Taking Care of the Core
10/9/2026 2:03:00 PM | Spiritual Formation
Written by: Willie Steele
I don't remember a time when athletics weren't part of my life. My earliest memories of being a fan are from the late 1970s when it felt like the Pittsburgh Steelers were in the Super Bowl every year, which wasn't far off, and the Pittsburgh Pirates were good enough to be contenders most years, even winning the 1979 World Series. When I was old enough to play Little League baseball, I did. When I was able to try out (not very successfully!) for baseball and basketball in middle school and high school, I did. It became pretty evident early on that, while I loved baseball, I wasn't very good at it. But when I started running track in middle school, I found something I not only enjoyed but was able to be ok at. After running four years of cross country in high school, I walked on to the cross country and track teams when I came to Lipscomb to start college.
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For my first three years as a Bison, I was fortunate to run for Kent Johnson, who might not know it but who taught me the basic principles of periodization, recovery, building a strong base over the summer, and the difference between tempo runs and speed workouts. Coming from a high school where the cross country coach was a history teacher and wrestling coach who needed the extra cash, this was some pretty eye-opening stuff I was exposed to and was a huge help when I got my first coaching job years later. And while I remain good friends with Coach Johnson, it still feels weird to call him "Kent."
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The coach I had for the last two years of my running career at Lipscomb, Lynn Griffith, changed my life far beyond running.
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I knew more about distance running than Coach Griffith did. Heck, most of us on the team did, and he was the first person to admit that. In our opening meeting with him, he said, "I don't know a lot about running, but I know how to coach." Turns out, he undersold us on how much he knew about running, which was a lot. And he really undersold us on the coaching thing. He REALLY knew how to coach. He made us better runners, better teammates, and better people.
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The main thing I remember about Coach Griffith's approach to everything was how much he emphasized having a strong base and a solid core. If you came into the fall cross country season and hadn't trained, you were never going to get caught up in time to have a successful season in November. Successful cross country seasons aren't made in September, October, and November. They are made in June, July, and August. Laying the foundation with lots of long distance running over the summer isn't easy, but it's necessary. I'd rather run 10 miles than lift 10 pounds, but Griffith taught me a strong core–quads, abs, back, all of it–was necessary to prevent injuries. Doing the foundational work and core training isn't glamorous, but it's where success starts. You can't be successful in anything without a good foundation and a strong core. So as much as I didn't like the core work, I knew he was right and did it anyway.
In Matthew 22, Jesus is asked what the greatest commandment is, and He responds, "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and all your soul and all your mind," and then he follows up with a second command to "Love your neighbor as yourself." (Matt. 22:37-29).
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The beauty of both Coach Griffith's training plan and Jesus' plan for how to live our lives is that both are incredibly simple to understand, but man, are they hard to do sometimes. The idea of running long runs in July in middle Tennessee is easy. Getting off the couch to do it regularly? That's the hard part. Loving my neighbor in theory? Sure, no problem! Putting it into practice when my neighbor gives me reasons to NOT love him, or when I give him reasons to not love me? That's the hard part.
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Coach Griffith helped me land my first teaching and head coaching job in Oregon. That's where I met my wife. That's where she and I had two daughters. That's where I developed my own style of coaching, of teaching, and yes, of parenting. And all of them come back to this: focus on developing a strong foundation and develop a solid core in everything. Academics, athletics, relationships, your job, and most importantly, your faith journey all require these to be successful and to help you be better.
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When Coach Griffith died and I was asked to speak at his memorial service, I spoke about these things. And when his wife was cleaning out his books, she gave me Coach's copy of Shirl James Hoffman's Good Game: Christianity and the Culture of Sports. In it, Coach underlined, highlighted, and annotated in the margins. One of the verses he underlined was about Zechariah 8:5, which describes a vision of Heaven as, "The city streets will be filled with boys and girls playing there." I love that idea. We won't be working. We will be playing. But that only happens if we have done the work on our foundations and our cores. So get to work.
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I don't remember a time when athletics weren't part of my life. My earliest memories of being a fan are from the late 1970s when it felt like the Pittsburgh Steelers were in the Super Bowl every year, which wasn't far off, and the Pittsburgh Pirates were good enough to be contenders most years, even winning the 1979 World Series. When I was old enough to play Little League baseball, I did. When I was able to try out (not very successfully!) for baseball and basketball in middle school and high school, I did. It became pretty evident early on that, while I loved baseball, I wasn't very good at it. But when I started running track in middle school, I found something I not only enjoyed but was able to be ok at. After running four years of cross country in high school, I walked on to the cross country and track teams when I came to Lipscomb to start college.
Â
For my first three years as a Bison, I was fortunate to run for Kent Johnson, who might not know it but who taught me the basic principles of periodization, recovery, building a strong base over the summer, and the difference between tempo runs and speed workouts. Coming from a high school where the cross country coach was a history teacher and wrestling coach who needed the extra cash, this was some pretty eye-opening stuff I was exposed to and was a huge help when I got my first coaching job years later. And while I remain good friends with Coach Johnson, it still feels weird to call him "Kent."
Â
The coach I had for the last two years of my running career at Lipscomb, Lynn Griffith, changed my life far beyond running.
Â
I knew more about distance running than Coach Griffith did. Heck, most of us on the team did, and he was the first person to admit that. In our opening meeting with him, he said, "I don't know a lot about running, but I know how to coach." Turns out, he undersold us on how much he knew about running, which was a lot. And he really undersold us on the coaching thing. He REALLY knew how to coach. He made us better runners, better teammates, and better people.
Â
The main thing I remember about Coach Griffith's approach to everything was how much he emphasized having a strong base and a solid core. If you came into the fall cross country season and hadn't trained, you were never going to get caught up in time to have a successful season in November. Successful cross country seasons aren't made in September, October, and November. They are made in June, July, and August. Laying the foundation with lots of long distance running over the summer isn't easy, but it's necessary. I'd rather run 10 miles than lift 10 pounds, but Griffith taught me a strong core–quads, abs, back, all of it–was necessary to prevent injuries. Doing the foundational work and core training isn't glamorous, but it's where success starts. You can't be successful in anything without a good foundation and a strong core. So as much as I didn't like the core work, I knew he was right and did it anyway.
In Matthew 22, Jesus is asked what the greatest commandment is, and He responds, "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and all your soul and all your mind," and then he follows up with a second command to "Love your neighbor as yourself." (Matt. 22:37-29).
Â
The beauty of both Coach Griffith's training plan and Jesus' plan for how to live our lives is that both are incredibly simple to understand, but man, are they hard to do sometimes. The idea of running long runs in July in middle Tennessee is easy. Getting off the couch to do it regularly? That's the hard part. Loving my neighbor in theory? Sure, no problem! Putting it into practice when my neighbor gives me reasons to NOT love him, or when I give him reasons to not love me? That's the hard part.
Â
Coach Griffith helped me land my first teaching and head coaching job in Oregon. That's where I met my wife. That's where she and I had two daughters. That's where I developed my own style of coaching, of teaching, and yes, of parenting. And all of them come back to this: focus on developing a strong foundation and develop a solid core in everything. Academics, athletics, relationships, your job, and most importantly, your faith journey all require these to be successful and to help you be better.
Â
When Coach Griffith died and I was asked to speak at his memorial service, I spoke about these things. And when his wife was cleaning out his books, she gave me Coach's copy of Shirl James Hoffman's Good Game: Christianity and the Culture of Sports. In it, Coach underlined, highlighted, and annotated in the margins. One of the verses he underlined was about Zechariah 8:5, which describes a vision of Heaven as, "The city streets will be filled with boys and girls playing there." I love that idea. We won't be working. We will be playing. But that only happens if we have done the work on our foundations and our cores. So get to work.
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