Motivating yourself when theres no one to push you.

 I’m only a freshman in high school, but I’m already the number 1 girl runner on my cross country team. To many people this is the goal. To many people once they achieve this, they are satisfied, but for me things feel different. In races I always use the competition for my motivation to push. At the beginning of the season it was tough. Training on my own with no upperclassman to help pull me along was not easy. My coach was also pretty payed back. Never pushing me as far as I knew I could go. Despite this, my goal is to always keep on improving and getting stronger to show not only other people, but myself what I am capable of. I used to use other people for my core of motivation to run, being the competitive person I am. Through my very first season of high school cross country I have learned that you shouldn’t need a faster member on your team for motivation. Yes, that could have its benefits and it’s a great goal to strive for if there’s someone like that one your team, but I have continued to work hard because of my love for running. Your passion for this sport should be enough to carry you through those intense and painful workouts. You don’t need competition to strive to be the best version of yourself. As long as you have passion, that will always be your main source of motivation.

- Anonymous