Relentless

It's finally here!!! The 2013 Cross Country season. My favorite time of year.  We have our jamboree tomorrow and I can't wait.  This year is unique in that I, for the first time, have no girls running; however, I have my largest boys team yet, 12.  I have no seniors so I will have this same group for 2 years.  And they are GOOD! We, no doubt, will have another championship winning season.  And the 12....I'm calling them my disciples, appropriate I think... because what I really do as a coach is disciple kids.  Running is just the vehicle to help them grow into who God designed them to be.  

In church a few weeks ago, God gave me a theme for the season: RELENTLESS.  I'm sure (as this is how God always works with me) I am only just discovering what He means by that.  I can't wait to see how it all develops. I'm sure I'll learn about His relentlessness as I coach relentlessly runners who run relentlessly. (hope that wasn't too many 'relentlessly's')  Like seasons past, I will post meet motivations here on the blog and this is the first one which outlines what I do know about this theme so far.  The kids know the theme but I haven't expounded on it yet to them.  This will be what they read on the way to the jamboree tomorrow.

RELENTLESS

Relentless: (adj) – showing or promising no abatement of severity, intensity, strength, or pace:   unrelenting; determined, unyielding, unappeasable, unflinching

The Relentless Runner:

            -He shows no slowing in his grueling pace; he does not stop in any workout, regardless of that workout’s severity or intensity; in fact, he welcomes the severe workouts, the intense workouts. The relentless runner longs for such strength, to be able to endure the harshest of tasks.  The relentless runner makes a promise: a promise to never give up, never give in.  He never surrenders to the pain; he never takes the easy way out.  This promise, the relentless runner makes to himself, to his coach, and to his team.  The relentless runner is never appeased: no pace is too fast; no hill is too steep, no run is too long; no workout is too rigorous. He is never satisfied; he is always pushing forward, always demanding more, more from himself, more from his coach, and more from his teammates.

The Relentless Coach:

            -She shows no reduction in her requirements; she never gets easier, always harder.  She raises the bar continually, consistently.  She is never satisfied with her runners’ times and places. Her expectations grow at a rapid pace, and only the most determined runners can come within their reach.  She is tireless in her pursuit of running knowledge and commits to always developing and improving her coaching.  She makes a promise as well: a promise to never give in to a runner, and to never give up on a runner.  The relentless coach is never appeased.  She is always pushing forward, always demanding more.

The Relentless Team:

            -They show no signs of becoming beatable.  At first, they become respected, and their opponents look to them as an example.  But soon, they become feared, and their opponents give up: for no other team can ever hope to beat them… because the relentless team is always running the most miles and enduring the toughest workouts. No one else will ever outwork them.  No other team will sacrifice as much as them. And it will be this relentless team that cements a legacy of greatness.