Michael Fout: I Told You So
(Elite Athlete Blog - Entry 8)
Posted June 26th, 2008 at 4:01 PM by Michael Fout
Section: News & Results, Olympics, Elite Athlete Blogs, Michael Fout, College, High School
Welcome to the official blog of 2007 Footlocker Cross Country National Champion Michael Fout! Make sure to bookmark the link http://michaelfout.thefinalsprint.com and check back every other Thursday for Mike’s latest entries as he completes his senior year of high school running and begins his NCAA career at Florida State!
What a weekend this past weekend was! There were jaw-dropping performances from both the NON meet in North Carolina and the Junior Nationals in Ohio. I am sure that the news has been broken to you about those performances, but I just wanted to congratulate all of those who had the opportunity to compete in those races and especially congratulate the winners and All-Americans. A huge congratulations goes out to German Fernandez for his uncontested performance of the week in my eyes and many others’. His national record in the 2 mile run was truly incredible, and even though he is a competitor of mine and I will race him in the seasons to come, credit must be given where credit is due. Congrats man.
While last weekend was nothing short of amazing and entertaining to follow, starting tomorrow the athletes that strive to represent the United States in Beijing will toe the line (throw, jump, etc.). This is really the first time I will closely follow the trials and the Olympic Games, and I am extremely excited.
I want to see how everything goes down and I want to watch and see myself in the shoes of those elite runners. The Olympic Games is a goal of virtually all runners whether they are new to the sport and going out for a 3 mile jog, or on that starting line at historic Hayward Field. Think about it. A novice runner starts to die in the middle of their run. They begin to bend at the hips and huff and puff as if they are trying to blow a house down. They can’t find a song on their iPod that gives them any boost needed because they haven’t had the chance to replace the old tunes with new, refreshing ones and things seem to be getting worse. Really, the only thing that keeps them going is that they get to catch the final game of the College World Series when they get back. But then their mind wanders into a strange place. They are running in an Olympic stadium in front of God only knows how many people, and the camera bulbs flash as if huge fireflies are taking over the world. The pace starts to pick up and suddenly the burning in their lungs dissipates and they stand tall and proud. What may be even better to them is that there is only a half mile to go until dinner and the big game. The same goes for the professional competing for a spot in the Games. They see themselves in the Olympic final already. They can see, smell, and taste the ultimate which is the Olympic Games. For some it will work, and for others it is back to the drawing board and working harder than ever to reach their goal.
My goal is definitely to be wearing the red, white, and blue of the United States in the Olympics. It is the ultimate long term goal for me and I know it is going to be one of the hardest goals to accomplish. However, I do not shy away from lofty goals. In fact, I truly do stare them in the face and face them head on. I love to hear people tell me I cannot do things. Believe it or not, it pushes me to work even harder just to prove them wrong. I do not then go back to the person/people and laugh and say “I told you so!” I just look forward to the next goal that I can make to have people tell me it cannot be done. I doubt that any athletes competing at Hayward Field in the coming weeks will read this blog, but if that is not the case, then best of luck and congratulations for making it as far as you have! I hope everybody is enjoying the many miles they are probably putting in for cross season and good luck. My advice to those with races approaching: run really, really fast!
-Michael
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Tags: college running, college track & field, florida state, fsu, high school, high school running, high school track & field, high school XC, michael fout, mike fout, ncaa, ncaa track, the final sprint elite athlete blog series, thefinalsprint.com elite athlete blog series, track and field
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