Victory in Defeat

People are important. Family, friends it seems obvious; it seems like there should be a more elegant way to say it, but bottom line is we need people around us. People to pick us up when things don’t roll our way, people to help us see the bigger picture, add perspective, and get back on our feet when we fall flat on our back.

This weekend I had the amazing opportunity to compete in the West Region cross country championships, in Eugene Oregon. There really isn’t words to describe this meet. Until you witness the insanity, you really cannot understand. The first major sign you see when leaving the Eugene airport reads, “Welcome to Track Town USA” and it truly is. The cross country course is held on a small portion of the Springfield golf course, being such a tiny venue it is extremely intimate. Fans line nearly the entire course 4 to 5 people deep, all screaming at the top of their lungs, or beating some loud inanimate object. It was all so much. I cant put my finger on exactly what it was, but it knocked me off my feet and I hit the ground hard. After training for 22 weeks, running 2,500 miles this summer, and changing my lifestyle in many ways all for this very weekend, to run terrible was extremely frustrating and defeating. When so much is invested it is hard to get back on your feet, sometimes laying in defeat seems easier.

I was down, really down, when I called my dad. He wasn’t though, he had a different perspective, he saw things to salvage, he saw good, in what I thought was all just terrible. My dad had words to frame the day and put everything in perspective. My mom was there, with a warm, “It’s okay”, I needed to hear that. It was not only my parents, but other people around me, who truly lifted me back up. Mrs. Hall had story after story when it didn’t roll her son’s ways; Mr. Hall taught me so many things from what I thought was nothing. When I was down I needed all of their perspectives, I needed their hands to help pull me up, and help me get back on my feet. We all need those people, family, friends; we need people around us, don’t ever take this for granted, don’t ever think you can just do it alone.

“I turned my head and saw yet another wisp of smoke on its way to nothingness: a solitary person, completely alone—no children, no family, no friends—yet working obsessively late into the night, compulsively greedy for more and more, never bothering to ask, "Why am I working like a dog, never having any fun? And who cares?" More smoke. A bad business.”
-Ecclesiastes 7-8

Monday morning I headed out the door on another run gearing up for Indoor Track season, not defeated but excited for what was next; a perspective those around me help me come to.