Track and Field Blogs - Jenny Barringer

Have you ever played a musical instrument? Take the piano for example. You sit down at a bench and press the keys. Really, how hard could it be?

First, there's the craft. When you plop down on the bench and raise one finger to strike your first key, lying before you are eighty eight keys to choose from. Each of those eighty eight keys is attached to a hammer that then strikes not one, not two, but three finely tuned strings. That's 264 strings. Then, there are three pedals on the floor that can be skillfully timed and negotiated to reduce the number of strings the hammer strikes (by shifting the entire keyboard), or increase resonance by eliminating the stop. See, it's all very intricate once you look inside.

Second, there is the execution. Anyone, from a toddler to a virtuoso, can take a perfectly tuned Steinway and produce dissonance. But, someone that is knowledgeable about the instrument, the patters, the rhythm; a person that is a student of the discipline, can also navigate those keys to make beautiful music. Further, there are some who will work their entire lives slaving at the craft that they love and will never be a protege or a virtuoso. They will put in their 100,000 hours and never be called a savant. Practice and passion but is this their purpose?

This season behind me is one to savor. Those who know the sport or know me are aware of the leaps I have taken and the pride with which I will be returning to the States tomorrow. The road from Beijing to Berlin has been long but I'm sad it's already over. I'm still learning, I'm still practicing, I'm still finding more within myself. The best is yet to come, I know that for sure, but I also know that while I still feel the vibrations of the final note to my song this year, no other future music will be quite the same.