Friday, July 11, 2008

Starting the Streak

So we know what it takes to be a great athlete, right? A big body, huge muscles, toughness and, of course, talent. Maybe that’s all we can think of off the top of our heads, but I think there’s one important thing missing from that list: dedication. Mainly, dedication like sticking with something for a long time until you achieve your goal, no matter what.

I hope dedication is part of being a great athlete, because I don’t have the huge body or the muscles. It’s something I’ve really worked on as I’ve practiced running. Running doesn’t seem that hard; everyone knows how to do it. But being able to run for a long time without the pain bothering you takes practice day after day after day. To make this a little more interesting for myself, I set a goal: I want to catch up to some of the best “streakers” in the sport of running.

What’s a streaker? A streaker is simply someone who’s on a running “streak”. It means they’ve run at least one mile every day for a long period of time. The longest streak I’ve heard of is 38 years. For 38 years, the guy ran at least a mile a day (including six weeks with a broken foot). Why did he do it? Just to prove (to himself) that he could do it and that he loved running so much that he would put time into it every day, no matter what happened.

So here’s the deal: After I go to college, I’m going to go on a streak. I’m going to try to run at least a mile every day, because I love this sport and want to show it. Now you’ve got to tell me, is there any sport you’re dedicated to? Would you do it every day? How long could you keep it up? Tell us below!

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