Follow Nora Hubbell formerly of Mt Desert Island now at the University of Southern Maine as she blogs about her first collegiate indoor season. Hubbell has already found success at USM, being named the Little East Rookie of the Week after her first competition.
The past few weeks have been great for me, as they’ve served not only to remind of how much I love running, but also to solidify that love on a new level.
Running is hard, I’ve known that for a long time. However, I’ve noticed over the past couple weeks that,at least in my case, college running is on a new level. In high school, I’d feel tired after workouts and at the end of practices, but by the next morning I’d almost always feel fine again. Last spring I remember at most three occasions where I felt sore the day after a workout. College is different.
For the first week of practices I generally felt fine every day, but my days off are now usually two miles and some strides, instead of no running at all. I didn’t realize how much not having off days wears on me. The day before the BU Terrier Invite was my first full day off since I’d gotten to USM.
I’m not at all used to this. In high school, I always had one day off every week. If I thought something was bothering me, I’d talk to my coach and more often than not take a day off. I’ve never been injured beyond a sprained ankle, which has lead to paranoia and wariness, especially in respect to overtraining. Trusting the training plan and judgement of George, my new coach, has been one of the more difficult parts of my transition. At times it can be difficult for me to remember that he’s been doing this for a long time and that he has my best interests at heart, but I’m getting part at that piece.
Despite the fatigue I’ve been feeling the past couple weeks--which also resulted in some performances that were, at least from my perspective, a bit disappointing--George says that I’ve hit every workout so far, so I can’t claim to have been doing too badly.
The self-judgment aspect that I’ve come to know in high school has all but disappeared here as well. There’s no competition to say who had the worst race of the day. When people on the team are disappointed with how something went, they’ll say so, then move on. No one lingers or tries to garner sympathy, and at the same time, no one feels pressured to feel great about races they didn’t do well in. In my opinion, this is a refreshing change.
So far, the aspects of running that I disliked in high school have started to fall away, leaving behind them the reasons I love to run. I find it incredibly satisfying to finish a workout knowing that I worked hard; and to do that surrounded by people that are equally committed to running is just a bonus.
