Monday, March 22, 2010

Letter from Coach Stacie to North Carolina Marathoners


Enjoy today! You are a marathon runner!

I hope that your family and co workers are showering you with praise over your fabulous weekend of running. They should be. You all did great. Enjoy their praise and soak it up. Don't diminish what you have done -because every person who says "congratulations" isn't just congratulating you on your race this weekend.. They are congratulating you on the countless miles of training that you have done to get to this point. So whether the weekend's race went better than expected or was more challenging than expected. whether you flew through the finish or hobbled through the finish. you have done something amazing. And if for one moment you question just how amazing the 26.2 distance is, then check this out:

The modern Athens Marathon commemorates the run of the soldier Pheidippides from a battlefield at the site of the town of Marathon, Greece, to Athens in 490 B.C., bringing news of a Greek victory over the Persians. Legend has it that Pheidippides delivered the momentous message "Niki!" ("victory"), then collapsed and died, thereby setting a precedent for dramatic conclusions to the marathon.

So enjoy today and being showered with praise. And don't be the person who shrugs it off and says "oh - it wasn't that great". or "oh - it wasn't as fast as I wanted". or "oh - it was no big deal." It was a big deal. You ran further than most people are willing to drive for a commute to work. And you had the dedication to train long enough and hard enough to do it right.

I'll stop babbling now so you can look up from your computer to listen to your next coworker, friend, or family member tell you how great you are. Just smile and say thanks - cuz you really are!
Coach Stacie O'Battjes

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