Uncertainty, Acceptance & Patience

       Over the past few weeks there's been a lot of uncertainty on our team, which can be unsettling, but not the end of the world if we don't let it be. Our distance coach, coach Oliver announced he is leaving Purdue, so we don't have a coach at the moment. On top of this a few other staff members have left as well including an athletic trainer, academic advisor, director of operations, sprint coach. When listing all those people out, it feels like the team is going to be unrecognizable next year and it’s scary to think about what it could look like. It's easy to think about how this is going to go wrong, how everything feels like its crumbling around me, or how I can get out of this situation, but for me it’s been important to focus on the positives, accepting where we are, and remain patient while we put the trust in our staff to find us a coach for the season. I'm not often very good at looking at things with a glass half full perspective, but honestly, I've been proud of how I've handled this internally so here's the things I've been trying to remember:

• As long as the team sticks together and stays positive, we will be able to bond over this and come out a stronger and better team because of it. 

       So, all of that is likely not super applicable to anyone else except the people on my team, but I think the thing that I've learned from all this that I will continue to use in the other aspects of my running and life is that there is no point on dwelling on the past. Parts of it suck, that's true but complaining and feeling down about it won't help, so talking with teammates, offering support, and focusing on the positives are helpful here. We cannot change what has happened so accepting the change as it is and making the best out of it is important. 

       Another example that might be more applicable has to do with training and racing. There have been quite a few instances in me colligate running career where either I wasn't progressing as fast as I wanted or not at all. And this sucks because let’s be honest that's part of the reason, we all do this, running PRs and feeling strong is fun, if this didn't ever happen it would be hard to keep going. We all have a bad workout, they happen to the best of us, but the problem is when we dwell on this, it creates a domino effect and feeling down about what happened in the workout or race for too long will put extra pressure on the next workouts, you'll waste energy worrying about it, maybe lose sleep over it, and will just go into them more tense and nervous. 

       After a bad workout or race, there are a few things I like to do to move past it and hopefully turn that disappointment into something helpful. 

• Accept that it happened. We all have bad workouts and races, it’s not the end of the world. Keep moving forward because beating yourself up about it doesn't serve anyone any good. Instead, look for ways to improve next time.
• Acknowledge the disappointment. Either/and writing about it or talk with coach or a teammate. Shoving the disappointment down does not help because I've learned, shoving down, and ignoring these feelings just makes them eventually explode, they don't go anywhere, they just silently sit in the background. (Maybe this isn't a universal experience, maybe I am just horrible and handling my feelings, but for me this is very much a problem if I don't find a way to get the thoughts out)
• Create a plan. Use those ways to improve as a steppingstone to make the next workout or race better. Take something you wish you handled better, talk to a teammate, coach, or other support staff, and come up with a plan to address the issue. A few examples of things I've tried to work on: Bringing race nerves down, relaxing during the race, not thinking about the end goal, fueling better, pacing better, closing stronger. The list goes on forever, there's always something to improve on. 
• Be patient. I've found especially when you’re in a tough place with...anything in life, there can be a lot of things that you feel you want to fix now. Sometimes I feel like everything needs to change now if I want to reach my goals. This is unattainable and change takes time. If you feel like you have a long list of things to work on, pick one so you don't overwhelm and stress yourself out even more (that is what we are trying to avoid after all)
• Get excited. That workout or race didn't go as planned; it sucks because you know you're better than that. But now you have a plan to improve next time. Change might not happen overnight, but you've taken the steps to get better so get excited because improvement will come in time!