I run on my high school cross country team and I'm a junior. My freshman and sophmore years were both outstanding seasons i thought for my team. Sophmore year I medaled in three races and broke 19 min. for a 5k. But this year just has been god awful I never thought it would be this bad. Maybe its my lack of motivation by I love running! First race went alright and I thought i did really well. Then the second race was terrible I ran 24 minutes because i stopped several times to walk. WHICH I HAVE NEVER DONE BEFORE IN MY 4 YEARS OF RUNNING CROSS COUNTRY! Coach was so dissapointed and so were my parents even though they keep encouraging me. Then I stopped again in the next race and once again in ran 24 minutes. After the race I just totally broke down and cried my eyes out! This sport means so much to me but recently I don't seem to want to push myself anymore. I don't know whats wrong with me I don't know who I am anymore :(

You don't know who you are... cos you can't run like before?

:dozey:

Thats how i feel :\

Like with me and swimming. I eventually realized I had better things to do than petty competition with people who were more athletic than me and after almost quitting once and coming back eventually just broke it off at the end of the season. I'm so glad I did.

 

For a long while I had something of an identity crisis like you're having, though.

From my point of view, you worry and stress about running way too much. You're in high school...you should be concerned about other things, like not failing trig or chemistry? :P But if you're that concerned about your running, you have another whole off-season to work on it, figure out what's wrong and try harder for next year. :smiley:

This is confusing..

No people, I am not mocking. I'm genuinely confused.

Like with me and swimming. I eventually realized I had better things to do than petty competition with people who were more athletic than me and after almost quitting once and coming back eventually just broke it off at the end of the season. I'm so glad I did.

 

For a long while I had something of an identity crisis like you're having, though.

 

 

exactly i feel like i have some sort of identity crisis and it feels like total shit. I feel like i dont amount to shit and the team feels the same way when they see me stop and everyone even the parents of other runners talk behind my back.

Get mono, and then you'll have a reason when you go back and suck. <3

haha Tammi would know all about that. :P Going around kissing people to get out of cheerleading. :rolleyes3:

i hate myself for running like shit today its the worst feeling in the world right now, i feel so empty.

Maybe deep down you don't actually love it as much as you thought you did.

It's also possible you've been pushing yourself too hard.

I run myself, by the way, but mostly only recreationally nowadays.

I run everything from 10k up to the marathon distance.

maybe i have just grown tired of it and im growing out of it i guess. like i told my dad i just dont care anymore and he said were taking you to a doctor but they found nothing wrong.

Mark's actually so right here, well done.

 

At a certain point with most things in life you just get burned out and realize you want to move on with your life. I'm not saying you're necessarily at that point right now but absolutely don't rule it out; like I said I tried quitting swimming once and the months in between my almost quitting and when I really did quit were some of the worst months of my life. It's painful but you have to do a lot of debating with yourself about why you're really there and why you do it and what you love to do besides running, et cetera. It takes a lot of personal searching.

I used to be so good but now its hard to know what im doing right now after each race is a dissapointment coach gets more and more puzzled its like a slap in the face and the groin. I feel so depressed right now i just want someone to get me through this.

maybe i have just grown tired of it and im growing out of it i guess. like i told my dad i just dont care anymore and he said were taking you to a doctor but they found nothing wrong.

 

It's almost certainly psychological, not physical. Your mind's trying to tell you something.

I run purely for fun now. If I didn't enjoy it, I wouldn't do it anymore. Pure and simple.

 

I play tennis competitively now, and that has taken over from the competitive running.

Take a while off practice to contemplate what you really want to do. If you still want to run, absence makes the heart grow fonder. If you don't, you'll realize it and make the decision to just not come back.

I used to be so good but now its hard to know what im doing right now after each race is a dissapointment coach gets more and more puzzled its like a slap in the face and the groin. I feel so depressed right now i just want someone to get me through this.

 

From what you've been saying, I reckon you should quit and give something else a try.

that would break my parents hearts. I just hate to see them dissapointed I was so looking forward to this season. HIGH EXPECTATIONS! But now its just like what the hell am i doing? Its like im a totally different person and my parents don't believe it but i keep telling them that i just dont care. But I dont want to quit because quitting is for losers and I wanted to be something! I had dreams of being something!

Take a while off practice to contemplate what you really want to do. If you still want to run, absence makes the heart grow fonder. If you don't, you'll realize it and make the decision to just not come back.

 

Sound advice. I agree.

But I dont want to quit because quitting is for losers and I wanted to be something!

 

Do not get into that mindset. Quitting running doesn't make you a failure, at all. Quitting something you don't love anymore is generally the best and most mature thing to do. Focus your attention on something else, on something you actually like.

 

Particularly if you have something you want to focus energy on besides running, telling your parents you want to focus on that rather than running may go over better than you think; I don't know your parents though so I can't be sure.

But i love running :cry:

that would break my parents hearts. I just hate to see them dissapointed I was so looking forward to this season. HIGH EXPECTATIONS! But now its just like what the hell am i doing? Its like im a totally different person and my parents don't believe it but i keep telling them that i just dont care. But I dont want to quit because quitting is for losers and I wanted to be something! I had dreams of being something!

 

It's your life, not your parents'. Quitting isn't "for losers" if it's the correct decision.

If something is making you depressed, quitting is definitely the correct decision.

But i love running :cry:

 

Well, just make sure you do a lot of reflection before you decide to re-commit, or quit for that matter. For a long time I fooled myself into thinking that I still loved swimming even though I totally didn't... just think really hard about it. I'm not sure if you do or not, so don't jump to quit because of what anybody here's saying, just make sure you really think.

But i love running :cry:

 

Then continue to run for fun, without the pressure of competition.