Oh Dang. That was the thought that popped into my head after my run this morning.
The other day I was wasting time (I finally set a timer limit, so not as much time as I used to) when I came across an eye opening Tik Tok. I’ve started getting more fitness tip content in my feed lately, and this particular one was about running form. The video panned across some of the runners from the Marathon Olympic trials and the guy pointed out their arm position. (I’ll see if I can find the video again).
Each and every one of these elite athletes had the same arm position and it looked like a chicken wing. The key difference between these elite runners and the average runner is these runners were pumping their arms backwards.
Wait what? Backwards? Isn’t the purpose of running to push your momentum forward? (I promise this does get to my moment of enlightenment and it relates to writing.)
While this seems counterintuitive, the backward arm pump ensures that the runner retains proper body positioning, allowing them to maximize their energy output.
Okay now for the moment you’ve been waiting for. After watching this video I thought to myself, “how come I was never taught this in high school?” I’ve thought this when it comes to a lot of sports related things.
After trying this new arm pumping form in my run this morning I felt pretty good. It’s not as if I’ve been running every day for a few years and this suddenly changed my life, I really don’t even know if this made the difference, or if it was sleep, or diet, or just not hurting anywhere. But I digress.
After my run I thought about putting together a short video about the form and making a slight call out of my coach from high school asking why he never taught this… But then, buut then, I would say, or if you did and I just didn’t learn it I’m sorry. And BOOM! My Oh Dang moment. IF YOU TAUGHT THIS AND I DIDN’T LEARN IT I’M SORRY.
My growth and development, my consumption of knowledge, my drive for improvement, is not something someone else can instill in me, or force me to take from them. IT IS ON ME!
“You are responsible for your own happiness. If you expect others to make you happy, you will always be disappointed.”
Unknown
The question I should be asking when I feel like I didn’t have a coach that was incredibly knowledgeable or skilled, is “Why didn’t I go out and learn more myself?” Why didn’t I create an off season training schedule so I could slay it when the season hit? Why didn’t I look up videos of the best athletes in the world and try to emulate their technique.
I’m sure you’ve heard the saying at school to be a sponge. Absorb all the knowledge that you can and drink it in. There is one bad thing about being a sponge. They have no legs, no arms, no possible way to relocate themselves. They can absorb any water that’s brought near them. But what if the best water never comes by? Or any water. The sponge feels that they have missed out on so many wonderful opportunities and it’s everyone else’s fault.
So, to all the coaches, mentors, leaders, friends, and families that I’ve wrongly thought they didn’t didn’t teach me or motivate me in a way for me to reach my max potential. I’m sorry, that’s on me, not you.
“You cannot change your destination overnight, but you can change your direction overnight.”
Jim Rohn
How much time do you waste in a given day?
What’s one thing you feel you could have been really good at if someone had given you more/better motivation when you were younger?
What can you do today to start becoming really good at that thing? (Here’s a song that got me really motivated to start my day off right)
Who could you be learning from that will help you reach your potential?
Let me know in the comments what you’re going to do differently to achieve what you want.