I, myself, am a retired middle school running prodigy. At the young age of 11 years old, I was able to run 1,600 meters in 5:24. The truth is that is when I peaked. At 11 years old, I was the best of the best and couldn't be touched by any other girl who stepped up to the line. Now, at 19 years old, I consider myself retired from my glory years and moving into a new season with the sport.

I have been bound to the sport of running since the fourth grade. The first race I ever ran was a mile. I ran it in light pink Chuck Taylor high tops. I ran that mile in under seven minutes. Ever since that race, I have been deeply in love with the sport of running.

I ran competitively until the end of my freshman year of high school moving into my sophomore year of high school, when I injured my back and was put out of running for eight months. Those eight months were some of the most burdensome months I have ever lived through. Up until that point, I found my identity in being a good runner. If I wasn't a good runner, I was a nobody.

When I came back to the sport after that injury, I wasn't able to perform at my best. I couldn't just go for an eight mile run and run straight through anymore. It was the most devastating feeling in the world, until someone close to me reminded me of this:

"You may not ever be able to run a mile as fast as you once did, but that doesn't mean you are not a runner. The fact of the matter is, as long as you are pushing yourself each time you lace up your shoes, allowing yourself to pass your limits and entering into the purest form of the sport, you are indeed a runner."

Hearing that made me realize that I may never be the best of the best again, but I will always be a runner.

Being a runner is not defined by how fast you are, it is defined by how far you are willing to push your own limits. I may not be a middle school prodigy runner, but I surely am as in love with the sport now as I was after the first race I ever ran.