J Chom Summer Reflection

I began my summer on a slightly different note than my teammates. In the early June while runs were gradually getting longer for the others, I was enjoying my two weeks off from an extended track season. After a half month of recovery, I returned to see an extremely fit group of guys in much better shape than I was in. I was partially in disbelief; I have never once been so far behind in training throughout my three years of high school. I was mentally recharged, but fourteen days of non-running allowed me to gain a dad-bod at age 17. What bothered me the most was that unlike other times when I would quickly adapt to running again, this season I was still in pain after a week into training. If I was running by myself, there would have been no way I would have been able to continue. However, this year’s Running Phoenix was very exceptional. No longer would I be the only one pushing paces on runs, providing an unspoken motivation to get better every day. An attitude for success was spreading across the team, and it was infectious.

               As June crawled into July, we reached the dog days of the summer. As we rolled into the weeks, the flame of excitement waned. No longer were paces dropping into the 5’s during a recovery run. However, to consider us unmotivated would be completely incorrect. After weeks of long, tedious easy runs, it takes true mental fortitude to continue. Deep inside, every day all of us had a drive that couldn’t be put down. I doubt anyone is eager to do a fourteen mile long run. I’m sure there is maybe one guy that is, but then again there is maybe one guy that legitimately thinks boxers and basketball shorts are actually more comfortable to run in than running shorts. However, we went into these runs without complaint. Maybe it was an unspoken drive; perhaps we were hypnotized by James Sullivan all along. Whatever it was, we continued into the summer not looking back. The best part of this journey was that I was never alone. I could count on my fingers the times I ran by myself all summer. Last summer, I could count on my fingers the times I was running with more than two people. The atmosphere our team has had this summer has been incredible, and I truly am grateful to have my teammates there for me.

               It is difficult to get excited for running. It is time consuming, it is difficult, it requires you to either wear extremely short shorts and get mocked by the community or wear basketball shorts and be shunned by your teammates. For me however, I don’t get excited for it. I am not constantly pumping myself up by envisioning winning state. For me, I get through my runs by enjoying who I am around. If someone was to ask me what my favorite part of running was, I wouldn’t tell them crossing the finish line or crushing a workout. The best times for me are cooling down with the team, or playing recorder in the locker room, or even just having a conversation on the trail. Sure succeeding is a great feeling, but nothing can replace seeing a true look of terror in Mark’s face while he sees a bee during his strides.

 

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