The side of running that no one talks about

The side of running that no one talks about

 I am currently a Junior in high school, and I have been running for seven years. With that amount of time, I have learned a lot. But I am still learning new things about myself and the sport everyday. 

As a sophomore I had improved my cross country times by a lot, and going into the track season I expected the same thing. I expected a lot of improvement, so I worked super hard in the offseason. I worked so hard, my foot couldn’t keep up. Needless to say, I got a stress fracture, and I couldn’t improve from my freshman year. I was disappointed in myself, and I was desperate for a good season. 

My junior cross country season didn’t go as planned. I worked hard in the summer, but was also smart about training. I would take easy days easier, stretched, and improved my diet. My first meet was great. I was number 4 on the team and was only a few seconds off of my PR. 
A few meets before the postseason meets were really important for me and a few other girls. These meets determined who would run at state and who would be alternates. I put a lot of pressure on myself, so much that it had become unhealthy. After every meet, I would cry. I was so disappointed in myself. I ended up not being fast enough to run at state, where my team went on to win state. 

I fell into depressed state. I wasn’t happy I didn’t like my body. I didn’t like school, and I definitely did not like running. After state we run at Nike Heartland Region. My whole team kept running, and I did not want to go to practice. After school I dreaded putting on my running clothes, and heading out for a run with my teammates. Everyday when I woke up I felt like I had to put on a mask, to hide how unhappy I was. Thankfully, one of my teammates noticed this. She texted me and asked me if I was ok. I told her no, and told her how upset I was about not running on varsity. Little did she know she helped me out of that hole that I dug for myself. 

Not many people talk about the mental side to running. I always hear people talking about how hard work gets you to where you want to be. Not many people know how important the mental side to running is, they have to learn about it from experience. The have to learn the hard way, like me. So I wrote this to share my struggle, in hopes that it will help someone, so that they don’t have to go through the same thing as me. 

I genuinely love running. It is a part of me. With this experience I am much happier now, and I know I have teammates that will always be there for me. Going into the track season, my main goal is to have fun with the sport. Running can be so fun, but if you make it a chore or something that you have to do, then it becomes less and less fun. I love running.

- Lauren Urban (@lauren_urban28)

Lauren is a runner from Iowa, she trains in the Brooks Ghost 10, she loves hanging out with friends and laughing. And if she could go on a run with anyone, it would be Galen Rupp.