I Am Baseball

Post Race Wrap Up

A little over a month ago, I did something that 2 months before that seemed like a good idea. I did two half marathons within a few weeks of each other. And as has been the story with my last few runs, I struggled with my motivation to properly prepare for them. From bowing out of one race, to doing just enough for others, my last few races have been just OK. I'm by know means a world beater at these things, but I know where I can finish and my last few haven't been there.

May 15th I returned to where I made my first foray into the sport two years ago, the Mississauga Marathon.  Was I happy with my finish? Yes. But again, it wasn't quite where I know I can be. I crossed the finish line in 2:12 which was right about where I figured I would.

Two weeks later on May 29th I ran in Ottawa. This was fun. My finishing time at 2:21 I wasn't overly happy with, but the whole experience of Ottawa Race Weekend was amazing. It is an event the whole city embraces. Road closures weren't bemoaned like they tend to be in races around the GTA. The whole city gets behind it. At no point during the race is it just the thousands of runners plodding along. There are people everywhere. I think the only one who didn't get behind it was Mother Nature. It rained - constantly. But the rain did little to dampen the spirits of those that participated. I will most definitely be back to do this race.
And next time my showing will be better.

I'm not quite sure where my motivation has gone for running this past little while. Yes, it's punishing, but that's not what has drained me. I've heard it said that when you do a full marathon you must respect the distance. Train appropriately and don't take it lightly. And I wonder if that's my problem. My fear of running 22.1 km is gone. Prior to my first  few races I was afraid. I didn't sleep well. I feared going out too fast and burning out. I worried about missing one training run. The (ahem) run-up to the race consumed me. Now, not so much. I run. I finish. And what happens in between doesn't really phase me, but for when I look up to see the time I cross the line.

This isn't uncommon for this sport so I hear. People go through lulls and struggle with their motivation. My lull just seems to be elongated. The ever quotable Yogi Berra once said (of baseball) that, "Baseball is 90% mental, the other half is physical." And so it is with running. It is both mental and physical. Now I just need to employ more of my 90%.

tryout day

"There are three things you can do in a baseball game. You can win, you can lose, or it can rain."       Casey Stengel

I find Casey Stengel's quote funny. Funny because it's not that it can rain on the day of tryouts, it's that it will rain. Anyone who has ever been around little league baseball knows this. You might be soaking up the early spring sun in the days leading up to it, but come that fateful day soaking is all you will be doing. And this year was no different. Sun. Then rain. Lots of it.

I can remember many such tryouts as a kid. There I sat shivering in the cold, barely able to feel the ball, and begging for this hour to be over.  And now that I'm a little older I can assure this mindset does not change - for parents, kids, or coaches. The difference being I now have a coffee in hand to provide me brief moments of comfort.

Such is spring in Canada. Short, cold days of baseball tryouts and long nerve racking nights of watching the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

                                                                                     

Runners Low

To every action there is an equal and opposite reaction.

I'm not sure if Sir Isaac Newton was a runner, so I have my doubts that this law of motion has anything to do with the sport. However, I think he may have been on to something. His wisdom goes beyond just the world science and other things I don't understand.

I have been running for a relatively short time, maybe two years. In that time I have experienced the highs, the lows, and the in-betweens of the sport. I have struggled to make what is often the most difficult step for a runner, that first step out the door. I have run until the point where everything hurts and both succumbed to it and overcome it. And then, of course, there is that elusive runner's high.

Now, some will argue that runner's high is nothing more than a state of mind. Others attest to it being an actual physiological response. I say both. The physiological response for me comes when I cross the finish line. That, of course, fades and the comedy/pain of trying to put one foot in front of the other begins. Those who have been to the finish line of a race have borne witness to this.

Then there is the mental runner's high. Emphasis on mental because what I attempt to do in the days following a race are just that - mental. Buoyed by my accomplishment I will (sometimes) get back to pounding the pavement much to soon and my body and my mind are worlds apart. In my mind's eye I am an olympian, but my body is telling me I'm nothing more than a weekend warrior.

Until recently this was, in a nutshell, all that I had experienced in running. I can now add a new experience to that list - runner's low. The Newtonian definition of it might read something like this, "when you sign up for a race and don't do it because you got lazy and go to the finish line only to regret not doing it because you see everyone so happy and you wish you were one of them." That summarizes my Around The Bay 2011 experience. I signed up and didn't do it. And after seeing everyone crossing the finish line that will also be the only time I ever do something like that again. Strangely, I wanted to be one of the fraternity struggling to walk after running for 3 hrs. But I wasn't. I was on the outside looking in. And it wasn't a very picturesque view for me.

On that day, for me, there was an action and equal and opposite reaction. A runner's high which I didn't experience and a runner's low which I did.

Leading. Learning along the way.

The 2011 season baseball season is upon us. Kind of. This Thursday marked our first winter workouts. The faces were different. The team, as yet, undefined. Nonetheless it was good to be back at it.

This also begins my third year with Ancaster Little League, second as a coach with the Major rep team. I think back to a few years ago when I decided to join the coaching ranks. I was new to the area and knew I wanted to get involved, but not really certain where. Going just by memory of my little league days I sent out emails to teams in the area. Some responded, others didn't. Somewhat blindly, I chose Ancaster. If only all the decisions I've made in my life could have turned out so well as this one!

In my time with the league I have been blessed to be around some great people - coaches, parents, and kids alike. I've learned from them and hopefully they've been able to take something from me.

Coaching is a definitely growing passion of mine. Years ago, all I wanted to do was play the game. That desire has faded - somewhat. While it's nice to step between the white lines every so often, the reward I get in coaching far surpasses that of any inning I may pitch. I learn as they learn and therein lies the great reward of it all. While they are learning and bettering themselves as players I'm doing much the same in my role as a leader.

Being a leader of these kids is not a responsibility I take lightly. I have more memories of my coaches than I do my teachers at that age I think. (my teachers just have nightmares of me). It's humbling to think that years down the road some of these kids will remember me and our time together whether it was something I said or something I did. But that, I suppose, is the weighty responsibility of leadership. I am always being watched. I may not always do or say the right thing, but I'm learning.