The Competitive Edge

My Inspiration for "bringing it" to everything

If there is one thing I know for sure, it is that if you have a truly competitive spirit, it never leaves you. Even though I have been injured and struggling to get back to my prior level of racing, training and competing, I have been witness to others attempting to find their edge in addition to enjoying various sports where I have seen mine emerge with a vengeance at key times. This gives me hope that I will be able to really “bring it” when I am back in my favorite oval—track nation.

When coaching at the high school level, it is all about learning and having fun, but also so important to be able to find that extra gear within—especially at championship meets or to qualify for them. The “competitive gear” needs to match the “fun gear”, and if you find the balance between those two elements of running then the pressure that comes will be welcome. The mind wills the body to perform outside of yourself and possibly even current fitness—almost like pure adrenaline. For example, at 2013 USA Nationals, I ran a 51.1-second last 400m to finish in 4^th place in a star-studded field, but I had not run a 51-second 400m in any workout or meet all year—even in an 800m! The body will find a way if the mind is trained to compete.

My dad doing all the things he loves...BEST

I was blessed to grow up watching one of the best athletes I have ever seen “bring it” time and again in every sport imaginable—football, basketball, baseball, golf, bowling, ping pong, tennis, name it. I’m speaking of my Dad. He was the quarterback at Furman University for four years, and is still the biggest stud I know. He scored 52 points in a high school basketball game, batted over .500 for a season in baseball, can throw a football more than 60 yards, bowled 250, shot 35 on nine holes, and ran 400m in 55-seconds at 6’3”/220lbs just to give a frame of reference. To quote him, “he quit school because of recess because he does not play.” Even now, he beats me at almost everything because he refuses to lose. It doesn’t matter if I am beating him for 90 percent of the duration of whatever game we are playing (even Scrabble or Horse)—at the last minute he is clutch. Just this weekend, he won the Captain’s Choice Golf Tournament for the Furman Football Alumni Association at 62-years-old. That is the competitive edge I wish for every single person reading this and think about each time I walk onto the track. He even beat cancer.

My first golf outing in years with my best friend from college, his dad and my dad

The influence of my Dad throughout the years has helped me through this tough time of transition from surgery, as I have not been competing in MY sport right now. However, I have enjoyed playing a few others like basketball and golf—things I had not really done in years. Frankly, I didn’t expect much. Yet, like my Dad (and because of him), when I needed to find that extra gear at the end, to change the fun gear to the competitive one, it happened seamlessly. It gave me confidence and made the entire outing much more enjoyable! I know I’ll have it in the last 400m of my races, and I am looking forward to proving that. The best part of playing other sports is exercising that competitive muscle during clutch times—the feeling of pressure, the adrenaline, the knowing when to step up and take a shot, to take a chance. There is nothing quite like it. Experience playing anything helps hone this skill. Just ask my Dad.

With the best parents ever--and of course my dad had to beat us to the top