9 Years and Running

I always get a little nostalgic around this time of year, especially when I'm at home. It was at this time 9 years ago that I began one of the greatest relationships of my life.

Before I began my freshman year, like most kids my age I had to seriously consider how I was going to be cool in high school. I had always viewed my brother as being cool and determined he'd be a pretty good guide if I ever wanted to be cool. So, I looked at what he did and followed in his footsteps. He ran cross country in high school amongst other sports, but because cross country was the only sport without cuts I figured that was my best bet.

There is a reason there are no cuts. I guess technically there are, but the coach doesn't cut. The athletes do, but the more common way of looking at it is quiting. In my younger years I was a quitter. You name it, I did it and then I quit it....soccer, ballet, gymnastics, swimming, piano, softball. This time was different for some reason. I'm not sure why because I was really horrible at first. I mean, really horrible. In fact, I used to hate running. As long as I can remember I always finished last when we would run the mile in elementary school and even my first year in high school I often finished last. I would look at it as a major success if someone finished behind me.

At some point I started to get faster and even started to love it. It has become one my dearest companions. I won't go into all the reasons that I love running now. There's lots of time for that. I just wanted to reminisce a little bit about it. I don't always love it. I guess it's like most relationships. We have our hard times, but in the end I always feel good after running (ok, there are some exceptions like when I ran my first and possibly last marathon and couldn't bend my legs without intense pain for a week). And like with most things, it's the hard times that make it so great. I love it.