11/17 Discouragement at Practice

I felt so goofy at today’s Sunday trackractice. ESPECIALLY during the warmup drills. I couldn’t seem to be doing anything right. My A and B-skips were wonky, I would be the last to arrive at the line, and correcting cues seemed to be constantly shouted at me. It felt like I was doing sprint drills for the very first time. It didn’t help that there were a few new ones added too. I felt like completely shutting down. I wanted to blame it on my school coaches who never taught me the correct way to sprint and do drills.
The embarrassment didn’t stop at the drills either. Even during the workout, looking at the videos taken of myself I could see that my arms were wide, I didn’t seem to be powerful enough and my reaction time was just painfully slow. In all, I felt utterly discouraged.

But there were 2 options for me.

A: View this all as discouragement and continue the season thinking that there’s not enough time to do corrections. Potentially quit because I don’t see instant progress.

B: View this all as a blessing since God is placing these coaches and training in my path so that I may be corrected and achieve the high goals set for me. Be thankful for the trials on my path because I know that they’ll make me stronger both spiritually and physically.

I decided to choose the latter.
[1 Kings 18:41-46] A Bible story that pops to mind is when Elijah told Ahab and his servant that heavy rain would fall upon the land, even when it hadn’t rained in many years. The claim seemed impossible and erratic. But the servant still decided to trust Elijah when he told him to look at the sky and look for the rain. The servant went to the mountain to look but saw not even a cloud in the sky. He reported this to Elijah who told him to check again. This went on for a total of 7 times! I would’ve stopped the third time.

Anyway, the 7th time, the servant saw a cloud the size of a man’s hand and reported it to Elijah. It wasn’t like he out his hand to the sky and saw a cloud that size, no, he saw a tiny itty bitty cloud that looked about the size of a man’s hand. He reported that to Elijah, probably not thinking too much of it. But Elijah knew that it was a sign. He told his servant to tell Ahab to grab a chariot and hurry home before the rain caught him. And through the supernatural powers of God, Elijah ran past Ahab to the destination!

This story reminds me to keep faith, even when the results are small. In fact, hardly noticeable. The fact that God even set these dreams in my heart is a sign. The fact that God placed good & detailed-focused coaches in my path is a sign. I just need to continue showing up with an attitude of faith and gratitude.

With this new outlook, I can clearly see that these coaches are trying to better me, not make me discouraged. With each practice and piece of advice, my sprints are improving. I just need to: Trust, stay faithful to the process, and stay grateful.