For Russell: Wrap Your Mind Around It!

My final snippet of advice to my oldest friend in the world:

A bit of background first. Sometime in 2008 or so, Russell decided he would be a runner. He entered two half-marathons and in efforts of unguided misdirection, he finished these races in just over 2:00. He wasn't a runner in school, per se, but was a student athlete in soccer, basketball and tennis. The amazing part to his story, though, and the foundation that supports his pursuit this year is the unbelievable experience he had to overcome as a young adult to get to this very moment. The beneficiary of his philanthropic efforts this year will be the Spaulding Rehabilitation Center, where he spent a good bit of his early to mid-20s either getting his knee repaired or working diligently to recover from the damage. He still tells stories when the pain and medications got to a point where he was completely incapable of taking care of himself and had to rely on his care-giving mother to support his every need. He is probably lucky to be walking today. This coming Monday, not only is he walking, he'll be tackling his second Boston Marathon. His second ever attempt at the 26.2 mile distance.

Last year, Russell learned through experience and often time the hard way. He underprepared for his race. Although he did run in training, he was somewhat inconsistent, started way too late, did not have enough motivation and guidance and was not capable of overcoming the mental barriers that he soon would face. Bottomline, he was not only physically underprepared, his mind was just not right yet. After all, running long distances is physical only to a certain point. Without solid mental skills, it's difficult to perform optimally. He ran the Hyannis half to prepare in roughly 1:49 and continued to work through a 12-week program to get himself ready for his big day. He was, however, extremely focused on his overall time. As race day came, he was not prepared for the spectacle that was to become of the Boston Marathon. The crowds, the logistics and the grandiosity of the event overwhelm the fact that you now have to run a race and dealing with all the attributes surrounding that very thing.

Taking on challenges like this, require a true physical, mental and emotional commitment. Hard work is required for several months by making sacrifices where everyone around you does not. Not only do they not make the sacrifice, often time they don't understand what you're doing and you become subject to scrutiny, ridicule and peer pressure and this wears on your emotions. The emotional aspects of long distance athletic events are so impactful, that you can see the raw emotion on the face of every participant. For everyone it is different. Blood, sweat and tears; tears of joy, pain, disappointment, relief, success, failure, charity and just about anything else you can imagine. Last year, Russell experienced disappointment. He had a goal, because he reaches high for himself in all things, but his objective for achievement was only his overall result. He did not accomplish his primary goal, even though it wasn't just to finish, but to perform to the best of his ability. The sad part was that it didn't seem like he appreciated the process. Working with what he had, he was a success in my book and in that of all his friends and family. Now, a year later, he finally does appreciate what he accomplished because he's grown as a person.

This year is a different story. He has matured as an athlete. Every aspect of his training has been well thought out, purposeful and planned. After several off-season discussions and working sessions, we developed a plan together and that collaboration has made all the difference. Instead of taking a cookie-cutter approach, Russell learned from his experiences, his body, his brain and was able to develop a custom plan that was realistic, executable and most importantly fulfilling to what he was trying to achieve. He has learned that he needs to work on things incrementally and to desynthesize the large down into smaller chunks; controllable chunks that make a seemingly overwhelming and impossible situation suddenly possible and surmountable. An accumulation of small successes. He has made gains in almost every area of weakness, and those deposits in the bank are starting to pay dividends. With strategic training, he was able to showcase his progress at the Hyannis half-marathon where he ripped another 6 minutes off his half-marathon time (that is over 20 minutes in 2 years). He has learned to concentrate on the process and not the end result and that all these little controllable causes lead to an effect to be forecasted, not restricting. He's learned to control what he can control and to adapt to those conditions that can't be controlled through visualization, purposeful preparation and an adjusted mentality. He's done those things this year. His focuses have been on nutrition, pacing, strength and endurance. He has everything he needs to be successful, physically.

For Russell:
The final token of wisdom that I would like to share with you prior to your race this year: get your mind wrapped around what you're capable of and trust the process that we purposefully prepared just for this very day. You've been here before. You will recognize the environment and with any luck, you've visualized that over and over again in your head. You'll probably identify with the sounds and the smells just as you had in your mind and a whole year ago. You'll feel the chill of emotion run up and down your skin and you'll feel right at home - where you've been preparing to be for a year. I urge you to be patient in your pacing. Execute your plan as designed and adapt with modifications. Take great pleasure in being so fluid, that you can roll with it on the fly and take that to heart as you continue on your journey and use the life lessons that your training is inevitably teaching you - this is once again, a learning experience. You're an athlete this year. You trained like an athlete, you prepared your soul and emotion to be an athlete. On race day, I want you to act like an athlete, because you deserve that now. When your mind has to take over, remember the mental training that you've done. No disappointment this year because you've already won and I'm proud of you. You've gained so much over the course of the last few months, I sincerely hope you recognize, understand and appreciate all you've accomplished and the incremental improvements you've made. I can honestly tell you that you've inspired me. You've made sacrifices that I've been unwilling to make. You've pressed onward despite barriers, you've gotten up when you fell down and you're back here again this Monday to cherish the experience and appreciate the ability to do the things you set out for yourself. You're doing things for the benefit of others, financially and emotionally, while at the same time doing something for yourself. Be gracious for the ability to do this. May all the things go your way on Monday, but expectedly not, I have no doubt that you'll dig deep to find a way to overcome the adversity that tries to sneak up on you. I may not be there to run with you this year, but you won't need me. Emotionally, you'll feel connected and I will be there every step of the way. No matter what you think, you're prepared. Leaps and bounds above last year, I'm excited to see how well the process will work. I won't tell you good luck, because this is not about luck but preparation. In effect, what is luck anyway but when preparation meets opportunity? Go out there and charge the hill! No pressure. Just take deep breaths, relax and do what you're trained to do.