‘The trail is the thing…’

I see a post the other day saying how all men have had this little thought stuck in their head all there life…’i could be a pro athlete’ and it must of stuck because its literally me, i am him. Lets face it, we’ve all thought a pro baller at one point in our life.

We still watch football and scream how hard can it be when someone misses a sitter.

We all watch UFC and slate the Brazilian grappler who’s done jiu jitsu since he was 1 years old for getting his guard passed.

Everyone seems to think Anthony Joshua is rubbish because he’s no longer heavy weight champion.

we become coaches, mentors, creators, friends, physios, sports psychologists, sports wear designers and even supporters

But even more relatable to us and now is watching the elite 15 in Hyrox and i know for fact theres 1000s of people out there who sit at home and think…ohh i could probably run sub 60 in a pro race

The list is endless of course but if you have ever been anywhere near a professional athlete the reality soon hits at how incredibly good they actually are at their craft, and how insanely fit they actually are. You cant actually put into words how far ahead these people are, and thats what the post i was reading was basically saying. Which i completely agree with.

But theres still a twist to it, theres still a reason for us to think we can make it to the top even though 99.9% of us wont make it there but does that actually matter?

Theres an old saying that goes ‘The trail is thing, not the end of the trail. Travel too fast you miss what you are traveling for’

This was pinging around my head my whole long run today. All of us having this delusion that we can make it to to the professional level is exactly what we should have. Because of what happens on the trail, on the journey and chase of trying to make it. The person we become, the people we meet, the friends we make, the stories we get to tell, the stories we get to witness, the 0.1% chance we get to make it to the top or even the chance that one of our friends has to make it to the top.

We might become athletes, or we become coaches, mentors, creators, friends, physios, sports psychologists, sports wear designers and even supporters. Who we become is still worth it.

….The trail is the thing