Letters to the Average High Schooler by Margaret Forze

Author:Margaret Forze [Forze, Margaret]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781480888302
Publisher: Archway Publishing
Published: 2020-03-02T05:00:00+00:00

Dear Friend,

Although writing and music is the release of my soul, running is the release of my mind.

I know, I know, so cliché and therapist sounding, but just give me a second to express my love for this sport. If you find yourself annoyed, feel free to skip ahead, but just try to read a teensy-weensy bit.

So, if y’all didn’t already know, I am a cross-country runner. I know, running for fun? I must be nuts. Well, I am, but that’s not the point—and I’m already getting off track here.

I have been running since seventh grade. I started mainly to lose weight (it didn’t work, by the way, just because I’m way too slow, LOL) and to please my parents, so I just kind of chugged along with the team in seventh through tenth grade (because I absolutely adore the team). I did this until I reached eleventh grade.

Now, don’t get me wrong: there were many days and periods where I wanted to quit, especially in high school. Oftentimes I felt as though it was a chore to run and that I was only staying with it for the team. I still can’t believe I hung onto the high school team for that long. Can you believe that? For two years I dragged my butt to practice every day, putting all this pressure on myself to do so, solely to be a part of that team. I can’t even begin to describe to you guys the atmosphere those girls created—it’s nothing short of magnificent. Somehow I got lucky enough to be a part of a team of girls with strength, incredible willpower, and very big hearts. It is for them that I ran those years, because without them my heart would have suffered dearly.

However, when I reached the summer going into eleventh grade, I knew I had to step up my mileage if I wanted to go to cross-country camp. So, starting the second week out of school, I started using a workout schedule my coach had made for us runners looking to step it up.

At first I really hated it. Getting up early every morning and having to exercise during the summer? Yuk. It was annoying. But I did it with the reminder of how much fun I was going to have with my team at camp, until about a couple of months ago. I was at a normal practice on an average day with the cross-country fam when the girl I was running with said to me, “Ugh, I hate this. I don’t want to be here.”

Naturally, I went to agree with her, but when I opened my mouth, I couldn’t. I just couldn’t. Because for the first time in a long time, I didn’t feel like I was there against my will. I felt like I was there because I actually wanted to run. From then on running was no longer a chore—it was a way to escape. It was a way to escape my fears, my worries, and my pain and to escape the world around me, even if it was just for a couple of hours.

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