For the love of your sport

After getting my blog critiqued, I realized that the way I talk about running and the struggles I have had to conquer through my process of healing is hard to understand to a person that has no interest in running or physical activitoes persay. So, to make this passion of mine more clear to others I will compare my interest to interests all of you may have.

I think I was born with this little gene inside me that gave me a bit of talent. Talent can only go so far. If you don't have the heart, your talent could become wasted. Heart is what keeps you going when you feel like your legs are burning off or your lungs cannot take much more. Heart brings you past your personal best time, and what gets you through the workouts that got you to that time. People always say to me that track is a crazy sport, Why would I enjoy running in circles over and over again? I never really inderstood how people conceived it that way because to me it is so much more. Each one of those laps gets me closer to winning for myself.

For a writer, you must have heart to keep writing that story even after multiple days and nights of writers block. You cannot be satisfied with that poem or short story until it is perfect. Sometimes it takes numerous re-writes and analyzing until you get this little trigger or idea and everything seems so clear, then you can not seem to put your pen down. When the product is perfect to you and you feel that there is nothing to make it better, how do you feel? Or for an artist when they write that perfect song or paint that unimaginable painting. In this moment you are proud of yourself. You feel complete, you can not stop smiling, you may get very emotional; many different feelings occur. When I finish that perfect race, knowing at that time I could give nothing more, I feel, well it is hard to explain. Nothing makes me more proud of myself then running a good workout or a great race. I know how much I love this sport because almost nothing else in this world makes me feel that happy or that upset. Nothing gets me more down or gives me such a high. Like musicians and artists, Track and Field is a one on one sport. There is no one else to look to and blame after defeat, or to lean on when you're tired and slacking off. You must find strength inside to pull past the pain, work through a tough couple days of writers block, or get past a really bad set at the show.

When I got hurt, it helped me realize how much track means to me and how happy it really makes me feel. When I am in shape and the practices that killed me at the beginning of the season, seem much more simple, I am happy and relaxed. Think of losing your hand if you are a musician or writer, or your voice if you are a singer. You would feel this emptiness, that nothing else could truly replace. You would try and find other things that give you that much joy, but you can't, because your heart is always there, looking for that thing it use to care so much

about.