@ Lake Forest with Stevenson & Warren

I took a few days to write this because I was trying soak in the day. Here's what I know:

1. We have raced frequently and on tough courses. Sure, Deerfield was easy-peasy-lemon-squeezy, but then we added on Waukegan's sneaky and not-so-sneaky hills as well as Parkside's monster plus supplemental hills. I am SUPER happy that we have all of this "load" accumulated in us. This early season strength work will pay off next week and later in the season for sure! Conversely, I knew we would not be fresh after all of that climbing, but I was hoping the speediness of Lake Forest's course would help us overcome the fatigue.

2. While you were all walking the course before the race, Lake Forest's coach informed Anderson and me that the starting line was further back. He claimed that it made up for a shorter first loop, but the times say otherwise. This course is probably a full 3-miles now because the overall times were slower (for this course) across the board. 

3. There was a weird vibe before the race. I still can't name it, but something felt...off. I know that we are still recovering from many being sick. But I guess I was expecting our team connection to be more firm by this point, and I want us to progress! More on this later.

4. There were A LOT of bright spots on Tuesday:

• Rachel had her fastest first mile of the season. She got out hard and took a risk to go after the top runners in our conference.
• Arwen had an incredible start, too. She looked powerful as our second bee!
• Juju and Norah were an incredible tandem. This was Norah's first 3-mile race of the season, and I think it's safe to say that Juju's strength and leadership--especially in the last mile--really helped pull Norah through this race! Juju ran a sweet SPR while Norah proved her grit!
• Fernanda & Celene had great first miles in their races. They both got out of their comfort zones today, and it was fun to watch!
• Dani looked STRONG today from start to finish. Not only did she run a season PR, but she was only 12 seconds away from her LPR from Lake Forest last year (on a shorter course...). Way to go, Dani!
• Charisma ran a heck of a race (even though she wasn't happy with it), dropping 2:10 from her previous best at Lake County. Huge progress, Charisma!
• Lili came back strong after being sick, only missing her LPR by two seconds. She looked locked in and confident throughout the race, which was thrilling to watch! :)
• Carla & Cynthia ran an incredible finish together, twin-style! They truly pushed each other to the finish, which was thrilling to watch. Carla helped Cynthia earn a new Liftetime PR; congrats to Cynthia for breaking 30 for the first time! You are making steady improvement, and all your work from the summer is paying off!
• Divonalynn dropped nearly a minute from Lake County, and she finished her race with a killer kick (check out the pictures on Emerald Night!). Congrats on the new LPR, Lynn!
• Kailey pulled on Divonalynn, dropping a sweet 47 seconds to earn a new LPR, too! 
• Temi & Jocell made their 3-mile debuts today, and they looked great! Jocell ran within a minute of her 2.5 mile time from Parkside. Impressive!
• Eva worked through this course with the wisdom of a senior after it bested her last year at Conference. Although I wish her hammy wasn't bugging her, I'm proud of her for working through it!
• Cici admitted that she wasn't completely happy with her race, but she had a great last mile, pulling on Dani and eventually pulling ahead to give Dani a target. Never underestimate how much your presence helps others!
• Janelley and ALEX! poured their love into our bees, grabbing splits at the mile and cheering hard. Jasmine and Kyranni joined us and got to see a meet and cheer for everyone.

So you might be thinking to yourself:  "Di Grazia, this is a pretty amazing list! What's your deal with your 'intro' about the vibe being off?"  Well, here it goes: 

After Deerfield, I was so excited to hear you all being so positive on the bus ride home. It made me hopeful that despite there being so many new peeps on the team, our values of lifting up one another, seeking growth, and deepening our linkedness (yes, I made up a word...you can't stop me!) would persevere this season. And don't get me wrong--I have seen a lot of steps in that direction so far. :) But I guess Friday night made me think a lot about what I felt was missing on Tuesday. See, on Friday night, we had a lot of FUN. There was cheering and joy and smiles and fellowship. It was great! But too many of you did not witness that glee. Too many of you did not prioritize so that you could bee part of that evening. And too many of you were really hard on yourselves on Tuesday. All of that makes me wonder what I need to do differently. I've thought a lot about it, and here is my promise: 

1. First, I need you to know that practice and meets bring me unbridled JOY. I love my job, and you should know WHY. This sport is TOUGH. Running creates discomfort, and discomfort makes your brain question everything. Watching your navigate that doubt...watching you persevere...watching you LIFT one another is simply priceless! More importantly, I see how much you have changed already. It's early in the season, but I can see each of you growing into your power, and I LOVE IT.

2. Second, I want you to know to bee ready to work on beeing more linked this week. I want to push us out of our comfort zones to really connect beyond the people at our pace. There is power in the team, and now that our roster is officially set, I want to make sure that we are more connected. 

3. Bee ready to work on our mental game! I think that CONFIDENCE was the vibe that I was missing on Tuesday. Confidence speaks when the day isn't an A before the race or workout or presentation or test. Confidence speaks when doubt tries to sneak in. Confidence is built through discipline and honesty and team and acknowledging that the little wins add up to big ones. So how are we going to work on it? Welp, I'm asking you to pick ONE of the techniques below to try out at practice and the meets this week. Bee ready to share which one you will use:

• 5-4-3-2-1. Mel Robbins--author and speaker and person who has plenty of experience with self-doubt--talked about this technique on a podcast I really like. She and her husband were struggling financially, and she was personally dealing with depression and feeling stuck. One night, she was watching tv, and she saw a rocket launch at the end of a commercial. She said it was an a-ha! moment! She realized that the countdown to a rocket launch was what she needed to get out of bed and get unstuck from her mind spinning. The next morning, she counted down:  5-4-3-2-1, and she sprung out of bed. Now, to be clear, it doesn't solve everything. It took her several years to get out of the mess she was in. But that day changed her mindset. She later learned the psychology behind it. Counting backwards shifts your brain away from worry because it has to actually THINK about counting down. And then suddenly, you get the space to ACT rather than WORRY. How could you use this in a race? When you want to try to catch a teammate, count down. When you want to try to hold off a competitor, count down. When you catch your brain lying to you about your performance, count down. When you are heading into the final 400 of the race, count down. Want to hear Mel Robbins talk about the technique? Click here.
• Affirmation.  Pick a word or phrase that brings you joy, power, hope, and/or positivity. It might be funny like six-seven. It might be serious like strength. It might be ridiculous like rubber chicken. It might be meaningful like 62. Pick something that means something to YOU. Think about it's significance. Really feel the goodness it gives you. And write it on your hand. Physically touch it and feel how it grounds you. Let it fuel you when your brain is lying to you and saying that your hopes aren't possible. Let your affirmation word win the mental battle.
• Inspiration. Pick a person who inspires you. It can be a teammate, faculty member, family member, friend, professional athlete or other person who means the world to you. Study the person: what makes them tick? What makes them inspirational? Write the person's name on your hand. Like the affirmation technique, physically touch it and remember that you can grab strength from your inspirational person. Think about what advice they would give you. Own it! And when the going gets tough, think about your inspiration person's advice.
• Visualization.  Our brains love patterns. If you practice positive patterns, your brain will believe it more when the going gets tough. Each morning, take 90 seconds and picture yourself being powerful in your race. Think about a section of our course where you can feel STRONG. See yourself in your ZBXC uniform. Hear your breathing and the cheers of fans. Feel yourself driving your arms and accelerating. Smell the freshly cut grass in the air. Taste that slightly metallic tang you get in your mouth when you have given a great effort in a practice or race. Picture how you want your start or finish or middle mile to go. And practice this every day. Your brain doesn't know the difference between actually running that well vs. just imagining it. Let your brain believe this positive narrative so it is more likely to come true!

This week, I ask that you stay open to beeing linked, that you measure your success by what you are doing right, and that you embrace the racing opportunities we have at home and Warren! Let's celebrate our seniors and feel the JOY this week!