Heart of a Runner

I always had a certain knack for sports. No matter what I did, I always seemed to be pretty good at it. My twin sister too. In junior high, we did volleyball, basketball, and track. Our events in track were sprints. My favorite sport however was volleyball. I loved it. I thought I was going to do this sport all the way into high school. 

Freshman year in high school, my twin sister and I signed up for the volleyball team. It was pretty shocking when we were put on the lowest team, because in junior high, we were considered the best. Anyways, we then started noticing how much high school was different than junior high. The girls on the team definitely acted different. It felt like a nuisance. We began to notice we really weren't the best and it felt like we weren't getting anywhere. 

Anyways, as part of our workouts, every 2 weeks we would these sort of "competitions." During different days of the week, we would run 1.5 miles, high jump, and bench press. Whoever were the top 10 in each test would have their name put on a whiteboard in the gym for everyone to see. Needless to say, my sister and I were the first 2 for the running portion. 

Eventually the cross country coach came in one day and saw our names on the board. He talked with the head volleyball coach and asked if he could meet us. He came in without the intention of trying to recruit us. He just randomly saw our names on a whiteboard and was impressed with our times for people who don't regularly train to run. He thought our base was pretty good. 

He asked if we were interested in joining cross country and we pretended to sound interested, but we weren't serious about it. I gawked at the thought of running more than a mile and a half. We thanked him for the offer and that was it, never thinking we'd actually do it. 

Sophomore year, we tried out for volleyball again and we didn't make the cut. They said it was because we weren't "aggressive" enough and "too short" even though we're 5'5 and they let girls shorter than us stay on the team. And that's how we became a part of the cross country team.

It was hard at first, but that's what you expect when you're running many miles a day. The stronger we got and the more resistance and stamina we built, the more I learned about my team and the more I loved them. We're all crazy. You can't exactly be sane in this sport. I call my cross country team my second family. I see them every morning for practice and everyday during the summer. While everyone else was enjoying their summer relaxing, we were all running our hearts out. 

We spend times at each others houses almost every weekend, especially if there was a meet, in which we celebrate. We would explore the bayou in which we run, finding secret places only a Runner would find. We've even gone swimming in lakes that most people never even hear of. We smile, laugh, cry, get angry at each other, and in the end, care for one another. Even the runners that are retired and seeing their new stage in life, we still keep in touch. It sucks thinking about when my time is up and it'll be mine and my sister's turn to leave. I've watched this team grow from almost nothing to what it is now and how much we've improved. 

I think back to my time in volleyball and the relationship I had with the team. Then I remember we weren't even friends, more like aqcuantices and I compare them to what I have now. 

We are definitely a family. A crazy, weird, one of a kind, unique, 5k long distance running, family.

- @DezBarrie ( Desiree Barriere )