Want to Quit D1 Team

I think it's okay to quit OP, especially if you're struggling with your mental health. Or if you're not having fun...if you're not on a scholarship, then there's really not much to benefit forcing yourself to stay. I quit during my junior year due to not enjoying it and feeling depressed, and while it was uncomfortable at first 6 years later I don't regret it. I was able to take a part time job to make some side money and I didn't have to worry about injuries or the consistent sinus pain I was having from training hard. Good luck, I'm in your corner!

meh. lots quit. i watched guys quit because they wanted a job and to buy a car. some quit because not just running, but school just wasnt for them, and i watched a few quit because they couldnt deal with the reality of where they were in the sport (i.e couldn't handle not being the "fast guy" any more.)

each valid reasons at the time, but i bet now they don't wish they spent more time working that part time mall job, or sacking groceries, or getting in one more frat party.

My two cents - I was super talented in HS, struggled to PR for a while, got sick, got hurt, got sick, ran slow, wanted to quit or transfer but didn't (had a girlfriend I didn't want to lose haha) and the light at the end of the tunnel ended up being way closer than I imagined. I only really had 1.5 years of healthy competition at the D1 level and I wouldn't trade it for the world. I learned a ton about myself and life from getting through those tough times where things weren't going my way. Alternatively, I cut my senior spring season a little short because I was in so much pain. I had been running through constant pain for the entirety of my senior year (and large portions of the years before) and waking up with pain, walking around in pain etc. and I felt like it was taking on a toll on my overall health and decided I had done enough and gotten far enough to pull myself from the last few meets and I don't regret that at all. The difference is that the first time I wanted to quit was because I was frustrated with the outcomes of my efforts (immature and shortsighted), but the second time I "quit" (sat out a few meets) was because the inputs of the sport were really taking a toll on my overall health and well-being. In my opinion, quitting because you aren't happy with a lack of PRs, spots at meets, or results is pure immaturity and (most) people who get rewarding results out of the sport are those who can ride out those tough times. If it's the inputs that bother you (for me it was pain but some people really just hate running or outgrow it), then I think it's worth considering moving on. However, don't give in to the temptation to delude yourself into thinking it's the latter when you're really just tired of getting beat at the collegiate level and not willing to tough it out and see what's possible.

Everyone is different and every situation is unique. All I can offer is that at almost 50 yrs of age, hardly a day has gone by in the last 20 years that I have not wished I had stayed on the team for my final year of eligibility. There are no do-overs. This is my first ever post to this forum.

But there are so many good answers in this thread. Including yours, Troothhh

I wish I'd have quit sooner. Was on a good d1 team and had injuries, got in trouble some, but had good grades so I got left on the team longer than I should have been. Everyone is different, but I wish I'd have just quit sooner and run on my own with my friends on the team in their free time. You don't lose both parts of your life if you quit. I wish I knew that.

I hated who I turned into because of all of it and stopped running for almost a decade. Now I'm back at it and it is much harder to get back. There's no shame in having a life outside of running, but also continuing on running on your own terms.

Good luck.

I was kind of a loner and I worked and studied a lot in college. I would have felt guilty if I didn't try to work as much as I could and instead had my parents support me more than they did. It wasn't until I was out of college that I had fun. I worked. Quit jobs. Traveled a lot. Studied languages. Lived in different places. You can still have fun after college.

I quit half way through my sophomore year. It was amazing for my mental health, though I did miss having that fitness and all my teammates. There are pros and cons to both continuing and quitting. Trust your gut.

Competition ends for everyone. You've made it longer than most. If you're sacrificing your happiness, it's time to hang it up.

I was not far from the top HS recruit at my d1 school, and I ultimately left at the start of my sophomore year. My performance was decent, but that wasn't the point, I felt that I was actually starting to not enjoy running anymore. I enjoyed the cathartic feeling of pushing myself to my limits on a really hard run, waking up and running early in the morning, etc. but these were all things I would do on my own accord and without my team. The training didn't feel like I was being pushed in a good way, it felt like I was simply wearing my body down just to fit in an extra 20 mpw and started to resent the sport I loved. I also could sense that I was setting myself up for a serious identity crisis as I hated how attached I was becoming to being a 'd1 runner' and knew i would probably spiral once I graduated. It put my identity too much in who I was as a runner and not as a person. I felt I could not celebrate my running anymore because all that mattered was how I preformed on race day. Sometimes you quit because you love running and don't want to lose yourself and your love of it. I do not regret it at all. Now I have developed other parts of my life so I don't feel existential or lost if I am injured, and I feel more personally connected to running than I ever have because I am doing things on my own volition, not just following a training plan.

Same, except I did have a bit of an identity crisis. I was chasing numbers and that had a negative effect on me. When I eventually did quit, I was at 110 mpw during xc, doing 10mile tempos in under 55 minutes, finished an early season xc race w/ some top 10 teams in the top 20. In spite of all that, I was still outside the top 14 on my team, ~3 minutes behind 11 people on team in 10 mile tempos, and barely in the top half of the team for mileage. All my worth for a long time was tied up into being a runner on a team and my times and mileage were a reflection of that. After losing that giant part of me that I had put so much effort into building up over the years, I tried to live real hard and was quite out of balance for a long while afterward.

If you pursue your dream as far as you can, there's no shame in realizing you don't want to do something anymore. Doing anything more would be climbing a mountain of sh!t to pluck a single rose only to realize you lost your sense of smell along the way.

I finally made a LR account just so I could reply to this.

I also ran in college (DI, MAC) and was forced to make a tough decision during my 3rd year as well. Full disclosure: I was never on a full-ride but was motivated and had reasonable talent. I ended up quitting for a plethora of reasons (as others have mentioned on here) but the biggest reason was the culture surrounding my team at the time. I came from a small Ohio school (DIII) and the biggest thing I wanted from a DI athletics experience in college (besides free college lol) was a set of diverse friends. I know it sounds cliche but it's true. I worked most of time I was on the team and didn't really mind running for "free." The season I quit our coach was hella toxic and there was a huge rift in the team (I'd elaborate more but it's complicated to say the least).

When I quit I had very little to lose. I already formed relationships with the people I gave a sh!t about and was able to fund my degree through other means. I still ran with my teammates throughout undergrad (mostly on their easy days lol) but had 20+ extra hours a week to study and figure out what the hell I wanted to do with my life.

I don't regret my decision in the slightest and hope you find peace in yours.

It's an individual decision, so I don't regret my personal choice. For me, I was not on scholarship, so that made the decision somewhat easier, but still tough. My injuries kept returning, my mental health was declining, I did not feel that I was in a supportive environment, and eventually determined my long-term running career was more important than beating my head against a wall. In hindsight, the only "regret" I have is not leaving sooner than I did.

After that, I shifted my love for running towards my future career and life. I started working in sports media and marketing. 15 years later, I'm still running and racing, have dabbled in coaching and work at Nike, so no regrets.

It is a personal decision with a lot of factors individual to you. I did quit my D1 team at the end of my Junior year and it was a really good decision. I had a bunch of injuries and started to realize that I wasn't getting any better. I didn't really enjoy the training and commitment without the results. I really enjoyed senior year, met new people, and started mountain biking and did some racing. It is really fun to pick up a new hobby/sport and see major improvement. I also met my wife.

The only regret I have is that I wasn't mature enough to face my coach and have a sit down discussion about it. I was afraid that he would be angry and not understand, so I feigned injury and didn't come back to practice. I did have the chance to talk to him about it at a reunion years later which felt good.

I guess you’re always hard?

OP, just make absolute certain you're done, otherwise you'll be stuck forever in distance running purgatory. Its name, the Letsrun Message Board you're reading right now.

I walked on to a decent D1 program many years ago. I was pretty decent in High School but the abrupt change in training was shocking, as was the team culture. Very cutthroat. I was badly injured in XC practice early Freshman year and the coach basically cut me off even though I had made the bottom of the Varsity squad. Never spoke to me while I was grinding out rehab and had the balls to ask why I hadn't come out for Outdoor. It made it easier to walk away. I ended up having a great college experience without XC and Track.

There is a lot of good advice in this thread for both sticking it out and for taking a different path. Either way you are going to be fine.

Man, this post is striking a chord here.

I quit D1 team after two injury-prone years when I struggled to do as well as I'd wanted.

Fifteen years later, I DON'T regret the decision at all. Spent my junior year abroad in Europe, where I made amazing friends and had the time of my life. Even ran my first-ever marathon. Enjoyed running even more since I was back in control and my friends considered me super, super fast (whereas I felt super, super slow on a D1 team with some sub-4 milers).

Back on campus senior year, I considered trying to get back on team, but quickly abandoned those plans as I recalled how much of my life D1 running had occupied. I'd discovered how much else that's fun and stimulating there is at a big college (not just partying). It enriched my college experience significantly. I also kept in pretty good shape, running on my own and lifting weights in the gym. Discovered this is fun, too, and I don't need to derive my self-importance from improving my 5-K time.

So, OP: if you do quit, then have a plan to dive into other social activities that will enrich your college experience. Become better friends with your dorm mates or people in your classes. Stay in shape if and how YOU most enjoy it.

And don't let anyone paint you as a "quitter." You survived several years (perhaps unfulfilling) of D-1 running. Merely continuing with it for the sake of doing four years of it is a terrible reason, in my book. You'll accomplish merely a dubious goal, but the opportunity costs of happiness and experiencing many, many other enriching will be sky high