You've got 23 other hours in the day

When I was a distance runner at the University of Nebraska, Coach Jay Dirksen used to tell us, "You've got 23 other hours in the day for your other commitments, so give me this hour." It was his way of saying, "no excuses for missing practice!"

Of course, Dirksen didn't acknowledge the fact that practice rarely was only 1 hour, but his point still resonates with me. Workouts and training are important, especially when you're wanting to excel. We did morning runs on our own, and Sunday long runs as well. If he had said 22 hours, he would have been more truthful, but again, the point still resonates. We had to do the work to reach our goals, no matter what our other commitments.

Joe Friel recently said in a tweet, "#6 mistake of self-coached athletes? Inconsistent training. High goals? Don’t miss workouts. Ever." There is no greater truth than this.

So if you've got high goals, don't give me excuses for missing workouts, especially when it comes to life and commitments. School is important, work is important, but so are your goals, right?

If you sleep for 8 hours, work for 8 hours, and fill 4 hours eating, commuting, studying, etc, then you still have 4 hours of time to get your workouts in. Don't tell us you can't do it, just be honest and tell us, "I chose not to do my workouts, and to not work hard toward my goals."

Dirksen's quote still rings true, and Friel's as well.

Coach Vance