Winning - It's a Personal Decision

[Andrew A.]

Another great piece from Magill:
http://petemagill.blogspot.com/2009/10/morning-read-winning-its-personal.html

[denton]

..he's bang on........it's one thing that a lot of the younger runners don't get...all those little things u do snowball and add up to not only greater success in running results, but more importantly a much greater understanding of usccess in life

[Ryan]

Excellent article. I've seen that with various teams throughout my time around sports, both in and out of running. If you believe you will win, you do the "little" things that lead to the win. If you believe you will not win, those "little" things just aren't that important. The truth is it's those "little" thing that separate the winners from the losers. It's those extra 10 miles per week during the off-season, it's not racing your teammates in practice, it's year-round weight training for football players, it's coaches setting rules and holding everyone to them even if it means a short term competitive disadvantage.

[Double]

Wow...this guy knows what he speaks of.

In high school our CC team went 5 - 27 in duals over three years.  The football team was awesome.  Two years after I graduated, my brother's football team won the first Western Pennsylvania championship from our conference in 25 years.  The CC team was gone.

I spent more time trying to motivate guys who were talented, but it was more work than I imagened.  I didn't bother my senior year, won about 10 dual meets and we would still lose by a score of 20 - 50 about every meet. 

"Well, your talented."  Talented?  I ran twice the mileage a week of the team combined.  I hated that fact I was the only green jersey amongst a sea of red or blue, etc. from the other team.  I raced all out every meet and by the time the big meets came around I was no were to be seen.  It still ticks me off to this day.  Not that I faded at the end of the year, but these guys were decent athletes.  I grew up with most of these guys.  They were fast, they could hoop, and they were basically competitive in life.  But like he says, why work?  We will probably lose anyway. 

It is perception.  My brother was the fullback/linbacker.  A sophomore when I was a senior.  Who do you think was our second best distance runner in track?  It sure wasn't anyone from the CC team.  It was my brother.  We set the still standing 2 mile relay record in 78'.  Myself, a defensive end, a fullback, and our all county linebacker.  They were winners.

[Andrew A.]

Exactly, perception is reality.  Far too many people - in all areas of life, not just in running or sports - unfortunately sell themselves short.  This is why it is so important to surround oneself with an effective support system. 

[oldcolonial]

Exactly, perception is reality.  Far too many people - in all areas of life, not just in running or sports - unfortunately sell themselves short.  This is why it is so important to surround oneself with an effective support system. 

I do not believe that is the point of the article.  The point of the article is that you must have a commitment to excel in order to excel.  You cannot make that commitment until you accept that you will excel.

“We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit.”  to quote Aristotle might be a better summary.

[Andrew A.]

It is the point of Double's comments and it is taking the point and expanding upon it, finding further conclusions.  It was also exemplified in the article with the example of the varsity and j.v. football teams.  The difference in those two teams' success is neither by accident nor attributable solely and fully to the highlighted individual (Pete's son) and his commitments and habits.  That goes to leadership of those teams and leadership in the case of the individual (such as runners reading and posting here) often has to come from within -- and instead of a coaching and training staff as a support system one will have friends and family.  Knowing which of those voices to heed (or ignore) and when is all part of it.  Having an influence (or voice) in one's life that tends to pull away from the habits of excellence rather than towards them can have counterproductive results.

[Double]

Was it Lombardi who said, "There is no such thing as luck.  Luck is when preparation meets opportunity."  Winning is a personal decision.

My parents grew up in the sticks.  You have to pump daylight into that region of the country to realize it is there.  In HS, my Mom did not have the opportunity to compete because there were no women sports (though she was a cheerleader) and she graduated in 1960.  Even still, she was voted most athletic in HS.  As a parent, she just expected my brother and I to excel in sports.  You just did it.  No gray area...go and do well...no excuses.  Never tore us down...get up and get back out there.

My Dad grew up on the farm.  One of four brothers, they too were athletic, but could not play sports in HS.  Excellent eye hand coordination.  Enjoyed our sports immensely, never missed games or meets.  He was a keen observer of what made others successful.  He was an encourager and would spend hours talking to us about how we would compete.  He loved it when we succeeded because he had a part in it.  Not to blabber on, but one time in the mile there was a guy who had not been beat for over a year.  We talked the strategy out and my Dad told me he thought my best chance was to hold the pace back and use my speed to gun him down the last 220y.  I disagreed.  This guy always ground people down and had more at the end.  He felt, if he doesn't grind you down, you will beat him if you jump him with 220y to go.  He was right and I won...barely.  We talked about that for years.

To Andrew's point, my support was at home.  This scenario continues to play itself out with many of my family's kids.  It is not uncommon for 20-30 family members to turn out and watch cousins, neices, nephews, brothers and sisters, compete.  It is awesome and what I miss most about not living at home.  It's not just about sports, it's about encouraging each other along through life.

[Ryan]

Double, that's an awesome family support network. More athletes should have that kind of support network right at home. It explains a lot about your personality as a runner. You obviously get a lot of it from your family.

[Ed]

Winning to me does not always mean taking first place.  There are personal victories and these can take as much dedication, preparation, heart and courage as that of a gifted athlete to take first place in an event.

[Andrew A.]

Pete Magill (as well as I) is in agreement with you. 

When you accept that you're going to win (whatever "winning" implies for you, whether it's finishing first in a race, setting a PR, or just beating that old bastard down the street who always sprints past your house to show you up), you do the things that it takes to win.

[Ryan]

Ed, winning can mean many different things. Take a look at any race and you'll quickly realize that, all other things being equal, it's a pretty small race where you have even a 1% chance of being the first across the finish line (and, of course, all other things are never equal). First across the finish line, though, is only one way to win. There are other place goals, there are rivals to beat, there are time barriers, there are even more subjective victories, such as running a strategically smart race on a course that tends to give you problems. Or, simply, running the best you could on the given day is a win - no matter how few or many people cross the finish line before you.

[cesar]

i ll have a nice victory when i beat a guy that always beats me, the most frustrating is that he doesnot train the half that i train, but he has talent, he can run 19:45 5k without training. some day i ll destroy him.

[Ryan]

Cesar, you will get him. All my life, I've been chasing people who haven't worked as hard as me and I'm sure I'll continue chasing people who don't work as hard as me for as long as I'm running. The good news is that, in most cases, hard work alone will eventually overcome talent alone. The thing to remember is that it requires not only hard work but also persistence.