My Cross Country Nationals Story
"You need to talk me out of this. " I recall telling my friend Melissa over the phone as I verbalized seriously for the first time my idea of running in the Cross Nationals. She was privy to my love of the XC my desire to compete in it "one day", but this time I was more serious. "Not a chance in hell ", or something of that nature was her response to my request. What did I have to lose? After all, I had a year of solid training and was enjoying my best season in nearly a decade. Still, the idea of it thrilled and terrified me at the same time. And then after unanimous support from friends, family, and even some of my athletes- I decided to enter the race. I always ask my runners to dig deep to find their 'Why'. I ask myself the same thing and on a regular basis. I will tell you that my why for running is a fluid one; it once was all about winning races and setting PRs, to trying to return to a level I once was at (not recommended, by the way),...