![Picture](/uploads/3/8/1/0/38107587/5657152.jpg?208)
Welcome back to my blogs! (I know it’s been a while) I am starting a new series about my favorite things. Each post will be about something I love. Hopefully this series will inspire you to try something new or explore your favorite things a little deeper.
When people ask you what sports you play in school, the typical answers are soccer, football, basketball, and maybe volleyball. Who has heard of cross-country? When I tell people that I run cross country and track I get two responses: “why would you want to run?” and “really, I hate running”. But cross country, and running in general, is one of my favorite things.
Season 1
After running track season the previous year, my coach told me about the cross-country season the next fall. I loved running long distance in track and finished out the year with a quick mile time. Of course I would try cross-country! I was extremely excited and didn’t know what to expect. We started training all summer long with about 5 people consistently coming to practices. Talk about a small team. When school started our numbers grew and there were about 5 girls and 7 guys who showed up to each practice.
That was the other thing, our practice was at 6:00 am. Everyday.. One of the reasons I love cross-country so much is the dedication it took. Waking up at 5 in the morning each day was actually kind of exciting for me. Plus by the time you get to school you can say you’ve already run 2 miles. Trust me, you feel pretty accomplished. I loved training and getting to improve my time. I was actually the fastest girl on my team, a surprise to myself more than anyone else I think.
Again… Why would you run?
So back to the initial question people ask me, why would I want to run? Sometimes it seems hard to describe the things you like because you just like them, simple enough. But people are hardly able to comprehend why someone would want to run, especially a 5K, on their own will. I love running because it is a good stress relieving activity for me. I also like the team aspect of getting to cheer other people on and see how amazing they come to be.
Through my practices I noticed that running isn’t just running. It’s workouts and stretches and conditioning and repeats and form and form and form. And then maybe some more form. I started to learn new things, making the sport even more exciting for me. Running requires goals and self motivation to reach them; I think that is a useful skill to have beyond the sport.
Runners, Take Your Mark!
At my first cross country meet, I lined up with three other teammates who had run this race before. My teammates ran this race last year, so lucky for them they had experience. The only things I had were my two feet in some running sneakers and three point two miles waiting for me.
Our coach came up and talked to us before the race started, and I kind of laughed saying this was my first meet. My coach laughed too saying that he almost forgot I’d never run a cross country race. He told me to think of track and that I would be fine.
I looked around at the other 200 girls on that starting line. I guess I fit right in.
When people ask you what sports you play in school, the typical answers are soccer, football, basketball, and maybe volleyball. Who has heard of cross-country? When I tell people that I run cross country and track I get two responses: “why would you want to run?” and “really, I hate running”. But cross country, and running in general, is one of my favorite things.
Season 1
After running track season the previous year, my coach told me about the cross-country season the next fall. I loved running long distance in track and finished out the year with a quick mile time. Of course I would try cross-country! I was extremely excited and didn’t know what to expect. We started training all summer long with about 5 people consistently coming to practices. Talk about a small team. When school started our numbers grew and there were about 5 girls and 7 guys who showed up to each practice.
That was the other thing, our practice was at 6:00 am. Everyday.. One of the reasons I love cross-country so much is the dedication it took. Waking up at 5 in the morning each day was actually kind of exciting for me. Plus by the time you get to school you can say you’ve already run 2 miles. Trust me, you feel pretty accomplished. I loved training and getting to improve my time. I was actually the fastest girl on my team, a surprise to myself more than anyone else I think.
Again… Why would you run?
So back to the initial question people ask me, why would I want to run? Sometimes it seems hard to describe the things you like because you just like them, simple enough. But people are hardly able to comprehend why someone would want to run, especially a 5K, on their own will. I love running because it is a good stress relieving activity for me. I also like the team aspect of getting to cheer other people on and see how amazing they come to be.
Through my practices I noticed that running isn’t just running. It’s workouts and stretches and conditioning and repeats and form and form and form. And then maybe some more form. I started to learn new things, making the sport even more exciting for me. Running requires goals and self motivation to reach them; I think that is a useful skill to have beyond the sport.
Runners, Take Your Mark!
At my first cross country meet, I lined up with three other teammates who had run this race before. My teammates ran this race last year, so lucky for them they had experience. The only things I had were my two feet in some running sneakers and three point two miles waiting for me.
Our coach came up and talked to us before the race started, and I kind of laughed saying this was my first meet. My coach laughed too saying that he almost forgot I’d never run a cross country race. He told me to think of track and that I would be fine.
I looked around at the other 200 girls on that starting line. I guess I fit right in.