I joined cross country in 8th grade on a whim. All my friends were doing it, so I thought, why not? I'd played sports my entire life, but don't get me wrong, I was and am terribly nonathletic. Somehow, I enjoyed middle school cross country enough to continue my running career into high school. Perhaps it was because I thought cross country would be "easy" because it was a no-cut sport. Wrong, I was so wrong. I immediately regretted this decision.

Thanks to summer miles, the torture began even before the season started. During pre-season camp, we spent a lot of time running in the wonderful wilderness of Tennessee. One day in particular, we were running on a mountain. As if it wasn't already miserable being at the back, it started pouring down rain. In that moment, I remember so clearly my friend and I making a pact to quit cross country the second we returned home. I liked working out and spending time with my friends, but this? This was unnecessarily unbearable.

That was before my freshman year. Fast forward three seasons, and here I am now, before my senior year, wondering how I ever made it through all the running. But one thing I know for sure -- choosing to run cross country was the best personal decision I've ever made.

Running is a mental battle. Your body says, "I'm tired," but your brain says, "Keep going." Gauging your limits and crushing the mental wall is an integral part of your development as a runner. Before cross country, I could barely motivate myself to run a mile without stopping. It's not that I wasn't physically capable of doing so, it's just that I didn't have the mental endurance to push forward. Now, I can run a 5K without stopping. A 45-minute long run is a piece of cake in comparison to the tougher workouts.

Cross country is very much an individual sport -- you compete against yourself. But I'd argue that it is even more so a team sport. Cross country is a family. Every runner needs running buddies to finish the hard runs and celebrate the easy ones. At the end of the day, we share a bond from the unique experience of tortuous running.

On countless Saturdays, I've woken up at the crack of dawn to run a race. They say that running is rewarding, and that's the truth. The feeling of finishing a race before much of the world has waken up is so worth it.

I'm not a cross country "success story." I haven't cut 10 minutes from my time. I haven't ever been near the top of my team. Quite frankly, I'm a slow runner. But none of that has mattered when it comes to the cross country experience. After all, for there to be fast runners, there have to be slow runners, right?

Sometimes I wonder what I'd do if I didn't run cross country. I'd go home right after school, avoiding all the rush hour traffic that I usually get in after practice, and have plenty of time for schoolwork. But I'd be missing a chance to run through the woods while releasing my stress on the trails. I wouldn't wonder, "where in the world is all this mud on my legs coming from?" I wouldn't have the chance to slip down a hill and embarrass myself, nor would I have the chance to be part of a community spanning the entire high school.

Because of this sport, I've developed physical and mental endurance as well as a (bittersweet) love for running that will remain with me throughout my life.