I always enjoy learning more about bloggers whether it’s their personal life, a random story or question and answer post. Though to be honest I still could care less what your favorite color is…I will probably forget two seconds after commenting.
Though the mention of swimming on this blog seems like a life time ago, there was a time where I swam and didn’t run (anything before August 2010). My old lolz swimming identity was lolzthatswim…ever wonder why my email is lolzthatswim? I never changed it to fueledbylolz (at) gmail…I feel there has got to be a pretty streamline (ha) way to do this…I just don’t know how and haven’t looked into). Just over two years ago, I quit competitive swimming forever and made one of the best decisions at the time for me.
I swam throughout high school and I swam 3 years of college. I logged lots of swimming miles…from point A right back to point A…in a circle for hours and hours. I believe my most famous quote from swim team was (after being asked why do you like swimming the 1000)
“Because I like to start at point A go into cardiac arrest and come back to point A 20 times.”
Lately I have been thinking a lot about my past life. I often get the question if I regret not running in high school or early college (instead of swimming). The answer is always no. I wouldn’t trade those swimming moments for the world. I met some of my best friends swimming in high school as well as college. Women I might have met otherwise but our friendships grew strong and blossomed throughout those terrible swim practices. (I’m looking at you 10X400 IMS…or you 5X1000 timed off the blocks)…so no I don’t regret not running earlier.
If we live our lives in the past and wonder what could have been, we cannot move on in the future. I don’t regret not running in high school or early college because I don’t think I would be enjoying it as much now if I did. If I ran and was pressured into speed workouts during college I think it would have not allowed me to develop the passion for running I have now. I would have burnt out. I know I would be exercising now but I don’t think I would consider myself a serious runner.
I think for me personally it took a lot of time to realize how much I truly enjoyed running. Coming from someone who absolutely hated running in the past and nearly failed the mile several times in both middle and high school (shout out to my gym teachers who screamed at me to pass) I could not fathom that in the future I would be writing a blog about how much I enjoy running.
Who knows, in five years I might enjoy cycling. I don’t like to live in the past whether it’s my run life, personal life or overall life. I think we have to move upward and onward. I loved swimming and will never regret those times or friends I made but my time with that has long passed. Perhaps one day I’ll get back into the pool and love it…or perhaps I never will. Only time will tell.
Question for you: Is there anything you wish you started earlier?
Not really started earlier but I wish I had chosen not to play soccer in college I quit after two years of playing an it was the best thing for me. I really only played in fear of upsetting my dad and if I’d not I would have chose a different school and probably been much happier
Some of us are lucky to have known you through it all. 🙂
You are a true inspiration.
You are the best T. I cannot wait to see you next month.
I regret not running in high school. Only because that is the one time in your life where you can really do the things you love with other outside distractions, well except school. No kids, No bills, No Job, No spouse. I think I could have been good at it…..but I’ll never no. I don’t pine away thinking the lost years, but I do wonder. Understand your position….run on! Great post by the way!
I do wish I had run earlier but it wouldn’t have changed TOO much, I still would have played soccer in college. I just wish I had known that it was possible to like running in high school when I tried it for the first time so that I could come back to it on my own. I do think college running would have burned me out on the sport but I think having a base knowledge of the sport from high school and an idea of how to train even a little would have helped me when I came back to running after college.
I don’t honestly know if there’s anything I wish I started earlier. I think everything has happened for a reason in my life so wishing things were different seems pretty pointless since there’s nothing I can do to change them. As much as I wish I had been smarter about certain things, too, I think I’ve learned more by messing up and falling back a bit then when things were going great. I agree with you about running, too…had I started that earlier, I don’t think I would appreciate and love it the way I do now, so I’m actually glad I started when I did.
I agree. I’ve learned most of my biggest life lessons through trial and error!
I wish I had started working out in general earlier. It took me until after college to really start and now I love it. I could have developed a lot more healthy habits early on and gotten rid of a lot of stress more easily!
i actually love hearing people’s stories about how they started hating running and now you totally only associate them with running. I think i was this way too, it was torture for me. I totally found my stride though and so glad I am not looking back
I remember reading your blog when you were still in the in-between swimming and running phase and feeling like I could really relate to it. My best memories growing up (and for most of college) were swimming. I look back and say those friends are the best friends I’ve ever had. But like you, quitting was the right decision for me at the time. From time to time I do wonder what life might have been like if I had kept swimming but I usually remind myself how miserable I was towards the end and how happy I am running most of the time. As you said though, I doubt I’d enjoy running as much as I do now if I had began taking it seriously all those years ago.
Oh my do I relate to this. People frequently ask if I regret the 13 years of competitive swimming (4 hour NYE practices, Christmas Eve, 22x250s <–MURDER) since I didn't do it in college and don't do it anymore. But I think it helped build the perservering mindset that I have now. So many lessons were learned all those grueling years. How to push when you think you can't anymore, how to be a part of a team, and TIME MANAGEMENT.
I don't regret a single day. I'd do it all again, and maybe not even hang the sport up
I am the same way. I don’t regret any single day.
I skied competitively while in high school, so I didn’t have a chance to participate in any school sports, like track. I sometimes wished I could have ran in high school, but maybe I wouldn’t have liked it? Or not made the team? I’m like you in I focus on what I got out of that sport, which was some great experiences training and traveling all over canada, great friends and the ability to ski pretty much any terrain really well. It also gave me the ability to focus on other physical pursuits, like running! Also competitive skiing has an age limit, most people retire in their 30s, but running I can do for a loooong time (hopefully)!
I didn’t know that! Did you downhill? I know a few people that Nordic and that’s intimidating.
My previous comment sounds awkward, anyways what I mean to say is skiing quite intimidates me to begin with.
I’ve been to a few Nordic/cross country ski races and it just blows my mind. I’ve seen some downhill skiing too. I’m just too clumsy for it all ha ha. I never knew there was an age limit though!
Haha that’s ok!
I did Freestyle skiing, mostly moguls with some big air and halfpipe.
There isn’t a defined age limit, but it is one of those sports where youth is on your side and your ability starts to decrease when you get more into adulthood. It’s really rare to find people on the World Cup circuit in their late twenties and early thirties, but it’s not impossible!
Oh I see that makes sense! I want a plan day looking into it with the Olympics coming up!
Do it! It’s SO fun to watch! Or at least I think so. I may be biased 😉
I don’t know that I have anything that I wish I would have started sooner. I sort of feel like each thing came as it was supposed too… I’m pretty happy with how it all turned out, no matter how hard certain times are!
I like what one commenter said about everything happening for a reason and the lessons you learn along the way. I think everything happens precisely as its meant to.
That being said, I wish I would have started my healthy lifestyle a bit earlier. I think I would have had better mental health, lower stress levels, and a better appreciation for life. Although, if I had done that…I would be a lot poorer! I spend a lot on races, training and of course cute workout clothes!
PS. Swimming at WBHS was great under Debbie – wasn’t it?!
There are quite a few practices I do not miss. I agree though races, healthier food and gear is so darn expensive. Though maybe if I had started it in high school my parents might have payed for it.
USA swimming is so expensive these days too.
I basically grew up in a dance studio and somehow still managed to fit in being on swim teams elementary – middle school. Swimming was fine, but I didn’t regret quitting in 7th grade. How lame is it that I quit because I didn’t want big shoulders or the swimmer body? 😉 🙂 I’m sure staring at myself in a leotard and tights for HOURS on HOURS every week didn’t really help with that. Towards the end of high school I stopped dancing with companies and started dancing on the team at school. It was okay. Looking back I sometimes wish I could have dabbled in running in high school! I agree with you… I’m not a big fan of looking into the past either. Thanks for sharing!
I used to hate on distance running like it was my job. My HS and college track coaches would fight with me trying to get me to run something a little longer. Hell to the no was my response. Part of me wishes I started distance back then to see where I would be now but at the same time part of me thinks that I came to be the runner I am because I didn’t start too early.
I think it’s completely normal and healthy for our interests to evolve and change as we get older. Wouldn’t life be boring if we never discovered something new that we liked? I kind of wish that I had started blogging earlier. I just had an epiphany last year that it would be something I’d really enjoy and would allow me to share my photos, travel experiences and other interests. We can’t go back though, only think about what we’d like to experience and learn in the future!
I really wish I would’ve started running earlier. I enjoy it so much and I always wonder if I could be faster if I had started earlier. Ahhh but that’s life.
I can absolutely see why you are predominantly content with the choices you have made. I saw how runners were treated as child prodigies of the sport, and I recently discovered that very few of the people who ran at school run now. That kind of pressure can turn you off a sport forever. That said, I wish with all my heart I had possessed the discipline to start running at a younger age, not as part of a school team, but just by myself. I couldn’t have done so as a child because it would not have been safe to go running alone…thinking about it, I was in rough neighbourhoods until I was 17, but I could have at least joined a gym ASAP and run on the treadmill. Waiting until I was 21 or so seems too long when I had so little base fitness to start with.
As you say, the past is the past. I wish I had been vegan from birth, gained some control over my eating, learned several foreign languages (since they’re so much easier to pick up when you’re young) and how to play as many musical instruments as possible. It’s easy to say that in hindsight though: we definitely grow and evolve as people and so do our interests.
I love this post. It’s definitely hard to stop doing a sport that was such a big part of your life and find a new one and not think about all the what-ifs. I don’t think there’s anything I wish I’d started earlier. Sometimes I wish I hadn’t kept swimming for as long as I did, but I’m glad for all the training, experiences, and memories it gave me. I don’t regret quitting swimming but I do still wonder what if I joined the team here and made that the central focus of my life again? I don’t think I could do it now, I think I’ve just moved on.
Yep, you should start cycling … and then kick butt and take names at triathlon. Just saying. Anyway, sometimes I wish I had done track more than just my senior year of high school, but at the same time, I don’t know if I’d be triathloning now. Like you wrote, I could’ve burned out and sworn it off. And honestly, after I stopped playing basketball, I was perfectly OK with not competing in anything ever again … clearly that changed!
I often think about this. I used to swim too in high school (while hating running) and eventually transitioned into loving running (and hating swimming). Now I kind of have an urge to get back into swimming, but I wonder what it would have been like if I ran in high school. I agree with you though, I don’t think I would have enjoyed running the way I do now.
I wish I would have taken more risks as a kid, and as an adult. I want to try new things, and I just need to jump in and do them! Like crossfit!
You mean you didn’t want to dedicate a post on your favourite colour? Who are you? 😉
It’s refreshing to read this about you- I didn’t know you were a swimmer! Also your relationship with running- it’s funny how we think we despise or ‘hate’ something but for some reason or another, end up being passionate about it.
I regret not getting into fitness earlier and not messing about early university days..but no point dwelling on the past!
That’s interesting. That is exactly how I feel about my relationship with dance and running. I danced for 16 years, through sophomore year of high school. Though there is no way I would have run competitively in college, not beginning until sophomore year allowed me to be more mature when I began.
I appreciated it for what it was, not a way to lose weight or something I had to be good at.
I ran track in high school from sophomore year on after giving up basketball/sophomore following my back surgery. Coaches kept telling me I’d be great at the distance races, but I would not run longer than the 800… they put me in the mile one time and I jogged it so the didn’t put me in it again. Now I have run 8 marathons…. things change and there is no going back so there is no point obsessing on what could have been!
I regret doing gymnastics for so long, I had no idea the damage it would do to my body long term. Nothing I can do about it now though……..
Any urge to do a triathlon? With your swimming history, and amazing running, you’d probably kick some serious ass.
I love this. As someone who has HATED running her whole life and swore I would never take up running… yet find myself not hating it this time around its nice to see other people werent crazy about it either to start. Maybe there’s hope for me yet