How It All Started...

Rewind to sophomore year of high school... Are we there yet?? (Yes, I was THAT child in the back seat growing up... "ARE WE THERE YET?"... 5-10 minutes later, which felt like FOREVER "HOW MUCH FURTHER?"...10 minutes later "I FEEL SICK!" ...my parents are real troopers for putting up with me on car trips growing up!) ... Okay total tangent sorry. I have a feeling I will have a lot of these throughout the entries, so get used to it!

Where were we? Oh yes, rewind to sophomore year when I had to make one of the hardest decisions that a high school student would ever have to make! (At least it was for me at that time in my life...you'll probably laugh when you read it. It was a big deal okay?)

I was pulled out of P.E. the first day of school, my freshman year because of my height.  No coach was going to let this 5'11" female just slide by and be in P.E. when she could be an EXCELLENT prospect for the KLEIN HIGH SCHOOL GIRLS BASKETBALL TEAM!  They put me into Athletics by day two, and I made the Freshman basketball team by the end of Week 1! Yes, I had played basketball before in elementary and middle school, but after 8th grade, I thought my basketball days were over and I was going to pursue what I loved... SINGING!  Throughout my two years of basketball in high school, I never considered myself a great player.  I was your average player that had a height advantage to MOST of the players. There were those seldom few GIANTS that knocked me on the floor and pushed me around like bullies on the court... but other than those selected few, I was queen of the court! They definitely used me as an intimidation factor, and that was pretty much all I was good for.  Every so often I would make a basket, but aim wasn't my best quality when it came to basketball (remember, INTIMIDATION!). I don't know why they always had me out on the court to start the game and jump for the ball. (Some one that is 5'0 could probably out-jump me... SERIOUSLY HOW DO THEY DO IT!?!? ... I even bought these shoes that make you run on your toes and build up your calves... no difference!)

So, basketball was a lot of fun, but more stressful than fun due to the many conflicts between practices and games, and choir events.  I was singing the national anthem at basketball, volleyball, softball games and swim meets. Oy vey!! I loved it~...minus that one time that I forgot the words (I WAS HAVING A REALLY REALLY BAD DAY) ... started over three times!! The entire crowd joined in and sang it with me by the third time!! Talk about embarrassing! I was very involved with choir, too.  I was a part of this prestigious (I liked to think so) group that met outside of school called Chamber Choir.  It was such an amazing experience and I even got to sing a solo in the Lincoln Center in New York City with the Chorale Choir. (I will save more stories about my choir days for another blog).

Where am I going with this? Oh yes... the hardest decision of my life:  Come end of sophomore year of high school and I am in my coaches office, balling my eyes out because I am pretty much told that I have to make a choice: Is it choir or is it basketball. (They never really laid it out like that, but implied it in MANY MANY ways.)  Although, the answer would seem obvious with my passion for music and singing, it was very difficult due to the bond I had developed with my basketball team, my competitive nature and love for sportsmanship activities, and my other passion for health and staying active!

Tick...tock...tick...tock! WHAT WAS I GOING TO DO!?!?

Decision made: Choir it is and I'm never looking back! ...Well, sort of. I missed my team so much.  It felt like they moved on without me, and I was quickly pushed out of the "circle" just with the snap of my fingers. Of course, they were always nice to me... but it was a hard adjustment not being with them every day.  I became a lot more involved with choir, and loved it. YES, you can say it, I am not ashamed... I was a Choir Nerd and dang proud!  But something was still lacking...

Starting my Junior year, I had this void that I needed to fill with basketball not being a part of my life anymore.  My dad recommended that I started running.  He always told me stories about him and his best friend growing up, GG (...names will be protected for other people's privacy) would run three times around Memorial Park then go grab a few beers at the Westcott Drive-In (or something like that... which is now Canyon Creek for those of you that know the area).  I had never run Memorial Park, but thought that would be a neat thing to do when I get older.

So began my love for running... My dad picked it up again with me (he had not run for years...) and we ran a mile every day starting my junior year! It was such a HUGE accomplishment! The feeling when I was done, was/is what drives me.  Once, one mile got easy, we increased our distance. I believe the furthest I had EVER run while I was in high school was seven miles.  It was a great bonding experience for my dad and me.  We grew a lot closer and both started/restarted our passion for running.  I remember that night that I finished seven miles (my dad and I would make up our own routes... before navigation watches existed... and would hop in the car after the run and track our distance with the car.  It was so much fun!). ...That feeling of accomplishment, was such an amazing feeling.  It was at THAT very moment I realized that my body could push itself much further/harder than my brain thought it could.  The body is MIGHTY and STRONG and at that very moment, I felt INDESTRUCTIBLE. Nothing could get in my way, and I wanted to see how far I could actually go... What would be my limit?? Do I even have limits...?