Growing up, I wasn’t known as the athletic one in the family. I dabbled in field hockey a bit, but it never caught on for me (something about the whole aggressively-pushing-girls-out-of-my-way-to-get-a-ball thing just wasn’t it for me).

But one day, I decided I’d try out for spring track in middle school since my older sister did it. As excited as I was to try out for the track team, I was thrilled when I heard about the opportunity to train for the iconic 10-mile Broad Street Run here in Philadelphia.

Runners come from all over the world to run in this race and to run it fast. And I wanted to, too. The fact that the only running experience I had up until then was the mandatory mile in PE class was beside the point. I decided I was going to do it, and I was going to give it my all.

So, I trained hard and ran in my first-ever race that day. I even placed in my age group (not too shabby, if I say so myself)! And on that day, the fire within me for running was lit.

Now, I will say that, just like in life, not all stories have happy endings.

You see, once I arrived at school the next day, I learned that one of the teachers who mentored the running club, and me, had suddenly passed away.

I was heartbroken.

All I could think of was the last time that I saw him: Him running by me in the race, giving me a thumbs up, and encouraging me to keep going.

He made such a profound impact on me. So profound that I still think of him during important races to this day, reminding myself to live in the moment and enjoy every mile.

Since then, my running career has had all kinds of ups and downs. It’s also been chock-full of lessons (admittedly some harder to learn than others). Between injuries, some not-nice teammates, and lots of difficulties adjusting to change, my high school and college running seasons didn’t exactly go the way that I planned.

Thankfully, by the end of college, I caught my stride and left college stronger, mentally and physically, than when I came in (and I count that as a major win).

It took time to finally get healthy after some pesky injuries didn’t want to go away. But I am so grateful for all that I have learned throughout those difficult times in my running journey.

It has been far from perfect, but it has shaped me into the runner that I am today (and has taught me TONS).

I still have many running goals and dreams that I want to achieve one day.

Races I want to run.

Places I want to see.

Finish lines I want to cross.

I’m sure you can relate.