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JUGHEADS
Youth Juggling Company, LLC
5905 Concord Avenue
Edina, MN 55424
jugheads@comcast.net
612.229.3348
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[Back to Paul's Platform main selection page]
October
2009
“Boston? Bust: Character through Failure”
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Last month, I fantasized about writing this column with the victorious news that my 4th running of the Twin Cities Marathon was fast enough to qualify for the prestigious Boston Marathon. For two years, I’ve trained hard, clocked PRs in the 10K (41:16) and half marathon (1:35:09), ate right, and avoided injury. A 3:20:59 Boston Qualifier (BQ) seemed meant to be. The reality: despite my training and the perfect weather on Oct. 4, I only managed my goal pace through Mile 13—then I inexplicably suffered multiple leg cramps. My 7:40 pace-per-mile slowed to a crawl of 13:40 by Mile 22. Defying my leg cramps, I picked up the pace with a “blazing” 9:30 pace for the last two miles to finish in 3:57:20 (9:04 avg. pace). For those last 13 miles, I dwelled on finding peace with yet another failed attempt at a BQ, and how I would revise this column.
My efforts at marathon racing remind me of an exchange between Notre Dame football coach Ara Parseghian and the title character in the movie Rudy. Rudy: “I’ve learned...no matter how hard I try, I’m never going to make it above the prep team...God made certain people to be football players, and I’m not one of them.” Coach: “I wish God would put your heart into some of my players’ bodies.” Comparing notes with Billy Watson, he feels like the Rudy of the juggling world just as I feel like the Rudy of the running world. Of course, Billy & I have passions in other areas more closely suited to our respective sets of physical and intellectual gifts, but we remain intrigued by lofty goals and “to dream the impossible dream” (one of Billy’s favorite songs).
This monthly column highlights my personal values and experiences as they relate to daily work with the Jugheads. My ego says that it would have been better to use a BQ as a springboard to say “You can do it!” to the 142 Jugheads endeavoring toward many goals large and small. However, perhaps the example of a leader falling short of a goal will inspire the youth regarding two things: 1) there are limits to natural talent, and 2) one can never know those limits until they’ve been tested, with nothing left on the table. Perhaps such pouring oneself into a major goal, though the effort fails in the end, is more character-building than a medicocre goal easily met. I tried my best, and I failed—but I’m a better man for the effort. It still hurts, but I preach to myself to keep in the race, knowing that thwarted expectations do not mean that the training was in vain.