D1 runner losing motivation

You either go one way or the other, drop back and give up or prioritise running, if you need motivation watch a Kobe documentary, develop a mamba mentality and work your way to beat Cheserek.

Who smokes these days?

0/10

read some posts on the 'quitting drinking' thread. a lot of guys regret getting into that in college and feel like they wasted their chance to run well.

You won't have this chance in your life ever again. don't look back with regrets.

At a loss wrote:

So im 18 years old and a freshman running for a middl of the road D1 school in the northeast. My prs are definitely nothing special and i am not here on a scholarship. Prs are 16:21, 4:30, 1:58, 53 and im way towards the back of the pack of freshman on our team so i do not feel prioritized whatsoever (not to say that i deserve to be).

However I am quickly losing motivation to continue training and i dread practice every single day

Attention OP and all children like him: D1 is not like grade school soccer where you all get a participation medal.

You are not D1 material. You are not motivated because you are not good enough. Time to move on.

I think you know this. Keep running (not on the team you are not good enough) for fitness and try some intramural sports. Don't drink too much and do drugs. Focus on academics.

While still in college, walking away from XC/Track can be quite liberating.

Came in with similar college stats as OP but ran for a mid tier D3 school in a very competitive conference. Got my butt kicked nearly every meet in track that first year. I still enjoyed practice but racing wasn't fun and it was hard juggling school, work, and training. So I almost walked away after my freshman year but I talked to my older brother who shared this sage advice,"You can quit and do whatever you want in college but you won't ever again have the opportunity to devote four straight years of training and find out what you can do." Glad I stayed with it and graduated with a few school records in both individual and relay events.

You can do the drinking and partying thing in or out of college. If your heart isn't into it then take a season off and reassess how you feel. Keep focusing on your grades and stop smoking. Best of luck.

You need to quit. You're not very good and you won't get better while drinking and smoking. Time to hang it up.

Iowa800, if OP was running D3 then maybe he should continue. D3 schools are stronger academically and there is a good balance between athletics and academics. At the D3 level athletics is a nice social outlet.

I have a son who runs D3 track/xc and it is a great experience for him. If he was at a D1 school I'd tell him not to run. To be honest he isn't good enough to run D1, and D1 takes a greater time commitment than D3.

I was a very good D1 runner. The OP is not D1 material. He should move on.

I think a lot of us get sick of running around this time of year. Indoor is winding down, and it sounds like you're not going to the conference meet. Outdoor is lots of travel from the NE, and not everyone gets to go. I've been there.

Still, if you want to make your life better, quit smoking and cut back drinking to only a few on weekends. Keep studying. Don't hang out with smokers, ever! That should apply to everyone.

Take the long view: think about how you'll feel if you stick with it, quit smoking, run a lot this summer and show up in August ready to post big improvements. If you think that would be great, there's hope. Your times are respectable. Otherwise, Delta rush is another option, and they don't despise smokers like we do.

PS, the smoking thing makes me think troll post, but give it the benefit of the doubt. And if you drank and smoked even a little in high school, then running was definitely NOT your priority.

Okay so clearly everyone seems to be in consensus however i am not sure why everyone has seemed to take my actions and decisions as a personal insult.

I disagree with most of you when u tell me to just quit. I am aware that I am never going to win any major races or run any amazing times but I am recovery from an 8 month medical treatment that caused permanent joint and muscular damage.

I guess i was hoping for more optimistic responses suggesting that i try to quit drinking and smoking instead of running. but i do really appreciate these responses

thank you for this response and i probably smoke once a month here in college so i really don't think thats a dig deal

Im fully capable of not smoking at all.

I do not even enjoy it that much

While you are clearly a better than average runner, you are not D1 material. That's just being honest.

If you want to compete then transfer to a D3 school. You can be one of the top runners there.

breaking: reality on letsrun wrote:

While you are clearly a better than average runner, you are not D1 material. That's just being honest.

If you want to compete then transfer to a D3 school. You can be one of the top runners there.

Here is the reality for you... you have absolutely no idea if he is D1 material or not. And that's just being honest.

The kid should sit down and decide what is really important to him... if running isn't quit... if running is get after it... but he sure as heck shouldn't listen to anything written here including this.

you really have no idea how much it meant to hear that. Im not entirely sure why I'm letting all this "he's not D1 material" shit getting to me.I know whats really important to me and I am capable of quitting bad habits

letsrun reality on breaking wrote:

breaking: reality on letsrun wrote:

While you are clearly a better than average runner, you are not D1 material. That's just being honest.

If you want to compete then transfer to a D3 school. You can be one of the top runners there.

Here is the reality for you... you have absolutely no idea if he is D1 material or not. And that's just being honest.

The kid should sit down and decide what is really important to him... if running isn't quit... if running is get after it... but he sure as heck shouldn't listen to anything written here including this.

At a loss wrote:

you really have no idea how much it meant to hear that. Im not entirely sure why I'm letting all this "he's not D1 material" shit getting to me.

I know whats really important to me and I am capable of quitting bad habits

Then quit the weed, dial back on the drinking, and run a ton of miles over the summer.

letsrun reality on breaking wrote:

Here is the reality for you... you have absolutely no idea if he is D1 material or not. And that's just being honest.

You are a despicable person for leading a kid on like that.

4:30 is not D1 material.

I have two kids who are better HS runners than the OP. My oldest has been to D3 nationals as a freshman. I tell my youngest, who is still in HS, to run D3 if that's where she ends up. If my youngest goes to a D1 school then she should remain physically active but it's time to move on.

Both my kids are targeting pre-med if that makes a difference. Academics is important.

Maybe the OP is a girl running 4:30. In that case my apologies.

At a loss wrote:

you really have no idea how much it meant to hear that. Im not entirely sure why I'm letting all this "he's not D1 material" shit getting to me.

I know whats really important to me and I am capable of quitting bad habits

letsrun reality on breaking wrote:

Here is the reality for you... you have absolutely no idea if he is D1 material or not. And that's just being honest.

The kid should sit down and decide what is really important to him... if running isn't quit... if running is get after it... but he sure as heck shouldn't listen to anything written here including this.

If you truly want advice the one thing you really need to consider, which is also written above, is you can only run really fast when you are young... and college is your best opportunity to do that. It has to be important to you though, if it's not, then you will not reach your potential, whatever that may be.

Good luck whatever you decide!

breaking: reality on letsrun wrote:

letsrun reality on breaking wrote:

Here is the reality for you... you have absolutely no idea if he is D1 material or not. And that's just being honest.

You are a despicable person for leading a kid on like that.

4:30 is not D1 material.

I have two kids who are better HS runners than the OP. My oldest has been to D3 nationals as a freshman. I tell my youngest, who is still in HS, to run D3 if that's where she ends up. If my youngest goes to a D1 school then she should remain physically active but it's time to move on.

Both my kids are targeting pre-med if that makes a difference. Academics is important.

Maybe the OP is a girl running 4:30. In that case my apologies.

The despicable one is you. Your experience in life does not define opportunity for everyone else.

Had I listened to someone like you in life I'd never have run D1 and competed in championship races.

This has been my final communication with someone so narrow minded and uninformed.

rolf wrote:

At a loss wrote:

you really have no idea how much it meant to hear that. Im not entirely sure why I'm letting all this "he's not D1 material" shit getting to me.

I know whats really important to me and I am capable of quitting bad habits

Then quit the weed, dial back on the drinking, and run a ton of miles over the summer.

Then stop dreading practice. Show up and put some work in. But when someone says track is number 4 on their priority list after academics, drinking, and smoking it raises some red flags. So if hearing people talk shit gets you motivated, run with a chip on your shoulder and prove all the doubters wrong.