Thursday, February 13, 2020

A Philosophy of Commitment to Athletics, Pt.1

"Every Man Must Find His Own Philosophy---His Attitude Towards Life"--  Lin Yutana
It is vitally important to establish a training system that works for you.Your training system has to take in how you are physically,what you're goals are and how much time you can dedicate to achieving personal athletic excellence.
What follows are some more words of wisdom from Coach Joe Vigil on becoming the best you can be.For those who might not be familiar with Coach Vigil: he has a doctorate in exercise physiology and has coached and lead his team,Adams State College, to an unprecedented 19 national championships (14 in cross country).
He has coached internationally at the Pan American Games,The Olympics and the Cross Country World Championships. Obviously,the man knows distance running and has much to say about all aspects relating to it. I find it interesting that most runners I've encountered over the years have never heard of Coach Vigil.
In Vigil's mind, an athlete must establish the worthiness of his seeking athletic excellence.If a distance runner believes that his running is just a healthy supplement to his life then chances are that's what it will be and remain. As we've said here before, when running is a part of your being,a part of who you are,you don't put it on the back burner of your daily life. You'd no sooner do that than you would disregard eating,sleeping or working.Those who Live For the Run don't view running as a frivolous activity.Vigil reveals that the quest for success in life and sport are intertwined.
Coach Vigil states the truth when he says the following:
"Philosophy for life and philosophy for athletics are one and the same. It is essential that those who have a dream or vision of accomplishing a goal or task in life develop a set of guidelines or values which will become their philosophy--their roadmap to a destination of victory and success.You must be willing to inquire and understand the most comprehensive principles of reality that are available to you.It is this love of knowledge about your sport and the search for it that directs the course of action which becomes your philosophy,like a huge umbrella hovering over you and constantly reminding you of what your purpose in life and sport is all about."
After reading the above I asked myself,"Is it any wonder that Cerutty entitled one of his books,'Sport is My Life'?"
Due to time constraints I have to cut this article short but I will post the remainder of it tomorrow.
Coach Vigil has some really unique insights that I'm sure you will find most helpful.


For those of you who may not know: On the title page of this Blog, in the upper left corner is an orange B. That is the link to search articles on this site. You can type in subjects like running books, Lydiard,Cerutty, trails, etc., and it will bring up past articles pertaining to those topics.
Also--on the right side top of the title page under my name is a reference and web address to my inactive running Blog--torunistolive-there are 365+ posts and articles on just about every aspect of running, Cerutty, etc. These Blogs of mine are not your same old, same old, running sites.

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