Why I Run- My Parents

This fall we were en route to a cross country meet at Nebraska, and during the 8 hour trip I was feeling particularly reflective, so I decided to make a list of all the reasons that I run. All of them. In the end the list was 21 items long, and each one has its own unique story and emotions attached to it. Some are much more obvious than others, and some are much more important than others; the main point is that they are all reasons why I run. I have given hints before in some other posts about my love for running in quiet places and on gravel roads, but my inspirations lie in other places as well. For the next few posts I really want to focus in on what gives me internal motivation and why it allows me to enjoy what I do. Hopefully from this you can be encouraged to really take a look at the reasons that you do what you do. After all, what's really gonna matter in 50 years? I know I won't remember too many races from my college days when I'm 70 years old, and neither will most people. So what REALLY keeps you going? Because if it's success and dreams of victories then I got some news for you from an inexperienced 21-year-old: when you aren't winning anymore it's gonna get REAL boring. So the first one I want to focus on is my parents.

My parents have been there for so many of my races that it's not even worth my time trying to count them. I suppose it started back in 7th grade when I was struggling to place above the bottom 5 in middle school cross country races and not even doing track because I played baseball in the spring. They were at the meets. It continued through freshman year of high school when Luke and I were moving our way up through the JV ranks in cross country. They were there. Later in high school when I was ascending through varsity races and finally joining the track team my junior year, they were there. My senior year at all my meets in track and cross country- they were there. My dad even videotaped my races so I could watch them time and time and time and time again back at home until I had them memorized. It was so normal to see them at meets because the meets were always nearby.

Then college running came. Now our meets were in Minnesota, South Dakota, Iowa, Nebraska, Montana, Arizona, Oregon, Missouri, and all kinds of other places. Now I didn't get to see them at meets very often. No more videotaped races. Injuries didn't allow me to race when I did have a meet near home, and every time that happened I felt like I let them down- like they deserved to see me race after all I had done to get there.

This year during cross country was different. Because it was my senior year they were going to make it to every meet, and they did. They were at every single meet, and my dad even drove all the way to the regional meet in Illinois. Being able to race in front of them fresh and healthy was so amazing! Knowing that they had raised me and taken care of me, it is just hard to explain how much it meant to me to be able to- in a sense- give back.

Then during Christmas break, I learned that my parents were going to the conference indoor track meet to watch me race. The meet is in Flagstaff, Arizona. At the time of hearing this, I was injured, I had only once in college so far made it through indoor season healthy, so suddenly I had a real, tangible reason to make it to indoor conference: I was going to do it for my parents. This changed my whole racing mentality during this season, with the only thing mattering was if I could get a time into conference so I race for my parents, after all they had done for me, after all the meets they had been to, all of the investment in my running over the years, after all the time they've spent watching me run, after all the things they've said 'no' to just to worry about my running- it was the least I can do. What I've found is that racing for something other than myself is so rewarding.

I'll repeat that: what I've found is that racing for something other than myself is rewarding. I've discovered a passion for what I do like I've never had before because it has so much more meaning. It's not all about me and how well I can do, but rather how well I can do to give back something given to me. I am forever indebted to my parent's sacrifice, and being able to race at all in college is such a blessing, and now that I can sit back and say "This is for you Mom and Dad", it has meaning.

So this is for you Mom and Dad: you are one of the reasons I run and have discovered new passion for it.


P.S. Here's a treat for those of you who made it this far into the post: My mom told me this a couple years ago:
"...and I said that if somebody had told me during your junior year of high school that you would be running in Division 1, I would have laughed at them."
My dad's response: "Yup"