I'm not a runner

As I reflected over my last blog post, I was constantly reminded of something in the later added image. The image of an individual holding up a poster where the last line reads, "Live your dream and share your passion." What really resonated with me was "share your passion." So here it goes, I want to share with you my love of running.

I have never considered myself a runner. My high school physical education teacher spent several months asking me to consider joining the track team, I said "I'll think about" every time. I could tell he thought I had potential and I just did not have it in me to tell him "no."

Flash forward about four years later to my junior year of college, when I started interval running. I quickly learned it was the best way to figure out what was going on in my life. Running became my way of thinking, running outdoors gave me the room to think.

I've always considered myself a thinker. I over analyze everything, from what clothes I wear to how I send a text message. It's ridiculous, but running gives me the room to think and somehow the room to realize there is much more to life than thinking.

After years of not having new year's resolutions, I woke up at the beginning of January one morning and announced that I would like to run a half marathon this year. Well September has rolled around, it is still 90 degrees outside and I find the end of the year fast approaching without a half marathon completed.

But fear not, I have paid my registration fee for one in December and I'm still running. So how I am still running, loving it more than I have in a long time and ready for so much more?

So much of my training is figuring out where my limits are, how to expand them and to use the resources I have closest to me. I contacted a friend of mine who runs marathons to see how he trains, he directed me towards a website and from there I found the training program that fits me best. Texas summers came and I switched to treadmills and began training as if I was running a full marathon, in order to make for the difference between treadmill and outdoor running.

September 13 rolled around - my ultimatum date, start running outside no matter what. I got up about an hour earlier, ate my breakfast, tied my shoes and went out to pound some pavement for 3 miles. Okay, the pounding was not for all three miles, it was more of half a mile I pounded and the rest I sped  walked. Finishing right at my goal time, it appeared as though running on the treadmill had not hurt me as much as I thought it might.

Today, marks the beginning of my second week outside, there was a bit of rain as I began running, but before long, the sun was out and the trail of full of runners, bikers and strollers. Four miles down today and I'm ready for some more.

But there is more to running than just running. I am beginning to learn the value of cross training and stretching. I have always had trouble with the whole stretching routine, but seems to be getting better. During my Jesuit Volunteer year, I began practicing yoga about once a week and have a carried my practice back to Dallas. Beginning my Saturdays with yoga, is a wonderful way to have a relaxing weekend, but also to stretch in preparation for my long run.  

Yoga also helps me to learn to focus on my breathing and just how much pressure my body can handle. So much of one's yoga practice is listening to what your body needs to feel better, to challenge itself and to enjoy life. This is accomplished through deep breathing and by paying attention to your muscles and joints. I take this philosophy to my running and it makes for a much more enjoyable expierence.

Following my yoga class, I bike, either stationary or on the Katy Trail for about half an hour. So much of working towards any athletic goal is working all the muscles in your body so they are there to support the muscles that experience the brunt of the force.

I find because running provides me with thinking time, I prefer to run by myself - at least for now. However I make certain to remind myself, that without the presence of others I would not be able to do run nearly as well as I am. This lesson is a wonderful way to start out each day, remembering that even though we are each our own individual people it is within groups that we make the most change.

Badger Call for Change

There is a part of growing up that is sad; the part where you realize what you remember as once was, is no longer that way. As an alum, who will openly admit my fond memories of Spring Hill are probably sugar coated, I love Spring Hill with my whole heart and hold it dear to me. The memories that flood my mind are of wonderful people, who stood tall with pride, with hope and with respect for their friends, for themselves and for their fellow Badgers.

But where my respect is lost is when I walked down my dorm hallway to find chairs thrown everywhere, fire extinguishers extinguished and holes in walls. I know this is not some badger right of passage and therefore not all students are taking part in the fun. I am not asking for hall monitors to bring back flashbacks of Middle School or episodes of Even Stevens (for those of us whose schools was too small for hall monitors); but what flame I am trying to ignite is one of change.

I could go on for hours with Gandhi’s, “Be the change you want to see in the world,” or Martin Luther King quotes about how change must begin within before you can demand it from others; but that would be boring and less than helpful. What I am most tempted to do, is go into a “back when I was badger” story; but maybe that will help explain my frustrations.

I used to leave my door to my dorm wide open, not a problem in the world. I would walk around campus at 3 a.m. due to insomnia and be fine, no fear of attacks by visitors or by students. Honestly, it was some what normal to see sober students walking around at 3 a.m. enjoying all that is Spring Hill. There was a mentality that nothing could happen to you on campus and sleeping through the night was not abnormal because the music would stop playing, the fire alarm did not sound and students respected each other. But it appears as though that maybe changing.

I picked Spring Hill as my home of four years for many reasons; but I graduated loving it for many more reasons. I graduated from a small high school and loved knowing who my teachers were, I desperately wanted that same feel in college. Stumbling upon Spring Hill, I knew I found home after a weekend visit to the Hill. I love that feel, I knew everyone and everyone at least pretended to know me.

But Spring Hill is also a funny place because as a student, it is hard to fully appreciate it until the status of Alum is gained. During a student’s time at Spring Hill, their heart is usually torn in two, half loving the Hill and the other half frustrated by parking tickets, homework piles and mass e-mails; but there is a turning point. For some it is the moment of the looming real world, the walk down the Avenue of Oaks or the visit months after graduation when you begin to truly love Spring Hill.

The respect you once had for your fellow classmates and badgers finds its place again, you realize Spring Hill will always have a special place in your heart, you realize what it means to be Jesuit educated, to live with Service for Others and to fight for what is right.

I did a year in the Jesuit Volunteer Corps (JVC) and so much of that year was focused on respect, service, social justice and belief; so I hope the ways I have grown and matured are not just because of JVC, but also because of Spring Hill.

I hope it does not take an other drastic event on campus to make Spring Hill students aware that  change can be created. Certainly there are times when it feels like no one is on your side, shoot I’ve been there; but I survived and I made change for the people behind me. There is something to Gahdi’s quote and to my new rule in life - Don’t complain if you aren’t willing to consider the other options or changes.

When St. Ignatius of Loyola, founder of the Jesuit order bid his Jesuits farewell before they left on their mission work, he told them, “Go, set the world on fire and in flame.” I tell you this, so you know there comes a time when change is necessary, that time maybe now and that change has to come from within yourself, it must be within reason and it must begin and take off.

Life is terribly complicated, but only because we insist on making it that way, so let’s simplify it - Do what you love and change what you do not. So if you are no longer happy with how things are at Spring Hill - stand up and do something about it. Don’t blame the administration; but instead recognize their jobs; make changes when you see something you do not think is right, whether that is messy common areas, a drink spilt in the hallway or something bigger. This is your campus and your life.