Who Let Me Run Track?

Alyssa Pendon

May 8

By the time I was in the seventh grade, COVID was behind us, and as a society, we could be “normal” again. That year, I had to get used to middle school and the way it actually ran, as well as the extracurriculars that came with it. I got into multiple clubs, and by the time spring season came around, there were sign-ups to join the track team. I was excited! I wasn’t necessarily a “sports” person, as I hated soccer and hated the park district karate classes even more. But I genuinely thought I was pretty fast. So that same year, I decided to run track. I mean, virtually everyone in the school who wasn’t already busy also decided to run track with me. So I started showing up to track practice. I realized I wasn’t really as fast as I thought I was. I had run a 17-second 100, but I was fast enough to be able to have a decent spot on the team. I mean, for one, I was running at least two events per meet, and I had a solid standing on the team. Though as we were “training” (which I’ve learned wasn’t the best training) through each practice, I realized I wasn’t the sprinter I thought I was. I was more of a middle-distance runner. If you don’t know anything about track, a sprinter typically runs 100 or 200 meters, while middle distance runners run about 400 or 800 meters. Now, somehow, I became the runner who just ran 400s. If you know anything about track, the 400’ is considered one of the hardest but also grueling events you could even run. I never actually cared to run anything else because I figured if the coach could put me in any event, they would, but they wanted me to run 400s. So that year, they stuck me running 400s, and eventually I was able to run at the sectional meet for the 400! Admittedly, I have no idea how I ran that day, but I just knew 400s were my thing..

So, as the track season ended, I had to prepare for what I was going to do in the summer. My coach sent a list of running summer camps that kids could attend at feeder high schools. Now, the high school I was bound to go to didn’t have the right age group for me to run, but I knew I wanted to get better and train during the summer. So I decided I would just sign up for my high school’s sister-school summer running camp. I didn't know what to expect from this running camp. Though I did expect it to be a track camp. I wasn’t able to attend the first few days of the camp as I was with my grandmother and my parents were on vacation. Though when I arrived at the camp, I was scared out of my mind. When I entered the track on a bright, early morning on Day Three of camp, the coach signalled me with his two fingers to come over. He was squinting at me like I had three eyes, and I was scared to death. He asked me who I was and eventually dismissed me, but I was so scared. Once practice started, we ran an 800m warm-up. That almost took me out, but I powered through it. Though when we transitioned to our main item of the day, I realized my first day of summer running was the day of the mile trial. I had never run more than 400 meters consecutively before that day. To say I was confused and scared was an understatement, but I put my all into that time trial and ended up walking a little bit, even though I was severely embarrassed. By the time I was done, this was the only time I have ever felt like I genuinely needed to throw up in my life. But safe to say I didn’t! Though all of this hellish first day of summer running, I had found a friend. An 8th grader I knew from school! Throughout that summer, we bonded, and eventually, I started to talk to the other girls at camp. In all honesty, I felt left out most of the time, as most of the other girls were going into high school or were already in high school. Plus, I wasn’t even going to that high school, which just made everything weird. But by just showing up to practice every day, I came to realize I can run longer distances. I mean, I could run three miles now!

So with the preparation for summer running, I decided to join my school's cross country team for my 8th grade year. Now, this blog is about track, not cross country, so I’ll be brief. But cross country made me realize I like to run long distances. Even though it can be tiring, I have realized I can do it and can make so many memories through it.

As I entered my track season in my 8th grade year, I still ran some 400s, but I felt so unhappy with it. After running longer distances all through the summer and fall, it made me realize that I just wasn't happy running 400s anymore. I had races where I felt so slow because I wasn’t properly training enough, as I was more involved with my school musical than track. So I eventually made the switch to run the mile instead of the 400. I was happier! Even though other girls were faster than me, I didn’t care because I just liked running that longer distance. So I kept pushing and even ran the mile at sectionals. Though even though I was happier running the mile, I was unhappy with track in general. I had friends on the team, but since I spent so much time working on the school musical, I felt more loyalty to them. And everyone else had found their groups, and I wasn’t a part of that. So I remembered the end-of-the-year party feeling so lost and unhappy with my track season. I didn’t feel like I was being celebrated.

But I entered summer, now at my high school, ready to run. And I felt better! I won’t go into too much detail, but that summer pushed me to become a better runner and become more in shape. And as we headed into cross country season, that team in my freshman year was the best introduction into high school I could ever ask for. Though, during that season, I was a tiny bit unhappy as I felt so slow compared to everyone else. It didn’t help that my team at that school was smaller. But I pushed through, and ending cross country felt like a relief.

But sooner than I knew it, it would be track season. In high school, track is one huge season with indoor and outdoor! So I started track with my cross country friends, and my freshman season brought my love for track again. Though I would complain about the track frequently, I enjoyed the actual sport better in high school, partially because I didn't have two big commitments that outweighed each other every day. I got close with other people who weren't distance runners, and overall, really enjoyed it. However, as I was still running longer distances (the 800 and the mile), I was feeling some dissatisfaction with my races. I still felt so slow. I was making progress in both events, but felt like I wasn’t making progress enough. So running felt like a chore sometimes, but I still really enjoyed my track team and my freshman season.

The cycle began again with summer running and cross country, which I started to enjoy, even though I still felt so slow. And eventually, I was out injured for a whole month because I overused my arches and I found out I have flat feet. Although I was glad for the break in running, I didn’t progress as much as I wanted to. I didn't even beat my PR from freshman year. But, with the addition of many new people onto our cross country team, I felt the fun and team atmosphere, even if I didn’t run.

We had track pre-season practices in the winter, so that helped me regain some of my lost strength going back into track season. However, I was still feeling those lingering feelings of being slow and not good enough while running distance. But I felt like we didn’t have as many meets as usual, and I was still cruising with my events, so I didn’t complain. Until one meet, where I had already completed my two events and was feeling relieved from that stress. I heard whispers of a team needing one more person. Since I was done, I decided to go around talking to people, asking what was happening. One of my friends came to me and said that our 4x4 team (undeniably one of our best relay teams) needed an extra person. Remember how I said the 400 is one of the most grueling events to run on track? Yeah, now imagine trying to find four people to run it in a relay during the last event of the day. Most people certainly just don’t want to run it. But our normal girls were out sick, and we had already put in the alternates for the relay, so they just needed one more person. So I told my friend that I might run it, and she told me, “Okay, maybe you will.” After that interaction, I went on with my day. I had already started to eat and just relax. Until I noticed they needed one more person to run the 400, so I decided to volunteer myself to the sprinting coach that I would run the varsity 4x4. I typically run JV and only run Varsity when I need to. I realized what I had just done after five seconds and started to panic. But I accepted my fate. We were a ragtag group, as any 4x4 is. It was a distance runner, two girls who were alternates, and I, another distance runner. For sure, we knew we weren't going to do that amazing, but we decided that we'd make the best out of it since we had to. So even though I had a bunch of food in my stomach and had to race, I just said, “Welp, it is what it is.” And the race wasn't even bad! Even though I felt slow, I felt the adrenaline of running the 4x4, which is something I had never experienced. When the results came back, it looked like I had PRed from my time in middle school! So I felt excited that day. I’m not sure how it happened after this meet, but eventually my coach just started putting me in the 400, and I’ve been running it ever since that one early meet during indoor season. Admittedly, though, I’m still not that good at the 400. The fact that I’m even tolerating running an event I swore I would never run again amazes me every time. I don’t hate it THAT much, and I enjoy the progress I have made as a runner. We’ll see if I’ll run the 400 until the end of my track career The answer is probably yes.