I'm flying.

One of my favorite movies right now is F1: The Movie on Apple TV.  I've watched it several times with my boys and a few times on my own.  It's easily one of the top 10 sports movies of all time.

The main character, Sonny, is played by Brad Pitt.  He's a great race car driver with a checkered past who gets a strange opportunity to race on a Formula 1 team.  Throughout the movie, we're left wondering why Sonny is still racing this late in his career.  His responses to critiques are rather cliche until he has a vulnerable moment with Kate, the team's technical director, when he shares his purpose.

She asks why he's here [racing] and he says, "It's rare, but sometimes there's this moment in the car where everything goes quiet.  My heartbeat slows.  It's peaceful, and I can see everything.  And no one, no one can touch me.  I am chasing that moment every time I get in the car.  I don't know when I'll find it again, but man...I want to.  I want to.  'Cuz in that moment, I'm flying."

He's explaining to her what it's like to access the "zone," or ideal competitive state, and compete with freedom.  We call it the flow state.  He's free from expectations, outcomes, and pressure.  

As athletes (and coaches), we're chasing the moments when our mind gets out of the way and our body responds in a positive manner to whatever is front of us.  It's a union of the body, mind, and soul with passion, power, and purpose.  Heart fully alive, mind completely focused, and body ready and responsive.

Once you've been there and experienced it, or have been up close and personal to someone in the flow state, your perspective on sports changes.  Sometimes Hollywood gets it right and a movie inspires us to demand more out of our sports experience than awards and medals, just like F1: The Movie does.

Start with why (Simon Sinek).  Guide your passions with a clear purpose.  Seek a transcendent cause and create transcendent moments.

Spoiler alert: At the end of the movie, Sonny finds it and he flys.  You can watch the scene HERE.

Suffer Training Program

In my old age I've come to love the months of June and July for many reasons.  Of course, I like training athletes who can immerse themselves in their training without the demands of the school year, and I love spending quality time with my family, especially sleeping in the pop-up tent camper.  However, what I look forward to the most over these next two months is the hot sunshine in the wrestling room and the moisture and sweat in the air associated with a type of suffering that only the most dedicated wrestlers can understand.  It ignites a peculiar desire to do some crazy things.

As an athlete, and now as a coach, I look at everything for its potential for a hot, sweaty workout.  How fast can you mow your lawn and keep the lines perfectly straight?  That hill outside of town or those stairs that you've been thinking about...can you run them in the blazing heat?  What about a grind match then jumping in the river to cool off?  Then following that up with a sauna workout.  These things can be done in December, no doubt, but the Midwestern heat and humidity adds an element to the wrestler's regimen that is necessary for growth.

I've been listening to a variety of podcasts and recently have heard two resounding themes in the lives of high achievers and elite athletes.  1. Consistency - daily routines and habits.  2. Suffer - comfortable being uncomfortable.  After hearing an inspirational conversation on the "The Kreatures of Habit Podcast," I was struck by a play on words that I immediately implemented into our summer training plans.

It's simple, replace MM with FF.  Summer Training Program becomes Suffer Training Program.  Summer --> Suffer.  There are a lot of layers to this and I'm excited to watch it all play out.  

It makes us all a little nervous when we talk about it out loud and begin chaining those m's with f's.  But that's what it's all about.  That's when we need to lean in and let the creative juices flow and chose courage.  We're going to do some things crazy things this summer.

US Open - Day 5

Day 5 is the final day of the US Open.  Unfortunately, we don’t have anyone competing today.  Our boys battled hard yesterday, though.  We’re quite pleased with how they wrestled and are excited to get back to work and prepare for the next thing.  They learned a lot about wrestling at a high level and learned about themselves and each other.  

 

I’d say the trip was a success.  We’re already planning ahead for next year and thinking about what our group will look like next year.  We had one senior woman, two high school girls, three U15 boys, three U17 boys, and three U20 boys in our crew this week.  All of them won at least one match.  They’ll all come back and share their experience with teammates and likely motivate several others to take the challenge next year.  As soon as the date, location, and schedule are released, we’ll begin making arrangements.

 

This was an important seed planted in the wrestling careers of those that came this year.  Now they need to continue to water the seed and let it grow.  That’s how development happens in our sport.

 

Viva Las Vegas!

US Open - Day 4

We’re back on the mat in Las Vegas with our U17 and U20 athletes.  This is Day 4 of the tournament.  Days kind of start to run together by this time.  People who have been here know what I mean.  The same is usually true in Fargo.  The schedule is helpful, and we print things out for our wrestlers, but all we really know is that we need to get to the venue in the morning and then just make sure our text alerts for mat assignments are working.  Once the matches begin, it’s a whirlwind.

 

Last night our boys had the chance to watch some very good senior men’s freestyle matches.  It was a privilege for them.  We love watching things on Flowrestling, ESPN, or breaking things down on Instagram or YouTube.  But to be matside watching some of these superstars is a game changer for a high school kid.

 

Wrestlers who seem larger than life on TV are the same size as we are.  They might look like superheroes in costumes on the screen, but they wear normal clothes from regular stores (mostly Rudis or Lululemon).  It’s great for our kids to be able to humanize a few of them.  This is one of the many positive things that come from participating in an event like this.

 

We’re excited for these guys to wrestle today because they’ve invested a little bit extra each week leading up to this.  All of our kids wrestling freestyle this spring are taking steps outside of their regular high school or middle school seasons to get better – doing the extra.  But we made sure to provide extra opportunities beyond the extra so these guys took things seriously here in Vegas.  I think they’ll have something to show today for the hard work they’ve done and it will be a great push for our club.

US Open - Day 3

Day 3 is set to begin in Las Vegas as the Men’s Freestyle division takes over the arena.  Our crew is in the spectator role today and not all by choice.

 

I was fortunate to wake up early enough to watch the sun rise this morning.  After the way some performed yesterday, I didn’t know for sure if it would. 😉

 

Wrestling tournaments are great in so many ways.  I love wrestling and I love competition, that goes without saying.  I love to win, and I also love the pursuit of trying to improve so that winning can become a reality.  For me, this is as true as a coach as it was as an athlete, even if it looks different.  However, sport kicks you in the face without warning sometimes and you end up experiencing almost everything except winning.  Then what?  How you make sense of those experiences and learn and grow from them is a major component of why we do what we do.

 

Spoken like someone who didn’t experience many wins yesterday, huh?

 

One of my heroes in sport and life is Olympic Gold Medalist Ben Peterson.  He once said, “always compete, and when you can, win.”  I love the simplicity of the saying because it captures the true competitive nature inside the world’s best winners.  Winning happens a lot more for those who are relentless competitors.

 

What’s the difference between wanting to compete and wanting to win?

 

That’s an important question for athletes to come to grips with.  We often talk about “surrendering the outcome” to bring freedom to the competitive experience.  Compete hard and with great intention and purpose without attaching yourself to the outcome.  But what does it mean to compete?

 

To compete is to give yourself entirely to a moment in time and to scratch and claw and grit your teeth while trying to be your best and do your best.  To implement strategy and hustle while avoiding going through the motions.  To engage all senses and pull out an intensity that is paired with a controlled aggression that expressing a willingness to stress and strain and do whatever it takes to succeed, which is never as simple as a desired outcome.  It’s to leave it all on the mat each time you step foot inside the circle and consistently find more to leave on the mat all over again.  To fight for your right to…fill in the blank (thank you Beastie Boys).

 

How do you access that ideal competitive state?  The Zone.  That’s the takeaway from Day 2.  Wow, do we ever need to learn how to compete.  

Can we do that?  Can you do that?

2025 US Open - Day 2

It’s early morning in Las Vegas and we’re waiting for weigh-ins to begin at Day 2 of the US Open.  Today we have an athlete competing in the Senior Women's division (Alisha Howk) and one in the Girl’s High School Showcase.  Esperanza Calvillo wrestled seven times yesterday and will try for 5^th place this afternoon.

 

This quite the event! 

 

You can probably imagine being that it’s in Las Vegas.  The competition venue is in “Downtown Las Vegas.”  Some people call it Old Vegas; it’s about 2 miles from the world famous “Strip.”  Neon lights are everywhere, and nighttime feels like daytime because the streets are so bright.

 

Our crew is staying at The Strat Hotel.  That’s the one with giant space needle.  It’s actually the highest point in Las Vegas.  It’s a short drive from the venue and at the Northern tip of The Strip.

 

Our U15 athletes will weigh-in this afternoon and will be ready to compete tomorrow morning.  There are 32 mats in the convention center.  4 of them are on the raised stage and surrounded by bleachers.  It sounds chaotic, but it’s very efficient.  The mats are sort of sectioned off and age groups wrestle in one chunk throughout the day.  With over 4,500 participants from youth to veterans, including the top senior level athletes, this one of USA Wrestling’s top events.

 

As a club, we’ve been discussing ideas on how to make this tournament a staple in the lives of our young athletes.  It’s difficult to organize because it’s during school.  For our high school athletes, we’ve always emphasized Fargo in the Summer, and will continue to do so, however, this tournament is fresh on our radar and something we need to prioritize moving forward as part of the preparation for Fargo (and future high school success).

 

Spending time at an event like gets the wheels spinning.  Seeing the top wrestlers in the country hone in on their craft is inspiring.  It also forces you to look in the mirror and consider your own level of commitment, goals and process.  We hope this week re-energizes our wrestlers and is a catalyst for dreaming bigger dreams and striving for even more.

A human being, even as we are: reflection of the 2020 Olympic Games

The Olympic Games are the biggest arena for individual heroism in sports.  My heart strings are tugged every time I witness greatness on a grand scale and there is no shortage of such things at the Games.  

There are so many things that go through my mind when I watch the Olympics.  I think about what it must have taken for each athlete to get to this point in their career.  So much has been invested.  So many things have been sacrificed.  Their dedication and commitment is evident and they've inevitably been "overcomers" in order to possess the mental fortitude on display.

All of this makes the Olympic Games seem like something in our imaginations.  Like it's not real and, most definitely, not attainable or a viable option for those watching from home.

Except, it is.  It's both real and attainable.

The curious fact is that these athletes are just ordinary people who do extraordinary things.  They go above and beyond expectation in many areas and they follow a strict training plan that fully integrates every nuance of their lives, however, they all have insecurities and fears.  They embrace struggle and strain in order to experience triumphant victories.  They're just people.  

"Elijah was a human being, even as we are."  These words from the book of James (5:17) had a tremendous impact on me the first time I read them.  Elijah was an Old Testament prophet and miracle worker.  By all standards, he was really big deal, except James said he was just a regular guy.  Those heroes of faith in the Bible, similar to the greatest of Olympians, were simply men and women just like you and me.

This gives me great hope and a sense of freedom to go for my goals, as well as encourage and inspire my athletes to pursue theirs.  Maybe it does the same for you.  However, I also get scared to think about this because it calls us out.  If not me, then who?  If not you, then who?

The Olympic Games are the place where regular people transcend the human existence and become larger than life, and for a moment in time lift the rest of us up to a better place.

Citius, Altius, Fortius.  Swifter, Higher, Stronger.  This is the credo.

Still, they're ordinary people.  That's what I like best.  There is an incredible amount of commitment and dedication, tremendous accolades and records, but there's also a lot of regular.  That seems tangible.  We can understand this.

I love it when ordinary people do unexpected things.  It helps me to believe that no matter how unremarkable I may feel, God can do something extraordinary with me.  There are some common "ingredients" that we would do well to deposit into our pursuits if we desire to live the life of an Olympian, possibly becoming one in 2024 or beyond: 

• Grit - Passion + Perseverance 
• A clear vision - eyes on the prize and in clear view
• Freedom - exactly who you were created to be; use the freedom to be/do more, not less
• Integrity - connecting all of the dots and unifying all aspects of your life into the vision and purpose

We hosted a camp last week during the Olympic Games with several athletes who have real Olympic dreams.  We watched every wrestling match, picking apart the words mentioned above and understanding that this all requires a deep sense of purpose, sincere meekness, and bold courage, as well. 

There's noting inherently "special" about the athletes we watch in the Olympics.  They're just people like you and me.  There's no magic pill, special technique, talent, or luck that put them onto the biggest stage.  Their stories always include a ton of little things added up over time.  The Olympics demonstrate that success is about development and maturity through the process.  You can make the changes to commit to that.

You're just a regular person.  Now, go and do extraordinary things.  The changes God wants to see in our lives happens from within.  He's not trying to put something inside of us; He wants to pull something out of us.  

"The Lord does not look at the things man looks at.  Man looks at the outward appearance, the Lord looks at the heart." - 1 Samuel 16:7