Cheerleaders

I never saw much point in cheer leading.  I am sorry.  I have always kind of mocked the idea.  Rah, rah, and all that.  However, I have several friends who were cheerleaders back in the day (quick shout out to Megan B. and Myra W.).  They were the sweetest girls ever and shot the cheerleader stereotype right out of the water.  Still, I never encouraged my daughter to be interested in school spirit and was relieved (as was my pocketbook) when she showed absolutely no interest in the cheer squad.

I have recently discovered the importance of cheerleaders in my own life, however.  And it is a lesson that I should have learned much sooner.

I am signed up for the Utah Valley full marathon in June, 2012.  Right now 26.2 miles seems impossible. I am struggling with making myself do my daily workouts, and when I do them, my performance is lacking.  I can't seem to make myself go farther than 3.1 miles before throwing in the towel.  I do have to insert here that I am still doing fine on my swim and bike workouts, so it is just the running that has me down.

Just the running?!?  But that is the one I need to work on the most right now!  It is all mental, I know.  Obviously I can run farther than a 5K.  I just have to force myself to do it.

And this is where cheerleaders come in.

I have two old high school friends who have become my personal cheerleaders in this crazy plot of mine to complete a marathon, then an Ironman.  Sara L. and Doug C.  They both live in Washington State, so the cheering and encouragement happen online, on Facebook.  They cheer me on when I post workout updates, and give me encouragement and advice when I am down on myself.  That, I think, is the most important job of a cheerleader... to believe in you when you doubt yourself.  I really appreciate their support!  My husband is another cheerleader for me.  This morning, he asked me what my plans were for today (being a Monday and day off of work, :D).  I mentioned that I wasn't sure because there were several things that needed to get done.  He asked me to list my options and he'd chime in with his two cents.  When I mentioned exercise, he commented that he knew I would do that one for sure, because it was too important to skip.  That extra little pressure from him is what tipped the scales later in the day when I was trying to talk myself out of going to the gym.

Because, really, every day it is a mental struggle to make myself go to the gym.  I shouldn't have to argue with myself daily about exercise.  I don't have to argue about avoiding drugs and alcohol, drinking plenty of water, or getting the right amount of sleep.  But for some reason, my will power is weak in two areas... exercise and food.  I really need my cheerleaders for those two.

Anyways, remember I said I should have already learned the importance of cheerleaders?  I have an old story to tell you...

I joined the swim team in my junior year of high school.  I had a huge ego when it came to swimming, so I thought I would be doing the team a favor by joining it.  Um, yeah.  The coach had to teach me all the stroke techniques because I could NOT swim.  Not by any team standards.  That was a rough year. I felt like a drowned rat more often than not.  But, the coach let me on the JV team, because lets face it, the swim team was not a huge deal.  We really weren't any good.  I wasn't the only slowpoke in the pool.  In fact, coach Steve was usually frustrated with us because of our lack of effort.  By senior year, I managed somehow to get on the Varsity team and, miracle of miracles, I lettered in swimming!

I can't remember if it happened my junior year, or my senior year.  I was on the 4 person 4x100m medley relay team, swimming the crawl segment.  The medley relay consists of back stroke, breast stroke, butterfly, and freestyle (which can't be any of the first three, so it ends up being crawl).  For some reason, our team missed the call to the starting block, and we were disqualified.  The coach said it was his fault and went to talk with the officials about us.  They were adamant that the disqualification should stand, but they offered to stay a little after the meet to time us so we could see what our time would have been.

So, with the meet over, and most people packing up and leaving the pool building, my team took to the starting block.  The crawl stroke is the fourth and final swimmer in the medley relay, so I was last on the block.  You would expect the pool house to be empty by then.  But our entire team stayed on the pool deck to cheer us on!  Their parents stayed, too, so as I swam that final lap, I could hear everyone screaming and cheering FOR ME every time my ear came out of the water in a breath cycle!

Of course, I always heard screaming and cheering at the swim meets.  But I had never figured it was for me.  My mom was always at my races, but she was the sit quietly and give moral support kind.  And, after all, there are usually 8 swimmers racing against each other in the water, so I always assumed the cheering was for the other swimmers, not me.  This time, every cheer, chant, and shout was directed solely at me!

I had my best time ever on that race.  Knowing the cheering was for me made me push myself farther than I ever had before.  The coach was so touched by the show of team spirit that he even cried about it at the end-of-season party.

Personal encouragement is a powerful thing!  It really can help people successfully accomplish their goals.

We need more cheerleaders in this world.