Want to Quit D1 Team

Whatever you’re looking for you’re sure as hell not going to find it on Letsrun. What meaning does something said on a forum post with a bunch of random strangers mean anyway. You need to ask yourself this questions and truly weight the pros and cons. For multiple years in my collegiate career I thought I wanted to quit because I was so frustrated with my performance, but in reality I was just sick of being frustrated. I realized that doubling down my efforts and improving my attitude was what I needed and it helped my life tremendously. However if you truly want to quit then quit, but remember it is YOUR choice nobody else’s.

I regret quitting a lot

During my injury last year/early this year I also got to this point. Burnt out, depressed, and fed up.

Here are my thoughts that I also think should be your thoughts:

How hard did I work to get here? Am I willing to give up 5+ years of hard work over a few months not going my way?

How lucky am I to be here? Less than 1% of people could run D1 if they even wanted to. Do I want to let this talent go to waste?

How will I feel about this decision in 5 years? Will I regret never reaching my potential/quitting? Or will I look back and say I made the right decision?

I hated running for about 6 months straight there. I hated having to get up early and run in the freezing cold, I hated doing PT, I hated not being able to go party with my friends, I hated myself and my coaching for letting me get injured. But things got better. Now I’m back at it and happy I didn’t quit.

Hang in there and push through. When challenges come later in life you’ll derive strength knowing you had what it took to battle through this.

Might not hurt to communicate with your coach and put together a plan that acknowledges where you’re at right now. You can do it!

I got a major injury as a freshman and lost my ability to run fast for a while. Took two full years to get back to my high school self. The whole time I wish I would just quit but kept sticking it out. I was absolutely miserable running, but I felt like things would be worse if I did quit.

In the end, I'm glad I stayed. It kept me in shape and active, and away from some really bad habits. I had some great memories with my teammates, and made some good friends that made things worth it even though running didn't go well. I got away from my roommates and branched out more than they did.

I think if I had quit it had to have been for something else, another hobby or passion that I discovered. I didn't really have that so I stuck it out, and I would rather have stuck it out then quit and have nothing else to focus on then school and drinking.

If you want to quit, then quit.

If you aren't passionate about NCAA DI track & field, then quit. This isn't for everyone and hundreds realize this every year.

I would never tell someone to quit their college team. It is such a great chance to race against your peers and compete at the highest level of competition most of us will ever see. Is there is some way to step away for 6 mo. and try to find your motivation again? Talk to an assistant coach or head coach, your old HS coach, former teammates current teammates.

That being said, running is an very painful sport, and if it is no longer of value to you, you will not push yourself enough to succeed. That leads to a downward spiral. Bad performance, lessens motivation, less motivation= worse practice> more bad races....

You need to break that cycle.

Good luck.

Anyone who quits should have to pay back their scholarship #M.A.G.A.

I quit summer after my freshman year. Had an awful year of racing and getting sick, the training just didn’t fit me and I didn’t like the team culture.

Never looked back. Life is just so much easier, I have so much more free time, am much more relaxed, have less responsibility, am able to get more involved, can go out on the weekends and be a normal college kid and do whatever I want and not worry about the repercussions.

one of my roommates who had been putting work in all summer (70+ mpw) and was really fit, possibly making our travel squad got a stress fracture in his first race. Just like that season is over and it’s back to square 1. That is what I am done with. Don’t have to worry about injury or sickness or performance at all. I can just be me.

I went through this but ultimately stuck with it and I am really glad I did. The friends, the sense of accomplishment, knowing I could do the grind, traveling, cool experiences, etc.

I went to grad school and had that chance to experience normal student life for a bit. I did that for about 6 months before I got bored, cut back on going out to 1-2 nights a week, and started running again for fun. I would have been pissed if I gave up college running for that, plus there is always the offseason.

yeah but an easy life makes soft men.

I walked away at holiday break my third year. I'd stagnated, was injured too much, and didn't see light at the end of the tunnel.

On my own I managed to get in far better shape 1.5 years later, and had the chance to help the team for my final year of eligibility but didn't see how we had the strength to make NCAA championships that year so I declined.

No regrets.

I quit my D1 team, for one and only reason….the terrible coaching. I loved the sport, just hated the program. Oddly enough, the coach got canned a few months after I left during my junior year.

I remember he would take his top 7 guys out for dinner prior to meets. When the seventh guy got hurt (we had 24 guys on our team), I moved into that slot but he refused to take me to the dinner outing prior to leaving for Regionals and the NCAA championship. I was a walk-on sophomore who made the team during a freshman tryout and for whatever reason he just never saw me as equal to the scholarship guys.

I remember when our media guide was released the next year, he conveniently left my bio out of the book but still had my name on the roster. It was little, sh**ty things like that which irked me to no end. I also noticed, as a junior, that I was getting less gear than preferred-walk on freshman runners.

The next year when our lone senior graduated, he could not wait to get his prized freshman recruit in to replace me in the seventh spot, even though I beat him pretty good in workouts. When you know the coach is just working against you and not trying to help you or not making you feel like you are part of the team, that is a good time to leave.
I ended up transferring to another program and enjoyed my final year of XC, running better than I ever had. The passion was still there.

I’d say if your heart is not in it, there is no reason to continue. It’s tough enough to go through all the workouts and mileage as it is, but to do with it no fire is just pointless.

It is crazy how just a little drop of power will make people act

Are you referring to me or the coach? Because I certainly had no power as scrub walk-on.

I appreciate you mentioning talent. Some people can barely train and run d1 recruiting standards, some people have to train like a pro just to get close.

Honestly, as silly as it sounds, make a chart of the pros and cons of running on the NCAA team. It really helps to seriously consider both sides of the issue. If the cons ultimately outweigh the pros than you could always drop down and compete on the club team (assuming your college has a club team).

I'd argue that being on the NCAA team far outweighs the trivial stuff you think you're missing out on (you can probably do almost all of that stuff anyway), but at least seriously consider both sides before quitting.

Good call. Your old coach sounds like a garbage person.