Perfect Conditions: What to do When They Never Happen

There is no such thing as perfect conditions. Athletes dream about days when they feel 100%. I'm reminded of one beautiful day. I felt good. I was getting ready to run the 800, or half mile race. I felt strong and confident and I was actually excited about it. If conditions for running could be perfect, they were right before I ran, but life has a way of stomping on you when you things get going good.


The race started and I had a great start. I was up with the leaders. I was on the outside which gave me freedom to move without being boxed in. I was able to get to where I wanted to be in the pack of runners, right behind the leaders, and I moved to the inside land and I waited till the time was right to make my move. 

Half way through the first lap, during this race that was going perfectly, a runner came to pass me on the right. He cut it too close though and spiked me. Track spikes range from 1/4" to 3/8"  of solid steel, needle sharp spikes. I got 3 of them in my foot, two going through my littlest toe.
Conditions were no longer perfect. In fact, they were really bad. My shoe was torn open and I was bleeding into what was left of my shoe and sock. Every step hurt. 

I had started the race at a pace that would have set my best time by quite a bit, but after I got spiked I slowed way down. I was going to be done. I couldn't be competitive like that. I couldn't win and every step throbbed. Did I really want to pound my foot for a half mile? No. I was done. I had mentally checked out. I was ready to stop by my coach so she could take care of me. She had no idea what had happened. She just pointed up at the next group of runners and said go get them.

Are you kidding me? I thought. I didn't want to. I didn't know if I even could, but I didn't want to. That is, until I saw the kid that had spiked me in the group ahead of me. 

Things changed. I wanted to beat him. Conditions were perfectly acceptable for me to quit, but I got mad. I was Rocky taking on Drago in Rocky 4, and my pinky toe was Apollo Creed. I had the eye of the tiger. I started attacking the race. I gained ground and caught him about at the same point where he had spiked me on the lap before. I didn't need to spike him back, I just needed to beat him bad. I passed him by a ton. 

I had no intention of setting any records that day. I just wanted to beat the kid that had caused me so much pain. In doing so, I tied what was my personal best time up until that point. I didn't know or care about that though because I was only half conscious, on the ground, betting taped and bandaged back together. I lost the nail on my pinky toe and it took years for it to grow back normal. I even had to sew my shoe back up and clean all the blood out to use them again, and I couldn't run at 100% for a few weeks. 

Life doesn't give us perfect days, and when it does there is always someone or something there to step on you. Life isn't about waiting for perfect days. Life is about being happy on the rainy days. It's about doing the inconvenient things. It's about fighting back when the whole world just wants to step on you. If you're waiting for the perfect circumstance, you'll be waiting for a long time. All you need is a drive and an opportunity, and every day is an opportunity, despite all the spikes you might go through. Do you have the drive?

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