Track and Field Blogs - Ryan From Flotrack

I don't know who says it the best but Notorious B.I.G.'s "Sky's the Limit" track comes to mind as he says "your brain was a terrible thing to waste." You learn a lot of things on the circuit as you travel from meet to meet. Things about track, about people, about life. There are also things you learn that may not be new, but more reminded or reemphasized. That thing for me this week has been the power of the mind. People say that when you have success there is no magic behind it, no mysterious unknown that guides to new heights....simply hard work and perseverance paying off. But if I had to argue with someone about magic, I would argue for the mind.

There has been no greater evidence of how much power the mind has than this track season and especially the past few days. Hopefully most of you got to watch Maggie Vessey's remarkable run in Monaco. I've said before that I am truly lucky to be following these athletes through their journeys on the circuit. Maggie's story, her progress, her first time on the circuit, and even her highs and lows.....I've got to witness a lot of it. There was a lot of emotion in the week leading up to this run and you can see this in her interview. After missing the time in Gent by .04, having arguable her only "bad" race of the season in London, her mental outlook was not indicative of her performance in Monaco. In the interview I referenced our breakfast that morning and remember her saying she was ready to go home and her body was hurting. That was not the Maggie Vessey you saw on the track 10 hours later.

What I am getting at is that something changed in those 10 hours. It wasn't an extra workout, it wasn't at extra serving of pasta, it wasn't the spikes or the extra bottle of water. Something in her mind changed and changed in a big way. She had a game plan for this race and she set her mind to execute. As the race played out she began to BELIEVE. Belief.....letting your mind have faith in yourself, in your coach, in your preparation. In all my travels with the athletes I meet, there are so many that are held back by not believing in themselves.

Maggie isn't the only one who's had breakthroughs. Look at US women's middle/long distance over the past year and the success we are having. Yes you can argue there are African countries that are still well ahead of where we are but the fact is we are on the verge of being in a place we've never been before. When you look at the 1500, we potentially have four women that could be under 4:00 this season. No other country in world has that depth. Those women- Wurth-Thomas, Barringer, Rowburry, Willard- all have something in common. They believe. In Christin's interview after Monaco (she PRed at 1:59, first time under 2:00) I mention the difference in her mentally over the past year. Last year at Monaco she was just a runner, a woman who had gotten into a great race and was hoping to run a fast time. This year, those time goals are still there, but Christin is also competing up front with the best in the world, kicking 300 meters out and believing she belongs there.

I have seen people make comments about Anna being over confident after some of her interviews. Anna ties her PR in Monaco running 4:01 and is upset, easy to see in her interview. When I see the over confident comments I almost cringe to think people feel that an athlete who is upset about not taking full advantage of an opportunity to race the two best women in the world (Jaamal and Burka) is a bad thing! Anna is confident and rightfully so. When I see her it is refreshing, it makes me feel like we honestly have athletes that aren't afraid, that are willing to fight to win medals at major championships. She BELIEVES that she belongs there and will strive to get there. Anna will learn from her frustrations because she is strong upstairs. If she's on that podium in Berlin don't be surprised.

My hope is that athletes, beginners to veterans and even professionals, are learning from this these athletes and their achievements. We've been lucky these past few years because of Mark's vision and bringing Flotrack to the masses, and I will make sure that continues. Being able to watch videos is great and its something we now expect, but there's got to be more. A race isn't simply a race, post-race interviews aren't always just someone talking. There is meaning, there is value, there is education. These women mentioned are doing something special and we should all take note. There is a reason they are starting to have success on the world stage. Its not a mystery. These women believe in themselves, in their coaches, and in what they are doing every day of their lives.

Bob Pollock, my coach at Clemson, told me during outdoor my reshirt-junior to look in the mirror every morning and say "I am a great runner." I kind of laughed and said "ok coach", but really just brushed it off. I finally did it one day. It was awkward, I felt like I was crazy, but I continued to do it. My first three year of collegiate track and cross country were more or less a waste of time because I wasn't fully committed to every aspect of my training (sleep and confidence were my biggest faults). After this little change my coach gave me and helping me to believe in myself I went from only having run at one ACC track championship in three years to doubling at the conference meet where I was All-ACC and scored in two events (3rd in the steeple, 5th in the 5k). Not like running a world leading 800 mark or kicking with the best runners in the world by any means......but it showed me the power of the mind, the power of belief.

I'll leave you with a little more Biggie because I know you love it ;) But in all seriousness, I hope you take something from these athletes. There's a lot to learn if you let yourself....

"Sky is the limit and you know that can have what you want, be what you want."