100 Miles and Running.

I still remember June of 2017, my first day of running camp. Joining as a junior, I missed out on past meets, practices, experiences, and friendships, which left me as an outsider on the team. Thankfully, I had communicated with my coach during the school year about joining the team, so he was a face in the crowd for me when I didn’t know anyone at camp. Once 7 o’clock came around, the stretching and strides commenced, and the dreaded run was approaching ever so slightly. Thoughts went through my head:

“What’s the rest of the team like? What kind of run are we doing today? Am I going to look like a fool compared to everyone else? Am I going to be THAT guy?” 

After my coach announced that we were doing an easy 30 run, which was followed by sighs of relief from the rest of the team, I felt pretty well going into my first run of the season. Soon into the run, I had sweat pouring down my face, and I was wheezing for air. Hardly holding onto an 8:00-minute mile pace, I was dreading the long season ahead of me, but my first run of many was complete. 

As the summer went on, I found myself becoming less and less dedicated to the sport: skipping runs on vacation, coming up with excuses to miss camp, and not eating properly. This created a lot of doubt and negative self-talk in my head about my potential in the sport.

Eventually, the summer came to an end, and the school year season was in full swing. With a few friends made, I began to enjoy practicing and running as hard as I could, just a little bit more. As a junior, I missed out on the various freshman/sophomore meets, so my competitive season was very brief, but I began to see improvement in my times. 

Conference came around, and I found myself burnt out from running. I didn’t make the state series team, but what did expect as a first-year runner? My first season ended, and I was looking forward to the consequent year, thinking I would pick up running again in the following June. Turning in my jersey was hard, especially seeing the 12 runners who were moving on in the competitive season. Should I have felt jealous, even though I put less effort into the sport? Should I have felt inspired, to be one of those 12 guys the next year? All of these questions going through my head, but I carried on and left the locker room. 

It wasn’t until 3 weeks later when my coach confronted me and told me about the winter running training that he did each year, which took me by surprise. Even though he showed his compassion to me during the season after a good race here and there, he seemed to really show interest in me at this moment, which led me to running out in the cold a few days of the week. 

Sooner than later, winter running came to an end, and the many friends I made during this time all were transitioning to track. At this point, I was enjoying my time running, and my new friends were all insisting that I run track with them, regardless of how good I thought that I was. 

Track continued our regimen from winter running, so I was used to everything that we were doing in practice. Countless workouts on the riverwalk before the sun was up, many intervals on the track when we ran on inches of snow, and a myriad of long runs through trails and neighborhoods: all of this day in and day out, but I was improving! My times were dropping, and I was invested more than ever into the sport. I won a few races, had a few bad races, ran some events that weren’t my forté, but, in the end, got some recognition from my performances. The bonds that I made with my friends from winter running were unbreakable, and they made the season worth every second. 

As the season began to wind down, talks of summer running became more and more prevalent. Thinking about my mindset at the end of the cross country season, I knew that I was going to have a good season ahead of me. Mileage was increasing, runs were faster, and I was playing a much larger role on the team. Most importantly, I was confident and found my identity in running.
After attending camp for the entire summer, which was something that I wasn’t even CLOSE to the year prior, I was ecstatic for the coming season. Coaches and other people at the camp occasionally came up to me in shock at how much I had grown in a year, which humbled me even more. As all of this was happening, I still couldn’t envision myself running as fast as others described me. 

The normal workouts and distance runs began our season, but I was running them at an unimaginable pace compared to the year prior. We had a few traditional invites, exclusively for the top runners, and being able to attend them seemed surreal to me, let alone performing well also! I was included in the top seven races at various meets, as a sixth runner, and I didn’t realize how crazy this was until the last regular meet of my season, conference. In the matter of one year, I dropped my time by a large amount, my mindset surrounding running changed drastically, I had made friends that will stand the test of time, I had made memories that will never be forgotten, and I had found my passion and identity in running.

Currently, I am preparing for state later this week, as the sixth runner of my team. We defied all odds at our sectional race, qualifying for state by a meer 6 points and beating out a team that had us all season long. Thinking back to that first day of camp, I have changed as a person incredibly (it sounds very cliché, but it’s true). Forgetting about the times and numbers, I have found my true passion in running, and I have created lifelong relationships because of this sport. I still cannot wrap my mind around the fact that I am going to be competing at state in a few days, which is something that my last-year’s self would’ve laughed in disbelief at. It still doesn’t seem real to me, but my season isn’t over yet.

My first meet junior year of 18:57, to my PR of 16:20 at sectionals. 

Hopefully, this story doesn’t come off as braggadocious because I hope that it is exactly the opposite. I just wanted to show my progress after a year of running, in hopes of inspiring at least one person to begin running. Starting this sport halfway throughout my high school career, I had no idea as to how I would perform, and I was very discouraged at the end of my first season of cross country. For whomever is reading this, it is NEVER too late to begin something new. Great things take time, and effort and motivation lead to success. Good diet, hydration, recovery, rest, and consistency are key to reaping the benefits of hard work. Please do not let anyone steer you away from your passion and your happiness. DO WHAT YOU LOVE!

-IG ( @iggygamboa3 )