My First Cross Country Season 2023

I participated in my first cross-country running season this past fall. I had enjoyed track and was curious to experience cross-country.   I started running relatively late in my academic career, as I only began running track in the first week of March during my sophomore year.

I didn't enjoy it for the first two to three weeks because I didn't run throughout the summer. I had difficulty adjusting to the new season. At the start of the season, I would frequently get calf cramps in addition to severe knee pain. While trying to get over the aches, I rolled my ankle during a workout, which caused it to swell. The injury was minor—I missed only two days—but it was difficult for me to recover because of the persistent agony. Fortunately, as the first race drew near, my discomfort subsided. 

I ran varsity in my first race and clocked 21:19. Though I was not happy with my time, the coach thought it was a good first race and encouraged me to practice more. When competing in my first cross-country race, I had no idea that the sport had more strategy than trying for the best time. I would run with the freshmen and sophomores during the cross-country season instead of the upper-class students because if I kept up my hard effort, the coach would start forcing me to run with them. By the end of the year, I was in excellent form, and my time had continued to improve. 

A lot was riding in the Conference Championship, and the coach clarified that the top 14 athletes would advance to the Regionals. I felt good about myself and hopeful of making it to the Regionals. However, the race was held in appalling conditions - it was pouring heavily, the temperature was low, and the hills and grass were muddy and slick, making running difficult. Even though I ran one of my worst times of the season—19:55—I could still qualify for Regionals despite my mediocre performance. It was a proud moment for me in my first season. The coach conducted a “one-mile” and “two-mile” time trial towards the end of the year, and I smashed my track record for both. I beat my two-mile Personal Record (PR) by 41 seconds and my one-mile PR by 15 seconds. This season, we did not compete to the best of our skills as a team because of many injuries. I was pleasantly surprised and happy when I got recognition at the end-of-the-year award ceremony. I got two awards: 

Dupage Valley Conference (DVC) Academic All-Conference Award: This award is presented to Varsity athletes with outstanding athletic performance and excellence in academics(GPA 3 and above) 

Waubonsie Valley High School Varsity Athletic Award in Cross Country: This award is presented to Varsity athletes with outstanding athletic performance.

The season was fantastic, with a lot of learning. I am hoping for a successful track season in 2024.