Why I quit running

I've been thinking a lot lately about why I quit running when I was 18, when I loved it so much.

The simple answer is I ran in high school and didn't run in college. And didn't keep up with the sport.

But it's more complicated than that.

I ran my sophomore through senior year of high school. I loved it. Cross country and track were THE BEST PART OF HIGH SCHOOL FOR ME. I loved running, running fast, and all of my running friends.

I was competitive enough to win regionals and place in state. I knew I wasn't a scholarship athlete. (I wanted to be, but I never had the stellar races I thought I could have.)

When I won regional, my coach though he could get me a running scholarship to a smaller college. I wanted to go to a big school so I never considered.

I planned on walking on to a Division 1 track team where I was going for college. I had the workouts from the coach. I was emailing him my mileage. I was training. I had the dates of tryouts.

And then my dad lost his job and I lost health insurance. And my world changed.

I didn't go to track tryouts because without health insurance, I thought I couldn't compete. So I worked more hours so I could afford to go to college.

And at some point, I started running more. I got health insurance a few months later, and emailed the coach. I got a terse reply and they clearly weren't interested in me.

And that was that. I quit training like I was going to compete. And I quit being active.

I was going to college full-time and working 25-30 hours a week. I didn't run anymore. I wasn't actually active until I turned 30. I didn't do anything.

But that's how I quit running. I don't think I ever considered running on my own or doing races. Honestly, in college I was so busy, I wouldn't have had time.

I won't look back on this time with regret. I graduated college with no debt. I probably would have loved running with the team, but my life would be completely different. Maybe I saved myself some knee pain or injury. But I didn't run and maybe running found me later in life when I was ready.