STRENGTH IN TIME

"Great works are performed not by strength but by perseverance."

~ Samuel Johnson

A couple weeks ago, I watched as one of my senior runners ran a lifetime PR in the mile at an indoor meet.  As a coach, it's so incredibly rewarding to watch your athletes succeed.  But this performance really resonated with me and I’ve been thinking about it a lot.  Kesinia has been a good runner since I’ve known her.  And over the past four years, she has improved a ton.  But it has not come easily for her.  In 9th grade, she started off incredibly strong; running PRs in every distance and winning races easily.  But over the next couple years, even though she continued to run fairly well, she wasn't seeing the improvement that she expected given the amount of work she was doing.  Throughout each season, for every small step forward, she would take a few steps back and times that used to come easily for her were harder to reach and more often than not, didn't happen at all.  For so many athletes, myself included, when they have these long stretches of training where the work is being done but there is no change or the change is negative, they often stop to think about whether it's really worth it.  It's hard to stay after something day after day and not get the results you're hoping for, particularly when you may have had them in the past.  High school runners, girls in particular, often struggle to hit a steady groove and find themselves stuck or falling back when they feel they should be getting faster.  It's tough and a lot of them can't deal with it.  Some, like Kesinia, continue to fight through despite the lack of progress.  But so many others find themselves wanting to quit.  Kesinia’s story is so poignant because it shows that, regardless of where you are when you start, things will inevitably change and, despite your efforts, it may not go the way you want it to.  But, if you are willing to trust the process, to be patient, to do the work and to believe that progress is being made even when you're not seeing the results, then the pieces will eventually fall into place and that breakthrough will undoubtedly happen.  I reached out to Kesinia to see if she’d be willing to work with me on this post.  I wanted her to share her running story with others who may be in a similar boat or know someone who is.  Because it's never easy.  But in the end, as you'll see here, the fight for something you love it always worth it in the end.

As I mentioned, Kesinia is a senior at Lexington High School.  She has run cross country, indoor and outdoor track every year since 9th grade.  Which means she is currently finishing up her 11th season as a runner at LHS.  ELEVEN!!!  That alone is remarkable.  I'm not exaggerating when I tell you that she has been nose to the grindstone since her first day of XC.  When she started as freshman, she was already really good; easily making it into the top 10 on our XC  team and constantly scoring on the track.  She won the freshmen XC race of the Bay State Invitational and ran a personal best of 19:40 in the 5K, a time that she would not break until three years later.  She also handily won the freshmen race of the Middlesex League meet.  Indoor track was a fairly good season with consistent miles in the low 5:40s.  Not her best, but not far off.  Then spring track was another solid season with a 2 mile PR of 11:46, a time that, again, she would not break for 3 years.  This, however, was exactly the breakthrough she expected to have as she began her high school career.  Of course, she also expected it to continue on like this and that's where things went differently.  Sophomore year of XC she was part of our top 10 crew again, an incredible group of women that ended up winning the EMASS Divisional Meet and the MA State meet for the first time in 15 years.

There was nothing to be ashamed of, as she had several decent races.  But, despite her work, she was seeing no major improvements.  Her times were solid but she began to plateau and she did not break 20:00 in the 5k at all that year. “I was so excited that we as a team had accomplished so much together and blown past everyone’s expectations but I couldn’t help but feel disappointed in myself for a less than stellar season timewise, especially following my amazing freshman year.”  Her indoor season was especially frustrating for her.  Her fastest mile was a 5:48, which was not great compared to the 5:34 she had run two years before in 8th grade.  She still ran strong and scored for her team but her times weren't improving despite the amount of time she was putting in to her training.  Things weren't clicking and she never really felt great, like the runner she knew she was.  Not that it stopped her from sticking with it and continuing to push.  Outdoor her sophomore year was more of the same.  Her times were "fine" but she saw no major jumps in performance.  She was not able to break 12 minutes in the 2 mile, something she'd done easily just the year before.   And she was not happy about it.  Though I will say, in general, she was pretty happy most of the time.

During her junior year of XC things began to shake out a bit.  She wasn't necessarily crushing it, but she was chipping away at those old freshman year times and she could feel herself getting closer to where she knew she should be.  Indoor and spring were much of the same.  No huge gains per se, but some good races and times.  Not to say that she wasn't frustrated.  She was.  But, unlike the year before, she finally wasn't stuck or sliding back and just having that to grip onto was enough to keep her fired up and willing to work.  Finally, at the end of her junior spring, she had that small breakthrough that we'd been hoping for.  I say small because she didn't run a PR, but she did break 12 in the two mile which she hadn't done since 9th grade and was starting to wonder if it would ever happen again.  Both of us were thrilled, not about the time, but about the fact that things were clearly on an upswing for her and I know we both sensed that things were about to change.

Which brings us to this past fall.  Senior year.  She'd logged hundreds of miles, done tons of workouts, run race after race after race for two years straight and right from the get go her grit, patience and determination finally began to pay off.  Her XC season started so strong.  Unlike years past, she easily broke the 20 minute barrier at the start of her season.  Then, at the Middlesex League meet she flew, literally, running a 19:18 5K, a time that she hadn't thought within reach for years and a massive PR.  Finally the breakthrough had happened.  "I have never been so happy as after that race at Middlesex League meet.  Our teammate, Danna, came sprinting up to us with a huge smile on her face as she told us that all three of us had PR'ed. I have never felt so excited for myself and my teammates and we were all ecstatic and hugging each other and yelling.  I had finally broken my freshman year PR after 3 years of hard work and so much frustration.”  As she moved on to indoor track, the momentum kept building.  Due to several girls going away during the vacation weeks, her coach had her doubling in the mile and the 2 mile which is a big ask for any athlete but especially for Kesinia who still wasn't sure what her body was capable of based on past seasons. “This indoor season I finally got back my love for the sport.  For various reasons, including a stressful personal life, I began to look forward to practice and I could not wait to get on the track and forget about everything else that was bothering me.  Workouts went well and I was not bothered by the shin splints and fatigue of previous indoor seasons.”  Her work ethic and positive attitude paid off and this season she had her most successful indoor season ever.

And now we're back to the beginning of my post.  As I mentioned, I got to watch as she ran a huge PR of 5:19 in the mile at the Middlesex League.  After that, she came back and ran the 2 mile, coming in under 12 minutes and scoring for her team.  A feat that is truly remarkable considering she had already PRed, and therefore worn herself out, in the mile just hours before.  A week later, she closed out her indoor season with a solid 5:20 in the mile.  But the true surprise came when, she doubled back again and ran an 11:46 in the 2 mile just hours after crushing her mile.  “After my success in indoor track this winter, I am super excited for my outdoor season.  I'm on the verge of a something big in the 2 mile, I can just feel it.  I now know I can break 12:00 easily.  I just need to race on fresh legs and I have not doubt that I will finally crush my PR.  I will definitely say that over the years I have felt frustrated and tired to the point of tears, especially after races that I expected to go really well that fell flat.  But I never doubted what I was doing.  I never even thought about quitting.  Both the physical workouts and the support of teammates from running have become so crucial in my life that stopping was not even an option.  Not getting the results you want is hard and it definitely temporarily took the joy out of running for me, especially that sophomore indoor season.  But sticking with it and pushing through plateaus is what makes you mentally stronger.  And I know that is why I've had such a great year.  Coming up on my last indoor season I am sad because it’s my last one but I look forward to pushing myself and my teammates to be our best."  Bottom line here, if you build it, no matter how it's built, it will come.  Always push through.  Thanks, Kesinia.  Go get it this spring. Can't wait to watch you fly.

Listen to this:
Grow - Conan Gray