Week 3: Flexibility in Action: How This Week’s Adaptations in My Systems Advanced My
“Success is not a straight line; it’s a curve that involves adjustment and adaptation.”
— Unknown
By: Hong Bing Tang September 16, 2024
09/09/2024 to 09/15/2024
Introduction:
Hey there! I’m hoping your week has been both enjoyable and productive. This week has been challenging for me. Between feeling a bit worn out from running and diving into the more demanding parts of the semester, it’s been a tough stretch. Despite these hurdles, I’ve made some adjustments to my schedule while staying focused on my original goals. Even amid the difficulties, I managed to find some enjoyable moments with the team. Keep reading to see what I’ve been up to!
Running and Adjusting:
Last week, I felt quite fatigued, and after a long run, I was pushing my limits. Although I managed to run on Monday, my right quad was very tired, so I decided to take a short break from running. Typically, such minor pains make me anxious because I often struggle to recover and worry about losing fitness. However, inspired by the book Atomic Habits, I shifted my focus from the goal of ‘becoming a fast runner’ to improving the systems that support that goal. One key system is giving my best effort in the moment. Even though I couldn’t run, I concentrated on putting full effort into whatever I was doing, believing it would ultimately benefit my running. This mindset led to one of the best cross-training workouts I’ve ever had. After a few days of cross-training, I ran on Friday and did a workout on Saturday, both of which went well. Though I’m a bit sore today, I’m confident that with this approach, I’ll reach my goal.
Boys Team Hangout/Volleyball:
On Saturday this week we were supposed to have a cross country meet at Ball State University in Indiana which is 4 hours away from campus. Originally, we were supposed to race late in the day around 4pm which would allow us to adequately travel and make it to the meet with plenty of time. A day before the race, they moved the meet to around noon which would have made the travel time very hard. Therefore, instead of going to the meet, we changed our schedule and decided to race at Western Michigan the following week and do a workout on Saturday. Our guy’s team was anyways going to have team dinner but with the meet changed it allowed us to be a little bit more active and therefore play a couple of different games that we otherwise would not do. We were able to hangout and chat and have some fun. Steven and I stayed for a little bit however we had already committed to going to the volleyball game. I was not super opposed to leaving early since this year I was on the E-board of our “student counsel” for athletes and made it one of my goals to go to other teams’ events. So, Steven headed to the volleyball game and invited other teammates as well. Combining the girls and guys cross country team we had about 20 of us there which was honestly very good turnout. It was really cool to be able to see the volleyball team play since I hadn’t been to a game since my freshman year. Plus, it was a really good game since it was really close. Overall I am really happy that I was able to go to the game since it was fun.
Team Activity:
Like last week to take advantage of the free weekend and great weather, our team did another fun game day at the park. This time not nearly as many people showed up, however it was still great to get out there. Unfortunately, due to not wanting to risk hurting my quad anymore I decided that it was not a great idea to play volleyball, SpikeBall or football. Although I was not able to play these games, it gave me the opportunity to be able to read some of my book which I rarely have time for, take some cool pictures of teammates playing these yard games, and just enjoy being outside instead of being stuck inside. Yes, it does suck watching other’s play while you can’t however, sometimes life is like that, but you have to take most of the opportunities that you have and find the positive things that come out of it.
Newcomer’s Fun Night:
The last thing of the week was our annual tradition where the newcomers have to do a challenge that the older guys come up with. This year the newbies, one transfer and 3 freshmen were put into teams of two and had to “build” a boat/floatation device for the two of them and paddle across a pond. It was really fun watching them attempt to paddle and race the other team while the guys created some havoc. After they successfully traveled across the pond which took around 5 minutes they then traveled to “the fountain” where they were dunked into the fountain by Carson for there true welcome to the team. Overall, it was a very fun to watch them compete against each other and for us to watch.
Conclusion:
Overall the last week has been one with many up and downs. Even though it was tough, it allowed me to be flexible and adaptable in the ability to change how I get to my goals that I have for myself. I am looking forward to new adventures next week with the MAC summit and the Western Michigan Cross Country race which will be the first 8k of the season for me. See you all later!
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