Feet pound the soft soil. Lungs steadily inhale in the fresh, cool, crisp air.  Tree by tree, hill by hill, step by step, I am doing what I enjoy most in my free time:  trail running.  Trail running enhances my endurance, increases my problem solving strategies, builds my commitment, and strengthens my soul.

     Long and steep, the trails I run require endless endurance.  When I am tired and a hill just seems to never end, I will myself to keep going.  Not allowing myself to stop once I start, I persevere.  In the same way, once I start a project, whether it completing a business assignment, helping a friend, or aiding the community, I do not allow myself to quit—even if the project becomes more time consuming and strenuous than I planned.  Unable to put it off when it becomes exhausting, I step forward and drive harder until it is completed. To me, it seems much more difficult to stop and then try to get going again.  Stepping aside, I lose momentum, but by driving harder with each step I take, I gain momentum and reach the top.  It is pushing myself that brings me so much further ahead.

(Me & Tiff just before a St. Patrick's Day trail race)

     Some days all forces of nature seem to be trying to hinder my run. Buckets of rain pour upon my head; hail stings my face; and wind pushes me back.  These overpowering forces almost intimidate me, yet, I view it as training for possible race day conditions.  Life is not always a sunny day—especially in your first years of living alone.  Along with gloomy weather come the usual pressures of being a young adult: high expectations and constant overloading of work. However, I adjust and make the best of the circumstances.  Odds are, I will perform in less than favorable conditions throughout my life.  Therefore, I train to do my best in any possible situation.

     Just as the weather challenges my run, obstacles also challenge me which I must strategize how to overcome.  Like a tree blocking my path, my computer malfunction, stopping my progress on an assignment.  Like a never-ending steep hill that pains my legs, people question my ideas.  Although it would be easier to turn around and avoid these massive problems of defective computers and negative people, my tenacity does not allow me to do so.  Determined, I figure out how to squeeze through the computer glitch, and choose the path of compromise with people.  Running has taught me that in these situations, if there is a will, there is a way.  The obstacles lying across my path fail to avert me from finishing, but instead strengthen my strategies to conquer them.

     As I conquer each trail, I am undoubtedly committed.  Just as I am committed to finish a trail run once I start, I am committed to accomplishing my goal of becoming the best runner I can be.  To accomplish such a goal, I have been training nearly everyday for over five years now.  Hardly a day goes by when I do not find myself on a trail.  Perhaps I could still perform decently even if I regularly skipped practice, but how much better could I have done had I given practice my best?  Applying this same concept to my education, I have realized that although homework can be grueling, it gives me the practice I need to excel on my tests.    Giving practice my best, I am assured that I will be giving my best on race day as well.  After all, champions are made in practice.

(Me, racing a 10 K 4th of July run, which I won)

     Not a natural talent, running practice was at first somewhat discouraging.  Tiered and sore, my legs did little more than loose the cross-country races in my first year.  Working twice as hard as everyone else, I still failed to become that “star” that I was in so many other aspects of my life.  Determined, I chose to rise to this new challenge and strove to be the best runner I could, and learned to love it.  As running taught me that I did not have to be “the best” at everything, I learned to enjoy a challenge.

     Excellence and enjoyment came hand in hand with running as I noticed the extra flavor it gave my life.  In the stillness of the forest, trail running provided opportunity to talk with friends for miles and miles, and enjoy an escape from the busy, pressuring world around me.  Sometimes the normal pressures of life—family, friends, boyfriends, work, and schoolwork—can boggle me down.  For sanity, I run trails to get away from it all and enjoy myself.  Even in the mist of preparing for pressuring tests, when my mind feels like it might explode, after a nice long run through the trees, it becomes clear, re-charged, and ready to work.  Running gives me peace of mind and satisfaction.

(My high school cross-country team)

     Running everyday, I have pushed myself to keep going, remained committed, overcame obstacles, and stayed focused.  These satisfactions are enough to keep me pumped for the rest of the day.

(click on picture to visit a really awesome women's running site)