In which there is Hockey!!!!! (And Running)

It's week 10! We're in the double digits, folks! I can't even believe that I have been running for ten weeks. (Does this mean I have to stop telling people I'm new to this? I'm voting for no.)

I had a really easy running week last week. My times weren't always as good as they had been, but I was running in 80 degree heat after a full day leading theatre camp, and I felt great. Makes for a boring blog post, right? 

But then the Blackhawks won the Stanley Cup. 

Look at it! So pretty and shiny!

 Seems somewhat unrelated, right? But over the several months that I was introduced to hockey, I watched and learned. I saw the Blackhawks play really poorly. So poorly that in the playoffs I thought "Gee, Detroit deserves this more than the Hawks do." But the one thing the Blackhawks always, always, always, did was play with heart. They had a goal, and many smaller goals leading up to it. We have to win this game, we have to win this series, and then we have to win the Cup. And their sheer determination and the effort that they put into training and playing, even when they were not playing at their best, allowed them to beat teams that were in many technical ways, playing better. 

Now before all my Hawks friends stop reading and hate me forever, let me say that this is why I admire Chicago's team so much. Running isn't easy every day. It was easy last week, but it was terrible today. Just like me, these toothless, banged up men have moments where they are tired, behind, and probably want to just quit playing. But also like me, they know that giving it their best in that moment will be enough get them through to the next moment, and the next, and the next. Working in that way, they eventually reached their ultimate goal. And Chicago went wild.

Michael Jordan said "If you put in the work, the results will come." (You can tell I really love my hometown players.) I really believe that this idea is the foundation for the work that every professional athlete does, but it works in your life too. Do the work. Put in the time on hard days and easy days, and you will reach your goal. That is what's going to get me across the finish line in October.

Oh, and I'll also be smiling about this:

My view of the win from a bar in Bucktown. Congratulations, Hawks!