Having an injury—no matter how minor it may be—allows one to reflect on their running. I haven't been running much since my knee started acting up—maybe 2 or 3 times a week. It's given me time to think. Time to meditate on a running season that, by many measures, was a resounding success.
In truth, I've needed to make a special effort to listen to my own advice. Whether it was helping someone figure out a training plan, or giving advice to someone who has an injury, I had one piece of advice: listen to your body. Well, I've been listening, and it's been saying "take it easy, Matt. A few weeks of taking it easy will not ruin your running life." So it goes.
Beyond making the effort to not run (yes, not running requires more effort than running), I've been able to look back at how I've grown as a runner. How I've become more dedicated, smarter, and in some ways, faster. To explain this, I'm going to look back into my past a bit.
As a kid, I didn't run. I played soccer when I was a child, but mostly because it was fun and my parents thought it would be good for me. I stopped sometime around 1st or 2nd grade. I did nothing for many years. I did the mile in gradeschool, and was super happy when I could get into the 10:xx range. My gradeschool did the mile by running a big rectangle in our parking lot. 10 laps to a mile. My strategy was to run the short sides of the rectangle and walk the long sides. I was thrilled when they made the rectangle longer so that it would be 8 laps to a mile (meaning the long sides were even longer).
I was an awkward kid. Sports weren't my thing because I sucked at them. All the way through high school, I could count the number of baskets I made in basketball as less than 20. And we played basketball a lot. My PE teacher was also the b-ball coach, so he would throw in a token dodgeball game, or weightlifting day, but 90% of what we did was basketball. I hated it.
This changed my sophomore year. I was going to join the soccer team. But, in a school of ~100 students, the soccer team was cancelled that year due to lack of interest. Dejected I was, but a seed had been planted. A few days later, Mr. Sprow, my chemistry/advanced algebra/physics/calculus teacher wanted to know if I'd join the cross country team. I had absolutely no clue what a cross country team was, but said ok.
I was in for a rude awakening. My second day of practice involved a 6 mile run. I just about expired. I was slow that season. First 5k time was 34:30, second was 38:40. I was last on my team, and usually last in all the meets. It was a great day the first time I didn't come in last, and I managed to break 30 minutes that season. I was just as slow during track season, and it was more embarrassing because one can't hide in the woods and walk.
I got a little faster my junior year, but in my senior year, things changed. The fast people on my team graduated, so I just needed to run faster than one of my teammates to be the fastest on the team. It took a few meets, but I assumed that mantle, and didn't look back. That was the season I almost broke 20, and was 2 places shy of being named all-conference. In track that year, I even earned points on my own for the first time. I had a great year of running.
Then I stopped running. I had every intent of keeping it going in college, but I would run maybe 2 or 3 times a month, and then it stopped altogether. I was a runner without a team, and only then did I realize how much the team was a part of me. If I were ever to become a runner again, I would need to learn how to run as my own team. I would have to carry the sport that I loved on my own.
Stay tuned for how these experiences shaped my 2nd running life.
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