In the Mind of a Wrestler- Boardwalk Race?

Here is a story from a Coach who wishes to remain anonymous, which I feel really embodies Wrestling Mindset.

A stranger helped me out this morning without realizing it but in reality I helped myself out because that’s what I’ve always done. I got to the beach early and I went for a long run on the boardwalk. I wasn’t warmed up and I just get to boardwalk from my house and this young girl is running.

I enter the boardwalk about 100 ft in front of her. Within 5 mins she passes me so i have a choice to make. Do I use the excuse that I’m not loose yet and let her blow me away or do I just push myself to keep up with her. Of course I did what most competitive people do and I stayed right behind her. I didn’t want to pass her and make it look like I was competing even though I was.
At the end of boardwalk I keep going. She stops to tie her shoe or stretch. Not sure what she was doing. So now I passed her and made sure I kept a good pace so she wouldn’t catch me. Then I let up and slow down figuring shes not around. After about 1.5 miles , she passes me again.

So now I can just let her persistence beat me but I didn’t, I followed her closely and tried to torment her by staying right behind her. She eventually turned off boardwalk either cause she was going home or couldn’t keep pace anymore. Now I could have chalked it up to this girl being half my age but I didn’t.

Moral of story is that this is how a wrestling match goes. This is how life goes and you will have to deal with your decision of whether to quit or not. I chose not to and it was a struggle for me but the discomfort only for that hour that I was running. Knowing you quit will last forever. Just keep pushing even if the other guy scores and he will break. If he doesn’t break and flat out beats you, you tip your hat to that guy or girl in this case or you shake their hand but u don’t accept it. You go to work the next day and let that defeat motivate you. You think you were working hard before but there is always another gear.

Play these mental games with yourself and you will be a success on and off the mat and when you are older you will be even more successful if you can get a kid or numerous kids to believe in the power of our minds. Keep putting money in the bank. You may never need it until March however you have to keep training and when you need to dig deep, you will have something left. This is kind of mindset a wrestler needs.