I Used To Hate Running, But Something In Me Changed
Running.
The original sport. It’s the most fundamental thing that any athletes learn.
I’ve been involved in competitive sports since I was 8 years old. I first started with basketball, a sport where you run up and down the court. When I was 10 years old, I was the fastest girl in my class for the 50 yard dash.
When I was 11 years old, I played field hockey for a year, a sport where you run up and down the grass field. That same year, I also joined my hometown’s recreational track team, the sport where you simply run (and jump, hurdle and throw). Even though I had some natural speed, I didn’t enjoy running that much, especially with the type of workouts we did.
In my first year of track, my sprint coach made me train with the distance runners because I lacked endurance. It made me feel upset because I didn’t ask to do all of this extra running. Whenever the opportunity arose, I looked for ways to get out of running (as a sole focus). I would try to ditch my workout and practice the hurdles or the jumping events (two disciplines that later took me far in my track and field career). This was my tactic for the rest of my years in junior high school. Since I had two injuries during these three years of recreational track (a broken growth plate and a pulled tendon), the coaches cut me some slack when I eased back into training again.
And then high school track started….
I was not prepared for what high school entailed. Track and field at this level was a whole different league. Since I played volleyball over the winter, I was nowhere near track shape, and boy did that show during the first day of outdoor track. Since I was no longer a big fish in a small pond, I felt bad about myself for being out of shape and not performing up to par. In middle school, I got away with goofing off in practice and still placing in meets because the competition wasn’t steep.
In high school, when I wasn’t getting selected to compete in the weekend meets or the A relay teams because I wasn’t on my coach’s radar as someone who can help carry the team, it struck a nerve in me.
I knew I was better than how I was performing; this frustrated me a lot. The summer after my freshman year, I took a long look at myself. Instead of moping around and feeling sorry for myself, I went for a run. I ran at a comfortable pace and kept going until I was too tired to continue. I didn’t keep track of the distance or the time, but I knew it was the longest run I’ve done. At that point something changed inside me. That run didn’t seem like a chore anymore, but it felt quite therapeutic. The next day consisted of another run, and the day after that. It gradually built up to where I was running nearly every day until preseason for volleyball began.
I noticed that my runs and strength training over the summer helped with volleyball because I had more stamina and I was lighter due the weight I lost. When track started up again, there were all around improvements and my coaches were quite impressed with my new found work ethic.
Losing weight, running faster times, jumping farther distances, and impressing my coaches weren’t my main reasons for gaining a love for running (though, I’ll admit that it supplemented it). At this moment, it was the first time I really went after something I wanted instead of giving up. It was a time where I finally became at peace with sport in a therapeutic way simply because I chose to run instead of being told to do so.
Before running track, it was volleyball, basketball, field hockey, gymnastics, and dance. All of these sports I had potential to do great; however I didn’t have the heart to keep going when the times got rough, or I no longer saw it as therapeutic anymore.
I was proud of myself because I stuck with something where I had the potential to do great things, and it ultimately paid off when I was offered a scholarship to compete in track and field at the Division 1 level (albeit, strictly for the jumping events).
Throughout the remainder of my track and field career (and life beyond it), running was my physical therapy. It didn’t matter if I came in first or last. All I really cared about was whether or not I pushed myself to do the best I could despite any obstacles thrown at me.
We all have unlocked potential in us. Some of it may be in things we like but don’t take seriously. Sometimes you have to evaluate your why when looking for what keeps you motivated whether it’s running, other forms of exercise, book smarts, or excelling in your career. Dig deep and identify that why.
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