Measure Success As Many Ways As You Can
And You'll Find More Success
Welcome to another Coach Bennett’s Newsletter! This is the second edition of the new format. I’m so happy so many of you love the new look. I appreciate you all reading the newsletter and sharing this sport with me. Thank you for subscribing and sharing and leaving comments. And thank you to everyone that’s subscribed and chosen to support the newsletter with a $$ subscription. It means a lot. And I’m going to work my cute little cherubic butt off to make sure this newsletter is worthy of your attention and $$ support. Okay, enough of the small talk. Enjoy Coach Bennett’s Newsletter.
Measure Success As Many Ways As You Can
As you can tell… because you’re reading this… I’ve started writing another Coach Bennett’s Newsletter. I consider that a success. (I actually consider that two successes.) I didn’t say I finished writing it. When I do finish this newsletter that will be yet another success. There will be a behind the scenes podcast about this Coach Bennett’s Newsletter for paid subscribers too. I haven’t done that yet either. But once that’s recorded and edited and uploaded and ready to be listened to… more success! I’ve got a whole bunch of links and blurbs that I’m going to share at the end of this Newsletter for you to check out and enjoy. Success! When you check those links and blurbs out… even greater success! If you comment on this newsletter… success! If you share the newsletter… success! If I can find a picture that fits the theme of this newsletter… success! Why am I shouting?
Most of the articles I read about what exactly constitutes a successful newsletter (yes, I read articles about what constitutes a successful newsletter, so what?) mentions metrics like subscribers, shares, likes, and email opens. I use all those metrics. But those metrics do not entirely measure whether or not this newsletter is a success or not. Not even close. Because I measure success as many ways as I can when it comes to this newsletter. Just like I do when it comes to my running… or the running of someone I’m coaching… or someone I’m supporting.
I’m not sure when it started. But, I can remember having conversations with teammates on the basketball and tennis courts and the cross country courses and tracks in middle school. I remember finding wins that my teammates had overlooked. I remember telling friends about little strides forward they took that maybe they had ignored or been unaware of.
I know you missed three straight shots. I was there. In fact, I was open in the corner. (It was probably a good call not to pass to me.) But you know what else you missed besides those shots and me being wide open? The fact that you broke through their defense on three straight possessions and got yourself an open look. That’s the first step. Getting open. No one else could do that (other than me in the corner). Now you work on draining that 15 footer. Okay?
I know you got passed on the last straightaway. I was there. I was behind you. I saw the whole thing. But did you know that the girl that passed you and beat you by two seconds today had beaten you by 27 seconds last year at this very same meet? Yeah, that’s right! And this year you took the lead and pushed the pace with two laps to go and almost broke her. You came up a little short today. But this version of you would have stomped last years version of you. You are getting better. And the next time you race that girl you’re going to be better again.
I saw some success where others only saw failure. I saw breakthrough where others only saw barriers. I saw strides forward where others only saw steps back. I’m absolutely positive that this ability was one of the reasons why I was able to run as fast as I did. And I know without a doubt that I was able to run as fast as I did because I was able to keep coming back to the starting line. And I know I was able to keep coming back to the starting line as much as I did because I never stopped seeing or experiencing some success every time I crossed that very same starting line.
Now, let me be clear. I don’t own rose colored glasses. For one, they don’t match the fashion aesthetic that I’ve carefully crafted over the last few decades for myself by not carefully crafting any fashion aesthetic for myself. I also don’t wear rose colored glasses because I think it’s just as important AND valuable to see the missteps and stumbles and mistakes and losses and yes FAILURES that you and me and we all experience. The choice is not between seeing and experiencing success or seeing and experiencing failure. The choice is whether you are willing to see and experience and embrace both or only one. I choose to look for both success and setback. I see both the wins and losses in wins and losses.
So, when I go for a run I celebrate the success of starting a run (at the start… why wait until you’re done to celebrate something you’ve already accomplished. We need more celebrating and not less.) I count a crap run that I didn’t have a crap effort on as a win. I find success in a short run I begin after a long day of work just as much as I claim victory after a long run on a weekend that’s free of work. Did I remember to pack a snow hat in January? Sunglasses on a sunny day? Extra water on a hot day? Rain jacket on a wet day? Wins. Victories. Successes.
Did I run smart? Did I keep going on a day I was being lazy? Did I cut the run short on a day I needed more recovery than running? Did I have a great conversation on the trails with a running buddy? Did I clear my head on a run alone?
Success after success after success. And did any one of those kick ass wins involve me looking at the numbers that made up the distance or duration or cadence or heart rate or elevation or stride length or power output or blah blah blah blah. Nope. If you limit how you measure the success of your running to mere numbers you limit the amount of success you will experience. And this is a tough sport if you’re only measuring your success or improvements or progression by the numbers on your phone or watch. That’s why if you are only measuring yourself against a few numeric based metrics it’s essential to remember this:
The better you get… the harder it gets to get better.
You can’t always run your fastest or your farthest. You’re not even supposed to! But you can always have a new best run. Could be a best run measured by how much fun it was or how gnarly the trails were or how exciting the loop was or how peaceful your mindset was or how powerful you felt or the best you ever dealt with a tough run or the best hail run you ever ran. (For some reason Oregon weather has developed a hail fetish. Don’t ask me why? It’s Mother Nature that’s getting kinky.)
And if you know that the other side of every single starting line holds the possibility for something extraordinary for you to run to or through then you’re going to search out more starting lines in your life. Sure, you’re going to run to and through failure and losses and heartbreak too. But if you can measure success as many ways as you can you’ll find you’ve got enough time and distance on every run to get yourself a few wins too. You just got to be willing to look for them. So, keep those eyes open and looking up ahead. Can you see something badass? Because I do. I see you. No. Don’t wait for me. I’m just fine back here. You run your pace and I’ll run mine. We can meet up again at the next starting line.
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COACH BENNETT’S PODCAST EPISODES 5 & 6 NOW AVAILABLE
Since the last Coach Bennett’s Newsletter there have been 2 new episodes of Coach Bennett’s Podcast dropped everywhere you listen to podcasts. Check out both Episode 5 Start Me Up and Episode 6 How To Get Better At Running While You’re Not Running on Spotify here:
You can also check out Episode 6 on Apple Podcasts by tapping this sentence.
And you can check out Episode 5 on Apple Podcasts by tapping this sentence.
Thank you so much for listening. And if you don’t mind… please subscribe to the podcast and leave a great rating and/or review. I’m totally okay with you sharing Coach Bennett’s Podcast with friends and family as well.
NEW EPISODE OF TWO COACH BENNETTS TALKING READY FOR YOU TO ENJOY
I know what you’re thinking. This is all too good to be true. A new Coach Bennett’s Newsletter letting you know that there are new Coach Bennett’s Podcasts AND new Two Coach Bennetts Talking episodes? Yes. It’s all true. It’s a wonderful life isn’t it?
Listen to Two Coach Bennetts Talking on Spotify here:
Or you can listen to Two Coach Bennetts Talking on Apple Podcasts by tapping this sentence.
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WELCOME RUNNERDS!
This section is for all you fellow nerds… runnerds to be specific. I’ll share some links that I think you’ll enjoy dorking out to. And remember, one way to get better at this terrific sport is to enjoy it more and one way to enjoy it more is to be a fan of it. So, spend some time geeking out on this sport of yours. It’s time well spent because it’s time spent investing in a passion. The links this week all come from the US T&F Championships that took place in Eugene, OR at Hayward Field from July 6-9.
*Can you imagine… in only 3 jumps… being able to cover the same distance as the width of one and a half classrooms? Want to know what that would look like? Watch the extraordinary Tori Franklin do just that on her winning Triple Jump at US Champs. Fast forward to 50:30 into coverage and watch her hop, skip and then jump over 47 feet.
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WORTH A FOLLOW
This sport is filled with so many great athletes that are more importantly great people. Here are a few of the best athletes this sport has competing on the track or field right now that just so happen to be badass-kickass humans. Give them a follow and let them know that I’m bragging about them. They should know that what they are doing on and off the track is being noticed and celebrated.
Vashti Cunningham - 13 x US Champion in the High Jump. That’s 13 titles between Indoor and Outdoor Track. Vashti has a personal best of 6’7.5”. Yup, that means she can get her entire body over a bar set at six feet seven and a half inches. (That’s almost 2.02 meters for the rest of the world. We Americans are weird about our measurements but we should all measure success by more ways than just feet or meters… right? Get it? Did you even read the article this week?) Check out Vashti Cunningham on Instagram here.
And you can watch Vashti dominate at Olympic Trials a few years ago here.
Ryan Crouser is the greatest shot putter. Ever. Like ever ever. There have been people competing in events resembling the Shot Put since at least the Middle Ages. So, yeah, Ryan Crouser is better than anyone else that’s thrown a shot or cannonball over the last thousand years. It’s an astonishing act to witness when he gets in the circle and launches a 16lb/7.26kg. His WORLD RECORD is 77 feet 3.5 inches or 23.56 meters. Wrap your head around that. The freaking ball… bomb… put… rock… whatever you want to call it… weighs 16lb/7.26kg. That’s bananas!!!! You should follow Ryan Crouser. You should also know that he’s 6’7”. That means Vashti can jump over him.
Follow Ryan on Instagram here.
Ryan Crouser has a YouTube Channel too. Check it out here.
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Okey dokey. That’s a wrap for this edition of Coach Bennett’s Newsletter. Thank you for reading. Thank you for sharing thew newsletter. You’re going to share the newsletter, right? Thank you for subscribing. You’re already subscribed or you’re about to hit this button here, right?
Until next time… take car of yourself and take care of each other.
Cheers,
Coach Bennett
If you made it to here it most likely means you read this newsletter… so THANK YOU FOR READING!