FINISH!

Let me start this post by saying that I, just like every other athlete who has ever played a sport at a relatively high level, has heard a coach or a parent screaming "Finish!" or "finish strong" or some other cliche like that.  I knew it was important to finish my sprints or drills as a young soccer player because if I didn't, coach would make the whole team run more.  I never wanted to be the one to slow down before the line and have the coach punish the whole team for it.  It wasn't until high school though, that I truly learned the importance of finishing.

Blizzard Bowl--October, 2011
#67 in Blue w/ Red Helmet

After taking a huge lead in the first half on one of the best Group 4 teams in south jersey, Washington Township, we went into halftime feeling confident and ready to close out a win against Township for the first time in at least the three years i had been at Lenape High School.  Unfortunately, we came out of halftime flat, and Township slowly crawled back into the game.  After scoring a touchdown to take the lead, I celebrated with the offense, then set up to take the PAT, (I was the teams starting right guard, defensive tackle, and place kicker).  I missed.  I couldn't believe it, I never missed PATs.  My confidence was shaken but I sprinted back to midfield to do the kickoff and get ready for defense.
The game continued to be a dogfight back and forth, and with only minutes remaining, we found ourselves down by a touchdown.  In a truly characteristic drive, we took the ball and literally ran it down Township's throat.  Eating a ton of clock and imposing our will on them, we finally scored with only seconds left in the game.  The stadium went wild, everyone was celebrating and going crazy.  Despite letting them get back in the game, we were headed to OT.  To this day, I have no idea if it was exhaustion, lack of confidence, too much or too little concentration, but I missed the PAT.  I'd never felt so sick to my stomach in my life.  We had lost by a point, and I could only blame myself.
The moral of the story is it's never enough to start something.  No matter what it is, you need to finish with the same passion, intensity and attention to detail that you began with.  From that day forward, I understood the importance of finishing, and it has been reflected in my training ever since.  Whether its finishing a block in practice as the starting left tackle at Fairleigh Dickinson University, finishing a set or a sprint, or doing just one more rep then I had planned to do, I finish just as strong as I began because I know when those Saturday afternoons in the fall come around, I'll never be the one to quit.

After being on vacation all week last week, and working eight hours the day after getting home, I was exhausted last night.  But I was fired up to get a workout in.  So I went to the park and cranked out a bodyweight workout with a focus on explosive speed.  No matter how tired I was, I made sure that each rep was better then the last, and that each hill sprint ended with me in full stride THROUGH the top of the hill, and when I was done, I sprinted back to my car, which was one more rep then I had planned.  Check out the workout, give it a shot and give me some feedback, and next time your training, working, or doing anything in your life, remind yourself to finish with everything you've got.

Warmup
General Warmup--Jogging
Dynamic Warmup--Various sport specific movements

Bodyweight Ladders
1a) Straight Bar Muscle Ups--6,5,4,3,2,1
1b) Split Squat Jumps--12,10,8,6,4,2

Conditioning
Bounding Hill Sprints--5
Staircase Sprints--5
Hill Sprints--5