Practice Persistence

"Most people give up just when they're about to achieve success. They quit on the one-yard line. They give up at the last minute of the game, one foot from a winning touchdown." -H. Ross Perot

Some of you may be like, "Perot?! Didn't he run for president or something?!" Yep and I think some people I'm related to voted for him, you know who you are. Perot was (maybe still is) a billionaire who mailed thousands and thousands of packages to American soldiers during the Vietnam war after exhausting all options and finally flying to Moscow where he was able to mail them.

I've been ready to give up on the BYU Cross Country team. Meaning that I've been ready several times to throw in the towel and not try out. I'm still doing the internship portion, but I'm tired, I feel slow, I don't feel like my hard work and long mileage has really helped and I can keep complaining, but I am stopping myself right now.

All I can say is that I'm tired and hurting, but if the above quote is true (for me) then giving up right now would be like being 100 meters or yards (or whatever measuring system you like) away from the summit of the mountain and then turning around and going back down or like running 25 miles of the marathon, pulling out and saying, "I can't do it. I hurt too much."

Now, don't get me wrong or misinterpret what I'm saying. If my leg was broken then you wouldn't see me out this Saturday at the Autumn Classic. If I had gotten a concussion yesterday then I wouldn't be there. If I had been in a freak ninja fight and had a part of my body sliced open AND deep then I wouldn't show up. But seeing as how none of those things are the case and I'm feeling okay, I'm going to do it and we'll see how it goes. I hope well.

Never, Never, Never give up. I think this is true unless you feel strongly that you should change the direction your life is heading. That's how I run fearless.

Come to the Autumn Classic this Saturday and watch some of the best high school and college runners. $5 to get in at the BYU Track stadium in the morning. Run fearless everyone!