Health and Wellness...

So as I sit here sniffling and coughing, throbbing headache and sore throated, I begin to prepare and review my materials for tomorrow.  For tomorrow I will stand up in front of the Freeport High School in Maine to give a speech on health and wellness.  Seems a little odd, speaking of health as I suffer through the sniffs and hacks of my ongoing cold, but I hope to be able to convey in my valetudinarian inducted haze the importance of health and wellness in the lives of the Freeport youth.

The importance of one’s health, especially that of an athlete, is paramount.  For instance, it is not how hard one can train that is important (although one must train hard to succeed), the real importance is how well you and your body can recover between training sessions- and this recovery process steams with one’s health.  Now I’m not talking about whether or not you are feeling ill, health.  Health in the terms of recovery is all encompassing.  The food you eat, the quality and quantity of sleep, mental stresses, every aspect of your life plays a roll in how well and how quickly you are able to recover and respond to various stressors in life, most importantly (for an athlete) the physical stress of training.  Unfortunately, not everything can be controlled (as noted by my ongoing cold), so it is the athlete’s job to manage those aspects in their life that they can  to give themselves the best chances for success.  

An athlete is not made on the field, but off the field in how they are able to better prepare themselves for the next workout.  Everyone can go out and run eight miles, but what do you do when you finish?  The difference between good and greatness lies behind the scenes in the choices one makes throughout their lives.  What foods to fuel their bodies, the amount of quality sleep, cultivating their bodies so that they are able to recover and train again, slowly and methodically improving towards greatness.

So what is health and wellness to me?  Everything.  And tomorrow I hope to be able to share my feelings to the students of Freeport, and help them understand the ‘true’ importance of one’s health and wellness.

Until next time,

Ben