This is my first year as a cross country runner. I was involved with softball and basketball in junior high, but I was always the slowest and chances are I was sitting on the bench.
The ironic thing is that I had just started running this past summer. It all started at Hume Lake Christian Camps. They have a tradition of holding a biathalon. The rules are that one boy or girl swimmer and a boy and a girl runner from each team compete against each other. I was nominated as the 3.2 mile runner for our team because no one else would volunteer.
Throughout the run I apologized for my slow pace to the bicyclist who showed me the way. In the end I finally finished with no one around me and I automatically assumed I was last. My team surrounded me and said what a great job I did, but I couldn’t remember anything because of the exhaustion, high elevation and distance of the race.
As I walked away, about 10 other runners who jogged the race together came to the finish line behind me, which made me the happiest person in the world; never before had I ever felt so accomplished.
Rachel Wilhelm contacted me in July and said she needed people for a girls’ cross country team. I was already busy with homework, music lessons for two instruments and journalism, but I did not want the team to fail because of the lack of participants, so I joined.
After the first practice I was already unsure if this was the right decision. We only did a group run for 25 minutes, but I felt discouraged because I was the slowest person as usual. However, I didn’t want to look like a quitter and as a result I chose to stay with it. I told myself from day one I would never walk and to this day that has never been an option.
The toughest moment of the season was my first race. I was confident because Janae Ford, ’09, the coach, kept encouraging me, but I was still scared. We took a warm-up jog of the two-mile course as a team and for no apparent reason my ankle was feeling sore. However, I did not say anything because I did not feel it was important, but about a half mile into the race my ankle felt so sore I could no longer put much weight on it. Afterwards I went to the doctor who informed me that I had sprained my ankle.
The following week I was not allowed to practice and I fell behind, because I sat at home while the rest of the team gained endurance and faster mile times. I was determined to stay involved and prove to myself I could do succeed despite the obstacles. I began to run smart instead of depending on my non-existent physical strength.
In order to give myself every advantage possible, I filled up milk gallons of water and would drink the entire jug before the end of school as an attempt to stay hydrated during the warm weather. I could not go to practices on Wednesdays because of prior comittments and as a result I ran on my own time at gym GB3.
By the end of my first race I was encouraged because I tried my best and did not finish last. I think the main reason I did not quit was because of Janae and my teammates’ constant encouragement.
Overall, the races – and the season – did not seem as long as I had thought they would. Even though I am stressed with deadlines and other responsibilities, I enjoy the time alone running. It gives me time to think and focus on the things in my life that really matter. Plus, it forces me to become a productive worker instead of wasting time on Facebook and other media distractions.
In the end I can say with no regrets boredom is the least of my worries this semester, and I have benefitted from a painful, but character-building, experience.
For more information, read the cross country sport shorts.
