once the decision is made, it's a lot easier on you to live positively than to live negatively.

35. Sometimes, bad luck can be a real factor.  Usually, it's just an excuse.

36. It's okay to be mad.  Just don't be mad for irrational reasons.  Sometimes, the only person to blame is yourself.

37. Burned out? Not a good excuse.  Just grab another match or find another fuse.

38. A decision, if made with real intent, only really needs to be made once.

39. There are people who know more than you--learn from them.

40. To be a real team, you need to do a lot more together than just train.

41. You can find good friends by finding people who you can get along with and bringing them around you, but you will find your true friends in the people around you that you learn to get along with.

42. What you get out of something depends on what you put into it.

43. Your Coach might tell you to do something that sounds ridiculously stupid, but if you go along with it you'll learn that there was a dang good reason for it.

45. The voice in your head telling you to endure a run can also be used to tell you to endure an assignment, a study session, or a long shift at the Sno Shack.

46. Sometimes, the best cure for a bad day is a few stupid, cheesy jokes.

47. People can give you work outs, cheer your name, or yell and scream at you to go faster, but, at the end of the day, the only person that can actually push you to your fullest potential is you.

48. Life might happen and you may have to walk away from your dreams.  But, if you walk away from them into the arms of people who love you, you can find the strength to be okay.

49. You can take your anger out on a pole, but in the end, you'll probably just end up with a broken hand and being even more angry.

50. Placement is only relative.  You can be at the very front of a race and having even boys try to draft off of you, but your PR's often come in a race where you're in the back.

51. Visualize. If you can clearly see things in your head, you can accomplish them with your body.

52. You can lose simply because of your attitude.  If you show up expecting to do poorly, you will.

53. As long as you're still standing, you can do one more mile. Period.

54. When you fall, pick yourself back up.  However, there are rare occassions where you can't pick yourself up.  These occassions are where you find out who truly loves you.

55. The best motivation is the voice of someone you love.

56. You can set all the goals that you want, but they're only realistic if you make and follow a plan for achieving them.

57. Nothing worth having will come without sacrifice.

58. Boys fart. But, if you get ahead of them, you'll never have to smell it.

59. Train when you're supposed to train and race when you're supposed to race.  Never get this mixed up.

 60. Laughing, crying, smiling, and yawning all cause chain reactions.

61. There's a difference between being confident and being prideful.  Be confident.

62. Pranks are fun if you keep them innocent.

63. A person that went from a ten minute mile to a nine minute mile has had every bit as much success as a person who went from a five minute mile to a four minute mile.

64. There's a champion inside of everyone.

65. Your body won't work if you don't fuel it.

66. Soda is bad...unless you're drinking coke in the middle of an ultramarathon.

67. "The greatest pleasure in life is doing the things people say you cannot do."

68. Actions speak louder than words.  Times, Placements, and Scores speak louder than trash-talk.

69. You can look down at the ground if you want, but you'll be a whole lot more successful if you just lift your eyes up just one little inch and see the world.

70. When it comes to love, "it's all a joke...until it isn't a joke anymore."

71. Listen to the people watching you, they can see things that you cannot.

72. Try Again. And Again.

73. YOU CAN be the change that you want to see.

74. Just because someone doesn't show it, doesn't mean they don't love you.

75. That person right there? Yes, you can pass them.  Just Kick. Hard.

76. "Just Do It." Every single day.

78. When you body has nothing left, let adrenhaline take over.

79. Heart and Mind are just as important as Arms and Legs.

80. "Don't cry because it's over, smile because it happened."