BleedGopher
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per Runners World:
It takes a lot to fuel that coaching fire daily. Luckily, Fleck’s frenetic energy gets recharged every morning far before his players, or most sane people, are out of bed. One of college football’s youngest and loudest coaches starts his day quietly putting one foot in front of the other.
His daily run is a predawn ritual that’s stretched throughout his career. These days, that ritual happens on the streets and trails of Edina, Minnesota, where Fleck, 37 years old and entering his second season at Minnesota, calls home.
“For me, it’s the only time of the day where no one bothers you or needs a solution to a problem,” he says. “This is where you can collect your thoughts to be able to lead and motivate and inspire everyone else. It’s the time I use to get myself ready for the day and give myself to so many people.”
He wears the latest Nike swag, a side benefit of the University of Minnesota’s sponsorship deal with the swoosh. He runs alone with a mix of rap, rock, country, and jazz cycling through his playlists. When times get tough, Imagine Dragons is his go-to. They power him up long hills. They help him recover after a loss.
Running has been a long-time passion for the coach. In 2009, while coaching wide receivers at Northern Illinois, his alma mater, Fleck ran the St. Louis Marathon. Media reports told of the hyper-competitive coach doing the race with a pencil behind his ear, the better to stop and write down plays or coaching thoughts that came to mind during the three hours and 24 minutes he spent on the course. He laughs when asked about it.
“I think that was made up,” he says. But he readily agrees that his runs feed him epiphanies.
“When you’re out there by yourself, you’re in a race and you’re competing with yourself, but you’re still thinking about all the things you can do,” he says. “I think best when I am running. That’s where thoughts come to me very clearly.”
https://www.runnersworld.com/runners-stories/a22812049/college-football-coach-pj-fleck-runner/
Go Gophers!!
It takes a lot to fuel that coaching fire daily. Luckily, Fleck’s frenetic energy gets recharged every morning far before his players, or most sane people, are out of bed. One of college football’s youngest and loudest coaches starts his day quietly putting one foot in front of the other.
His daily run is a predawn ritual that’s stretched throughout his career. These days, that ritual happens on the streets and trails of Edina, Minnesota, where Fleck, 37 years old and entering his second season at Minnesota, calls home.
“For me, it’s the only time of the day where no one bothers you or needs a solution to a problem,” he says. “This is where you can collect your thoughts to be able to lead and motivate and inspire everyone else. It’s the time I use to get myself ready for the day and give myself to so many people.”
He wears the latest Nike swag, a side benefit of the University of Minnesota’s sponsorship deal with the swoosh. He runs alone with a mix of rap, rock, country, and jazz cycling through his playlists. When times get tough, Imagine Dragons is his go-to. They power him up long hills. They help him recover after a loss.
Running has been a long-time passion for the coach. In 2009, while coaching wide receivers at Northern Illinois, his alma mater, Fleck ran the St. Louis Marathon. Media reports told of the hyper-competitive coach doing the race with a pencil behind his ear, the better to stop and write down plays or coaching thoughts that came to mind during the three hours and 24 minutes he spent on the course. He laughs when asked about it.
“I think that was made up,” he says. But he readily agrees that his runs feed him epiphanies.
“When you’re out there by yourself, you’re in a race and you’re competing with yourself, but you’re still thinking about all the things you can do,” he says. “I think best when I am running. That’s where thoughts come to me very clearly.”
https://www.runnersworld.com/runners-stories/a22812049/college-football-coach-pj-fleck-runner/
Go Gophers!!
