“Write bout how fun cross country was.”
I have been wondering what to write about for an hour straight, struggling with the distraction of Netflix, my phone, and people in the lab that I enjoyed making fun of. Then I looked over to my buddy and asked him what to write about. He said, “Write about how fun cross country was.” I actually jumped on that so here it goes…
The day I was on my trip to Tusculum to start my senior year I got a text message from an unknown 423 number asking if I wanted to run cross country this year. In my mind, I was thinking ‘I haven’t ran competitively in almost four years, I’m out of shape and fat.’ I accepted the offer and actually got excited for the upcoming season and my new opportunity to become a collegiate athlete again.
My excitement was initially in vain. The running was hard, long, and challenging. There were days where we had to run more than 6 miles and then the guys on the team told me that the races we have to compete in are 8k’s; that is 4.9 miles!
At the time of my start on the cross country team, I was 213 pounds, at the time of the first race which was actually a 5k, I was 186 pounds. My weight loss was seen as a success in my eyes, my newfound physical youth and agility were beyond belief; and not just to me but to others. I was able to run at least three miles without stopping and I was sure I would be able to be some type of contribution to the team.
The week leading up to my first race was so hyped for me. I was ready to get out there and come in first place, jokingly of course, and was bragging to my teammates, talking junk about how they better not let me catch them and all types of different stuff. I had a couple of my buddies come to watch me and cheer me on. I got up to the starting line, tried to stretch around and get ready for the job I was ready to perform. The race started in a way that I could not imagine; everyone started fast, while I started at the same pace that I would run at practice. Big mistake on my part. All in all, I stayed in second to last for most of the race, then I even lost that spot. My buddies who were basically walking close enough for me to hear their voices just kept cheering me on. We all knew I wasn’t going to finish first but it was still fun to be out there and compete.
I came up towards the end of the race, and the crowd, mostly students at my school started cheering for me. My teammates who had been finished for at least nine minutes started cheering for me as well. It took all I had to finish that race, but I did. It was a great feeling, even though I did come in dead last place.
I went on this year 0-1 in my cross country career, not improving at all, and slowly deteriorating in my physical health. Yet, it has been quite an informative, comforting, and just fun experience that I just could not trade for the world. I was able to have the opportunity to be on a team again, to compete at a collegiate level again, and to be able to give to other, and younger students what was once given to me; things you can’t learn in a classroom.
