Running Toward Myself

How Do Hills Make YOU Feel?

Yesterday during cross country practice, one of my new freshman runners handed me a gem. One of those rare and coveted moments when finally you are rewarded  with a glimpse of why you do what you do every day. Why you get up at 4 AM to sneak in your own workout because your evenings are now commandeered by practices and meets and teenage hormones.  In a small school, cross country isn't exactly a popular sport and the hard work the teams do in practice is pretty much overlooked and seen as inconsequential. However, all of us real runners know that cross country is not just a bunch of kids running through the woods wasting time, don't we?

Anyway, back to the story...

We had just concluded a 2-mile time trial on the most challenging and hilly part of our course. This means running all of the most brutal hills, twice. As our new runners came down the trail, approaching the last, tough uphill to the finish, I was at the bottom, encouraging them to give it their all and push hard to the finish. There is absolutely nothing I love more than to see a kid attack a hill and tear it to shreds, and this particular kid took my pleading to heart as he took off in a dead sprint up the hill. It was a thing of beauty to see this inexperienced young runner embrace the hard work of the hill in front of him and not back down as so many often to. It. Was. Poetic.

As we all joined in a huddle before our cool-down, we noticed this runner struggling. He was short of breath and could barely stand. He said his nose and hands were numb, and his eyes were red and swollen. I was more than worried as we sent for the trainer. As I sat him down and raised his arms to help him catch his breath, I asked him, "How did you feel going up that last hill," obviously trying to gauge how he felt and where his problems were initiated. The answer I got wasn't exactly what I was looking for but it was the best answer to any question in the history of all questions:

"Well, I sort of felt, you know, INVINCIBLE!"

And there it is. On a hill this kid felt like he owned the world. As if he could do anything. And I did...I knew exactly what he meant. And then he nearly passed out from the enormity of it all.

Seldom do I see within my runners this sort of passion for the sport I love so much. A short 3 miles through the woods, therapeutic and calming for me, is an exercise in torture for them even though they are years younger and in much better shape.  I beg and plead for them to push themselves to their limits, to challenge themselves to do more, and all too often I wind up jaded and upset at their lack of enthusiasm for this great gift of running. But when they get it, if only for a brief moment in which they feel "invincible" or when they push to their limits, it is worth all of the hours of frustration.

Yesterday? Best. Day. Ever.