You’d have to be living under a rock to not have heard the buzz about Justin Bieber’s new movie, Never Say Never. Anyone who knows my girls can surely imagine that there’s no shortage of “Bieber Fever” in our household. No school last Friday meant that I was looking for something fun to do with them. That’s how we found ourselves at the first showing of Never Say Never, along with a gaggle of other tween girls and soccer moms.

Ok, so let’s get this out of the way right away…I LOVED IT!!!!! No, I haven’t changed my screen saver to Justin’s baby-faced camera-ready smile (like my daughters). No, I haven’t plastered posters of him all over our bedroom walls (like my daughters). But I was entertained by the inspiring, true life story of how a talented mop-top regular kid from a small Canadian town became so ridiculously successful at an age so tender that his preferred mode of greeting is a hug (like my daughters).

I could relate to the film on a number of levels. I could relate not only as the mother of a young, gifted musician who was literally born with music oozing out of her pores (my Alex!), but also as an athlete and a coach.

So, how do Justin Bieber and Never Say Never relate to competing in and coaching endurance sports? Remember Coach Joe’s Chapter 5 of “Beating The Demons” called, “Act as if you can… and become! “? In it, Coach Joe taught us that if we want to become fit, do a certain event, or get faster, the very first step is to believe in ourselves and start acting the part. That’s exactly what Justin did! He proved that it works that way in the world of music just as it does in the world of sports.

Take a minute to check out this trailer to Justin’s movie:

As it says in the trailer, “They said it would never happen. They said he would never make it. But he never stopped believing”. So, now as I reflect upon my own accomplishment of finishing the 2010 Chicago Marathon in the blistering heat, and as I look ahead at my lofty training, racing, and coaching goals for the coming years, I agree with Justin’s final words of his movie: “There’s gonna be times where people tell you that you can’t live your dreams. This is what I would tell them. Never Say Never”.