Hi Storm Team,
Wow, what an eventful Saturday at Corriganville!! A new course brought some excitement as I heard many say how much they enjoyed it, both athletes and spectators. Overall it was great to be able to race. The bantam girls were smoking fast :), and the youth got a quarter mile break, but even with the oopses, we had some great racing out there.
As I recall the races I have a few highlights to share: how about the great kicks of Noah Ciuffitelli, Emma Buchanan, and the Austin/Tyler battle. What about the sub-gremmies, who aren't taller than my hips, who keep cranking out great races! I'm proud of our long-time Storm athletes battling every week and making big improvements like Kelly Avila and Jordan Toon. If I were to give a top spot award to one guy and one girl for this weekend, it would definitely be Nathan Branda on the boys side and Amelia Barnes on the girls side. Branda has closed to within 17 seconds of his Eagles competitor, when he started 4 weeks ago almost a full minute back!!! Amelia is running in her first season of XC and learning more with every race to take the top Storm spot this weekend for midget girls. We have a veteran in Brianna and a newer XC runner in Samantha who I fully expect and look forward to making this a 3 way battle that ends with all 3 girls in the top 8 for post season!! I want to share a big moment for another great runner on the team. Hector Martinez travelled to Portland for the Alan Webb Nike Junior High school XC race. He had a fantastic race, taking the win by 10 seconds! He had a nice article written about him and topped it off with meeting Alan Webb!!
Here's the deal team, I believe greatness in others has the following possible effects on you: first you might shy away, feel defeated, or just accept where you are; second you BELIEVE you can be just as great and work hard to get there; and third you BELIEVE you can be greater and you become the next greatest. The bottom line is you have to keep pushing forward!!!
EVERY ONE of you are doing that, you are working hard every week and I am proud of all of you. And by the way, greatness isn't only who's on the top of the podium. It could be the athlete who is 3 spots ahead of you when you are a mid-packer. So, although I'm very proud of you, can I throw a but… out there? Alright, I will anyway: so what I see in some of you is a fear of really accomplishing what I know is possible. How do I know that… because I've been in the same spot as you before. I've stood on the starting line of XC races, scared to death, and I've been in the middle of races afraid to push myself harder! Ultimately this fear was the difference of being good and great. I told myself I wanted to be great, but didn't know how to push myself to greatness.
When I graduated high school I found the best coach of my life, and he taught me how to be confident in what I could accomplish! These are the 2 simple concepts he taught me: first is the importance of the fundamentals. From drills, to stretching, to the routine that removes the guesswork! Be sharp and focused! The second concept is that there is always one more gear if you are willing to go deep! I can recall track workouts where I was literally gasping for air, tasting the blood, and coach said get on the line and I went… I felt like I'd die, but… I didn't! I gained confidence…
If you want to improve each week and be as great as you can be, you have to be willing to get on the line and GO!!! You have to be willing to find one more gear in practice and then this Saturday you'll be able to shift to that gear again.
So what's up with this crazy speech? You have 4 races left in the regular season and it's time to make the mark you want on the season. I don't want any of you to say you settled for GOOD this season. Let's all be GREAT! Coaches, let's keep the encouragement cranking, Parents, enjoy the process and love your kids to greatness!! Athletes, do you have another gear? Find it this week? Do something crazy in practice, push yourself harder than you ever have before!
This week is fall break for many of you, so if you are travelling, being great this week might mean running the same days as practice. Don't take them off!!
Next week's race is at Pierce College. This race is a tough, hilly course, that requires your utmost focus. Practice Monday will be a little hilly, but Tuesday is going to be fast tempo over the hills, while Thursday will bring some speed intervals. Tuesday night specifically be ready to challenge yourself!!! Attack the workout, attack the uphill's, the downhills, and the flats!!!
Are you ready for the last 4 weeks? If you are on the radar for post season, you need to keep the pedal down!!! Believe me, other teams are focusing on you as well and want to beat YOUR GREATNESS!!
Thanks for an awesome season so far! October is going to fly, so let's make the most of it and enjoy every step!
Be good, stay healthy, and thank you all for the support of Storm. We all are part of making this team the very best!!
Coach Jeremy
