Blog #8: Adversity and what we can control

By Brenna Cohoon

Adversity comes in many different forms, some of which my teammates and I faced last Saturday both before and during our IHSA Regional meet.

I started off my morning by sleeping in and getting plenty of rest before heading to Downers Grove South to catch the team bus. 

However, that bus never arrived. We made things work with our coaches’ quick thinking, everyone piling into a mini-bus and cars for the ride over to Lyons Township.

Our next challenge was making sure that we finished our warm-up with enough time before our race to avoid a stressful, last-minute rush to the starting line. Although that has legitimately never been an issue for us (knock on wood), our anxiety about this potential dilemma always seems to heighten during the state series.  We addressed this concern by turning our course walkthrough into our pre-race warm up, and thankfully, everything turned out just fine.

Next, we were on to the biggest test of the day: the race itself! Every single race is filled with many moments of adversity, regardless of the number of runners, the importance of the meet, or any other factor.  

One thing all teams had to deal with last Saturday was the weather. The chilly temperatures and misting rainfall during our race were only minor inconveniences, but they were definitely still elements of the race. It was important for me to keep thoughts about the weather out of my head and focus on the action of running itself. I needed to fuel myself with positivity to block the other mental obstacles that creep in during every race. 

Finding that positivity came very naturally to me throughout the duration of the race. I smiled essentially the entire time and listened to my body. I ran a patient first part of the race, then allowed myself to push things forward when I felt ready. This enabled me to perform in a way that I am proud of; it was exactly what I needed for the first weekend of the state series.

I feel very fortunate that everything not only clicked for me personally at Regionals, but for my teammates, as well. I was so proud watching everyone finish their runs with strong kicks, resulting in our top five runners placing in the top 10 of the entire race.

Our team’s fourth consecutive Regional championship was not achieved by sheer luck. Week after week of hard work and dedication for the Lady Mustangs is getting ready to harness itself throughout all of the state series and beyond.

I think that the most important takeaway for me from this performance is that we were able to prove to ourselves how we can overcome the things we are incapable of controlling by concentrating on what we can control.  

We can’t control whether our bus shows up or what the elemental conditions are, but we can control how we respond to those stressors. We can’t control the fact that our minds try to feed us negative thoughts while we run, but we can control how we turn those into more positive feelings.

This leads me to put lots of thought into our race this upcoming weekend at Katherine Legge Memorial for our IHSA Sectional hosted by Hinsdale Central. We know that this can be a challenging course in itself, and the forecasted rain and snow over the next couple of days will be an added obstacle. We know that it is going to be cold this Saturday, but we are ready to jump that hurdle.  Again, we will do all of this by focusing on what we are capable of controlling.

These little bits of adversity are going to boil down to being 100% mental. Then again, this sport in itself is purely mental, right?

Something that helps me in getting through those moments it putting things into perspective. My team’s pink jerseys were worn last Saturday to raise awareness for those battling breast cancer.  Those individuals are so incredibly resilient. Their fight makes the pain I endure for three miles of racing seem insignificant.

Another helpful trick: gratitude. I am so thankful that I get the chance to race over these next few weeks, because I understand that not everyone can. The unfortunate situation that prevented the student-athletes in the Chicago Public Schools system from racing in the state series has caused me to realize that I must never take my opportunities for granted.

These are just a few reasons why I am ready to give Sectionals all I’ve got.

Photo: ©2019 Tim Cohoon