Running Lessons: The Last 100 Yards

I always sprint the last 100 yards.

Whether I’ve run 1 mile or 4, when I hit that flagpole just down the hill from my house, I push myself to go full-out to my mailbox.

I do it so tomorrow I will know that I still had something left when I finished. So next time I can push myself a little harder all the way.

We always have a little left in the bank. To me, that means we could have worked marginally harder the entire distance. Keep working a little harder every time and eventually you’ve moved to an entirely different level.

Last year in preparation for the World Choir Games, the Rockford Aces started in September at a faster level than they ever had before. And when we got to the end of the school year in June, I told them we were at the flagpole, and it was time to sprint to July first. 10 months in, the last two weeks took on a new urgency and intensity.

And they all learned that they had more left in their tanks than they realized. Could they have worked harder in October? Perhaps. But they worked hard in October. It took getting to June and looking back to realize that they had more.

Next time, they’ll start out a little faster, work a little harder, go a little farther.

And I’ll still ask them to sprint the last 100 yards.

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