My college experience could have easily passed by without ever knowing you. The last thing that I thought I would become in college was a student-athlete. When I started college, running was purely recreational for me and entirely separate from my personal identity. Much to my amazement, I won a local half marathon and was soon after approached by my school’s track coach. When I met with Coach Steph midway through my sophomore year to discuss walking on the team, my head tried to convince me that it would be an immense time-suck from my rigorous academic curriculum, but my gut told me to try it out. Choosing to forge a relationship with you was without a doubt the best decision I ever made.
When I first started to know you, every race was a personal best and I didn’t impose any standards upon myself in terms of performance because you were so new to me. As a couple of seasons passed by, I started to have races that were more physically and mentally taxing than I had ever experienced before. My confidence started to crumble, and to be honest, I resented you for a while. The most important shift in mentality came after that, and I was able to hold onto you because of the incredible people you brought into my life.
You taught me, through the unconditional and unfaltering support of my coaches and teammates, that the mental hurdles I deemed insurmountable were nothing compared to the amount of faith they had in me to succeed. Diving into the relationships I formed on the team reignited my love for you and taught me that there were so many more ways to gain value from you besides winning races and breaking school records. Training runs at sunrise around Lake Hollingsworth with my teammates or with Coach Steph biking by my side are moments that make up the happiest time of my life. The strength and resilience you instilled in me completely changed the course of my life, and I thank you from the bottom of my heart for that.
I never thought that something so new to me could feel like it had always been a part of my life. I will always be indebted to you, and I thank my lucky stars every day for the people you brought me to and the moments of weightless joy you gave me. You were everything I could have asked for and so many miles more.