Since my senior year of high school, running has helped me orient myself both physically and mentally. I ran my first half marathon the day after my 18th birthday and a week before graduation, perfect timing for the realization that this new habit was certain to become a fixture of my new adult life. Without a doubt it has, despite the vastly different terrain I’ve run on in the last two years of my life.
I moved from the Chicago suburbs to New York City for college, and then transferred to Virginia after my freshman year. NYC, an amazing place that I ultimately did love, initially made my 18-year-old head explode. Overwhelmed and nature-deprived, I forced myself to run every Tuesday, Thursday, and Sunday morning. The routine both helped me familiarize myself with Manhattan’s geography and soothed the thrumming anxiety brought on by thoughts of starting the entire college process over again.
And yet, I did it — I did everything again. I transferred to UVA, and I continued to use running as a way to compose myself amidst overwhelming feelings and new surroundings.
In the following paragraphs, I reflect on various meaningful runs over the past two years. Pulling specific dates and times from my oft-used MapMyRun running app, I rework the statistics collected under “further data” into my own interpretation of the important info: how I felt, where I am in my life now, and where I’m trying to go.
8.02mi Run: Sunday, Apr 23, 2023 at 9:50am
Central Park, Manhattan
further data: Perfect weather today! Running a half marathon back home in 3 weeks, so I’m upping the mileage on my weekend runs. Did the full 6 mile Central Park Loop, repeating for my last two miles in the south end of the park between 71st and 59th St. How I wish the NYU campus bordered Central Park and not Washington Square Park… but I guess it’s not a bad subway ride from my dorm. Still don’t understand how people can actually run on the New York City streets. Freshman year is almost over, and I’ve not tried that once — the city overwhelms me enough just walking around. I do hope there will be good places to run at whatever school I end up transferring to. Obviously that’s not the most important thing, I know, but it does really improve my mental health. Mom and I are going upstate to visit Vassar next weekend. I can’t really see myself at a school that small, but it will be good to spend time with her and get a break from the city. Plus, I haven’t even heard back from any schools yet, so I should definitely be keeping an open mind. And she loved running there when she was a student, so I’m sure she’ll take me on a great trail. Springtime running in Central Park is undeniably awesome though. Maybe there are some things about New York I’ll miss.
2.03mi Run: Friday, Jun 30, 2023 at 7:31am
Glencoe, Illinois
further data: Quick run to the lakefront and back. Don’t think I drank enough water, wasn’t feeling great. Still beautiful though, I never get tired of Lake Michigan. It’s crazy how much of a mind-based activity running is. The fact that a month ago I did 13.1 miles, without stopping, and I haven’t run more than 3 miles since then… Well, I’m definitely a bit lazy, but I’ve been busy, too. Working as a camp counselor is super fun, but it makes running in the morning difficult. And by the time I get home, I’m so drained that I need to lie in bed for an hour. I’ve been trying to do these short runs to the beach at least twice a week. I missed the water SO MUCH when I was in New York, and now that I’m transferring to UVA, I’m going to be genuinely landlocked for the first time in my life… scary! Well, not actually, but running in a place with actual elevation might be. When my parents and I visited back in May, my mom and I tried to do 10 miles for our last half marathon training goal, and I had to stop at 6. Guess I have to soak up my flatland Chicago suburbs while I can…
1.90mi Run: Sunday, Aug 20, 2023 at 9:07am
Charlottesville, Virginia
further data: First solo run in Charlottesville. Mom and Dad left yesterday after moving me into my new apartment. My do-over, take two, fresh start is fully here, and there’s no changing things around this time. I’ve felt more nervous these past few days than anticipated, and this run unfortunately made things worse. I have no idea what running here will be like. People have told me that certain areas close to my apartment are unsafe, so I only went one mile in the direction of school and then turned around. It’s very… overwhelming here, in a way I didn’t expect. Nothing like New York City, obviously. But there are so many hills, and it’s been ridiculously hot this past week. At NYU, my furthest walk to class was 7 minutes, and here it’s 25! Not that I mind walking — I love to walk. Charlottesville is just so much more spread out than both New York and home. The streets seem to overlap and layer on top of themselves here. It’s making me long for the nice, neat grid system of both Manhattan and Glencoe. In my head, I’m actually questioning whether I should have transferred to somewhere quieter, somewhere like Vassar. I know that no fresh start feels perfect immediately. But what if I made a huge mistake?
4.00mi Run: Tuesday, Oct 3, 2023 at Time Unspecified
Glencoe, Illinois
further data: GREAT run today. Mom and I took Iris on the Green Bay Trail for 5 miles! She’s such an energetic dog that we need at least a mile for her to get settled into the run, but once she does, it’s so fun! Mom has been running with her a lot more this fall, but this was my first time coming along. Didn’t bring my phone, so I had no clue what time we actually started and stopped, but that was really nice, actually. I could focus more on the nature surrounding us and the way my body felt. And it’s crazy, but I think I’m stronger now after over a month of running in crazy, twisty Charlottesville. I felt like I ran faster than normal. Still prefer Chicago’s flat trails, haha, but I think the Virginia hills are actually good for me!
7.09mi Run: Thursday, Mar 21, 2024 at 8:28am
Charlottesville, Virginia
further data: Seven miles! This is the longest I’ve run in Charlottesville. This Saturday, I’m running the Charlottesville Ten Miler race with my roommate Kylee. I’m excited, but also kind of nervous, because this semester has been really busy so far. I’ve probably committed myself to a little too much stuff in the name of “getting involved.” I’ve been sticking to my normal running schedule, but I haven’t blocked off enough time for long runs in order to properly train for this race. But this week, I just kind of woke up Monday and thought to myself, “okay, if I can run seven miles this week, I can run ten on Saturday.” Don’t know why I picked seven– more than halfway, I guess? And I did it! All around Carr’s Hill Field, which was nice and flat, and then I treated myself to Corner Juice after. Such a good run. Feeling great right now.
10.00mi Run: Saturday, Mar 23, 2024 at 7:15am
Charlottesville, Virginia
further data: TEN MILER WAS AWESOME. Oh em gee. Starting was crazy. Kylee and I had to get up SO early, and when we got to the starting point, it was not only dark outside, but pouring. Rain. It was so so painful. I wanted to go back to bed, it took so much mental strength to keep going. But, once we started, the rain cleared within like 40 minutes, and it was just so much fun. The course took us through beautiful parts of Charlottesville I had never seen before, and I was really proud of myself because I ran the whole time. Kylee and I even split up at parts — that was never how I ran races with my mom, but it was okay. I felt very mature running this by myself at certain times! Wow. I cannot wait to do it again next year.
3.11mi Run: Sunday, Sept 1, 2024 at 8:55am
Charlottesville, Virginia
further data: First run of third year. Did an easy 5k up to McCormick Road and back. I keep thinking about how this is my first time returning to a school since 2021. Things feel so different than at the beginning of last school year. Our new apartment is only a couple blocks away, but I like it so much more. UVA, and Charlottesville, feel smaller — in a familiar way. The heat used to freak me out, the hills used to freak me out, and today, I could’ve been running at home for how comfortable I felt. I can tell this is going to be a good year. Maybe it took me a little more time than most people, but I’m so happy to be at a school that I really, truly love!
