Major breakthroughs are happening right now in the NCAA. Men and women are running faster than ever. At the end of our season, we watched the NCAA Division II National Championships 5000 meters record get smashed by over 20 seconds in Madi’s race. The young lady who won went out in 4:56 for the first 1600 meters and just never looked back!
Just last week we saw 8 collegiate men under 28 minutes in the 10,000 meter final and then most of them came back two nights later and ran under 13:20 for 5000 meters!
I’ve been at this game for a long time now and I’ve seen quite a few breakthroughs during my lifetime of coaching. There are a few things that reign true for runners who ‘take the next step’ in their running.
- They are consistent. They show up every day. They don’t miss time. They understand the importance of the day-to-day process.
- They do everything and they do everything well. Everything means running, the small things, the supplemental work, the lifestyle…they know that the 22 hours outside of running are just as important to the 2 hours spent practicing.
- They believe. They believe in what they are doing. They believe in who is guiding them and in the program. They believe in their abilities. Belief precedes greatness.
- They live the life. They sleep. They eat. They hydrate. They recover. They know that everything matters (see point #2 again).
Breakthroughs are happening — will you be next?
Phillips Running 