Blog #2: Pleased But Not Satisfied

By Brenna Cohoon

During my high school career thus far, “pleased, but not satisfied” has been my motto after most early-season races.  I feel as though I put too much thought into my first few races of the season.  I don’t stress too much beforehand, I just use my nerves and excitement to my advantage.  It’s after my races when I start to worry.

That’s where this little motto comes into play.  After one race during my sophomore indoor track season, my head coach could tell that I was very disappointed by my performance.  It wasn’t a bad race by any means, but simply didn’t meet my expectations.  Coach Plunkett reassured me that I shouldn’t be upset by how I ran and encouraged me to keep looking forward.

He wanted me to move on from that one race.  He wanted me to feel motivated by the fact that I wasn’t satisfied with those results.  

Since then, “pleased, but not satisfied” has become my mindset when I reflect on races that initially disappoint me.  Instead of being negative and dwelling on the past, I try to accept the results as they are and identify some parts of my race that I am proud of.  From there, I focus on what I can improve upon in the future.

Quite honestly, this mindset has allowed me to get even more excited about the future.  I am happy that there are parts of almost every race that I want to modify or fix for the following week.  If there wasn’t anything to work on, running would not be nearly as fun as it is.  I find joy in the struggle of trying to perfect how I race.

Putting in a hard effort at our practices, taking risks meet after meet, and finally seeing it pay off is so incredibly rewarding.  The entire process of training and racing requires so much patience, which can definitely be difficult to put into perspective at times.  

This past Saturday was one of those moments where I felt a little discouraged by the results of my race.

I placed 4th at the Fenton Early Bird Invitational with a time of 18:01. 

My thoughts immediately after I crossed the finish line: Why did I place two spots worse than last year?  Why did I only run one second faster than the week before?  Why couldn’t I have done better for my team?

Deep breaths. 

I turned to see one of my teammates, sophomore Sophia McNerney, finish just a few seconds behind me in 5th place.  After her was senior Erin Reidy in 6th.  I was absolutely ecstatic watching everyone finish, giving every ounce of their energy at that finish line.

I walked back to our team tent with a few of my teammates, asking them how their races went and encouraging them to think positively of their performances.

I wondered, Why do I comfort others, but criticize myself?  I’ll admit it, I do this a lot.  But why should I talk to myself differently than how I speak to my friends?  

I tried to take everything into account.  We had a tough but very solid week of training leading up to the meet.  None of us were supposed to feel fresh. 

I ran a faster time than I did at this meet last year.  I ran 14 seconds better this time around although the extremely conditions were more challenging in last year’s race. Perhaps most importantly, I have been seeing improvements in my workouts when compared with last year.

It is early in the season. I keep telling myself that. I am pleased with how I raced, but definitely not satisfied.  It is exciting to think about where I can improve and how I can grow from here.

I would be lying if I were to say that this way of thinking comes naturally to me.  There are definitely moments where I need a firm reminder from a coach, teammate, or one of my parents.  

This is a mindset that I am trying to share with the rest of my teammates as well.  Last Saturday was a strong race as a team, but we are aware that we still have many areas that we can strive to develop throughout the rest of the season.  Just thinking about putting in the work that will help us to improve gives me the chills.  Having the opportunity to progress alongside my teammates, my sisters, is amazing.

As we continue to move forward as a group, I, personally, will continue to do what I can to contribute to our team.  I want to keep trusting the process and enjoy every moment possible of my senior year; sadly, it will be over before I know it. 

That is what will make this season so special.