Rest, Relaxation and Running

These past few months have been very busy. It seems as though I’ve been running all over the place, not just on the roads.  With the stress of papers, presentations, and finals, I had little time for much of anything else.  But now that I have moved out of my dorm room and settled in at home, I have time to do the things I truly love. And it feels so good.  I’ve been able to catch up on my sleep, read books I actually want to read, and run without rehearsing presentations or quizzing myself for an upcoming exam.  It’s been wonderful catching up with my family and friends from home. 

  

I’ve only been home for a couple of weeks and I already feel recharged and relaxed.  I’m excited for summer and everything that it will entail.  Before long I will be fully settled into my new apartment. I’m looking forward to rooming with some of my closest cross country teammates. I'm also looking forward to starting my internship in June. And, of course, I'm looking forward to many miles this summer with my teammates in order to prepare for the fall season. It will certainly be an eventful summer and I cannot wait for it to begin. 

       

Too Much of Anything Can Be Bad

Like many people this winter, I have been fighting a cold over the last couple of weeks.  Like many runners, I was stubborn and thought that I could beat it.  I kept running, hoping that my cold would simply “go away.” Needless to say, it did not.  I finally surrendered to my cold and took a few days off from running.

While I was resting, I thought about my situation.  As athletes, we are taught to be very in tune with our bodies.  We are also taught to challenge our bodies so that we can reach our full potentials.  Sometimes, since we are so focused on pushing our bodies to their limits, we forget to listen to them.  We ignore the signs that our bodies are trying to give us in order to keep healthy.  In most situations, if we just listened to these signs, we would get healthy quicker.  Sometimes even the healthiest intentions can end up actually hurting us.

I began wondering why we do this to ourselves? Perhaps, like athletes, we have been conditioned to constantly push our bodies to their limits. We are constantly striving to achieve more. But when does this stop? There reaches a point where we must be content with our achievements. In fact, we should even be proud of our achievements.  We are constantly told to challenge ourselves, but when are we reminded to commend ourselves? 

As the old saying goes, “too much of a good thing can be bad.” This is very true. The key in life is balance.  It’s natural to want to push ourselves to achieve our full potentials.  However, it’s important that we do so in a healthy way.  Although we should not always settle for our achievements, we should still celebrate them. Perhaps we are trying to achieve perfection when all we really want is balance.

So as I lay in bed, sipping hot chocolate, I remind myself that I am doing the best that I can. And, I’m ok with that. In fact, I’m thrilled.

Overcoming Winter

This past weekend, I went on a long run with my friends and teammates.  This was the first long run all winter that I was able to be outside and in the company of others.  It felt wonderful. 

Winter is constantly testing my love for running.  It seems that Mother Nature will do anything to stop me from running.  She brings treacherous snow storms, raw temperatures, and slippery ice.  She even makes the days shorter so that I have less sunlight.  Sometimes I am able to defy her and go running anyway.  Other times, however, she wins, and I simply give in.  Unfortunately, this winter, she won a lot.  The majority of my runs this winter have been by myself and on the treadmill.      

Some people love treadmills. Some people would rather run on a treadmill any day than go outside.  My Mom is one of those runners.  She loves being able to be distracted from running.  She can watch her favorite TV show and exercise at the same time.  I, on the other hand, have a very difficult time with treadmills.  So while my Mom is enjoying herself on the treadmill next to me, I’m counting down the minutes for it to be over. 

Other factors also tested my love for running this winter.  Time was one of them.  My family traveled a lot throughout the holidays.  It was difficult finding the time to run around our traveling schedule.  When I was doing my internship this winter, it was also difficult to find the time to run.  My internship consisted of many late nights of working. Unfortunately, running felt like more of a chore than a passion. 

Winter always tests my love for running.  The inclement weather, busy holidays, and other responsibilities make running very difficult and sometimes impossible.  Sometimes, you lose, and you have to give in.  Other times, you can overcome these factors and do what you love doing.  It’s always easier with the help of other people.  It’s nice to be back in Salem running with my teammates again.  I look forward to many more runs outside.  But if Mother Nature insists, I'll stick to the treadmill.

You Can Feel It In the Air: Change

Fall is a constant reminder for me that change is on its way.  The air gets a little cooler, the leaves get more colorful, and the days seem to get shorter.  Before long, the colorful leaves fall to the ground and the trees are left bare.

I’ve always had a love-hate relationship with change.  Change can bring us wonderful opportunities and new experiences.  However, change can also bring us loss and sadness.  And sometimes we don’t know what change will bring us.

This Thanksgiving, my sister flew up from Richmond, VA and I came home from college. Many of my friends at school are talking about grad school and where they hope to work someday.  Some of my friends have gotten engaged and will soon be married.  My younger brother recently got his license and has started looking at colleges. I’ve started looking at apartments with my friends. These things that always seemed so far away now feel closer than ever.

When I went running this morning, the leaves on the ground reminded me that change is coming.  And although I am not exactly sure what this change will bring, I am not worried.  While there are things in my life that are changing and evolving, many things have remained the same throughout the years.  I still love spending the holidays with my family, even if home is a little further away now.  I still have the love and support of my friends, even if I’ve added a few over the years.  I am still excited for the future, even if I’m not necessarily sure what it will bring. 

Change isn’t always bad; and if it is, we can always rely on the things that haven’t changed to help us through it.   

Pass It On

All of my life I have been coached by someone else, either through soccer or running.  Recently I discovered what it feels like to be the coach instead of the athlete.  This summer, I suggested that my 48 year-old Mother started running with me.  Although my Mom was healthy and was in fairly good shape, she had never consistently exercised.  Each day we would go over to the local trails and start running together.  Every few minutes I would run back to her and let her know how much time had passed.  I quickly discovered how much patience is required to be a good coach.  

When my Mom first started training, she did not enjoy running.  She felt that running was boring and painful.  Naturally, we started her off with only running a couple minutes and then walking.  Initially she was frustrated and wanted to see results fast.  I encouraged her and promised that her hard work would eventually pay off.  Over the next month, my Mom made tremendous progress.  Not only was my Mom able to run longer without stopping, but she also began to enjoy running.  Each time she ran longer without walking, she was very proud.  Running was no longer boring and painful for her.  It was fun.  She also started to see results.  She was losing weight and gaining lean muscle.  I was so proud of her.

Throughout the summer, running soon became a thing that my Mom and I shared.  After a long day, it was so nice to go outside and forget about our hectic days.  It was a chance for us to talk, laugh, and catch up with one another.  When the summer ended and I went back to college, my mom was nervous that she wouldn’t be able to keep running consistently.  But she did.  My Dad started going with her.  They now run together every day.

I went home this past weekend after my cross country race.  The next day my parents suggested that we all go for a run.  Running has become a huge part of their lives.  It was exciting to see the progression of someone who initially was not able to run more than 2 minutes without stopping to someone who can run 35 minutes consistently and regularly throughout the week.  It has been wonderful to share my passion of running with my family.  It’s very likely that my parents will live longer and healthier lives.  I highly recommend sharing something you love with those you love.

Why I Run

I thought I'd start my blog by saying how I first got into running. Although running has become a large part of my life, this wasn't always the case. Here’s my story.  

I grew up in a soccer family. I started playing soccer when I was very young and quickly fell in love with the sport. I’d kick the ball around my yard, stay late after practice to work on my shooting, and get up extra early on weekends to go to my games. I couldn’t get enough of it. I met some of my best friends through soccer. We’d have sleepovers, sing in the car on our way to games, and go out for pizza after our tournaments. Soccer also brought me extremely close to my Dad. He was my best coach and taught me everything I knew about the sport. My Dad and I would go over to the field and work on drills and moves. After, we’d go out for ice cream.  As I grew up, my love for soccer only grew. I couldn’t wait to play in high school. 

The summer before my freshman year of high school I went to a soccer camp with my older sister. It was a week-long residential camp. I was looking forward to spending time with my sister and playing soccer all week. The week started off great. We had two sessions each day and full games at night. It was quite demanding. One of the coaches at the camp was very tough. He would say that pain was just in our heads and would discourage girls from complaining or quitting, even in extreme temperatures. During one of the drills, I began to feel a sharp pain in my hip area. Although my leg was hurting me, I didn’t want to disappoint my coach or my teammates. I was playing up with my sister’s age group and was the youngest one in my group. I didn’t want them to think that I was a wimp. So I kept playing until finally the pain got so bad that I couldn’t walk without limping. 

I had never been injured before and didn’t know what was going on. The trainer that I saw at the camp said I pulled my hip flexor and said that it would only take a couple days to heal. Unfortunately, he was wrong. I had torn my groin and it would be several months before it would fully heal.

I was unable to play soccer my freshman year of high school. It was so frustrating. The camp was supposed to get me ready for the season, not prevent me from playing it. I was very depressed. It was hard attending the games and practices and watching the other girls play. Soccer had always been my outlet. I had always identified myself as a soccer player and it was very difficult not being able to do something I truly loved. I felt very sad.

One day at school, someone came in and talked to us about the different clubs and activities that the school had. I was especially interested in the student government group. That’s when I decided to run for Class President. Since I wasn’t able to play soccer, I needed to do something else with my free time. It was time for me to explore other passions and interests of mine. I was elected Class President and it was one of the best experiences of my life. 

When the winter season started, my leg started to feel better. The doctor told me that I could run track. I was so excited to be able to participate in a sport again. I put everything that I had into that season. I let out all of my frustrations, anger, and built-up energy. I ended up qualifying for states in two events and was named Rookie of the Year. That’s when I started becoming addicted to running. Running became my new escape. I liked how good running made me feel. I liked how accomplished I felt when I would run a PR or earn points for our team. Running allowed me to challenge myself every day and showed me what my body was capable of doing.

I was able to play soccer my last two years of high school, which I was very thankful for. I missed my friends from the team and still was not ready to give up the sport. I had two great seasons and remained injury-free.  

I had always imagined that I would play soccer in college. It had always been a dream of mine. However, at the end of my senior year, I realized that I had a different interest that I wanted to pursue. I wanted to run track in college. 

I contacted the coach from Salem State over the summer. Since I was interested in running the 1 mile, he suggested that I run cross country as well. He said that it would be great training and would really help my endurance. Cross country??? I had never ran cross country! The thought of racing 5Ks and 6Ks scared me. However, I trusted my coach and decided to go for it. Deciding to join the cross country team was one of the best decisions of my life. 

I have been a member of the Salem State women's cross country team for three years now. It has been a remarkable experience that I wouldn’t change for the world. Cross country has not only helped me grow as a runner, but as a person as well. It has taught me so much about myself. I’ve learned that I have a very strong will power and am capable of doing almost anything that I set my mind to. I’ve learned that running can build some of the best relationships. My teammates have become my best friends in college. I have also met my boyfriend through running. 

It’s hard to believe the transformation I have made since my injury. It’s funny how things work out. This entire experience has made me realize that everything happens for a reason, even if you can’t see it right away. My injury opened my eyes to other passions I didn’t even know I had. If it hadn’t been for my injury, I may not have pursued these interests. I’m so thankful for how my life has turned out and I’m excited to see where life takes me next.