Saturday, February 6, 2016

Run or Release?

Recently, I've been faced with a very tough decision.

I must decide wether or not I want to run track for the Spring of 2016 for Bishop Kelly High School.

This is such a tough decision for me for many reasons, but mainly because:


  1. Track Meets and Track Workouts STRESS. ME. OUT. (to the max)--Often times, during or towards the ends of races, I get so anxious that my throat suddenly feels as if it is closing up, making it difficult for me to breath in a steady and normal way. This whole breathing thing freaks me out even more, causing me to become light-headed. I have no idea why I get so anxious. I don't necessarily care about the people who are watching me in the stands. In fact, they are the least of my worries considering that there are not many crowd members paying much attention to the long-distance races. I think that the idea of having to meet a certain time really makes me nervous. There is a clock that shows your time for each lap that you pass, sand I am constantly trying to calculate how much time I have left and if I am falling behind, my competitive mindset immediately goes down the drain. Once this happens, I start that weird breathing thing. Once the breathing issue starts up, I start getting nervous and scared and I think that I'm going to pass out. This whole process makes me feel like I am not going to be able to finish the race, or at least finish it without passing out first. For these reasons, racing in track is not what I would call enjoyable.
  2. I want a new experience--my parents don't seem to believe me, but I really want to get involved with some sort of community service and/or get a part-time job. It scares me to think of going into college without any job experience (other than babysitting…but babysitting isn't a steady job, and is way different that working for an actual company or business). On top of that, I need to make my own money. I can't just keep using my parents' money forever, can I? 
  3. I LOVE running with my team mates… they are my family--This is what makes this hard for me. I love running with my friends. They are so much fun. However, things have gotten really competitive and now, many of times, the girls on the long distance track team have to run with the guys… Let me just give you a little explanation on how hard that is: Guys mile times are usually around 5:00 minutes or below in high school. Girl's mile times are around 6:10-5:45. These are the racing times. Guys run and practice much faster than girls. By training so much with the guys, even on easy runs (which, with the guys, are NOT easy--I can't even hold a conversation--which is a criteria for my coach's definition of an easy run) I feel that I get more and more exhausted, and my overall performance rate and enjoyment of the sport decreases.
  4. Disappointing people--If I did not do track, I know that I'd highly disappoint my parents and my coach. Being a 2-year variety track athlete for my high school is definitely something that I am proud of. For this reason, it is really difficult for me to decide what to do. I don't think that the idea of me being on varsity should determine wether or not I do a sport. I understand that I should use my talent to the best of my ability, but what if I don't enjoy the sport? The confusing thing is, I love cross country. Everything about it is enjoyable. I am excited for the races, the practices, the camps, and the team meals. I don't feel the same way about track. 

So, what do you think I should do, and why? I'm in such a pickle! 

Junior year is definitely as stressful as it was made out to be, and I don't want my grades to slip. I just want to be the best I can be and give myself the best experiences. I know that doing a sport is important, which is why I plan to do cross country for my fourth year in a row this coming fall. However, is quitting a sport a bad thing if you're on varsity if you really don't enjoy it? (Or, if you used to  enjoy it, but have gotten so nervous about it that you can't appreciate the fun in it anymore)

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