U.S. Championships; Saturday recap (Nick Zaccardi Jun 28, 2014, 6:01 PM EDT)
“In the women’s 400m final, Olympic champion Sanya Richards-Ross couldn’t run down Francena McCorory. McCorory, the World Indoor champion, ran a personal best 49.48 seconds. That’s the fastest 400m by an American woman since Richards-Ross won the 2012 Olympic Trials in 49.28.” http://olympictalk.nbcsports.com/2014/06/28/dawn-harper-nelson-wins-100m-hurdles-usa-track-and-field-championships/
I couldn’t help wondering …
… what’s MY “personal best”?
What’s YOURS?
Of course, neither of the two of US is in the business of doing Olympic Trials.
So we would first have to define the business we ARE in, and then assess how we’re doing.
It gets a little “sticky”, doesn’t it? After all, most of us are not ONE-DIMENSIONAL persons vying for Olympic Gold! We’re sons, daughters, bread-winners, friends, socially conscious contributors to the community, parents, teachers …
Still in all, there’s a needle somewhere in that haystack that calls us out for some degree of “bestness” accountability.
Point to Ponder
An “All Time” personal best requires ideal or near-ideal conditions … superimposed on days and weeks and months and years of training, conditioning and perfecting the art. But ideal conditions are largely beyond our control; one has to be ready-to-the-max when the ideal conditions finally do materialize. Otherwise, it’s a matter of doing one’s ANYTIME personal best with whatever circumstances present themselves.
“What I want is better people, better products, better services …
building a better company so I don’t sit here and worry a lot about the recession.
I want to be so financially strong that nothing can hurt the company.”
Bank One CEO, Jamie Dimon
“’It’s absurd to play a World Cup game in Manaus.’
Rivelino, Brazilian soccer legend, [commenting] on the stifling heat and humidity in the Amazon city Manaus, where locals claim just two seasons – summer and Hell. The pace of the Italy-England game, played in 61% humidity at a temperature of 84ºF, slowed to a crawl at times as players struggled with the jungle conditions. One player said he felt as if he was ‘hallucinating.’”
[Time, June 30, 2014, p. 22]
But somebody’s going to win, despite the conditions!
Kentucky Derby winning times stay fairly close to 2 minutes over the years, but here are some interesting statistics:
Winning Horse Winning Time Year
California Chrome 2:03.66 2014
Monarchos 1:59.97 2001
Secretariat 1:59.40 1973
So did Secretariat have “ideal conditions” or ideal conditioning? Perhaps both!
And what about Richards-Ross, Olympic champion and fastest American woman in the 2012 Olympic Trials with a time of 49.28 sec., who conceded the 2014 U.S. Championship in Sacramento to McCorory with a “personal best” time of 49.48 sec.?
Dateline: June 27, 2014
“Three months into her comeback from toe surgery, four-time Olympic champion Sanya Richards-Ross is already making significant strides.
Richards-Ross ran a relaxed but encouraging 52.39 seconds in her heat Thursday to advance to the semifinals at the U.S. outdoor track and field championships. It was a full second slower than Richards-Ross’ best time this year and well off her American record set in 2006.
Not that she’s worried about it.
‘This is the best I’ve felt all year,’ Richards-Ross said. ‘I felt my rhythm down the backstretch was better and I got good position around the curve.’
Although the pain in her right big toe hasn’t subsided much since the surgery, Richards-Ross is using each meet as another step forward in her recovery.
She looked strong in her heat and was stride for stride with Francena McCorory until coasting over the final 10 meters.
More importantly, Richards-Ross showed no lingering effects from the surgery she had for hallux rigidus, a hereditary condition that is similar to turf-toe injuries suffered by football players.
‘It’s similar but I think it’s worse,” Richards-Ross said. “I’m actually in more pain most of the time but I’m getting through.’”
“Conditions be damned! Get out there and do your PERSONAL BEST!!
Like it or not, ready or not, you’re a competitor.
GET ready – the very BEST that you can …
and go compete – the very BEST that you can.”
Taskmaster
Final Point to Ponder
Choosing well is the consummate vectoring engagement leading to Personal Best.
Did you choose an appropriate goal to pursue first next?
Are you focusing your time and energy in line with top priorities?
If you make personal best choices,
you can expect nothing less than personal best outcomes!
Quartermaster
