I survived my first season of indoor track mostly un-injured (I had shin splints again by the end), and only mildly terrified of the official who called me out on my first meet ever for not figuring out who he was pointing at for a particular heat. The friends that I had made that season mostly ran either hurdles or mid-distance, so I decided to give that a shot. Plus, I was much better at the 400m than the 50m, and the 400m was oddly considered mid-distance.
In the time between winter and spring track, my friend Jen and I went to the outdoor track a few times to practice running 3-miles, which was the "long run" for mid-distance runners. We made it. I also got new sneakers to "cure" my shin splints. One of our friends had told us about this brand of shoe called Saucony that marathoner runners wore. Ok. So on the next trip to Bob's I got a pair of Saucony sneakers. They were white and navy blue and yellow, and a size 7 because I totally grew in one season. At least, I figured it made sense to get a bigger shoe. Any time I got shoes previously, it was a bigger size than the ones I had been wearing. I LOVED these sneakers. I have no idea what type of Saucony sneakers they were, but they are still, to this day, one of my favorite pairs (at least in my mind).
During spring track, I ran the 300m hurdles, 400m, and triple jump. I got to go to the state relay meet for triple jump, which was super fun. Relay meets are still my favorite. Anyways, after spring track, I decided to run cross country in the fall instead of swimming. So, over the summer, I figured out a 3-mile loop from my house and ran that. The first time I ran over 3 miles was during "captains' practice", which started in the beginning of August. Coaches couldn't start coaching for real until the week before school, so the next season's captains organized practice. I distinctly remember the first 5-mile run that we did because we went by my cousins' house. I had (and still have) no sense of direction, but I knew that we drove that distance and it took a little while. I was super proud of myself when I got back to the school.
When I went to Bob's before cross country season started to get new shoes (I think my only saving grace with the shoe thing was that I replaced them fairly frequently), they had the same Saucony's that I loved in a half size up, which I clearly needed because I had clearly grown soooo much. Anyways, 7-1/2 is much closer to what I actually wear now, so I'm glad that I thought I was jack-and-the-bean-stock or something.
Cross country season started off well. It was way more relaxed than track. In races, you didn't sprint all out. When you finished, they gave you a popsicle stick with your finishing place on it. It was kind of weird. For most of our dual meets, we ran were on roads for somewhere between 2.7 and 3 miles. My first "for real" 5k race was an invitational held at Franklin Park. I had never raced in a race that big before. I made the mistake of starting off way too quickly so I could "get to the front", which I never even came close to seeing. I powered my way up a hill at a little before the halfway point, passed all of these people, and then got passed by all of them over the next mile. In a rally to the finish, I picked it up the last 100m. Turns out, that was not the finish. So, I tried around the next bend, which was also not the finish. By the actual finish, I had nothing. Anyways, I made a lot of mistakes that race, so I consequently learned a lot.
Later in the season, we had a dual meet against Wakefield. Their course was kind of weird. You started off running around the track, ran three (I think) loops around their school property, and finished on the track. On the second time around the 3rd trash barrel, I felt like I was gasping. I was getting passed by people who had never passed me. I couldn't go any faster. It was super frustrating. When I finished, someone heard me breathing and asked my mother if I had asthma. She said no, to which we were informed that there was a good chance that I might.
I did. It took me a few years to get my confidence back.
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