Falling in and out of love with running.
Just like many runners I had been running all my life. My love for running sparked through my older sister who ran through high school and college breaking many records on her way, and I knew from a young age that I wanted that to be me. I started running 5ks around my small New Jersey town when i was 5 and I haven't turned back since. I loved the pre race mornings and I loved the feeling I got when I just ran 3 miles against so many other people. The thrill of running was alive and kicking in me. I soon joined my middle school cross country and track team and while we never ran a 5k in races I was always pumped and ready knowing that I could go out from the start line and enjoy every minute of it because I was prepared and in love with running. Throughout my 3 years in middle school I had acquired many medals, trophies, plaques, and so much praise. I was told by many coaches how I was a new hopeful for the sport of running and how I had the determination in me to be very successful. That drive and encouragement just pushed me even more then I had hoped.
But in 8th grade I fell out of love with distance running. I found no need for the long workouts or the less popular 1600 and 800 in track. I figured if track was born in my blood it was going to have to be a different event and so off to sprint I went. My parents paid for speed trainers and I was one of the hardest workers in sprinting. The workouts came easy to me thanks to all the distance work I had acquired and I finally felt that this was what I was made to do. Heck who said I needed to run distance? Sure I might have been built like a distance runner with a tall skinny stature and I definitely didn't have the muscular build that many see in sprinters but I was happy. That year I was first team, number one sprinter in the county and i was ecstatic. I was racking in medals at every meet and being named MVP and state meets. What runner wouldn't want that recognition? I decided that here at sprinting was where I was meant to be.
Fast forward to freshman year and surprise I join the xc team again and it all came full circle. I met the best girls i could ask for and my love for distance running was back! These girls made running 60+ miles a week seem like a fun run and our constant laughs an jokes pushed me through the much harder high school workouts. The coaches had so much faith in me and I strived to be the best. I wanted to be the freshman that helped the team get to states. And so off on my journey I went. Every race seemed like a new adventure. With the 5 am bagels before 3 hour away meets to the coach shunned McDonalds after this team was more like a family to me. We spent very moment not in class together. Our lunches wee filled with 10 girls planning our next win and our pasta parties were filled with games of just dance and tie dying shirts for our next meet. This is what helped me through my freshman year. I little fish in a big ocean and I had my own family there for me. That season we were undefeated region champs, the first ever in program history! And although we didn't make groups by 3 points we were happy. Track season came and went injury free in our little 5 person team. We all ran 3+ events and we loved it. There wasn't a moment we'd trade in our late Tuesday nights at meets for anything else. We were the dream team.
Off to sophomore year I went and I had big hopes. Although we lost 4 girls to college we still wanted to pull of the big win. But as my season started I wasn't happy. The team was lacking an older sister and each summer practice lacked another new girl. Our team was not ready for our first meet and as a captain I felt responsible. We went into the meet not very hopeful but with a clear mid and we lost. So there went our undefeated steak but with a new mindset. Maybe we didn't have to win each meet but as long as we ran as a family we would be happy. So here comes November and were n the way to sectionals. We weren't very hopeful since our dream couldn't even defeat this task and no team had won sectionals from our school since 07, 10 years ago! But we went out with open hearts and minds and won it. The blood was rushing through me like it never had and in that moment I knew that running was my happy place. Although this year I had my worst running experience between injury, team fallout, and a hard losing streak we defeated the odds and it pushed me. The next day the front page of the newspaper read "Wildcats defeat the odds and move on the groups" We were the underdog team the beat out the best schools in NJ.
Everyday after groups I wake up blessed to be able to run and tell myself this is what I was born to do. So if you ever find yourself falling out of love with running just know that it will change. If you loved running once you will always love running no matter how much you try to change your mind. Just keep running.
- Cara Zinner ( @cara_zinner )
