My Running Story: Part One

Hello there! Welcome back if you've been here before and welcome if you are new to my brand spankin' new blog! Well, that was cheesy...Soooo moving on, since running is a major focus of this blog, I figured it would be a good idea to share my running story with you. Since this is basically approaching novella territory, I've broken my running story into two parts, with this being part one. If some of this comes off as a bit of a humblebrag, my apologies. I'm very proud of my running accomplishments, however, and I am a firm believer in being happy with your achievements. As a goal oriented person, I believe that celebrating success is a GOOD thing because it helps pave the way for future goals and accomplishments!

Pretty much!

My running story begins with a trip way back to elementary school, which is when I first became interested in track and running in general. (Seriously I wish I could insert flashback music here. Yes, I think it's well established I'm a nerd. Deal with it.) My mom used to volunteer at elementary track meets and would take me with her. I thought it looked fun and since I always enjoyed the running activities in gym class, I decided when I was old enough that I would definitely try out for the track team. It helped that I had some natural speed and would usually win the field day races at school. Sidenote: Who remembers field day?! Seriously those were THE BEST days in elementary school! Okay, so I'm rambling now, anyway, I ended up making my school's track team in the third grade. Back then I pretty much relied on my aforementioned natural speed to carry me through and the thought of running a full lap around the track (400 meters/a quarter mile for my non-trackies) was absolutely daunting! I continued running track throughout grade school and then it happened. My 6th grade season I was told that I would be running the 800. What?! Not one lap around the track but two! A half mile!? THE HORROR!!!! My 6th grade self was literally in a panic. My goal at the time was to not walk! After completing half marathons in my adult life, it seems hilarious to think that I was once scared to run the 800, but back then you would have thought the coach asked me to step on burning coals with my reaction.

My approach to running distance as a kid

I was a scared kid and my parents, neither of whom were ever runners, helped me in the best way they could by signing me up for a kids running clinic, which was being run, literally haha oh puns (I should work for Disney's Jungle Cruise with this humor), by the local running club. To be overly dramatic but totally truthful at the same time, I will tell you this: that clinic changed my life. It was there that I learned how to rely on more than just my natural speed and it was there that I realized I had the potential to really be a RUNNER, not just someone who would win field day races. The clinic met a couple times a week and we would increase distance each week. I finally ran that 800 and got better with each meet, even placing higher than I ever did in any of my sprint events my previous years in track. By the clinic's end, we ran two miles. Two whole miles! I was ecstatic. I knew I had a talent for running and I did enjoy but, I didn't love it, YET. I continued running track throughout junior high. Those two laps I was afraid to do would later turn into eight laps of fear, otherwise known as the 3200 (about two miles). While I did the 3200, I really focused on the "middle distance specialty" continuing to run the 800 and 1600 (about a mile).

Having no cross country team at my junior high, I didn't even know what cross country was when someone asked me about it after 8th grade track season ended. I had always believed I would play soccer in high school during the fall. I loved soccer. At the time, you also couldn't do both sports in the fall. So after a nice high schooler explained to me that cross country was "basically like track but through the woods and with hills," I found myself facing a decision. I was almost sold totally on soccer, but a voice inside me kept telling me to do cross country. I knew I could be a good soccer player, but deep down I knew I could be even better at running and maybe this cross country thing could actually be fun. I mean running through the woods? That sounds awesome! I decided at some point during the summer before my freshman year that I would give the whole "running through the woods with hills thing" a try. I had very little summer training and it was then that I learned high school cross country races were 3.1 miles. "More running? Really?" Oh well, if YOLO was a thing during 1999, it would have been my mantra here. Even though I was the epitome of "racing into shape" my first cross country season, I ended up loving the sport far more than I ever loved track. Something about it was freeing. I loved how each course was different, but best of all I loved the true team nature of the sport.

HS Cross Country team! I'm the cool one who felt the need to wear tie-dye.

I continued running both cross country and track all through high school. After my non-training summer before my freshman cross country season and the drastic improvement my times took as I got into shape, I decided that maybe it would be a good idea to actually run over the summer before my 10th grade cross country season. What a novel idea it was to my naive self that had never engaged in any sort of summer training that didn't consist of lazy days by the pool! My teammates and I had qualified for state my freshman season, but we were hungry for more. We ended up training together all on our own that summer and it showed with how our season went. My sophomore season times shattered the previous year's times and as a team we all improved greatly. That year not only did we qualify for the state meet, but we WON the state championship. There's nothing quite like the feeling of winning a state championship. The adults around us encouraged us to remember that moment because moments like that are rare. At the time I didn't think much into their comments, but today I know exactly the meaning behind what they said. That is an amazing memory and one I will never forget. I didn't win any more cross country state titles with my team in high school, but every season I loved the sport more and more. I didn't quite love track as much, but I stuck with it primarily continuing to do and prefer the middle distance events. My high school running career eventually came to an end and unlike graduation, running my last high school track event actually felt like the closing chapter of high school - that is how much of an impact running already had in my life. 

UC Cross Country! I'm the 3rd from left in the front.

Running at this point was a huge part of who I was, so huge in fact that it helped pay for my college education. Originally, I had always figured my running days would end after high school, but I started getting recruited by college coaches and realized that I was good enough to be a collegiate runner and knowing it would help finance my education was a major plus. I also was very keen on running cross country in college because of the team aspect that I love so much about the sport. I ended up choosing the University of Charleston. I'm not going to lie, while I liked what the school had to offer academically as well as its smaller setting via classroom and campus, I chose UC because of the cross country and track programs. Would I recommend you choose a school primarily on athletics? Probably not. But I don't regret my decision one bit! I quickly learned how much HARDER collegiate level running was compared to high school. I even questioned if I was cut out for it at times. I had never done the type of distances we were doing before and it was difficult for my competitive self to go from being a big fish in a small pond to a little fish in a big pond! I never gave up though. My coach never gave up on me either and kept pushing me to be better. I battled injuries I never had before. I did hard workouts I thought were almost impossible. All of this lead me to a mantra that has stuck by me in all my running endeavors: PUSH THROUGH!

UC Cross Country! I'm in front wearing grey shorts. 

I finally did push through and all of the hard work paid off. It was at UC that I really discovered the depths of my running potential. It was there that I finally caved and listened to coach and those around me who kept telling me long distance running was meant for me. I gave up middle distance for long distance and it paid off BIG TIME. I ran my fastest cross country time ever at UC, clocking in at 22:58 for my 6K (sub 19 5K). This time also held as UC's school 6K Cross Country record for awhile. It was broken a couple years ago, which is fine because records are meant to be broken. Just knowing that I once held a collegiate cross country record for my university, however, is still one of my most treasured accomplishments. I also was the 5,000 (5K) WVIAC Conference runner-up in track my junior season. Remember that one lap around the track that used to freak me out? Add 11 more to that and there you have the 5,000! My final collegiate running event came in the form of a beast. Unchartered territory: the 10,000 (10K), also known as the longest track event. Seriously now we are talking about 25 laps around the track. Say WHAT!? How one lap used to freak me out I will never know! I knew I needed to push that limit though so I closed out my final track season by doing the 10,000. It was hard, but I ended up PUSHING THROUGH and placed sixth, good enough to help my team score, which was my goal! By doing the 10,000 I also accomplished another personal mini victory: with that race I had done every non-hurdle track event. I know so much of this is coming off as a major humblebrag, but these accomplishments gave me confidence and I'm proud with how they've shaped me as a runner. I'm proud of my time at UC and I will always cherish the memories I made with my teammates there. Choosing to be a collegiate athlete was again one of the best decisions I've ever made. I even met my awesome husband thanks to UC cross country and track, as he was a member of both teams as well! So seriously, running for UC...best decision ever!

Me & the husband after UC graduation! We met because of running!

I know this is super long and you are awesome for reading this, but my running story isn't over. In fact, I could be dramatic here and say that after college was only the beginning! To keep this from approaching novel territory, part two will be coming soon. Part two is where I can honestly say that I've truly embraced what it means to be a runner. Finding my "runner self" after the competitive world of cross country and track ended is a whole other journey! Stay tuned!

Please share with me your running story in the comments below. I'd love to hear how you got into the sport. Every runner has a story!