I stepped out of my car and joined a team that would become a family. I thought they were crazy, and I was right, but I became one of them.28 bibs, 112 safety pins, a few medals and awards, dozens of pairs of shoes, thousands of miles, and many a come and go of familiar faces brings me here, four years later, at the end of my journey through high school cross country.My thought process going in was, hey! I get good times on the mile at Townsend, I should do cross country in high school! And so it began. I became accustomed to the closeness, the family-like quality to cross country. I got close to my teammates, and learned things about life that I think have shaped me into who I am now. I ran myself into the ground, quite literally, many a time, and I got up and did it again. For four years, I've been picking myself up off the ground and running all over southern California with my closest friends and faux family, cracking jokes, and learning things. The actual running is only a small part of the dynamic that kept me in the vicious cycle that is the sport. And when it comes down to it, that dynamic is almost something that can't be described in just one way. It's different for every single person, and great in each and every respect. I've met some of the most amazing people I know on this team, and I've learned some of the most important things about life and working as a team.
My point is that my seasons have come to a close, and it's the weirdest thing to think about. Today was my last high school cross country race ever. Last Saturday was the last race I would ever run with my girls. I still feel like I should be a freshman, and I still feel like I'll be coming back next year, to continue what has ultimately been my life for the past four years, but I'm not. I don't think it'll actually hit for a while, as most things of this sort, and until then I'll be in a sort of limbo.
The funny thing is that I always ask myself why the hell I joined, and why the hell I kept running through everything, but really, I sure as hell wouldn't give any of it up for the world.
