"The voice in your head that says you can't do this is a liar." – Unknown

Cross country is one of the most grueling sports someone could do. Not so much physical like football, soccer, or boxing, but cross country is a very mentally challenging sport to do. One of the most challenging parts of running is finding your head space and believing in yourself. Yes, cross country is physically challenging, due to all the running and injuries it causes, but without the right mentality, there is no physical part. 

To really understand running, there's a “pyramid” of the keys to help cooperate with running. There's body strength, mental strength, nutrition, pacing, and speed. Without the one, it affects the whole pyramid of running. The body is one of the things that first needs to be strengthened and trained. The core is one of the most important parts to running. Core muscles help with running by giving a reduced risk to injury. Leg muscles are self explanatory, but arm muscles are crucial and may come as a surprise to people. Arms and legs go hand in hand. When you walk, most people swing their arms to help leg movement.  It's like a puppet: if your arms move, your legs copy and mirror the action of the arm movement. That's why oftentimes you can see runners or Olympic athletes swing their arms or have arm muscles. If your legs get tired, move your arms more. It helps with slow, dead legs. Dropping or keeping your arms at a good placement helps you run faster.

Runners deal with side effects from running with their body and mind. The running leaves many body parts sore or injured: The knee, calves, hamstrings, and shin splints are the most common. Recovering from an injury can affect a runner even more than running physically does. Regaining the strength you used to have and the introduction to running again drains the runner. The runner starts at low mileage and can get frustrated they aren't where they used to be and feel tired. Physically, the changes on the body can lead runners to question what's happening. Cross country runners endure a lot of tasks and challenges to be a top finisher at a race and learn to pace themselves well.

"If you want to change your body, exercise. If you want to change your life, become a runner." - Anonymous

Running does leave you toned and fit, but in a different way than normal exercises or activities do. It changes your

entire physical appearance and your muscles. The body changes go all the way from legs and feet to arms and hands.

What happens once you start running, is the constant need for fuel. Eating enough calories is a challenge for some runners, either not knowing how much they need to eat or when they need to stop. There are different kinds of eaters, too. If you have a race, you need to fuel yourself immensely. Some athletes can eat the morning of a race, some can eat right before the gun goes off, and some people need to eat the night before because their stomach makes them feel sick and they physically cannot swallow food.

Pushing forward happens every time. The workouts are arduous: you're tired, not feeling it, or just completely out of it. But you push yourself, like putting powder in the keg just to explode on races and try to get a new personal record or medal. Pushing yourself in the mind goes both ways. It could push you not to run anymore, or it could push you to keep running and give more than you have until you collapse and can’t run anymore.

Running takes place everywhere. On the track, the road, a race course, hills, treadmill,  anywhere you can possibly run or where there's a running route, running is there. There is no set place where it exactly happens. It just comes to the point where you think “I have to run.” When you feel the “runner's high,” you feel invincible. Your mind fills with adrenaline and it just takes over everything. Running could be calm, peaceful, or it can suck. You do it because you want it. 

“I put in the effort, the time and I’m going to do everything I can to possibly be better than yesterday.” - Anonymous

You get the urge to push yourself on the course and the flow of thoughts just fly away. The want, desire, seeing other people tired and picking them off is your only thought process. It happens when you get into it. How it happens is your body shows the effects of running; you turn into a runner. Your mind takes care and your body approves of what you're doing. Your mind tells you to stop before you even need to.  It takes over the runner's life and all you do is run, train, and the cycle continues. One day without running is a set back of 3 runs. 

"I have fought the fight. I have run the race. I have kept the faith." - II Timothy 4:7