The Legs Feed The Wolf

"Push it! The legs feed the wolf!"

I can hear my dad yelling at me as I come around the last corner before I reach my house, the finish line of my run. Running a few paces behind me, he's yelling at me to give it all I got in the last hundred metres or so. I start sprinting full out and upon reaching my driveway crumple to the grass.

This isn't the first time I've heard the ol "the legs feed the wolf" encouragment from my dad, and it probably won't be the last. I like it, mainly because in my run-addled brain I envision wolves are chasing me to the end of my route, hungry wolves who have a particular taste for Canadian teenagers. In reality it's only my dad who I have to fend off in the last stretch, no easy feat considering he's a 4-time marathoner.

I first heard the saying back when I watched the movie Miracle and Herb Brooks barked it out to his team. I have a feeling my dad was well aquainted with the phrase, having put in a good several decades under similarily wise, and gruff, hockey coaches, and he has become fairly fond of using it to motivate me and my siblings while running.

Although my brain may not use the saying as it is meant to be used I think it is tremendously relevent and even, dare I say, inspiring.

What I get from "The legs feed the wolf" is just that, for wolves to eat they must be able to catch their food, and to catch their food they need scary-fast legs.

Although I'm not as fury as a wolf and I don't generally chase down deer and moose for dinner, I think this saying can be translated into life really well. When you have a passion or a goal, like writing a book, learning how to speak French or annoying your friends and family, you have to do more than just think about it, you have to take action. You have to start writing short stories or character sketches. You have to take French lessons and maybe travel to Quebec and practice. You have to buy a vuvuzeula and play it continuously in your backyard. The point is, planning and thinking is important to achieving any goal, but to actually get it done you have to really want it and then act on that desire.

But no wolf is born the fastest hunter in the pack, they must practice and develop their legs, just as runners must train and push themselves to pass that competitor in front of them in the last seconds of a race or to beat their personal best time. Nothing comes easy, but practice goes a long way to achieving your goals.

So next time you want to get something done or are just hungry just remember, the legs feed the wolf.