Better Together
A while ago Mrs. Coach and I were on a date. We were at Applebee's of all places. If memory serves me correctly, we had a gift card. I have already entered and exited the part of my life where I love eating good in the neighborhood, so this was a bit of a rarity for us. I don't hate Applebee's, but I don't love it either. I find the atmosphere a little over stimulating, and as a former chain restaurant server, I want to get up and give a hug to chain restaurant servers and tell them that their life is going to be ok. That was a difficult period of life for me.
When we sat down, our server brought us our waters and we started chatting. We had both had a long week. Mrs. Coach was in teacher school, and I was in the middle of my usual routine of plowing through grading and practice and trying to maintain healthy life rhythms. We were having a fun conversation and generally enjoying one another's presence.
Usually when I go to Applebee's I order either a riblet basket or a chicken tender basket. Neither of them are particularly great, but they are dependable. I know that every time that I order a riblet basket at Applebee's, it is going to be somewhere between a solid 6 and a reasonable 8 (on a scale of one to ten). What makes them enjoyable is not that Mr. Applebee himself has discovered the secret to eternal happiness via the perfect riblet recipe, it is that if I am at Applebee's there is a zero percent chance that I have:
1. chosen the restaurant of my own free will. I am here because it sounded good to someone I love, or it is free.
2. to go home and clean up the kitchen.
3. worry about anything whatsoever other than being present in the moment.
So basically, if a plate of riblets is occupying the space in front of me, my life is going well, and I am here for a good time.
In the middle of our meal, we looked over at the table next to us, there was another couple eating a meal who also appeared to be on a date. Their food had arrived at the same time as ours. We noticed that when they sat down, they both immediately pulled out a screen, and started fiddling around on them in silence. The only person that we heard them speak to the whole time was the server. I noticed that the dude happened to also order a basket of riblets.
Now I have no idea what the context was for the silent phone staring, so absolutely no judgement on the other couple, but it did get me thinking about something, and there is a point here about running. This is after all, a running blog.
If you are going to do something (like running) that can lead to a wide range of experiences, emotionally and physically, is it not better to do that with a band of sisters and brothers that know what you are feeling because they are feeling it too? My riblets were great because I ate them while I laughed and talked with my wife.
We could absolutely just mail you all home a summer training plan, and call it good for the summer, but we don't. We want you to have the opportunity to do this together. We want you to enjoy the fun moments and the moments when the training is clicking with each other, and when the hard days come, we want you to do that together too. We want to give you the gift of opportunity to forge relationships. Over the next two months we expect you all to get in shape, but we also expect new friendships to be made, old ones to be deepened and for a lot of inside jokes to develop.
Growing up just down the road from JA, I had the opportunity to train with a lot of great friends. I have made lifelong relationships with the people that I did high school running with. Some of them are still running friends, but most of them are now just life friends. Just last Friday, my high school coach, mentor and friend Rick Durant was over at my house laughing with me while I explained to my daughter why she could not go potty on the front porch. Rick was at my house for half an hour and there was zero talk of running.
There is something about running together that creates a bond that cannot be really fully described. Over the last ten years of coaching, I have seen so many quiet kids come in to our community and slowly transform in to a better version of themselves as they pursue their running career. Your high school running career will span 8 seasons of cross country and track, but what we are building will last a lifetime. This I promise.
Solitude is a wonderful thing. I personally need about an hour of solitude every day to recharge (I have my quiet time in the morning before my family wakes up). But there is only so much solitude a person needs. The cultural moment that we are living in calls for you to shun face to face friendship and pursue likes and shares online. You are called to crop all of the hard parts of your life out and curate a perfect social media version of your life. Well, summer training is us pushing back on that and asking you to do it the hard way. Make friends, do life, forge bonds, get in shape. Trust us it is all worth it.
See you all soon.
 |
| Look at those riblets. Wow. |
Usually when I go to Applebee's I order either a riblet basket or a chicken tender basket. Neither of them are particularly great, but they are dependable. I know that every time that I order a riblet basket at Applebee's, it is going to be somewhere between a solid 6 and a reasonable 8 (on a scale of one to ten). What makes them enjoyable is not that Mr. Applebee himself has discovered the secret to eternal happiness via the perfect riblet recipe, it is that if I am at Applebee's there is a zero percent chance that I have:
1. chosen the restaurant of my own free will. I am here because it sounded good to someone I love, or it is free.
2. to go home and clean up the kitchen.
3. worry about anything whatsoever other than being present in the moment.
So basically, if a plate of riblets is occupying the space in front of me, my life is going well, and I am here for a good time.
In the middle of our meal, we looked over at the table next to us, there was another couple eating a meal who also appeared to be on a date. Their food had arrived at the same time as ours. We noticed that when they sat down, they both immediately pulled out a screen, and started fiddling around on them in silence. The only person that we heard them speak to the whole time was the server. I noticed that the dude happened to also order a basket of riblets.
 |
| "Look, I made a boomerang of you taking a bite of food." |
If you are going to do something (like running) that can lead to a wide range of experiences, emotionally and physically, is it not better to do that with a band of sisters and brothers that know what you are feeling because they are feeling it too? My riblets were great because I ate them while I laughed and talked with my wife.
We could absolutely just mail you all home a summer training plan, and call it good for the summer, but we don't. We want you to have the opportunity to do this together. We want you to enjoy the fun moments and the moments when the training is clicking with each other, and when the hard days come, we want you to do that together too. We want to give you the gift of opportunity to forge relationships. Over the next two months we expect you all to get in shape, but we also expect new friendships to be made, old ones to be deepened and for a lot of inside jokes to develop.
Growing up just down the road from JA, I had the opportunity to train with a lot of great friends. I have made lifelong relationships with the people that I did high school running with. Some of them are still running friends, but most of them are now just life friends. Just last Friday, my high school coach, mentor and friend Rick Durant was over at my house laughing with me while I explained to my daughter why she could not go potty on the front porch. Rick was at my house for half an hour and there was zero talk of running.
 |
| Totally realistic running photo. |
There is something about running together that creates a bond that cannot be really fully described. Over the last ten years of coaching, I have seen so many quiet kids come in to our community and slowly transform in to a better version of themselves as they pursue their running career. Your high school running career will span 8 seasons of cross country and track, but what we are building will last a lifetime. This I promise.
Solitude is a wonderful thing. I personally need about an hour of solitude every day to recharge (I have my quiet time in the morning before my family wakes up). But there is only so much solitude a person needs. The cultural moment that we are living in calls for you to shun face to face friendship and pursue likes and shares online. You are called to crop all of the hard parts of your life out and curate a perfect social media version of your life. Well, summer training is us pushing back on that and asking you to do it the hard way. Make friends, do life, forge bonds, get in shape. Trust us it is all worth it.
See you all soon.
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