Dear Athlete, Letter #2 - Growth

Dear Athlete,

There have been practices and workouts where I didn't think I was good enough.

My body never let me down. It kept up with the paces, kept up with the pain, kept showing up and putting in the work, rep after rep. But my mind wasn't always there with it. Some days I just wasn't in it, and I couldn't tell you exactly why.

It usually took one of the worst workouts of my life to snap me back. And then, somehow, I'd take the next rep faster than the first. I'd run a better race than the last one. I'd start actually taking care of my body again, instead of just dragging it through the motions.

Sometimes it takes a bad workout to remind you that you still love this sport.

The quiet mental battles never go away. I still have to fight them, over and over, every season. But without them, I wouldn't be the athlete I am today. The struggle was never separate from the growth, it was the growth.

— Mackenzie, Founder Dear Athlete