I Need Help. (I want to quit my D1 sport)

Just quit. Honestly, no one cares. I don't mean to sound rude but you need some facts.

You haven't even completed a track season yet, you seem to be more of a track runner than cross country. I remember when I was in college, there were several guys who I thought were not good runners in cross country then they turned out to be great in track.

Some people take more than a year to get used to higher mileage. Maybe have lower expectations for your workouts, so you can stay healthy and show them what you can do in track.

Can you talk to the coach about your training? It may not be as scary of a conversation as you think. You may be more of a sprinter 400m / 800m type and need different training. Perhaps there is a different school you could move. I think you will regret quitting the sport entirely.

Also, it sounds like you need help with growing self confidence and communication skills. I doubt all your teammates think that stuff, they are more concerned with their own lives trust me. Maybe talk to a counselor. It is tough dealing with parents and expectations at your age, and it sounds like you don't have a lot of supportive people to talk to and need some coping skills.

Obvious thing is to discuss with your coach.

If they're supportive, they'll reassure / help / advise etc

You can get fit pretty quickly, after all it's only December. I'd definitely at the very least give indoor track a shot but I'd really let yourself get in better shape and see how outdoor goes. Based on your 4/8 background you weren't really destined for success your first XC season (in the future that may certainly change). As far as your body goes, I'd try and communicate with your coaches, if that goes poorly I'd suggest just running a bit less mileage than you're told and see if that helps. I struggled with every ache and pain in the books my first two years in college and it made me hate running too. Thought I'd never run again after 4 years but here I am in year 5 WAY better than I thought I'd ever be and love running more than ever. Your current feelings won't last forever, just don't make a decision that is drastic that you'll regret later.

Transferring always an option too but wouldn't suggest that until after you're done with track.

And you probably already knew this but constantly drinking alcohol will certainly not get you back on track and will only make all your chronic aches and pains worse so I know it may not be as simple as just stopping but that's something to think about.

You certainly have shown the talent and work ethic in high school to be good at the college level. All about incremental improvements.

Good luck.

You want to quit after doing months of work and not even in the season yet? How about you run some meets and travel with your team before you think about quitting, that's the best part.

you need to man up

You'll regret it, and that lasts a lifetime. I'm a former D1 runner who was easily the team's worst starting out. Going through being last, etc.. and physically adjusting is expected. I look back at those days fondly, because it was part of a rewarding process.

Hey man, I’m also more of that speed oriented 400-800-1500m type, and I too don’t have a lot of fun training with a bunch of state champs and national podiumers who specialize in 3k-10k over XC. Put it in perspective. These guys are some of the VERY best at what they do. I tend to finish last or near last whenever we do any kind of 1k+ work. I also demolish my team during 200m repeats and am in the lead pack for 400s once we get to track prep. You’re a 400/800 guy, that’s closer to a sprinter than a 10k guy for sure. In highschool, did you ever judge the one sprinter/hurdler that came out during XC and ran mediocre times? No because that’s not their event, they are just working on getting in shape.

I think your opinion will change once you can start competing in your events and realizing you don’t actually suck. 48 and 1:52 are already plenty competitive in college, and with more aerobic strength you should be a 1:4x guy. I think your coach knows what he’s doing.

This post feels like it’s written about me. You remind me a ton of my younger self.

It’s super normal to have a bad first year of college running, especially if you are making a big jump in mileage and intensity. I ran in a smaller D1 conference. My freshman season I didn’t even go to the last few meets of the season because I was so burned out mentally and physically. A year later, I pr’ed big and made all conference. This type of trajectory is very common. I promise it’s not the end of your career if you struggle as a freshman.

College is much different than high school. i would encourage you to really focus on balancing track/academics/personal time. D1 athletics can become all encompassing. When this happens, injury or burnout can seem like the end of the world, but it’s not. It sounds like the team culture is toxic if your teammates are making fun of your for this. You made the team by your own merit. You deserve to be there. You haven’t even run an 800 yet in college. it’s normal for 800 guys to get s*** on all fall. Remember - nothing you have done so far matters. Even if you crap the bed all indoor and outdoor, it still doesn’t matter.

Depression really sucks. I had a period of time when I was clinically depressed. Your body is just stuck in a rut. You feel flat on every run. It’s not because you aren’t cut out for it or because you’re out of shape. It’s because you’re depressed. Your old self is still there though.

You aren’t skipping and bombing runs because you don’t care. You’re skipping and bombing them because you care too much. When you put so much pressure on every single run and workout, it becomes mentally and physically draining. This feeds a vicious cycle.

Bad run -> pissed at yourself -> place even more pressure on yourself -> another even worse run -> even more pissed at yourself -> etc…

Just have fun with it this spring(MUCH easier said than done, I know). So what if you’re out of shape right now? Outdoor conference is still 4 or 5 months away. You can always redshirt too.

Based on the limited knowledge of your situation, I agree that you should stick it out through this spring. When you start training again next summer, things will be much clearer. Once the impending track season has passed, you will be able to view running with a clear slate. Maybe you’ll have a new drive to succeed and train like a beast. Or maybe the idea of going for a run will still sound like torture. Either way, you’ll have much more experience to base your decision on.

This was a rambling response. Hopefully something in there is of use to you.

Cut out the alcohol now though.

Good post.

Don't quit. I did and have regretted it.

Find someone within the program that you can be honest with about what you're feeling. (You have to take a risk by opening up to them, but the rewards are worth it.) There are lots of mental health resources available to a college kid that you should take advantage of. And stop drinking.

At least stick it out until after track season. My son is a freshman in college and also comes from a low mileage high school program. Running wise my hope for him was to make the jump to a D1 program and not get injured so he can (like you) get to the track where he excels.

Freshman year is a lot of adjustments. I don’t know that you are being judged as harshly as you think. Maybe just by yourself. You obviously have some talent. Hopefully you will have some nice indoor races that boost your confidence.

Good post.

In my freshman college class was the fastest 800m runner in the country. It was no secret that he did not enjoy cross country. One day on the way back from doing 5 x 1 mile around the local high school another walk-on CC runner sarcastically asked him, "You gonna do the PhillyDistanceRun this weekend?" "Yeah. On my bike.", was his response.

Stick with it. You may very well be in the "paint the fence and sand the floor" stage of your journey.

I quit my freshman year. Was in a similar situation as you. Mid D runner who was forced to run cross and hated it, didn’t do well at all.

Let me say this. If you aren’t have fun, it isn’t worth it. College is about learning, making connections, and having fun.

At some point in your life you’ll realize that pursuing a sport like running at such a competitive level is more of a selfish act than anything else.

Take advantage of your youth. Quit, meet new people, join a club or frat, party it up and enjoy the college experience. You only got 4 years you might as well make the most of it. I guarantee when you’re 40 years old no one will give a crap that you ran D1 or not.

1) Physical:

See a campus doctor. Get your thyroid, hemoglobin, iron, ferritin and anything else that could cause fatigue, checked. It's possible there is something physical and correctable going on.

2) Mental:

See a campus counselor. You sound depressed and like you need someone to talk to who can give you solid advice. LetsRun isn't the best for that. But a licensed and trained person could be very helpful.

Don't decide on your sport until you've checked both of the above.

This doesn't make sense. A 48 second guy shouldn't be on the XC team. But if you really are, why woukd slow XC times bother you. The 400 guys at your school would not care about being dead last in a XC race.

This doesn't make sense. A 48 second guy shouldn't be on the XC team. But if you really are, why woukd slow XC times bother you. The 400 guys at your school would not care about being dead last in a XC race.

1) It's not fair to say you arn't doing well since its your FIRST year of college training, like you've trained with the team for 3 months-4 months! Takes years to improve.

2) You and your teamates are running your workouts wayyy too hard

3) Go to you coach, tell him how much running means to you, how bad you want to be better, and then tell him you are struggling despite giving it your all. Then come up with a plan. Don't come to your coach out of weakness, don't tell him you're thinking about quitting. Come to him wanting to get btter at life, make him undersdtand something needs to change. Take a month off and redshirt? Take a week off and get back into workouts, reduce training load until you feel better, get some blood tests.

4) Don't quit until you've done these things, you'll regret it. If the time is right to hang it up, you'll know. But don't say you hate running and are bad when its only been a few months! I had a horrendous time my freshman year, was tired, hurt, struggled to pass, and then year 2 it all changed.

You sucked in high school but then you improved big. Now in college you suck....but you want to try quitting this time? I guess it will give you the opportunity down the road to wonder what you maybe could've become as a runner. Nothing like that feeling of never knowing.