Salina South

Cougar Cross Country

Philosophy

With the exception of wrestling, Cross Country depends on mental attitude more than any other sport according to experts. To be a top athlete, you must be mentally tough and be able to keep mentally alert at all times whether at practice or in competition. this is the toughest aspect of cross country. Some coaches feel that mental attitude and mental preparation are 90% of a good effort and a good race. I tend to agree. Of course, ability has a part to play, but HOW YOU USE YOUR GOD-GIVEN ABILITY DEPENDS ON YOUR STATE OF MIND, YOUR DETERMINATION, AND (IN SHORT) YOUR GUTS. Time and again I have witnessed athletes with seemingly little ability achieve All-State status simply because he or she believed when no one else did and they outworked and outgutted everyone else. We have some of those type of athletes on our squad. i can assign all types of workouts of all levels of intensities, but it all comes down to you. How bad do you want it?

This season the COUGARS are one of the teams to beat in Kansas. As a team to respect, mental attitude will play a vital part. We WILL be as good physically as any squad in Kansas. Ask anyone who has been in our program if you don't believe me. How we compete against these teams will depend on our attitude. If we go into a meet with doubt clouding our minds, it will be much tougher to reach our goals. Conversely, we may go to meets where the competition will see our team buses and will be already mentally defeated and be willing to accept second place without giving a full effort. That is why tradition is important.

The following are some points that will be helpful to you as you mentally prepare for this season:

1)

   Set a goal for yourself and write it down in your training diary. Work your tail off to achieve it. Life is meaningful only when you are striving for a goal. The same applies to cross country.

2)

   Reach for God, character and morality. When the going gets tough and things are going against you, it helps to be able to reach back for that spiritual lift. it is just like training. you are better off if you have some sort of foundation underneath you. Be disciplined. There will be times when your "friends" will want you to do something you know you shouldn't. A person with a good foundation and character will do the right thing. No one can discipline you, but yourself.

3)

   Aim for the top! You'll only be as good as you think you can be. Be a positive thinker. "As a man thinks, so will he act." Think and say positive things and positive things will happen. This is called the "as if" principle. Act as if you were a champion and almost immediately you will begin to behave like a champion and soon you will be a champion. Do the things that champions do. It seems so simple that it can't work, BUT IT DOES!

4)

   Your practices must be done at 100% Be a champion in practice. That's where champions are made. The races will be easier if you push in practice. Take it easy in practice, and you will pay double in a meet.

5)

   You must learn to compete. We are going to run against the best competition we can find. SALINA SOUTH hides from no one! Competition is the basis of life. it really is survival of the fittest. You will compete for jobs, status and everything else in life. Cross Country teaches you how to react under the stress of competition. You will learn to relax and concentrate on your goal when the heat is on!

6)

   You must be able to go through HURT, PAIN and AGONY. You will have to keep going when the body is crying out to quit. There is no tranquilizer for pain in sports. You must learn to live and run with pain -- YOU are a champion. Athletes don't need alcohol or drugs to get by.

7)

   Accept life's peaks and valleys for what they are. You will not run a race so badly that you can not find something good in it. You will not run a race so well that you will not have to go to school ever again. Learn to accept that not every day is going to be your best. Just don't be safisfied with less than your best. At times you'll give your absolute best and still get whipped. Ask yourself wheat can be learned form it, how can you bounce bac, how can I improve? Regardless of where you finish in a race, the important thing is "Did I give it my best shot in practice as well as in the meet? If you can honestly turn yourself to a mirror, look yourself in the eye and answer "yes", then hold your head high. You have nothing to be ashamed of.

8)

   Do not try to be normal. Try to be yourself and make yourself better. Nearly everyone in the adolescent ages will try to pressure you to be the same as everyone else. Dress like they dress, talk like they talk, do the things they do, etc. It takes a special person to try reach above that and work to be someone special. Be that person. you will never regret being yourself and being someone special!

SET GOALS

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