A CCQ's Guide to Running

7:00am When I woke up this morning, I felt great. We all had a plan that we were supposed to follow. I got some food in me and got some last min hydration. I got my bib and clothes laid out on the floor, and mentally prepred for the race. 9:00am We arrived at the course and checked in. I was nervous as hell, but also knew that I was as fit as I could be. We began to warm up and tried to stay warm in the 27 degree weather. I had my last min good luck text from friends and family. I looked at the competition and started playing out the race in my head. 10:30am Race Time. I toed the line and waited for the starter to shoot the gun. When the gun fired I got out at good pace. I came through the mile a little quick at 5:06. I knew I got out a little quick, so I pulled back a little bit. My plan went out the window when our #3 runner fell back before the 2 mile mark. I knew that our only chance at qualifying was if I had the race of my life. I moved up to the top 45 and tried to hang ...

I’ve been running for about 7 years now, and to be honest, the first 6 weren’t as fun as I wanted them to be. Throughout high school I thought it wasn’t “cool” to run cross country or track. I hated waking up in the morning to run, hated waking up on Saturday mornings for meets, and hated being known as the “cross country runner” of my school. I thought about quitting, but my competitive nature dint let me stop. I told myself if I made it to state I would quit. Well I trained harder than ever to reach that goal. With help from my coach I made it to Round rock and placed a sorry 40th place. As I thought about my career, I decided to go for a better time, not for my love of the sport, for more medals, but for my selfish goal to beat myself. I came back next year and placed 24th and lost to people I have lost to my whole life. That’s when I decided to take my running career to the collegiate level. I wasn’t good enough to get a scholarship unless I went to a junior college, but I insis...

2 weeks and 4 finals away from finishing my freshman year. If I would have been told a year ago that I would be running in college and that I would meet some great people outside of my little hometown, I would probably not pay much attention. I learned really quickly that this is not what I thought it would be. So I thought about how nice it would be if I could have said: Dear High School Athlete, Senor year feels like its gong by quick huh? Times is flying by and you feel like all of the struggles being a senior are piling up. Graduation, prom, scholarships, applications to schools, how can you finish up all of this stuff, work, study, and run? Its ok you will do alright. Lucky for you, you have already signed with a college away from Mom and Dad. You might think that you have grown up already, but trust me you haven’t yet... You might think that it’s all flowers and butterflies once you get out of high school, but sorry to tell you, it 10 times worse outside of high school. The hom...

Since I’ve began college I have been very intrigued by TED Talks. I love these as motivational tools and good source of outside thinking and good information. I was watching a few videos when I came across one lady by the name of Elizabeth Gilbert. Elizabeth is an author known mostly for her book called EAT PRAY LOVE. She goes on to describe her situation when trying to get published. She spent 6 years as a young aspiring author trying to get published only to get denied over and over again. This constant feeling or rejection picked at the motivation and determination to work on her works. She had many thoughts of doubt about her writing career and even thought seriously about putting away the pen and concluding her attempts at getting published. Many Runners feel this same way. Runners that get stuck in a slump, or can’t seem to stay healthy often consider their running careers. Almost all runners have this fear of never getting to where they want to be, much like Elizabeth. She tells...