From the Camp of the Beaten

Bruins have won the Stanley Cup!!! Most of you who follow us and are from New England dont need me to tell you what happened because you have all been on the edge of your seats watching! I have now witnessed all the Major Boston sports teams win Championships! Its been a great decade to be a Boston sports fan. 3 superbowls, 2 World Series, An NBA Championship and now a Stanley Cup!! The Bruins never gave up and by doing so they were the first team to ever win 3 consecutive game 7's in a playoff. They never gave up and kept fighting all the way to the very end and that brings me to my blog.

 This past saturday I raced in my first ever Diamond League race! I ran hard and with 200 to go I took the lead and started to press for home! With 120 meters to go I was passed by the second place runner and then began to lock up very bad. I could not lift my knees I felt as if I was stuck in mud. I was then passed by 3 other runners and I placed 5th running a time of 1:48.6. Failing to hit the USA A standard and running .3 seconds slower then my current season best...(1:48.33)...
My first year out of college has not gone as well as Id planned. I planned on placing top three at Indoor  USA's  breaking 4 mins in the mile and running sub 1:46 this outdoor season. But as you know things don't always go according to plan. Injuries happen and sometimes as hard as you work things just don't go your way. I know this all to well. Since starting running in high school I have had more than my share of obstacles on and mostly off the track (Enough to write a book). But each time I have been faced with a set back I have managed to overcome and succeed. At my college senior track banquet Coach Greg Roy said that "if there was one word to describe Brian it would be Perseverance." Life is not easy nor is track. And when things get hard you cant just quit. I wont quit! At this moment I am sitting 35th on the preformance list for USA's I have the slowest provisional time (1:48.33... 1.77s off my Pr) and I am not guaranteed to make it into the meet. So this weekend I am driving myself down to NJ to race an 800m and try and get the 800m A standard of 1:47.5. I will race as hard as I can and If I come up short. I will know that I gave it all I had. I will keep my head up and keep moving forward. Feeling sorry for myself has never gotten me anywhere! And even though so far my season has been a disappointment I still have races to run and Ive only begun to Fight!
Id like to share a poem that my older brother Peter gave to me when I was a freshmen in college. I have it saved on my desktop and I still read it to this day.


 

From the Camp of the Beaten

I have learned something well worth while

That victory could not bring-

To wipe the blood from my mouth and smile

Where none can see the sting-

I can walk, head up, while my heart is down

From the beating that brought its good,

And that means more than the champion’s crown

Who is taking the easier road.

I have learned something worth far more

Than victory brings to men;

Battered and beaten, bruised and sore,

I can still come back again;

Crowded back in the hard, tough race,

I’ve found that I have the heart

To look raw failure in the face

And train for another start.

Winners who wear the victor’s wreath,

Looking for softer ways,

Watch for my blade as it leaves the sheath.

Sharpened on rougher days,

Trained upon pain and punishment,

I’ve groped my way through the night,

But the flag still flies from my battle tent

And I’ve only begun to fight…

  

Thanks for reading

~Brian