Cross Country. 3.1 miles of pain. A memory of success.
In 2012, I was introduced to the world of Cross Country. My brother, Zach, was recruited by the high school Cross Country Coach, Lenny Raley, at a spring run 5k. Now, I had always wanted to run. In middle school, I wanted to run track. I quit piano lessons and picked up a pair of running shoes but never actually joined the track team. When Zach got recruited, Mom encouraged me to run as well but I really was not interested solely because this was his thing. I did not want to take away any glory from him. Long story short I was finally convinced to try it out because I would be at the races anyway. When I first began, I was horrible for a high school athlete. I ran a 28 minute-5k (which for cross country runners, you know that is way below par to what you should be.) I was hopeless because as a freshman with a little bit of meat on her bones, I didn't think I could possibly take four more years of everyday practice. At the end of my freshman season, I was running a 20:50. By the end of my high school career, I was running a 20:30 5K. Throughout freshman year of high school, I slowly saw my times getting better, and my body getting slimmer and more cut, and at that point I became obsessed. No, I wasn't the best, but at this point, I wasn't the worst.
I am often asked "Why Cross Country?" and that is really a question I don't know how to answer.
There is really no ONE answer. I love cross country because I gain a sense of accomplishment with every mile. I like the feeling after a run or a race where I feel exhausted but feel absolutely refreshed. It is the team mates that suffer the workout with you, and the sound of stampeding feet at the beginning of a race. Our warm-up is other sport's punishment. I am convinced that running requires mental strength that could make you successful in any other sport you could potentially choose to participate in.
Cross Country takes every ounce of mental strength, and every ounce of energy just to run across a field like a heard of cattle. We voluntarily pound our aching knees and muscles into hard pavement, or bumpy courses. We voluntarily run until we feel like we might die, and we love it.
I run because it gives me a sense of self-worth. As I am now on a collegiate cross country team with my very own brother, I feel success in how far I have come, and how I have ran over obstacles put in my path. I am on a team that needs me and even if I am not running my best race, they will always be there for me.
I run because it is my passion, and without it I would probably be in bed all day eating away my emotions instead of running them out. Running is a lifestyle that I never knew I would continue as a collegiate athlete on scholarship. I had no intentions to continue when I first began. I had every intention to quit, multiple times. But now, here I am, Campbellsville University Cross Country.
