So why is this year different?  This year is different because of a few things; I am older, stronger, more experience, better prepared, and I have a new mindset/confidence about this year.  I feel that this year is going to be different, and it already has been.  Running isn't just a part of my life anymore, it really is my life and I don't know what I would do without it.  However running doesn't run my life, how I feel is not directly related to running, well at least not all the time.  I have learned that stressing too much on how I feel, the day of a workout or race just makes the day all that much worse.  Worrying is a very useless emotion, it gets us nowhere.

Runners tend to be very big worriers, or at least I had been in the past.  But worrying about something we can't control is pointless.  Worrying about how we feel, what the weather is like, how good the guy standing next to us is.  All of that just messes around with our minds, and I got caught up in that kind of stuff last year.  This year I have learned that I need to focus on what I have done, on what I am capable of, and go out and do it, regardless of what I feel.  Now I will not always have an on day, but the least I can do is give everything I have on that given day and not worry about the results.  

The last point is especially true when working for a team, it doesn't matter how you feel or what the weather is like, you need to go out and give everything you have for the man standing next to you in the same uniform because you know they are going to do the same for you (at least thats what a good teammate will do).  I think this is why our team did so poorly last year.  No one was willing to pull for each other and everyone ran alone.  

I underline alone because in running that can be a very scary thing.  When you are out on a course and you feel alone, then what is there to work for?  And you do not have to have a team to have something to pull for.  Everyone should have a goal, something to shoot for, that way they are not running aimlessly.  You can be the best runner in the world or someone just starting out, but everyone should set goals.  I had none last year, and I faltered because of it.  I thought I had goals, but it turned out that they were shallow and had no depth or meaning to them.  One could almost say my goals were selfish.  I wanted to prove to people that I was good, that I wasn't a normal freshman, but in the end I became exactly what I didn't want to be, I fell short of my goals and was alone, no one supporting me, and many people being disappointed especially my coach.  

This year is different, I have goals, goals that are not shallow or empty.  This year I have support; support from teammates, from friends, family, my coach, and most importantly God who is always there for me.  Thats what is so different about this year, when I say I am older I am older in my relationship with the lord, when I say I am stronger I am stronger in my relationship with the Lord, when I say I am more experienced it means I have fallen and God has picked me up, when I say I have confidence I have confidence that no matter what happens out there on the cross country course... God Still Loves Me!!!!  And that is all that really matters.

I know many people who read this may not believe in God, and thats ok, I'm not forcing anyone to believe, that decision is between you and God.  I can pray that what I write impacts lives, the truth is I may never know, but doing nothing is worse than having tried and failed, because i know that I have done my job.

(P.S. I sort of just write these without prior thought, so what comes out is what is inside my heart at the moment, I sometimes surprise even myself with what comes out)

Also congrats to Ryan and Ritz on a great finish in the Marathon, they are both inspirations and I can't wait to see what happens in 2012!!!

-Jake

I was able to run decent workouts the first few days of the week after conference which let me know that I hadn't lost a whole lot, but I still did not feel like I had.  I didn't have all my strength back yet.  Well the next week came along and my workouts improved and I started getting more and more confident all the while getting better physically as well.  Then the day before we left for Regionals we had a workout and I had a very rough time.  This made me nervous but I was still able to finish it even with the breathing troubles I was having so I didn't dwell on it too much.

Now that I'm here in Nebraska I get to see just how healthy I am.  We did a very light workout yesterday and I have to say that I felt great, I had no troubles at all.  So now here I am the day before my race trying to convince myself that I am in the greatest shape I have been in all year, and I truly think I am. 

Tomorrows outcome doesn't matter to me.  Whether I get first or last as long as I compete I will be happy.  In all the big races I have gone to this year I have worried too much about placing that I lost focus on competing.  The races that I have done the best in were the ones I was just competing just trying to beat the guy next to me.  Thats how I'm going into this race, just beat the man next to you.

I think this will be easier as well because there are 2 heats of the steeplechase.  1 heat has 14 runners in it and the other has 5 in it.  I'm in the one with 5.  Most people would be disappointed by this but I think this is the way God set it up because it gives me the best chance to compete.  I can see all of my competition and it will be a much tighter race this time, I won't get lost or overwhelmed in a pack because there really will be no pack.  I am just going to stay focused on the leader and go after him the entire race and take a look at the time when I cross the finish line.  

God has interesting ways of doing things.  Things are not going to be perfect all the time.  For a while it seemed like everything was perfect and I was trusting God just like I should.  Then when things went bad I turned to myself to try to accomplish things, and that didn't work out so well.  He has a great way of humbling us and he knows our hearts.  I have realized this and I have came back to the right place.  I just hope that whatever happens this weekend I give god Glory.  I want another race just like my 1500 last year at the state meet.  That was the first race that I truly let God work in me.  I felt terrible before the race and didn't believe that I could win but I was going to go out and try, and I honestly felt him guide my moves in that race.  My move with 600 to go was completely inspired by God and he held off the competition just enough to allow me the win.  

There will be good times and bad times, but a true athlete will endure through both, and a true athlete will take the best out of his defeats.  I'm not saying I'm the best but I do believe that I am an athlete and I have a competative heart, and the lows in my sport are hard to take and brush off, but I know that if I am to get better I can't dwell on the past.  I have to look forward and do what I need to to get better and be the best that I can be.

-Jake Keyser

Ok now that I got that out of the way I can tell you what happened.  Well we had a meet in Laramie Wyoming today, at good old 7,200 feet, not the ideal distance altitude.  Before I get to the exciting part I need to tell what had happened the day before.

Yesterday was possibly the worst weather there could have been in Laramie the day before a track meet.  It was 23 degrees, snowing sideways, with 50 mile per hour winds.  Yah thats exactly what I want when I know I have to run the steeplechase the next day.  Well down here in Fort Collins it wasn't much better, although it was warmer and we didn't have the snow but we still had the wind.  I was getting a little frustrated and thinking that it wouldn't even be worth racing if the weather was that bad.  Well our bus departure time got moved back an hour so I got to sleep in a little bit, all the while praying for better weather.

When I woke up the next morning I checked my computer to see how the weather was looking in Laramie.  It was sunny, but 17 degrees.  I thought to myself, "there is no way that I am going to be running the steeplechase today."  Well nonetheless we loaded our bus around 8:30 and headed out.  On the bus ride I kept pushing the weather out of my mind and tried to focus on the goal that I wanted to hit.  This was getting harder and harder the closer we got to Wyoming.  There was snow on the ground and the ponds were frozen over.  And when you see a frozen pond, there is not a whole lot of hope for a nice water pit.  But I still tried to focus on what I needed to do.  

When we finally arrived at the meet, the sun was out and they were shoveling snow off of the track and trying to make the ice melt quicker.  Well once we got off the bus, we found that it wasn't really all that cold.  This made me very happy, because there was no wind and it looked like it was just going to get warmer.  And get warmer it did.  By the time I started my warm up it was almost 50 degrees, which was just fine with me.  By race time the temperature had risen to 52 degrees.  

It was time, all things left my mind except my goal, as I took off my warm ups and headed towards the starting line.  There were six of us in the race.  2 guys from Wyoming, 2 from the Air Force Academy, and my teammate Kurt and I.  They called us to the line and gave us their instructions.  Then the guy realized that they hadn't set the computers up for the race, so they told us to take some strides.  Well it took them about 10 minutes to set up the computers for the race.  They then called us back and it was time to go.  

The gun went off and I quickly moved into third place behind the 2 Wyoming guys.  I followed them to a 72 second first lap, which I thought was a little fast but tried to keep my mind off things, and just stay focused.  The pace slowed down for the next few laps and I just settled into a pace.  I kept hearing my coach say that we were on pace as the laps went by.  Then an Air Force guy, passed us and I made a move with him.  We quickly dropped the rest of the pack and kept moving forward.  I followed the Air Force guy til one lap to go.  My coach was yelling at me to give it all I've got so I went and went all out.  as I came off that las water jump I really started to push it, I got over the last hurdle and gave everything that I had left to cross the line.  I ran through the line and placed my hands on my knees.  The air force kid came in about 5 seconds after me, and I congratulated him on a great race.  

Then I turned and looked for my coach, when I found him he was walking towards me with a huge smile in his face.  I then threw my hands in the air and knew that I had accomplished my goal, I had qualified for regionals in the steeplechase.  My coach came over and gave me a hug saying that it was because of my last lap that I qualified.  I can't express how excited I was.

All in all though, I am so very grateful for my savior who gave me the gift of running.  After watching that video in my last blog I was so excited because of God's greatness, and thats when I realized that it was possible for me to qualify for regionals, for "I can to all things through Christ who gives me strength" Philippians 4:13

Well during cross country and indoor track season I was having a very hard time.  I wasn't running very well, my connection with God was far from what it used to be, and I just lacked the confidence and motivation to get out there and do it.  

Well somehow I got out of that slump, and I believe that it was the doing of one person on our team.  That person is Allison Gohl.  She is probably one of the nicest most inspiring people I have ever met.  If you have ever watched this girl run you would know why.  She runs with courage and strength.  As a freshman she was the Mountain West Conference indoor 5k champion and it was amazing to watch that race.  What else is awesome is that she never puts anyone down, she always has something nice to say, and always knows how to bring me back to God.  Without Allison I don't think that I would have been able to have the outdoor track season I have had.  Without Allison I would not have changed my relationship with God, and without Allison I would not have been able to enjoy this year as much.  

I'm just so greatfull that I have people like this to look up to.  Allison and Ryan Hall are probably the 2 most inspirational runners I have ever seen.  

I guess what this blog is really about is if you are down and feeling like there is nothing to work for, then find something, don't give up, and create some goals.  I believe that with these things and some good training you can go a long ways.

-Jake Keyser