I never thought that I would be old enough to say this, but back in my day we didn't have fancy watches and apps that tracked our workouts. 

I calculated my time via a "state of the art" Timex Ironman watch that not only told the time digitally, but had a stopwatch feature (no splits, just total time). I measured my training routes to the approximate tenth of a mile via the odometer in my dad's car as we drove my routes after dinner - noting landmarks like "big oak tree" and "grey mailbox" as my mile markers.

I tracked my progress on a special paper chart my coach made for the team that hung by my bed and calculated my miles run and overall pace by hand. I found inspiration in Runner's World magazine ads and was motivated by my coach who mailed us weekly postcards encouraging us to run.

The other day I found those charts, postcards, buttons and other XC motivation memorabilia, including a poster I made of my goals for the short, intermediate and long terms (my long term goal capped out at 6 months - ahhh, youth!). My goals included: run almost every day but exercise every day, run 6:30 miles (dang I was fast!), finish top 5 in the league and qualify for States. I remember my coach telling me that physically writing down my goals was half the distance to achieving them. 

I also remember my coach telling me that fall champions were made in the summer. Those summer miles were the dues we paid to compete at a higher level both physically and psychologically. He encouraged us to run 1,000 miles from June through December and made us those special calendars so we could visually see our progress. 

While I never hit the 1,000 mile goal, I did run 500 miles one season and still consider it one of my greatest achievements because it was the first time I achieved a goal that I thought was impossible as I wasn't a fan of driving 500 miles in a car, let alone running them on my own feet!

This summer I am hanging that mileage chart by my bed again to inspire me to run this summer. To not succumb to excuses like it is too hot, too humid or I'm too busy. I'm going to challenge myself nearly 30 years later to match that eager junior's achievement of running 500 miles.

While the "6" in that 6:30 mile pace is now turned upside down, a mile is still a mile. Of course, I'll be using my fancy GPS watch to track every hundredth of a mile and provide instantaneous splits, will monitor my progress using a spiffy app and get my daily motivation from Facebook, Instagram and Pinterest to reach that summer goal!

Steph

P.S. Are you a middle or high school XC runner? Or maybe you know one? This summer we're partnering with Nike to offer a cool virtual summer running program called the Nike Summer Distance Project.

Via the Nike+ app, runners will record their daily mileage and participate in fun challenges for Nike swag. Each registered XC runner will get a sweet Nike Dri-Fit shirt for free, plus we'll iron-on a special emblem for every 25 miles you run (run 500 miles, get 20 emblems to plaster on the back of your shirt!).

The program is FREE - email Michelle for all the details!