4 years ago my hs soccer coach told me that in order for me to make the varsity team it would be necessary for me to run 2 miles in 12 minutes. I was furious, I could barely run one in 12 minutes. I reminisced to my freshmen year where my mom had convinced me to go out for the team and after the first practice which consisted of a 2 mile warm up, which tired me out pretty well, followed by hill repeats, running was NOT the sport for me.
A year later my mom was raking leaves and I had decided that i best be starting this running thing if I ever wanted to make the soccer team. So, I went for a 5 mile run in my jeans around the neighborhood. I hadnt planned on it being 5 miles, i had planned on just running 1 lap. What started as me running 2-3 times a week, on nonpractice days turned into an obsession. I had to run every day, except day before game day.
The next fall after running for almost a year by myself I went out for the cross country team. I had switched out of the jeans and started wearing basketball shorts. The first run we went on I realized I was pretty decent at this thing. Quickly I got the XC thing down and began wearing booty shorts like my XC brethren. Fast forward to my first race, maybe a month later, I had high hopes but it turned out a disaster. After going out for the first mile in a PR, i slowed down a good bit the second one, and fell over shorty after, scraping my palms and knees after a collision with another runner. I staggered across the finish line, dissapointed and disheartened.
That spring I opted to quit soccer to run track, my new found glory. I frequently had bad races, from running to hard on distance runs and not fueling myself properly. Senior year in districts I had a "breakout race" where i ran to my potential for the first time of my life and after that I had a few more good races in track. After graduating from hs I decided to attend Miami where I would run. Although I enjoyed my time at Miami, like highschool I suffered an injury from running 80 mile weeks which really took me out of my element. I was now at a school where all I knew was running and I couldnt even run. I had very few friends not on the XC/Track team and I was far from home. I then decided to transfer to W&M, probably one of the best decisions I will ever make.
At William and Mary I learned how to be a normal kid. For the past two years I had always been a runner. I wouldnt even think about drinking beer, shit, I didnt even drink soda. Most nights I would be in bed by midnight. W&M changed that. I was forced to learn to make friends who didnt care that I could beat them in the mile by 2 minutes, in fact, some of them couldnt even run a mile....and low and behold, THEY DIDNT CARE! This was a whole new world to me, there were things outside of running, and thank god i was beginning to see that.
Fast forward to today and I feel like I have gotten a much better hold on my life. I have realized that not only am I a runner but Im also a son, a big brother, a student, a friend, a deli employee at the mother fucking Wegmans, a cyclist, and a wanna be fish. Life requires balance, sure you can put your attention into some in particular, if you really want to succeed, theres certainly no problem with that. However, if you neglect one of these roles it definitely can affect yourself and those around you. When I train, I bust my ass. This is why today I ran 1:16 for my second half marathon, a 2 min PR over my previous. I have learned to train smarter, by surround myself with great cyclists like Cory, and Joa, who have taught me how to ride bikes. It is important when your out there to focus. As it is important to realized that not everything is dependent on your performance. Whether or not I ran 116 or walked the last 5 miles and ran 2 hours, I would still be Greg Grosicki, because that is who I am, and never again shall I forget that.
No comments:
Post a Comment