Senior sidequests
I honestly didn’t think running would be that hard. It’s not something I had much experience in before joining cross country. Looking at my senior I knew I wanted to do something just for fun; a senior sidequest. Cross country made sense for a lot of reasons. I had friends on the team, I didn’t have to learn how to play, and I could start prepping before the season.
My start to cross country was not easy though, I started in June with summer practices. The first day was no picnic by any means, like most things I was in way over my head. I thought practice would just be running, not easy but not hard. After the warm up I was already feeling it, and to then hear we were running for another 30 minutes, I wanted to quit. For a while I felt that way, I dreaded having to wake up and go to practices, I felt out of place not because of the people but because I felt like I didn’t know what I was doing
I’m so glad that I didn’t, I’m glad that I had friends that would hold me accountable for coming to practice when I didn’t have to, and I’m glad that the people there made it bearable to be up at 8am when I could’ve been sleeping.
Now as I’m about a month into the season and completed my multiple meets, I can confidently say I really do enjoy cross country. I wasn’t a kid who played sports growing up, I played soccer for a few years, I ran with Girls on the Run in elementary school, and I’ve played tennis for the last three years at DHS. I never truly felt like I was on a team until joining cross country.
It’s been a struggle to adapt, having practice after school and having to take care of my body. I’ve never been good about getting enough sleep, eating or drinking water. Cross country pushes me to do that. While it’s sometimes harder than the actual running, I know that I’m creating better habits for myself and it sets me up to perform the best that I can when running. I want to get better and I want to improve when I’m there running, and I have.
My first meeting could have gone better but it could have gone worse. I have to give myself grace because it was my first. Every year the first meet of the season is always at night and the course is lit up by Christmas lights. I had no idea what to expect but I wasn’t nervous.
I made it a mile before I had to stop, and I tried to push myself but sometimes we aren’t capable of what we want to be. I then struggled for the next two miles, switching between running and walking. In the last mile I fell, the grass was long and wet and my ankle fell beneath me. Part of me wished that I hadn’t gotten up so I wouldn’t have had to finish it, but I did. I got up and I started crying, I was scared and disappointed and in pain. I felt it deep in my chest and I didn’t know how to stop it. I was so mad at myself for crying, I felt so stupid and weak that something like this could make me break. I really struggled for that last mile, I didn’t think I would be able to finish and I didn’t want to. When I did though I’ll never forget having two of my best friends yell for me when I crossed the finish line or running to me after and telling me how proud they were that I did finish.
That moment will be something I think about for the rest of my life. The love and support I had in that moment not just from my friends but from everyone is why I will forever be glad that I made the decision to join cross country my senior year. The people that I am surrounded by have done nothing but support me, it’s hard to be disappointed in yourself when you have people telling you what a good job you are doing. I couldn’t ask for a better way to spend my afternoons then with these people.
- Running with it: Senior Sidequests
- Rolling through the halls of DHS
- Konner Minuth, Diving Deep
- Stranger Things
- Renfair
