When people think of running, they usually don't think of a sport. They think of a mindless activity that doesn't involve much skill or coordination. I used to be one of the people that felt this way about running. When I began to take it seriously, I began to see that it was not easy whatsoever.
Running made me competitive, but it also made me a team player. I realized that running really is a team sport, although it does not appear to be at first. When you are running in a meet, you realize that you are not only competing against yourself but with your team mates. My team members always pushed me to do my best, whether they were ahead of me or behind me. We all had to work together to make our average 5K time the lowest, compared to the other teams. We also had to count on each other during relay races so that we could beat the other teams. When I did not feel like continuing, I remembered my team and my coaches and knew that I had to do it for them.
Running helped me change my perspective on myself as both an athlete and as a person. I used to get that gut-wrenching, clammy feeling before every race, even if it wasn't a championship race. This eventually made me realize that I truly had a passion for something. To this day, I look at all of my medals that are hanging on my bedroom wall and feel a sense of accomplishment that I never thought I would feel. I had played other sports in the past and never felt this way about anything else. I never realized how much confidence it takes to race with so many people watching you and judging you. As a result of running cross country, winter track, and spring track, I truly gained this confidence.
Running helped me understand people who have interests that I have yet to understand how they enjoy them. After all, how many sane people enjoy running a treacherous 5K with numerous hills and sand during 80-degree weather? Not many. My team was a group of people who were all different in our own ways, but we all came together because we had one common interest, which was running.
Running taught me that sometimes, you are not going to succeed at everything you want to. There were times when I wanted to break my PR (personal record) at a particular event and failed. At first, I would be upset and not want to talk to anyone after the race. Then, I realized that this was a part of me growing as both a runner and as a person. If I did not do my best, it was a wake-up call for me to give it my all next time.
I am happy to say that running helped me find myself. If I had never decided that I wanted to "try out" a sport, I would have never met a group of people who helped inspire me and push me to be better. I would have never found something that made my high school experience all the better. I would have never found something that would have filled a huge space in both my time and my heart.
