WINTER TRAINING

Right before our school went on Christmas break, I talked with my coach and asked him how many miles I should be running. He told me I ought to be up around 30, which made me lie and say I had done 28 the previous week. I would've done 28 miles but the day I had scheduled a 7 miler, there was some nasty weather. It scared me though, into thinking that I would be completely terrible come February. I had finished my first season as a member of varsity for xc and ran at the state track meet for my previous track season. That small taste of being good had me wanting more. It seemed that the 5 or 6 days a week that I had spent running since November wasn't good enough. I wanted to be more than good enough though, I wanted to accomplish something more. The effort it would take to achieve this took something that I wasn't sure I had.

I was running almost everyday, yet I wasn't doing enough running on those days. The cold weather and lack of daylight to run in wasn't exactly motivating me, but it didn't seem to be the biggest problem. I could overlook these things as long as I wasn't bored. A good route would get my mind off of winter and allow me to focus on something else. The problem was finding somewhere to run. I had found myself doing the same route over and over without any changes. I didn't know where else to run though without running up large hills. One day I ran up those hills, being driven by immense boredom I had concocted a 5.65 mile route consisting of 3 large hills. There was new scenery to watch and it was more of an out and back route that made it harder to skip out on. The challenge it gave me was even better, it forced me to expend the effort that I might make me better.

The weeks since then have involved running that same route while changing up some of the ins and outs. The hills may have gotten a little easier but they were still tough. I found myself having to stop some days and rest my legs but I always went on without walking up them. However, there was one hill that challenged me more than the others. It wasn't the longest or the last one, but it was the steepest. It seemed like no matter how I paced myself, I could not get up it without stopping. Until one day I did. I slowly struggled up it with terrible form but I made it. From then on, the hill no longer seemed as big of an obstacle. It wasn't every day that I could run up it without stopping, but I no longer viewed it as a problem or something that should stop me. It wasn't out to get me, it was just there.

One of my neighbors (also a runner) who lives down the hill, was talking about me with my mother yesterday. He told her that I was built like a Kenyan (only a runner would think this was a compliment) and that I should run the Bix this year. He also said that he was both impressed and inspired by my hard work and determination. He has seen my running up our hill and thought that while some people may have raw talent, not everyone has dedication.

My first reaction to this, was to enjoy his compliments but also to underscore them. I thought that if he would have known how hard it was to get myself outside, how I had struggled with those hills, or how I couldn't wait to get my run over with, that he would disagree with what he had said. I thought I could've done more, that the extra miles I had done weren't enough to benefit me. Even when talking to my teammates who haven't been running very much, my opinion didn't change.

I now look on it with a different perspective. I think of how I was miserable through most of my runs, but I also think of how I did those runs. No one was forcing me to run those hills yet I did. Maybe I do have determination. Maybe all that running I did amounts to hard work. Maybe that was what my winter training was about. Not hitting certain times or doing a certain number of miles, but the going out and running part. I think that is what has made me stronger runner more than anything.

The willingness to undergo tough workouts and do the extra mile is something I hope will carry over to track practices. I have complained many times about our practices, but this winter I found that even the hardest were necessary. I now find myself willing to do those practices because they may be hard but the mental and physical benefits are far greater than the effort I give. To quote my beloved Nickelback "what's worth the price is always worth the fight".