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Late last year, I came across a blog post on Flotrack (yes, I follow the sport) that some of you may have read and/or be familiar with. You can read the blog here: http://www.flotrack.org/article/9106-Wisconsin-Cross-Country-A-Study-In-Pressure

The entry was written by Ryan Craven, a former cross-country runner for Wisconsin, who briefly shared his experiences with team pressure on race day. While the overall tone of his blog wasn’t necessarily negative, his honesty led to a number of slightly hostile comments from former teammates, some of whom happen to be well-known.

As I watched the debacle unfold on the internet, I thought to myself, No, thank you. I’ d much prefer to write honestly, while maintaining my anonymity, than risk using my name, and then dealing with potential backlash. On the other hand, I have gotten a number of emails from former teammates of mine who “figured me out,” and their reactions to my writing were surprisingly positive.

We all seem to carry a few warrior wounds from those days, but that doesn’t necessarily mean we deserved them.

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