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187 MILES

By Maddie Manning

By Oklahoma Athletics

October 10^th, 2016

It is finally here. It’s basketball season.

Everything you have done up to this point has put you in the best position to succeed. The hours in the gym, lifting and conditioning, our to Spain trip, have all been preparation for this moment. Now, it’s officially time to get on the road and head south.

Because I begin everything with the goal in mind I have done some math. There are 174 days between us and our destination. 187 miles between where we are and where we want to go. Literally speaking, that is approximately 1.07 miles a day at the alarming rate of 0.04 mph. (I can’t help but laugh and wonder where we could go if we only went 1 mph).

Either way, that is an extremely slow pace.

It is a process.
It is a journey.
It is step by step, one day at a time.
Today, we take the first step.

I can still remember the feeling I had going into my first official practice. The whole day leading up to practice (which seemed like an eternity) I did everything possible to prepare. I made sure I ate a big healthy breakfast, drank water and Gatorades throughout the day and I even remember stretching in between my classes.

If you knew me as a freshman you would understand why that is so funny. I say all of that to say, I know how you are feeling today.

Don’t forget this feeling of excitement you have going into practice. If you can bring that with you every day throughout the year, we will have something really special going.

You have been great all offseason.
You have really established yourselves but it’s today that everything starts to count.
Don’t lose the focus of growth that we’ve seen.
You have to continue building individually as we build collectively. The coaches will help you with this by continually pushing you outside your comfort zone.

Don’t fight it, embrace it.

You might think you are going as hard as you can. You might think you’re in a low stance. You might think you’re running at full speed. And then they will tell you to go harder, get lower and run faster.

Trust them, you can. Practice is ran at an intensity level you have yet to experience.

It’s not a time to go through the motions.

You cannot skip steps and expect to make it 187 miles at the end of the year.

Write your story here. (Optional)

That’s not to say you can’t make mistakes. In fact, you have everyone’s permission to fail as much as possible in practice. Take risks and go after it. Playing it safe will not serve you or our team. This is where the learning happens. At some point today you are probably going to feel a little lost.