8/22 update

Redhawks,

We had an excellent day at the meet on Friday. Well done to all of you. The results can be found here.

I was really proud of the effort on display, and as I said after the meet, I really enjoy watching you run. I love running, of course, but it is more about knowing how hard you have worked and watching that training pay off and seeing you push yourselves to the limit. If you've seen the film "Moneyball" with Brad Pitt, you'll recall Billy Bean, portrayed by Pitt, saying, "how can you not be romantic about baseball?" (if you don't know the scene, google it and you can find the clip on youtube). When I see the effort - when you reach the point where you feel have given everything you have and then somehow you reach down and give a little bit more, the sportsmanship, and the hard work required to improve I often find myself thinking the same, "how can you not be romantic about running?"

The team ran very well, and you all are doing quite well at ushering in the Redhawks-era, and there is more to do. The girls won the meet in a decisive manner, but they walked away more ready than ever to improve on their individual and team performance. The boys finished in a close second, not much ahead of 4th if WX had their whole team present, meaning there are 4 teams very close together on the boys' side who could reasonably win region in October. 

Bountiful XC has never won a region trophy for the girls and boys in the same year - can it be done this year? Absolutely it can, but whether it will or not will depend on how hard we work over the next month and a half. And I don't mean just the 7 runners in the varsity race, I mean every single one of us. Our team is better together. When our number 13 runner, for instance, works harder, it is an example and creates a culture and energy that inspires every other person to work harder. We are better together. When we work hard together we all get better. Redhawks fly together! (Not the bird, mind you, but the runners do.)

Moving forward, we will not be racing this week, which will allow us to get a quality week of training in. School starts on Monday by the way. I realize some of you are just learning that (@ you know who you are), but Monday morning 7:30 AM the high school begins. Those of you who are in the class will meet at the track at 1 PM. Those of you not in the class will come on up and be ready to roll at 2:40. JH kids will come as soon as they can after school concludes and warm up together. 

If we are going to reach our full potential we must be more consistent in training. I don't care if you finished first or last, each of you ask yourself how you can be more consistent in your training. Find a way to do it better, and then do it starting on Monday. A bit of self-reflection will go a long way in helping you as an individual and us as a team reach our potential. 

Lastly, if you are looking for a film to watch this weekend, might I suggest the film Secretariat (not seabiscuit, terrible film, but amazing book, so if you are looking for a good read, I absolutely recommend Seabiscuit by Laura Hillenbrand (the same author of the well-known book "Unbroken", the story of the incredible life of Louis Zamperini - who raced in the 1936 Olympic 5000m in Berlin, (the same Olympics chronicled in "the Boys in the Boat"), and then went on to serve in the US Air Force during World War II as a bombardier in the B-24 Liberators,  another good read, but I digress...)). Secretariat can be found on Disney + and is rated PG. The story of hard work and triumph against all odds is remarkable and a fascinating piece of history (as are all 3 of the books mentioned).

If you have any questions please let me know.

Coach Jacobson