My brain and my body were at war. I was too tired for where I was on the course. My muscles were working too hard for what they were producing. Each foot fall felt like crashing into sludge, and pulling my feet out for another step felt impossible. My lungs were on fire, heating my entire body to the point that I didn't notice the bite of early November wind across my cheeks. Even as I understood that my goal was out of reach, I pushed forward.
My primary sports were basketball in the winter and tennis in the spring. However, at Chapel Hill all students are required to pick a co-curricular every trimester. This meant I had to find something to do for the fall, as I wasn't much of a theater person and never really enjoyed soccer when I was younger, so I chose to run cross country with the intent of getting in shape for basketball. I had no idea how this activity and simple requirement that Chapel Hill enforced would change my life, my mindset and my understanding of myself.
At first I didn't like cross-country. It was because I wasn't in running shape, an entirely different category of fitness. Once I improved my running habits and lengthened the distances I could tolerate, I started enjoying running, but still didn't really understand cross-country as a competitive sport. It wasn't until I started seeing my time drop and had the contrast of my teammates' times that I felt my competitive instincts kick in.
Previously, whether in class or in sports, I'd always worked hard to achieve great results, but had never really thought about how, or planned for it. I had all these experiences that resulted in achievements, but had never been put to the test in terms of consistency. With running, I learned how to set ambitious goals and even enjoy training as I could quite literally see my 5k time drop before my very eyes as the season went on.
As I applied this long term goal setting to my running routine by engaging in planned interval training and long runs, I used these same strategies in my approach to academics. I wasn't just preparing for assessments by memorizing information the week before the test, I was reading related materials, writing study guides, and forming study groups well in advance of the assessment. Approaching work and sports this way allowed me to see beyond "good enough" and tap into my potential.
But perhaps one of the most important things cross country taught me was to change my mindset to never put a cap on my potential or limit myself. For example, if I only trained during the season, there was a literal limit on how fast I could become. By only looking towards the next test, I was missing out on real learning opportunities. I discovered curiosity- both in what I could achieve physically, and in what I wanted to know about the world and the academic disciplines I was engaging in.
I also learned that while smart goals are achievable, there is something to be learned from not achieving those goals all the time. That's how I found myself, just two weeks out from appendicitis, in the league championship race struggling not to reach the goal I'd set, but to finish the race. Again, my mindset was reframed, and my approach to running, school, and life refined. I found success in that race by not giving up and conquering the mental hurdle of knowing I wouldn't hit my time, but still putting 100% effort. In this, I learned the importance of perseverance, more importantly that I had the capacity to train differently in anticipation of a disruption. I have to assume that I will face adversity, and be prepared to do so successfully.
The lessons I took from cross-country over the last year have had a profound impact on how I approach nearly everything in my life. From long term goal planning and preparation, to perseverance even when progress is slow or stalled, to finding my own leadership style and encouraging others, I am a stronger student and community member. And the best part is these lessons paid off on the course as well and in my senior season I set 7 new school course records and finished 10th in the NEPSTA championship race.
And to think all this all came down to that choice I made my freshman year. Something that initially seemed like a frustrating requirement turned into one of the most important decisions I ever made. This is the strength of Chapel Hill, you will be put in positions that may be new or uncomfortable just like I was on that cross country team freshman year struggling to make it through every race. However you never know the ways in which these new or seemingly uncomfortable things will influence your life.
