I wrote a version of this letter 10 years ago. Every May I think about all the coaches that are starting to say goodbye to their athletes that are graduating. It’s never easy. These athletes are more than runners and jumpers and throwers. They are people we watched grow and struggle and break through, They are leaders and teammates and friends and students and sisters and brothers. And they’ve given so many days and month sand years and meters and miles to their team. This was my attempt at saying goodbye to so many great kids that were about to head out on the next leg of their journey.
Dear Seniors,
It’s almost time. It’s almost time to say goodbye. You’ll leave us and move on. Many of you will have the opportunity to attend college and universities. You’ll study interesting things and meet interesting people and see some interesting stuff at interesting parties. It will be an incredible four (if you are intelligent enough to milk it – five) years.
Stop looking at your phone. I know you’ve got to go. I can see all the juniors lining up and waiting impatiently for your parking spots. You’re so close to closing the door on this part of your life. But nothing is shut just yet. So, give me a minute.
I’ve never walked in your shoes or raced in your spikes. I never will. I know that. But I have been around this great track you find yourself on. I know a few things. Not much. But a little more each day. And before you get out of here I just wanted to tell you a few things. Hopefully you find something worthwhile in what I am about to say.
Take it. Leave it. As always… it’s up to you.
Now, I’d love to drop some original knowledge. You know, tell you something so profound you go google it to see who said it first. But nothing I’m about to tell you I came up with. The reality is that many of the great truths about life (and running) I’ve learned have come from movies.
So, through a few of them, I offer you some (borrowed) wisdom.
“Life moves pretty fast. If you don’t slow down and look around you might miss it.”
(from Ferris Bueller’s Day Off)
This is truth. You have to admit that Senior year got here quickly. It’s all about to end. You’ll be having that last relay and your last team meeting and the last time having to alter when and what you have for lunch because of practice. All those sacrifices? Can you remember all of them? What about that time you had to turn off the Yankees game so you could get to sleep? Or the dance(s) on Friday night(s )that had to be skipped because of the meet(s) on Saturday(s). All those Sunday long runs in the Summer before the beach? 12-hour spent at indoor track meets breathing in the driest air imaginable. Ugh. Well, you’ll going to miss them.
You’ll miss all those sacrifices and nervous moments and challenges. They were worth it. The long bus rides.The gnarly fast food on the way home from (yet another) meet. The panic in the paddock before a big race. It seemed like there would always be another meet or bus ride or set of intervals coming up. One bled right into the other. But soon there won’t be another. At least not like this or with these teammates. Don’t rush these last minutes, meters and miles. Enjoy them. It goes by fast. And soon even that will become “it went by fast.” Slow down. You can still run fast. Just don’t fast forward this part of your story. Because you can’t rewind it.
“You know, I’d like to quit thinking of the present, like right now, as some insignificant preamble to something else.”
(from Dazed and Confused)
Dazed and confused people dominate no single age-group. Both old and young will tell you that now is not as important as later. They will tell you not to care so much; it’s only high school. It’s only Track & Field. You’re only a teenager. They will tell you there is more after this and after this is the only time that matters.
Screw that. This-Here-Now is important. Don’t live, train and race these next few weeks like they are some way-station or meaningless pit stop on a long voyage. Today, tomorrow and these last few weeks are important because they are what you have here and what you have now. I wish I knew what tomorrow held but I don’t. And if today is one of the last practices with your teammates of four years or your final State meet with your friends, well, that sounds important as hell to me.
It is always OK to care. It is always OK to have the most important moment of your life now. You can always have a more important moment…later.
“The more difficult something is, the more rewarding it is in the end.”
(from Big Fish)
You started out as a kid – a little kid really – a frosh. You made it, though. Many of you competed eight seasons and some of you twelve. There was never really an off season was there? The expectations were there all the time. You had so many commitments and you had to learn on the fly and then just like that you’re a senior and you have to guide and teach and mentor and counsel a new group of kids. Little kids really, frosh! Were you ever that young?
You probably don’t realize it now – just how special it all was – how incredible you were. You probably don’t comprehend all the work that you had to do. You came back day after day to be a part of a most difficult task – to become better than you were the day before. The payoff in Track & Field (as in life) is always delayed. It took months and sometimes years of work to marshal your own forces and achieve the goals you set for yourself. And some of the goals you set you may not have achieved. Going after goals like that takes guts and hope.
And the real payoff though comes much later. Once you have stepped away and you can see this time of your life from a distance counted in years and not meters or feet you will realize you are proud of yourself. You will realize you were extraordinary and a part of something epic. Just a little advice… you don’t need to wait. You are a badass. Know it now.
“Real loss is only possible when you love something more than you love yourself.”
(from Good Will Hunting)
I hope you walk off the track this June hurting. Seriously. I hope you are hurting real bad. That’s right, I hope you cry. And I hope you miss it all – the competition, the struggle, the uniforms, the smell of the track on a hot day, the sound of metal bleachers, the feel of putting on a pair of spikes. I hope you miss your coaches, your teammates, this version of you. I hope you get emotionally crushed. I hope you experience that. If you walk away devastated that means you gave your heart to this sport. It means you loved it.
When it ends, this part of your journey, your heart is supposed to hurt. Savor it. Remember, a heart that hurts is not a sign that it’s broken. It’s a sign that it’s working. Your heart is a muscle. It will heal and it will grow back even bigger and stronger. And when it does you’ll be ready to love more than ever.
Okay, it’s time for you to go, to move on and find that mountain of yours that is waiting for you, right? Well, if you have just another minute, before you go, I have one last piece of advice. Really, it’s a few pieces of advice for these last few weeks we have together and beyond.
I just wanted to tell you that as much as movies can teach us and inspire us life is not a movie and there is no script. So, don’t be an actor playing a part. Be you. Play you. Don’t rely on someone else to write your script. Learn to write for yourself. You’ve got an incredible story. Because it’s your story. There hasn’t ever been one like yours. And as far as I know there is no sequel being planned so live this life as best and as fully as you can. You can do that by always be a great teammate to others and to yourself. And always try to hand the baton off in a better place than you got it.
I know. You‘ve got to go.
One last thing… when the people you care about leave… make sure you tell them that you’ll miss them. Tell them that you hope to see them again. Tell them that you love them.
Alright.
We’ll miss you. We hope you come back and see us. We love you. Now get out of here.
Cheers,
Coach Bennett
HAS IT REALLY BEEN TEN YEARS?
Almost ten years ago I was sitting in a Nike conference room in NYC. I was asked about a job. Did I want it? (I was coaching and teaching at a high school in NJ at the time.) I grabbed a legal pad and wrote down my coaching philosophy. I said if you want me then you need to want this too. A few months later those words I wrote were up on a wall in the old Nike 5th Ave store. They looked good up there. But it’s always been more important for those things to be out there on the roads and trails. On a wall they’re just words. And those truths are meant to be more than read. They are meant to be lived. Ten years down the road… I still got the paper I wrote those words on. And I still believe in what I wrote. So, I’ll see you out there… on the roads… on the trails… on the tracks and treadmills… on all those starting lines… off the wall.
GOALS!
Goals. I love them. And as a coach I want you to have goals. Lots of them. But the first goal you should set is to respect and celebrate yourself. Yeah, the YOU that is going to go after all those other goals. And if you can achieve this first goal… you’ll have a better chance to achieve all the other goals you set. Click to watch the video about goals I posted to TikTok!
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NEW COACH BENNETT’S PODCASTS
Not one. Not two. But three new Coach Bennett Episodes have been dropped since the last newsletter! (and maybe even four depending on when you open this newsletter.) You can listen to the show on just about every podcast platform.
Here are the last three episodes on Spotify:
And here are the last three episodes on Apple Podcasts:
Just a little running advice for you. Don’t rush from the finish line of your run. Soak up what you just did and what you do next will be even better.
Cheers and thank you for watching!
Thank you for subscribing and for reading Coach Bennett’s Newsletter. Thank you for sharing it amongst family and friends and teammates. And if you are one of the paid supporters of this newsletter thank you for that too. It helps. It really does.
Until next time take care of yourself take care of each other.
Cheers,
Coach Bennett
Can't believe I just found out about your newsletter after training "with" you for the past 10 weeks for my half marathon on Sunday. Just found it and crying already thanks :D And though I'm not a senior I'll miss the "training for the half marathon" determined, strong, version of me.
You’re the best coach! Love what you do. Thank you! 🙏🏻