Lessons Learned...

Good morning!  Ran a very nice 5 miler on a cool Sunday morning.  I ended up running 32 miles this week and that makes it 63 miles in the last two weeks.  Very soon, I'll be up to the 40 miles a week that I typically run when training for a race. 

The title of my blog is "Lessons Learned" for two reasons:  one because of a song that is new to me by Matt & Kim and two because I learn lessons all the time.  Sometimes I like to write about what drove me to become a runner.  If you don't know, I grew up wanting to play basketball and I was even good enough to make the varsity squad.  However, I was really only good enough to make the team and I did not really play all that much.  I was the fastest guy on the team and usually won all of the preseason conditioning running events.  If playing time was only related to conditioning, then I would have been a starter.  However, I was not a particularly good shooter and I was not quick.  North and South speed is different than East to West speed and I did not have the lateral quickness (East and West) to go with my speed and endurance.  People could blow right past me and that surely did not help my teammates.  The day after my junior year of basketball ended, I went out for the track team. On March 1, 1994 I ran 7 miles at the first practice and after that practice I began to realize that I just might be a runner after all.  Yet, I still wanted to be a basketball player.  I'll never forget the mid-July 1994 day when the new head basketball coach called me to his office.  He said, "Josh, we really appreciate what you've done and you're probably good enough to be a practice player but we're not going to play you much this year.  We will be going with the younger players."  Man, that hurt bad.  I went home, cried a little a bit, and at that moment decided I was going to totally dedicate myself to cracking the top 7 of the Cross Country Team so I could run at the State Meet (Coach Rowe's team always make the State Meet).  I never told my parents about what the coach said verbatim or really anyone for that matter.  I was too embarrassed.  While it hurt, it was actually a gift that I just did not understand at the time.  The fall of 1994 was one of the best of my life as I became a contributing member of a team--the defending State Champion Cross Country Team.  I mentioned having stamina and speed and that was perfect for Cross Country.  I worked myself into the top 5 of the team and we had a pretty good season.  We did not win it all at the State Meet, but it was special to be a member of that team and the lessons I learned that fall are still a part of my daily life.  To this day I'm still running all because two coaches were very honest with me:  Coach Rowe told me I was a runner and should stop trying to be a basketball player and the basketball Coach told me that I was not going to play.  When I think about the song "Lessons Learned," I think about how I became a runner.  It was born out of disappointment, but in the disappointment I found something I loved more than I could imagine.  I deal with a lot of parents who don't want their kids to be disappointed and the problem with this is that if you don't experience disappointment, then you may never figure out what you are truly good at doing.  This is true.

My Three Best for the Week:

One, Staff in-service on Tuesday:  "You would not accept a bottle of pee so you certainly should not accept someones key."  It's a long story, but it was me being me to illustrate a point about closing.

Two, the two Multicultural Competence Sessions I led on Friday and Saturday.  I could see that they made a difference and that's so very key.  It also helped remind me of what I already know to be true.

Three (and most important):  Time spent with Sarah & Myles.  I never get tired of being with them.

Have a great day.  Don't be afraid to learn a tough lesson and happy running to you...