Everybody dreams of being a hero. Like most guys, when I was growing up I used to dream about delivering the game-winning home run with two outs in the bottom of the ninth, or completing a hail-Mary pass in the fourth quarter as time expires to win the championship. I never had the opportunity (okay, I never had the talent) to experience such heroism, so I mostly live out my sports fantasies through real athletes, and each time I witness a last-minute hit/shot/pass/run/kick that wins the game or championship or whatever, I get goose bumps, and whoever comes through in the clutch becomes my new hero: Dwight Clark and "The Catch" in the 1982 NFC Championship, Kirk Gibson and his improbable home run in the 1988 World Series, David Tyree and The Miracle Catch in the Super Bowl earlier this year.

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What is winning. What does it look like? What does it feel like?

Hopefully the story below will try to answer the questions.

Once upon a time there was a young lady who I had the opportunity to train and her effort defines winning in my eyes. Her name is Noelle Hansen.

I started coaching Noelle her sophomore season of track. Noelle was unique. She had an outstanding personality but was shy around certain individuals, namely anyone who was not in her inner circle, but possessed a flamboyant personality. She was a unique individual but you would have to pay close attention to see this without being in her inner circle.

Noelle finished her sophomore season performing a 72 second 400m. This was my first year with this team. The goal was to turn this program around. I wanted winning efforts out of this team. I desired efforts from the athletes that would merit times that would compete for regional and state titles. After the high school track season finished Noelle made me her best friend. She trained 5 days a week that summer.

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Like I said in my previous post, this week I find myself out of the normal California sun and into the humidity of the great state of  Texas.  My internal temperature is not used to being this high, nor is my body used to producing this much sweat.  Along with these few adjustments:

fire ants

accents

 cowboy church camps

people being able to distinguish between north and south texas accents

calling Texas "the south"

BBQ everywhere. all the time. the smoke-smell on your clothes and the taste forever in your mouth.

 

I consider myself very healthy.  I exercise four times a week, I run and life weights, I do pilates, and I walk.  I love to read health books (The Ultimate Tea Diet, got me off coffee and into the world of tea..that I LOVE), and I love to cook delicious things with healthy recipes.   In fact, my husband and I recently decided to wean off milk (what are we, toddlers?) and into the world of soy or rice milk.  So far we have consumed one gallon of rice milk for smoothies and cereals, as well as a small pint of chocolate soy milk ice cream.  Today I was happily notified by a hungry husband that he was going to Trader Joes to buy the Rice milk himself.  Pretty darn good I must say.

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As stated in previous writing I come from the world of track and field. The 2 hardest races in track they say is 400 hurdles and the 800m. I ran both races in college. I began to understand my mind was more important than my body. My mind must rule my body. if my body rules then when it gets tough, succumbing to the pain soon follows.

We all have the ability to conquer and successfully navigate this race. We need to be prepared well physically and mentally. A good coach is imperative. Anyone can tell another to run 1 lap as fast as you can and by the way jump over 10 hurdles in the process. An athlete needs a great coach to lead and guide them, if they are to achieve greatness.

I had the opportunity to work with one of the best coaches of all time in track and field (Tom Tellez). This man coached Carl Lewis and many other Olympians, NCAA champions, All-Americans. One of the things he instructed me to do as i ran, 'when your technique beaks down stop running.' This of course was during practice. In practice building strength to maintain proper technique for the entirety of the race was an important objective . It is amazing what happens to the mind once the body gives. My mind would need to dictate to my body how to run. This revelation dramatically changed me as a runner. As long as i abide by this principle remaining strong throughout the sprint became attainable. This gives me my best chance for success in the race.

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The National Basketball Association’s marquee match up starts tonight. The two most celebrated teams in NBA history, the Celtics and the Lakers, battle for yet another championship. While the Celtics dominate their head to head competition (winning 8 of 10 championship series), their overall titles are rather tight. Boston has claimed sixteen crowns, to the Lakers’ fourteen titles. Echoes of Bob Cousy, Bill Russell, and Larry Bird may haunt the Lakers when the series starts in the Boston Garden. Surely, legendary Lakers like Elgin Baylor, Jerry West and Magic Johnson will be cheering on the Lakers when the series arrives in the Staples Center for games 3, 4, and 5.

Who are you cheering for? My partner on Purple State of Mind, John Marks, resides in Massachusetts.  He is surrounded by a sense of history, a connection to the origins of America, from the Boston Tea Party to Paul Revere.   Where do I sit? In the City of the Angels, pulling for the Lakers' purple power.

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Numbers 15:39-40 “You will have these tassels to look at and so you will remember all the commands of the Lord, that you may obey them and not prostitute yourselves by chasing after the lusts of your own hearts and eyes. Then you will remember to obey all my commands.”

What are we being coached on here? One of the things I see is a reminder- a tassel. The tassel is a symbol so we will remember, a lot like the wwjd (what would Jesus do) bracelets.

How do we get ourselves into trouble spots? We often loose sight of God. We get the urge to grab for our vice in life; most often we have not completely forgotten God, the vice was our focus at that moment in time. We choose ourselves over God.

When it is all done some feel the guilt or anger associated with the pleasure of me me me; once the moment is done guilty thoughts of “why did I do that” can set in. By this time it is too late to take back the guilty pleasure. It is done. Learn from the experience.

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Paul is famous for “I do as I ought not to do and I don’t do what I should do.”

If we all did what we should do then I would think this would be called Utopia instead of Earth. Guys are notorious for never stopping to ask for directions. We figure we can get there ourselves. We are always on the verge of figuring our way to “no where”; Ladies you just going to have to bear with us on this.

As a trainer I always found it so much easier to train teenage women over teenage boys. Girls would look at me, follow directions and they would increase their max lifts tremendously. Guys on the other hand, as much as they tried somehow we would always try to “muscle it up”, do it on our own strength instead of allowing the technique to take care of the heavy spots.

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I began my book, Naked and Not Ashamed, reflecting on the Lord's first miracle. It has always amazed me that Jesus would begin his ministry by turning water into wine. It seems like a poor use of miraculous power. I mean, there were people to heal, poverty to banish, demons to expel. Why this?
               Well, the only conclusion I can draw is that Jesus wanted to make a statement about life and joy. The couple in the hut needed space and privacy to make love and enjoy one another; the hard-working people of the village needed a break. Without wine, the special treat for the party, none of this could happen.
               Of course, people didn't know how to make fortified beverages yet. The naturally fortified drinks they made could get one drunk, of course, but getting drunk was a much more intentional act then. One had to drink a lot more liquid. Also, no one was driving home and putting their own lives and the lives of others in danger.

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