I began running when I started high school at the age of 14. I had always played soccer, but since soccer was considered a spring sport I decided to take up a bit of running to stay fit and joined the cross country team. This is the point that my sporting ambitions changed.
I was pretty terrible at soccer...if I am being honest...but always seemed to make the town leagues and select indoor teams because of my ability to run up and down the field tirelessly. It turned out this ability was perfect for a cross country runner. I placed 23rd in my first ever State Cross Country race. This feat was apparently a big deal as I was told, and that I should really reconsider playing soccer in the spring and run for the track team instead. So I thought about it and reluctantly ran the 1 mile and 2 mile instead. I made it through Regional's and qualified for the State Track and Field competition in the 2 mile and 4x800m relay team of which I placed 8th and 4th respectively and had All-State status again (places 1-8 in T&F).
Let's just say that I started craving medals from then on out. I proceeded to be All-State in Cross Country for all 4 years of High School and had 4 All-State titles in track and field with multiple podium finishes.
By my last year I had 20+ university coaches from all over the USA contacting me with sports scholarship offers.
Once I started talking with coaches I realized that they were more impressed with my consistent performances than anything else.
Ashley's Tip of The Month: Look at the big picture and focus on consistency. And I don't just mean in competition...you have to be consistent in training to be consistent in competition...and consistent in your studies to get the grades for university.