Read the following article from Runners World about Meb Keflezighi and his training on the way to winning this past Spring’s Boston Marathon.  A race I still, and will, go back and watch to get pumped up.

Along with that, I had the privilege this Spring of working with two of the top runners in the state of Nebraska (in addition to many other hard-working student athletes).  These two young people had great days at the Nebraska State Track Meet last weekend.

Mujtaba Mohammed may have paid his way through school with an incredible 800m run.

Jeralyn Poe continues her wonderful high school career with great performances (and competition with Katie Spencer of Millard South) in the 1600/3200

But the question I wonder about is what does it take for any athlete, of whatever ability, to achieve their best performance on a given day?

Far smarter people than me have thought about and analyzed this very same question.  A different way of putting it in regards to life might be, what are the keys to success in a given pursuit?

Talent- you have to have the skills in the first place.  I don’t care what I do, I will never dunk on Kevin Durant or snow board a full half pipe in the Olympics.  But, each person can do something, finding that something is the hard part.

Desire- you have to want to do well, which might be more important than talent.

Work ethic- you cannot be afraid of sweat, tears, and frustration

Guidance- having a coach or experienced friend or something like that to help you along the way is something that CANNOT be understated.

Luck- you have to have everything (most things) fall into place on a given day.  It is unfortunate that something this simple can make or break.  But I would argue that the first four go a long ways towards limiting luck.

As my dad always said when it comes to competition, control the things you can control and leave the rest alone.