By: Amy Begley, Atlanta Track Club Coach
Published: March 1, 2017
In order to reach your goals, you have to be honest with yourself. How much are you willing to put into your training? Are you actually pushing yourself, or are you going through the motions?
Truthfulness isn’t a problem for Deanna Hackney. She’s pretty much brutally honest with herself. Deanna admits training for races is never going to be easy. As a working, single mom, she has to balance life just like the rest of us – but she doesn’t make excuses for any setback she encounters.
That doesn’t stop Deanna from setting big goals. She trained for her fifth marathon over the past few months, the Publix Georgia Marathon. Deanna confesses the first time she ran that particular race, she didn’t train properly and hit the wall at mile 20. But this year, she’s learned from her mistakes and is out for revenge on that course.
Deanna also found a way to pass her love of running on to her 10-year-old daughter, Lois. Lois is more interested in musical theater and softball, but over time Deanna has taught her that running can make her better at both. Now the pair enjoys running together and finding ways to eat healthy.
If you read Deanna’s social media posts, you would discover that she is an open book. She doesn’t have a problem sharing the ups and downs of training since she realizes someone else feels the same way she does, has faced a similar obstacle or has the same questions. At the end of the day, Deanna knows that as long as she tries her hardest, she has succeeded. As her coach, I enjoy working with someone who is so willing to learn and does whatever it takes to train.
Now, are you putting 100% into chasing your goals?