Grateful to do what I do

"How's the job search coming?"

The question I always seem to get from people and I'm starting to dread repeating myself. So I just reply "Same-old. Same-old." Then try to change the topic.

The truth: yes, I need to find a job. That's what society tells me. I need to make more money then I do now to pay for everything I have or want. Maybe I have been too picky on jobs, that I haven't applied for enough. That's probably true.

The real truth: I love what I do. I wish I can do it more often. I wish I could get paid more for it, but then again I would also do it for free in a heartbeat. Coaching is my passion.

I had a conversation the other night with a parent of two kids I used to coach and a third that is still there. He was so thankful and appreciative of what I do and the impact I have had on his kids. Then he asked if I have seen the post that a soon to be senior posted on facebook. I said I haven't because I'm not friends with any of them on facebook. So they pulled it up for me:

"My XC career started exactly three years ago. I remember not being able to last more than five minutes on my first warm-up... and how after barely crossing the finish line during my first 3K, Coach Devine said to me, "You ready for a 5K?" I honestly considered quitting, but I'm glad I didn't. Though I wasn't able to recover all of them, these numbers represent all the times I've battled and defeated my weakness and fear. Cross country doesn't just build fitness - it builds character. It has made me who I am now. I have one more season to go, and I'm determined to do my best (as always). To my teammates, thanks for tolerating and supporting this slacker! To people who still refuse to recognize XC as a sport, we all know you're just jealous of our stylish short shorts, of the fact that we're the biggest and closest family any team can ever hope to be, and of our high probability of surviving the zombie apocalypse." - Senior at La Salle Class of '14

(Then he had a picture of all his racing numbers and a pair of sunglasses he got after one of his races.)

This just brought a smile to my face. As a coach it is hard to read or know what all your athletes are thinking, but you hope that they are having fun and gaining new and valuable experiences that they can use in the rest of their lives. This kid gets it, and he along with all the others on the team is the reason I coach and I love what I do.

Pick-up games over organized sports

One thing that I miss the most about college is one minute I could be sitting on the couch with no plans. The next thing I know, I am grabbing my boots, racket, or ball and off to play a sport. Playing a sport usually came out of no where. I text or see a friend and we are off to play tennis or going to find a group playing soccer in the fields. It was easy, fun and free.

Did I still have organized sports? Certainly. I played probably 5 different types of intramural sports. I also had several activity classes that got me active and playing sports with others. These were still affordable and low key(well I guess the classes were expensive, but I got credit). It also gave us a way to meet new people that play the same sport, so we could have even more people for pick-up games.

Maybe its the city life vs small town life. City people are busy and live by schedules. Small town people just step out the door and find something to do when they're free. Maybe my sports friends have moved away and its harder to meet to play. It seems like if you want to play a "pick-up" game, you have to send a facebook invite 2 weeks before and text 2 times to make sure they're coming. Not very "pick-up" game like. Maybe its the busy life of the 20-somethings out of college person. So people turn to organized sports.

I can't tell you how many times I have been asked to play on a team (particularly indoor soccer). I ask how much and its over 60 or 70 dollars for 8 games! My response, I would love to but that's too much for me right now, sorry. Obviously, I just need to get a job and I could afford to play with some teams. I have been blessed though to play on an outdoor soccer team for free because our team has a sponsor. However, there's still something special about pick-up or unstructured games that start out of no where that I miss.

I have replaced this missed unstructured play time with lots of running lately. I absolutely love running, don't get me wrong, but give me a group of friends and a ball of any sport and I would take that in a heart beat. I can run on my own any day, but its getting competitive and socializing with good people that I miss from unstructured games.

Do you enjoy being active?

So when I signed up for the Eugene marathon I got three months subscription to three magazines. I quickly chose Runner's World and Sports Illustrated. I didn't know what to pick for my third, so I just checked the one that sounded the most about physical fitness: "Fitness." I have now found that Fitness magazine makes me laugh more than gives me information on fitness. The "how to shed 10 lbs" and "why haven't I lost the weight?" cover the magazine.

Everything in the magazine is focused on weight and body image. That shouldn't be the core focus for fitness. I see the same thing as I pass by gyms: "Shake the weight before summer"

Is it the magazines or gyms fault? They're just trying to reach to the largest consumer audience. Research they have done must draw them to reach out to people to focus on weight loss as their number one reason for being physically active.

I am here to tell you to be physically active in something you enjoy doing. Make fitness fun! If your sole purpose of exercise is to lose weight then your going about it the wrong way. Losing weight should be the bonus to exercise. I'm not saying you can't be excited about losing weight. If it's your number one objective though, exercise will start to feel like work. Then doing workouts becomes an extra stress in your life when it should be a stress reliever.

If you don't get any enjoyment or satisfaction running on a treadmill besides saying "I hope I lost 3 lbs with that run," then don't run on the treadmill. Find something else you might enjoy. Go for a hike and enjoy the outdoors. Go for a leisure bike ride. It doesn't have to be physically draining. Just active movement.

It might just need to be a mindset change too. Certainly not many enjoy running on the treadmill or running in general. I am not saying that you should never run because you don't like it. Maybe you need to find something you enjoy about running and focus on that. The feeling of accomplishment after the run. Or the runner's high that will soon kick in. If there might just be one tiny thing you like about running, biking, swimming, etc. focus on that one thing. Maybe down the line it will be more enjoyable and you'll feel more accomplished.

Also, we all have a little bit of competitiveness in us. Go play a sport. Even if you're bad at it. Just play and have fun. Tennis, soccer, basketball, frisbee, or whatever you like. Go do it and have fun. I know when I was in college I felt like I hardly ever did a "workout." I played maybe 2-3 sports a day for 2-4 hours. It was tiring, but I hardly noticed because playing new and old sports is my passion. Don't be self-conscience about swinging and missing at a ball. Just laugh and enjoy yourself.

Physical fitness should not feel like work one bit. It should be fun! Be active but enjoy what you do while doing it!

Sports, run, bike, swim, hike, dance, garden, lift weights, yoga, wii fit...etc...

Respecting Your Rivals

There's been someone on my mind lately. Her name is Mary Ann Allegretto. She was one of my favorite teachers, even though she taught me in one of my least favorite subjects(English). I had her my freshman year at La Salle. I came into English I, not knowing what to expect. I had been receiving extra help or taking special classes for reading and writing since I was in 3rd grade. I didn't know how it was going to be, basically being thrown to the wolves and having to be in a regular English class in high school, and at a college preparatory school nonetheless.

Mrs. Allegretto made me feel comfortable. I think she knew I had struggles in English, but she didn't let me use that as an excuse. She just knew that I would need a little extra time to grow and adjust to high school English. Did I become an amazing writer after her class? No. Did I even love English after her class? To be honest, no. But what she did was plant the seed of change and gave me the ability and opportunity to be at least an average high school English student. Which I couldn't envision a year earlier going into La Salle.

More than just English though, Mrs. Allegretto and I had a great student/teacher relationship outside of our class(something she had with a lot of her students). Our relationship was focused on the beavers and ducks rivalry. At this point in my life, I was just starting to become a huge beaver fan and debates with duck fans was one of my biggest passions. When you're passionate about something and debating with someone else that is also passionate, things can get personal. Especially for teenage boys. Mrs. Allegretto and I had a great rivalry relationship though. She taught me that it is okay to love and respect your rivals. Something that I still have to remind myself of today, and every time I do, I think of her.

It will be 10 years this summer since she left us on earth. Her funeral was the first funeral I ever attended. Seeing the large amount of current and past students that were there(standing room only at the back of a very large church), you knew how much she meant to each and everyone of her students.

As I have now coached for 4 years, every time a student I coach heads off to Eugene, I think of Mrs. Allegretto. I still love those kids and I try to be respectful, yet I still have to tease them a little bit for wearing that yellow and green. The same friendly banter that Mrs. Allegretto and I had.

Thank you Mrs. Allegretto! I know you are up in heaven watching over all of us!

Primed, Focused, and Ready

Last workout is in the books. It all comes down to fuel and rest from here.

Four days away and it can't come soon enough. The waiting game has started.

My mind is fresh and ready to attack the marathon!

Hard to believe a year ago I felt that I was in the worst shape of my life. Coming off of 3 months of traveling and not really getting back into a routine the first month or two back. However, after putting in summer training runs during my one 2 hour break I had for the day at Camp Howard, I started to feel stronger. Then there was the relay race from Philomath to Newport. I wasn't expecting much, less than 2 months into my new running program. But I surprised even myself. I didn't think I would run nearly as well as I did! Then there was my run around Timothy lake. It was my longest run since high school and it felt easy and relaxed. I knew I was on my way to more long runs.

During the cross country season I maintained that strength, but now I had to find a goal, a reason to get even stronger. I had gone back and forth the last few years about when I should run my first marathon. Not that I was putting it off, but I had other running goals in mind and the marathon wasn't quite on that list yet. It was on my mind though. Towards the end of the cross country season, I decided the time has come and I would be stepping up to the marathon for the first time.

Five months later, I am ready to take on the challenge. My legs are fresh and tapered. My mind is fresh and mentally ready to take on the miles. The goals are in place and the focus is there to hit those goals. My body is primed and ready to go to the line. The butterflies are there and I am embracing them.

Ready, Set, Go....

Preparation

"The will to win means nothing without the will to prepare"

That quote sits next to my picture in my senior yearbook. It was my quote for the track season. It summed up all the work that was put in during winter training. But preparation is more than the physical workouts that you pull and drag your body through during all the miles of training. It is mental and emotional as well.

The emotional preparation is easy for some and hard for others. The ability to think about the positive and know that if you give your best there is nothing to feel down about. The confidence to know that you will leave it all out there will leave you happy and proud of what you have accomplished. The understanding that the butterflies will come but it's how you deal with them that matter. I always say butterflies are a good thing because it shows you care about what you are about to do. So let's just go do it. I have two weeks for those butterflies to come and when they do I will embrace them knowing that I will give it my all because of them.

The mental preparation is probably my favorite though. During training the mental preparation for a marathoner is to not be scared of the 26.2 miles that are ahead. I'm passed that now. I can run 26.2 miles. However, the race preparation begins now.

I can remember my senior track season. The above quote was sitting in my head, as I sat in Ms. Bromley's Pre-Cal class. I was thinking about the district meet that was 2 weeks away. I was visualizing the meet from the warm-up to the cool-down and what the day would look like. I knew all the athletes that I would be up against. I raced against them for the last 3 years. I knew who had the strong kick, who would take the lead on the first lap, and who would try to go early. Knowing all this, I made my race plan. I would go out conservative(like always). Let the race develop in front of me. The second lap I would move up right behind the leaders. I would sit there. Nothing to be done until 300 meters to go. I know who would go first. The person with the worst kick: David Reid. We would all follow him and get by him on the back stretch. I would move past the Wilsonville boys on the back stretch then I would be on Reed Huskey's shoulder through the turn. Sit there and wait until the 100, where I would sling shot around him off the turn and then put my eyes up on Ryan Horton where I would give it my all to try and catch him for the win.

I told my friend, Matt, this during Pre-Cal. Somehow he still got in trouble for talking, even though I did all the talking that day. I guess I get the benefit of the doubt being quiet the rest of the year. Matt would tell me how he could almost describe my race plan because I told him so many times and so clearly.

Mental preparation is visual. The ability to see what you are about to do and do it over and over again until it gives you the confidence to say "This is what it is. This is what it has to be. Let's go achieve the goal."

My preparation for the marathon starts today. What do my first miles look like? Where do I fuel up? Where are the aid stations? What miles am I going to really push my body through? The more I see it, the more it will happen. The marathon is 2 weeks away. But it starts in my head today.

Marathon training can change a person

I love music. Like most people do. I sing in the car in a traffic jam. I create youtube playlists and blare it on my computer. I use it to help me study and get work done. I'm listening to it right now... The place I rarely have used music (I've only used music twice in five months of marathon training) is on my runs. Each run I go on is always a special time. Whether I am running with a friend and talking about our lives and what is to come. Or I'm running with the team and getting to hear about their crazy high school stories. Or I am by myself and in my own thoughts. Sometimes I still play songs but only by memory in my head, sometimes I think about sports and this blog, sometimes I think about life and where I am going. But more importantly and more recently, runs by myself our my time with God.

Everyone is different. Everyone reaches out to God in different ways. I never feel more close to God than in the 10th mile of an 18 miler. Being surrounded by the wilderness with my legs churning out without any conscious thought. Just hitting the same pace over and over. My lungs feel more open and my breathing is the best it's ever been. The runner's high is just starting to hit a level I've never felt. I start skipping like I haven't just ran 10 miles. This is my time with God. I pray for His strength to guide me on all my runs.

Running so many miles by myself in the last five months, I have been able to strengthen my relationship with God. I have complimented this running journey with God by starting to go back to church as well. This allowed me to think even more deeply about how God wants to use me in life and what purpose He has for me. I am running with God and for God.

Three weeks ago, I found out that I had an upper respiratory infection(walking pneumonia). Something that a marathoner doesn't want...something that affects your breathing. At first I wasn't sure what this meant. Did He not want me to run a marathon yet? Or did He want me to start tapering early because I have put in all the hard work I need? After talking to my running family about what I should do. It was unanimous. I should still go through with the marathon. With so much encouragement to still run the marathon, I knew this was a sign from God that He wanted me to just taper early and come back rested and stronger than ever for the marathon. Now, after a great long run back from the infection, I trust Him more than ever.

I quote this scripture during all my runs now, but in 19 days it is going to help me more than ever!

"I can do all things through Him who gives me strength" Phil. 4:13

A song I sing on my long runs:
Forever Reign
"I'm Running to Your Arms"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3f3sNiYpuF4&list=HL1365528426&shuffle=6519