It all started with a New Year’s resolution: I will join a sport in high school. As most New Year’s resolutions go, it seemed like an easy idea. The problem was there were no sports that I was even mildly interested in. I liked basketball and swimming, and vowed I would never join cross country because I despised running.
Freshman year, many of my friends went out for cross country and track. That was when I was first introduced to the idea, but again, I despised running. I slowly began to feel left out and regret was seeping into my mind, but not enough just yet. Sophomore year was a time of bonding. They tried to convince me again to join cross country, to no avail. I made a promise to join next year. Mainly I said it to get them off my back, but at that point I was considering it. Junior year came along and I was ready. I had spent the entire summer building up the mindset that I would join cross country. Then I was told that I would hate it, that if I didn’t like running in the first place, I sure wasn’t going to like it now. That’s all it took to bring all my motivation down, but I made the promise again for senior year.
Time was running out, so I made the commitment. I told my friends they needed to train me. They said “Come to summer practice!” So I did… and I hated it. The first day of practice was two miles. Two miles for someone who has never even attempted to run for more than five minutes is torture. I was disheartened, but I kept going. I went every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, even when my friends weren’t there. I remember waking up each morning like it was a school day and having to go to practice and run. I was unprepared with bad shoes and clothes. I had no idea what I was doing. The first time I ran three miles straight was a milestone but it left me sore for days. Little did I know that would soon be an easy day at practice. Every day I was improving, getting stronger both physically and mentally.
I look back and realize how much I should have loved those summer practice days. Without them, I probably would have quit within the first week. They were the beginning of something amazing. I learned my first two lessons from running at these practices. One, you have to believe in yourself, and two, practice makes you stronger, not perfect.
School started, and with it the cross country season. The workouts increasingly got harder, but I didn’t realize it because I was slowly falling in love with running. I got a new running wardrobe and was finally looking and feeling like a runner. My first race was as brutal as the first day of practice. My second race wasn’t much better. My third race however, was inspirational. I beat my time by FOUR minutes. That’s what runners call a PR! From that point on, no matter what my time was, I knew there was always room for improvement and that I could easily do so much better. I learned to get through the rough races and the disappointments. The very last race was bittersweet as I realized how much I was going to miss running with my teammates.
Running has become as essential to my life as breathing. I run when I’m stressed and solutions seem to fall into my lap. I run when I’m happy and it makes me happier. I run when I’m angry and the anger is burned out along with the calories. It gave me the mindset to never give up no matter how much I want to. Running has changed my life.
Start running today, it pays off in more ways than you might think.
