I have been running since fifth grade. All of my sisters and I have been immersed in the sport, whether through meets or long practices. When you've done something for so long, it becomes difficult to escape from muscle memory. It becomes acceptable to normalize the excellent and surreal. To escape the "norm", I went running with a team other than my own. Although it ended exactly like it always does, with ice and the inability to walk, certain aspects of running we're renewed.

Recently I've been injured, so I have taken the muscle memory for granted. I have regarded running as something that I just do. Running with my sister's team made me realize how much I truly have taken running for granted. My hiatus with my beloved hobby had solidified the normalized effect. I would take light runs, but simply just do them. However, being in a different setting drastically changed this. Being that I was in a different school and state than I normally run in, the surreal finally set in again. Although, I am still injured, the spark for running came back. Whenever anyone does a sport for so long, the spark becomes dull. However, it is always possible to reignite the surreal.

Although the setting was different, several things remained the same about running. The obvious answer would be to say pain. My sister and I had been "running buddies" my freshman year of high school. Since that was so long ago, I was happy to embrace the old. My sister, my old running buddy, had miraculously returned. Buddies in running are not rare, but an appreciation of an old one is. Running with my sister again was a memory I had forgotten, but hope to never relinquish again.

The point of the article is this. I journeyed to unfamiliar territory, but found something all too familiar that I had lost. The spark. The spark that made me enjoy running for all those years had dwindled because of countless injuries and other responsibilities. Through a truly passionate head coach, new territory, and an old running buddy, an activity I had been simply doing returned to an activity that is anything but ordinary. Passion, spark, and fire can be degraded and tested when muscle memory takes over. Passions should never turn into something that you simply do, but something you relish and cherish.