How BIG is your Stage???
Next Sunday I will be running in in the Kentucky State Finals. Kentucky is fun event, no pressure to qualify and the field has a lot of people from surrounding states, so you get really good competition. The lack of pressure makes a big difference, pressure can kill a great performance. I made some changes in my training and want to see how it effects my speed-- I have worked a lot more on fitness and less on speed and strength. I am looking to break 27 seconds in the 200 m which would be a personal best with electronic timing.
I will work on starts and a little speed work this week and make sure I do a very complete stretching routine each day. I do have a couple of minor dings on my left side. My hip is sore and and my left foot has the beginning stages of turf toe. Neither will be a factor in what I will be running this weekend, but long term I will need to address them. I will have a lot of tape on my feet to hold them together for a couple of races.
Now the real point of this blog. Linda and I traveled to the Ravenwood football game at Clarksville last Friday. The first half was a nail biter, and then they pulled away in the second half and won easily. While sitting in the stands with the Ravenwood fans, the chatter was constant behind us by various women. Linda could hear it all, I have a good set of "man ears" that can dial out women voices and concentrate on football. I put my man ears to good use for this game. I asked a couple of times about two different women-- " Do they ever shut up?" the answer from Linda was "NO"! Thank you man ears--they should sell them on TV.. Women would love them too!
The one girl behind us was in college and went on and on and on about her sorority. She was recruiting everyone and if she did not get in, she might have left the school........ yada yada yada. That got me to thinking about why you would be so involved in the Greek life. It is a prearranged family and friends and you also will constantly be involved with other fraternities and sororities in after school functions and the rest of your life. Does this not limit your social life and the rest of your world?? Yes it does in my opinion.
I was not in a fraternity in college due the fact that I was way too independent to live in that environment, plus they would have run me off pretty quick for various reasons including being poor. I did not want to limit my universe, I wanted to compete on a bigger stage, that has been true since my high school days. I was taking Paper Science and was going to work in a field that would be global in nature, Greek connections would be of little help. The woman talking about her Greek life was limiting her universe, probably for the rest of her life, because she was really just interested in her college and her Greek friends. She was only going to compete on that stage, which in my opinion is way too small. She may be a superstar there, but that would be way too small for my tastes. She does not need to limit her universe, but is choosing that life.
I was watching Apollo 13 last night and of course got a good cry or two. That is a great movie. But Fred Haise has a couple of great lines and one is " most of my friends never left the small town I was from and look at me--in space. I would have never figured that." There is way too many people still in the small towns, not dreaming big enough.
I have always told Linda to "dream big" and I mean it. Dream big and try to acheive your dreams. Some people do not have the chance to dream big and attempt to achieve them due to various situations beyond their control. But, many people limit their dreams and chances because they can't'. NO, you will not try hard enough-- too big a chance of failure or you may hurt some feeling along the way, or beat someone else out for the job, or lack the drive. I have always tried to compete in the biggest arenas and stages that I could find a way to get in the door. I work in a global environment, compete at the National level in track, and enjoy people and cultures from all over the world. I have had multiple opportunities to be a the big fish in a little pond and avoid any chance of failure, but I have always wanted to get to the elite level and seek out the elite competition and have managed to get there. Competing and winning at the highest levels is way sweeter. Everyone should a least give it a shot, one time. Don't settle, you will surprise your self.
I will work on starts and a little speed work this week and make sure I do a very complete stretching routine each day. I do have a couple of minor dings on my left side. My hip is sore and and my left foot has the beginning stages of turf toe. Neither will be a factor in what I will be running this weekend, but long term I will need to address them. I will have a lot of tape on my feet to hold them together for a couple of races.
Now the real point of this blog. Linda and I traveled to the Ravenwood football game at Clarksville last Friday. The first half was a nail biter, and then they pulled away in the second half and won easily. While sitting in the stands with the Ravenwood fans, the chatter was constant behind us by various women. Linda could hear it all, I have a good set of "man ears" that can dial out women voices and concentrate on football. I put my man ears to good use for this game. I asked a couple of times about two different women-- " Do they ever shut up?" the answer from Linda was "NO"! Thank you man ears--they should sell them on TV.. Women would love them too!
The one girl behind us was in college and went on and on and on about her sorority. She was recruiting everyone and if she did not get in, she might have left the school........ yada yada yada. That got me to thinking about why you would be so involved in the Greek life. It is a prearranged family and friends and you also will constantly be involved with other fraternities and sororities in after school functions and the rest of your life. Does this not limit your social life and the rest of your world?? Yes it does in my opinion.
I was not in a fraternity in college due the fact that I was way too independent to live in that environment, plus they would have run me off pretty quick for various reasons including being poor. I did not want to limit my universe, I wanted to compete on a bigger stage, that has been true since my high school days. I was taking Paper Science and was going to work in a field that would be global in nature, Greek connections would be of little help. The woman talking about her Greek life was limiting her universe, probably for the rest of her life, because she was really just interested in her college and her Greek friends. She was only going to compete on that stage, which in my opinion is way too small. She may be a superstar there, but that would be way too small for my tastes. She does not need to limit her universe, but is choosing that life.
I was watching Apollo 13 last night and of course got a good cry or two. That is a great movie. But Fred Haise has a couple of great lines and one is " most of my friends never left the small town I was from and look at me--in space. I would have never figured that." There is way too many people still in the small towns, not dreaming big enough.
I have always told Linda to "dream big" and I mean it. Dream big and try to acheive your dreams. Some people do not have the chance to dream big and attempt to achieve them due to various situations beyond their control. But, many people limit their dreams and chances because they can't'. NO, you will not try hard enough-- too big a chance of failure or you may hurt some feeling along the way, or beat someone else out for the job, or lack the drive. I have always tried to compete in the biggest arenas and stages that I could find a way to get in the door. I work in a global environment, compete at the National level in track, and enjoy people and cultures from all over the world. I have had multiple opportunities to be a the big fish in a little pond and avoid any chance of failure, but I have always wanted to get to the elite level and seek out the elite competition and have managed to get there. Competing and winning at the highest levels is way sweeter. Everyone should a least give it a shot, one time. Don't settle, you will surprise your self.
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