Appreciate What You Got

Never settle, two words that almost everyone has heard as motivation to reach or exceed goals. Its true those individuals that society tabs as successful all seem to have that drive and motivation to never settle for anything less than the best. Michael Jordan likely would not have been the greatest basketball player of all time if he settled for anything less than being the best. I don't disagree with this mindset, but I do wonder on their path to achievement do these individuals take a step back to realize and appreciate what that they do have? Does a highly motivated athlete like Jordan ever fill his seemingly insatiable desire to succeed? Did he ever think hey I got it pretty good, kids look up to me, I got to chill with Bugs Bunny in Space Jam, everyone wants to wear my shoes, I've got scoring titles, MVPs, NBA Championships, etc. or was he too driven by his desire to succeed?
This past Sunday I saw a man outside Church asking for money with a sign that read he lost his job and had four children to raise. I was very taken aback by the sight of this man with his son outside Church. Its not something you see on a regular basis in my town and I couldn't help but notice this man had a very embarrassed look on his face. I really felt for this man who was trying to make ends meet and support his family. It is really mind blowing the degree in which the economy has turned in the past five years. I heard stories from my uncle how employers use to populate career fairs eager to offer employment to qualified college students and how most students graduated with jobs. That world now seems far away as we are mired in this recession with no end in sight. Rallies are forming throughout the country as more people find themselves out of work and the gap between the rich and poor only widens.
Everyday when I leave work I remind myself I'm lucky to have a job. Its not something I take for granted in the slightest. When my alarms sounds at the crack of dawn and my bed beckons for my return upon my departure I remind myself that I am lucky to be going to work. Sure I want to succeed like others, but I never forget to appreciate what I have at the moment. There are a three things that I wholeheartedly believe to be rooted in truth. Never forget where you came from, never forget who you are and never forget those around you.
I am a man who needs little material possessions. I've been rocking the same pair of shoes for a year. They've been through a lot with me; they made the trip down to Punta Cana, they slid through the mud with me during house crawl and they survived the Boardy Barn. My mom tells me to get a new pair and that they smell. I agree, they wreak of memories, excellence and maybe a little beer. The point I'm trying to make is I need little material things to please me. I can never see the point in owning more the one car,  spending $1000's for a Rolex, or spending on others things that are far from necessities. Really, all I need in life is good friends and good drinks, actually on second thought I'll stick with the Natties. Thats who I am and who I hope to always be.
The point I'm trying to make is in life its easy to become envious of others or look ahead to see ourselves where we want to be. This thinking can sometimes cloud our ability to see where we stand currently. I'm sure everyone can find something in their life in which to be grateful. Seeing this man made me think to myself how lucky I am to have a job and not to forget those who are struggling. I couldn't help but feel for this family as they approach the holiday seasons and other families that will not be able to celebrate the way they want. I'll be more mindful of this in the future.  Thanks for reading

Once A Runner

After over a two year hiatus from blogging I've decided to return to the blogging world. I always felt that writing was very cathartic for me and hope that some of my posts might be able to bring humor to one's day, be insightful or provide something that one might be able to relate.

As many know for the time being I have decided to hangup the spikes. Who knows when I'll return to the sport, but following MAACs I decided a break was needed. I figured I'd write this introductory post to explain the different factors that went into my decision.  

To fully comprehend my decision, one must understand the nature of the sport. Track and field is unlike any other sport for two major reasons. Speaking candidly, the general public doesn't give a shit about the sport. If you ask the average American who played in the Superbowl, World Series, NBA Championship or Stanley Cup, at the very least they would be able to name a team and probably multiple.  Ask the average American where the Track and Field world championship was held this past summer or to name a couple of Americans who participated and you'll get no response. If you're in the sport for the glory that comes from excelling at more popular sports then you're clearly in it for the wrong reasons. Running pits oneself against two opponents, the one within and the one in the differing singlet.

Unlike other sports more isn't necessarily better.  The more time a basketball player spends in the gym shooting the better he will get at shooting. I've never heard a basketball player say he had a poor year shooting because he spent too much time in the gym.  Unlike other sports where the relationship between practice time and performance is more linear the relationship in track is more parabolic. A basketball player isn't going to feel any significant side effects from shooting for three hours, while a track athlete will after three hours running.  

My sophomore year of college I had a major breakthrough year running; I dropped my pr at vcp by over a minute from 27:00 to 25:47, I earned All East honors, contributed to Marist's first top 10 finish at regionals in program history and became part of the fastest five man average at vcp in school history. In track I broke 15 indoors in the 5k, qualified for IC4A's outdoor by breaking 31:00 in the 10k and helped the team beat Iona outdoors at MAACs by placing 2nd in the 10k and 3rd in the 5k. Overall, it was a very successful year and one conversation in the van really got me thinking. Conor told Pete about standards from a particular semiprofessional team that included a 10k mark below 30:30. Pete remarked how I was close to that standard as a sophomore and figured it was within reach.

After the season ended I took a week off to relax and talked to my parents. We talked things over and came to the decision that I wouldn't work that summer and see where this sport could take me. I looked over my training throughout the year and saw room for improvement. I thought if I brought my mileage up to 85-90 miles a weeks, up from 60-65 in track and 70-75 in cross country I could replicate the success I had sophomore year. However, looking back I neglected something very important.  Good training involves two Q's quality and quantity. That summer I became obsessed with the second q and greatly neglected the first one. I would make sure every week from July on that I'd hit those 85 mile weeks, but I never really thought much as to how I got to those 85 mile. Almost all my runs were above 7:00 minute pace and could be classified as junk mileage, but I thought I was running more so I had to get faster. I also became a slave to the sport that summer. I spurned attempts by friends to hangout because I didn't want to drink and have that interfere with my training.  My entire day I spent reading running message boards, articles, thinking about goals, my next run, etc. That cross country was a big failure as I didn't reach any of the goals I had set for myself and got really down on myself. 

Rumors started to circulate after the season, Keegan drank too much this summer, he didn't run enough etc all of which lacked a solid leg to stand on. After being named a captain following my junior year and recognizing mistakes made from the previous summer I knew I had to pay closer attention to the second q, quality. That June I had the best month of summer training in my life. However, the first week of July I came down with some mysterious illness. I went to multiple doctors that couldn't pinpoint my illness. A quick monospot test revealed I had mono, but further testing revealed that test was false. I ran a fever of 100+ for ten straight days and never left bed. It was speculated that I got west nile, but no one knows for sure. Whatever I had put a serious dent in my training. Coming back I struggled to stay with my normal training group for just two miles. It took me until the beginning of August to feel like myself on runs. That illness really killed my summer training and once again I did not have a great cross country season.

Running is a very unforgiving sport that can often bring about great frustration. I made an attempt to take things to the next level and fell short of my goals. Of course one make the argument that I give it another shot, but at this point in my life running is no longer the priority it once was. Once you step away from the sport you realize how much of your life running consumes. The previous run, the next run, the next meet are always on a runners mind. A runner must make sacrifices, forgoing social events, to remain dedicated their craft. There are times where I do truly miss running, but overall I'm at peace with my decision to hang up the spikes and live life as a non-runner.