1 Week till Spartan!
The Path of the Panthers, Remember the 300!!!, The Band & 15 Weeks later.....
The Path to Spartan
From trail head to trail head, where does it start and where does it end? It’s a simply complicated question. Line ‘em up, fire the gun, run like mad, have multiple life consideration i.e. “What am I DOing!”, then some one yells “800 to GO!!!” and “FINISH!!!” , and.… finish. It’s simple.
Then there is the path in between, when we go home from the races, step off the trail and go about daily life. The path in between, the path that we make plans, set goals to go the extra mile or the extra 300. The path of motivation, dreams, visions and doubt. Do we really have to run 300 miles? Are we going to?
Do you remember the 300 miles you ran to this point? The miles, the conversations with friends, ultimate Frisbee and freezy pops. Do you remember Ophelia, “where have you gone?”. Looking back what will you remember, will you be wondering, Ophelia, Ophelia, Ophelia? “Why do the best things always disappear?”
So where does it end? The Path? Does it end at the finish line or the end of practice. Does it end at Spartan? The tales we tell about trails we run are a continuum across life. It builds like training plans, step by step, work out by work out. Looking back at what worked and what did not. How well did I plan and how close did I come to my goals?
It’s been just over 4 months, Tuesday, May 3rd, since we all met in Mr. Powell’s room for a Cross County Team Meeting. The idea, the goal, of going to the Spartan Invitational was proposed and from there our path was set. From the meeting to just 1 week till Spartan, looking back, reading this and looking forward, it’s not us that are wondering about Ophelia, “where have we gone?”, we are Ophelia, we up and went! Along the way we figured out fundraising, its a SNAP, and we got to meet Shannon. Turns out we are all a bunch of Farm kids inside. BINGO! I’ve very proud of our path to this point, you made it bright like fire!
This has been a truly fun process for me. To my point of the path and races and where does it end? It’s enjoyable to see ideas move from an idea to an actual finish line. With that said 1 week till Spartan is going to be a week to take it all in and enjoy.
Coach Van
