Zero to hero: becoming an NCAA runner with ZERO experience

I frequently get asked about my background and running and, to be honest, how it exactly happened. So, I’m beginning a little series: Zero to hero, to recap my journey as a runner, and all the road bumps in between. This first post covers how I initially got involved in competitive running while being a beach volleyball player.

I never was a runner.

Since about the age of about 11, I was constantly labeled as “overweight” when doing state fitness testing. As a middle schooler, I would get home from school and eat potato chips while watching TV for hours.

I would fake sick on running days in PE, and during most Jog-A-thons, I would walk. I wasn’t a sporty kid, and by no means, the type of kid they thought would be an athlete– much less a runner.

Once again, I never was a runner.

Actually, quick pause. For exactly two days, the summer after my freshman year of high school, I ran with my high school’s cross country team. I had no intentions of joining the team, but I was bored and wanted to hang out with my good friend, Nicole. So, for the record, for two days, I was a runner.

The summer passed, I went back to playing volleyball, and eventually became an elite prep athlete in both indoor and beach volleyball, and took a scholarship to play Division II beach volleyball in Alabama. But beach volleyball is a new sport in the NCAA, so as a Division II athlete, I had to play schools like LSU, South Carolina, Florida State, Tulane, and very little Division II schools.

Painful right?

Imagine playing beach volleyball, with partners that were new to beach volleyball, and having to play 6’4″ national championship contenders. Some games felt like near death experiences, others were downright embarrassing. I went from being a CIF Champion, playing for the top clubs, top coaches, having the best strength and conditioning coaches in the game to playing for a newer beach program, with mainly indoor players, grad student strength coaches, all in a small school in the south.

I was playing a different ball game than I was used to, at a school I didn’t like, and it sucked!

So you’re probably thinking, yeah that’s shitty and all but what does it have to do with running?

Beginning running

To put it simply, the more frustrated I was with volleyball, the more often I ran.

I had a terrible coach in high school, where after each practice, I would be so frustrated, I would go on runs. Running was the place where I could escape from all the frustrations a high schooler faced. There were no coaches, parents, friends– just me and my running shoes.

But back then, I had no clue really how to be a distance runner. All I knew was an out and back two mile run, and that was considered my long run for the week.

So I kept up with these short little runs into college, where my pseudo (uncertified) strength coaches would discourage me from running, as it would prevent the development on my fast twitch muscle fibers (not true, even if so, it is too little of an amount to make a difference). To avoid all the scrutiny from strength coaches and escape from campus for a bit, I would run at night. Until I became friends with Lo.

Meeting Lo

Lo ended up becoming my best friend at my (now previous) college, and also happened to be on the cross country team. We met in our freshman hall and became attached at the hip as we ate together, went to the library together, and eventually ran together. The cross country team didn’t have organized practices on Sunday, when they were supposed to do recovery runs, so Lauren would take me with her to keep her company.

At first the idea of running for 45 minutes at once was daunting to me. But there I was, keeping up with Lo as we talked about everything from boys to judging curb appeal. At first, these runs would have me feeling sore and weak, but as the weeks went on, I started setting out more and more of my days to run.

That’s when the idea hit me.

I went up to Lo and said, “hey, wouldn’t it be funny if I joined the cross country team?”

and she replied, “honestly, Coach would probably let you on the team.”

“Hey, wouldn’t it be funny if I joined the cross country team?”

-me

And the thought stuck with me. I kept thinking about becoming a real runner, and not just your average jogger. I started realizng how many of my other friends were on the cross country team, and how they were my people. My other sports team was different, they went out a whole lot more, and I never truly fit in. My friends on the cross country team went out too, but weren’t showing up to every practice hung over like my other team.

So I emailed the coach,

and didn’t get a response.

About a week later, I had accepted it. What coach would take me on a college team with NO experience? I figured it wasn’t meant to be. So I was on a walk on the beach with my friend Zoe, when I got a call from my beach volleyball coach.

Usually you don’t get a call from your coach unless you’re in trouble.

“So, I hear you were thinking about running cross country,” he started. I nervously explained the situation and how I felt like it would keep me busy during the off season and improve my performance on the beach, and after what seemed like an eternity, he responded:

“I understand, I won’t stop you from joining the team.”

“Thanks coach, however, Coach X never responded to me, so it probably won’t work out anyways,” I responded.

And then, on that sunny day in late April, I got some good news.

“Oh he’s fine having you on the team, he just wanted my permission first, have fun!”

And like that, I was an NCAA Division II Cross Country runner.

From that point on, I had to show my cross country coach that I was willing to do whatever it took to contribute to the team.

It was go time.

My next post in this series will cover “Go Time,” HINT: it has to do with playing CRAZY amounts of catch up during the summer so I wouldn’t die during my first season. Aside from the story of this wild summer, I plan on covering the technicalities behind progression in fitness and sports so stay tuned!