Me time

Today I ran four miles again. I love how the first mile is the hardest, and when I get to the two mile mark I basically forget that I am running. My breathing and pace settle, and my mind wanders with thoughts about responsibilities, emotions, and life in general. A little after getting two miles in my run, I always look at the tons of Political propaganda posters located in the stretch from Dove to Nolana. I noticed a man putting up a banner for one of the Congressman that are running in he election. I just ran by him, smiled, and waved as I usually do when I pass someone as I'm running. 

On my way back to Dove, I passed by the poster again and he was still there. I noticed that he said something, so I slowed down and removed my headphones. He started talking about some high school coach, assuming I was still in high school (he mentioned I looked really young, and it didn't help that I was wearing one of my old high school shirts). When I told him I went to college, he was really surprised, laughed, and wished me a good run. Running for me has always been something that I do to de-stress and is just the time where I have a lot of time to think. I call it "me time".

The man talking to me about high school made me think back to high school, and my coaches, and soccer, and track, and volleyball. I love sports and have so much fun doing them. A lot of times I wish that I would've taken them seriously in high school, so I could've had the opportunity to play something in college and maybe even professionally. I think of all the opportunities I had, and if I could go back I would do a lot of things differently. However, I realized I really did learn a lot from playing sports in high school. Now, I am able to do things more efficiently. I know little tricks that help me run faster, longer, and not get as tired. I also really enjoy playing volleyball and soccer, even if it is not at a very competitive level. I am grateful that my coaches stressed form, and technique. I remembered, my summer track coach made me sit in front of a mirror holding dumbbells in each hand to improve my running form. I never had the best form for anything really. My running start was always off, but I still managed to get qualifying times in varsity track. My overhand serve in volleyball was a little funky, but I was still able to get it over the net in 6th grade. My swing in tennis made the ball go really high, but I still managed to win the games. My point with all this, is that I feel like I had potential in many sports and if I worked on little things like bettering these details and I put more time into practicing, I could've gotten somewhere in these things. 

It makes me kind of sad and disappointed sometimes, but it helps me work hard and keep my head straight in the things I do today. So in some way, playing sports in high school taught me a lot of things. And that man, that happened to think I was in high school helped me remember and value the lessons life has taught me. This is what usually happens when I run. I take time to just evaluate my life. I take some me time.