I blew a snot rocket, carefully positioning my head with the wind and timing the blow with the rhythm of my footsteps. It was a miserable late winter day, with strong winds and little ice pellets that couldn’t decide if they wanted to be rain or snow. They bounced off the track as they fell from the sky. I dodged little patches of ice on the track, taking note of their location as I looped, then looped again.
I was alone with my thoughts and a series of pyramid repeats – ranging from 200 to 1200 yards. Of course, I was alone. Who in their right mind was going to be running track repeats in the cold rain and snow?
Race day and finish line pictures – with our triumphant smiles and arms raised high – mask a tough reality: Dreaming big isn’t glamorous.
The journey to the finish line of our dreams is full of days just like this one, covered in sweat and snot, when we don’t want to get out the door because it’s cold, wet, or it’s weather of any kind. We are tired.
Yet, we fight the desire to pile excuses on top of our motivation.
Despite the weather or fatigue or hectic pace of life (or whatever other excuse we might think of), something in us makes us push the door open each day, to begin our training. We take those steps forward because we know that dreaming big isn’t easy.
We know we have to work to achieve. And, we know that the work is worth it.
Achieving our big dreams requires a massive amount of hard work, discipline, and sacrifice. It requires a focus on the day-to-day details – seemingly insignificant, but they are not. Each 1% detail adds up to achieving 100% of your dream.
The details of what “counts” as a big dream differs for each of us – spanning from a first time finish line to a fastest finish time. Regardless of the specifics of your dreams, we all understand the time, work and dedication it takes to make it real. Big dreams are goals that:
- motivate you to do the work necessary to make it happen
- push you outside of your comfort zone (you know you are there when you are a little bit scared!)
- once attained, will be an accomplishment for you. It’s not about the internet people. It’s about YOU.
When I work with athletes, it’s important to me that they set their own “big dream.” As a coach, I treat all of these goals as equally important – whether it is to get healthy, finish a distance, earn a PR, or qualify for an event or team.. Honestly, the substance of the dream isn’t as important as the will to discipline one’s training to work toward something that matters to that person. When the dream matters to my athlete, it matters to me. Period.
When the dream matters to you, you will do what it takes to make it happen.
Big dreams are about the journey – it is always the journey – that makes the experience worth something. It is not the actual finish line. Heck, it’s not even really race day. It’s about the day-in, day-out snot rockets that we blow, cold-ass track sessions that we complete, hellaciously windy rides that we endure, hot box sessions when the sun feels an inch from our faces. It is all of that and more.
These are the experiences that make big dreams special.
