I'm Too X.C. For My Shirt

So I don't know if you have ever run a long distance without stopping. I did that all through high school with cross country and all. It's a pretty intense sport. Pretty much its all about running 5km (or 3.2) miles and any sort of terrain as fast as you can, without stopping. Constant running. Let's just say for the 3 years, I was a part of the cross country team, I thought each and every day, why the crap am I doing this?! We practiced everyday Monday through Friday starting at 3:30pm. We had different courses where we would pick and run and once our coach told us what our "run" was for the day, off we would go. We had races about every other weekend where we competed with other schools. The race was pretty much run to the finish line and hope to not die. To run about 3.2 miles non-stop is pretty crazy. Our varsity guys could do it in about 18min-ish (16 if you're our top guy). In the three years that I ran I was able to run 5km from 32 minutes (fail) to a good 22 minutes. Not bad. Not good. But I was pretty excited about how I shaved off ten minutes. You've got individual sports like golf and team sports like football. Cross country was a mix between the two in where as a runner you must personally push yourself to get better and faster, but yet as a team you all encourage and support each other.
In the beginning I thought it was crazy too. Why kill your body running nonstop for 3 miles. Why BE uncomfortable? Because through it, I developed a little something called "perseverance" and some of that "determination".

Every time I was able to run a course and finish it all the way through non-stop (since that was pretty much what you DIDN'T want to do. No stopping, no walking. Run ALL the way) I would feel an overall sense of accomplishment, and that was definitely a GOOD feeling. After the first few times of feeling that awesomeness I just kept wanting it more and more. As the practices continued, we were given more difficult and more longer courses to run. Every time I ran these courses I had always wanted that accomplished feeling so in my mind as I was running I told myself I would push through and fight whatever pain there was in my body to finish strong. Running 3 miles non stop can get kind of boring and ridiculously tiring, but if you did not focus on your breathing and the way you ran, you would get screwed. So as these courses got more difficult I would make sure I concentrated on my breathing and running and keep a steady pace and not give up. To prevent myself from getting burned out by the big picture of 3.2 miles, I instead looked at the smaller picture. Many of the courses I ran in were in parks so there was always nice scenery. To not freak out about the long distance, I would set up occasional "checkpoints" in where for example I would see a tree along the course and I would tell myself, "push hard until that tree" and afterwards I would just keep doing the same thing. The baby steps, eventually led me to finishing the race and acquiring the sense of accomplishment at the end.

Those three years of side cramps, foot blisters, and hardcore sweat taught me more than how to physically run a long distance. I realized I was able to apply the stuff I learned in running to real life. It was crazy! I had a long assignment to do one time and I just didn't know how I could get it done. But instead I thought about how I could just do it little by little and eventually it will all come together. No need to tackle the giant all at once! How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time of course!

Just looking back at these past few (short) years of my life, I see that a common theme has been patience and the rewards that come with it. In one of my earlier blogs I wrote about how the "good things in life take time" and this is pretty much the story behind it. I value almost everything in my life because of how most of it has been acquired by enduring long periods of time and lots of patience. In every race whether it be on a course or in a homework assignment or for my cup o noodles to be ready, I have always wanted to just give up and quit. HECKS NO. Too bad my mind does not have the ability to quit, as hard as I try.

What I've learned from the the whole "running a race" thing is that its pretty much like every aspect of life. Life is a race. Its not about speed or talent, its all about starting and finishing as strong as you can to the best of your abilities. No quitting, no walking. Push, push, push. Pace yourself. Endure. Patience. And in the end, the golden prize awaits...

Choo-chooooo.