Tiger Woods

I have to admit, I'm a Tiger fan.. when Tiger Woods is in contention for a tournament or leading for that matter, I tend to want to tune in and watch what incredible feat he comes up with this time. I just don't get too psyched up to watch the likes of Vijay Singh battle it out with Chris DiMarco on the final round of a tournament (even though they are great players) Today was no different, as Tiger headed to the 72nd hole, tied for the lead, but having a 35 foot putt to win the tournament. Most golfers in that situation would play to send the tournament into a playoff and just not screw up the situation... not Tiger... the guy just has nerves of steel... eyes down the putt... and sinks it. Just unbelievable!!!! I have seen him do so many amazing things since I have been watching him play and win all of these tournaments, but today was no exception. Just as amazing as all the others.... so it brings me to this point. People say... Tiger Woods is a freak (with his not so human capabilities as it appears at times). I fully agree with that, but in my opinion, I think sometimes people get natural born talent and the ability to be great at a sport mixed up. I think there has been more than a few people out there that are as gifted as Tiger Woods. The difference with Tiger Woods (Michael Jordan, Roger Federer, Wayne Gretzky, Alex Rodriguez, etc...basically anyone who excels at their sport) is that they take their work ethic to the next level.... beyond all of their competitors and just have so much confidence and such a mental edge, because of their preparation. Martina Navratilova, who was one of the greatest female tennis players of all time was asked the question, "What made you so confident, week in and week out, feeling that you could beat any other females on tour, for so many years?" She said, "My confidence was based on my preparation. Because I feel like I was prepared better than anyone else, I felt extremely confident that I should beat that individual because my preparation is far superior to most of my opponents"
Currently I am assisting a former patient, who is a fairly high level marathoner, with her return back to running after a few months off the road d/t injuries. Every week, information about the program I have set up for her is sent to me through the Garmin watch. I can see everything that she does on a weekly basis, how fast the runs are, the cross training she performs, etc. The times produced from some of the marathons my client has participated in have been in the 3:20's, which is extremely good. At the Gasparilla 1/2 marathon last year, she placed 3rd overall in her age group (which is quite impressive considering it is such a big race). So my point of saying this is that a lot of people would think, "She is a gifted runner"... which might be the case.... but when I see the amount of time that she puts into her program, week in and week out... she has put herself in a position to be a great marathoner, because of the work she consistently does to make herself a better runner.
I guess even myself, who has taken the running seriously over the last 2 years... sometimes thinks that I put alot of time into running. But when I see some people's schedules, I realize, I'm not even close to being on the same level as them. Everything is so relative sometimes...
So I guess my main point of this blog is that.....
People want so many things sometimes, like
1. Being in a position to win the Bay Hill Invitational on the 72nd hold with a 35 foot putt, and having the crowd roar, and collect a million bucks!!!
2. Run a marathon in under 3:30 minutes (I'm talking to myself here!!!)
3. Lose 50 lbs
4. Make the high school varsity team
5. Lose 20 lbs in 1 month
6. Contentment with life.....

Whatever it is... we all want it, and feel like it's attainable because we see someone else with it, but we have no stinkin' idea what type of dedication, time, effort, sacrifice, has to actually go into pulling something like that off. I mean if it was easy, we would all have it, right????

I write this blog to hopefully encourage someone out there, by getting under their skin... hopefully making you want to work harder and harder at getting that thing that has eluded you. I have actually just pumped myself up to go do an extra workout now... See ya!!!!