##### Back when I was in sixth grade I joined the cross country team because the cross country coach was the same as the basketball coach. Since the day I could walk I had a basketball in my hand. I started playing travel basketball when I was in 4th grade and continued until I was I graduated high school.

##### The middle school basketball tryouts were intimidating as a sixth, but I realized I would have an advantage if I ran cross country since I would have a relationship with the coach and would be in shape. 

##### In middle school for cross country the course is two miles long and there were various hills we had to endure. My 2 mile time was consistently in the 13 minute range with it being on the higher side most of the time my sixth grade year.

##### For basketball tryouts, during the first day, there were over 130 kids trying out. To say I was intimidating would be an understatement, but I had trust in myself that my training and preparation would pay dividends. The entire tryout that first day was strictly running. An hour and half of different sprints mixed with some agility drills and distance type runs. By the start of day 2, there were half as many kids trying out as day 1.

##### I ended up being only 1 of 2 sixth graders to make the team. That year our team went undefeated and although I only participated in a handful of games, I improved my skills daily. 

##### Throughout the rest of middle school I continued to run cross country and play basketball. By my eighth grade year I was in the top 10 in the county for middle school times for the two mile track, under 12 minutes for the two miles. 

##### Fast forward to a few years ago, I tore my ACL in my knee playing basketball from a contact injury. I ended up needing surgery and the rehab took longer than I would have liked. By the end of rehab I was able to get my mile time to under 8 minutes, which was not as good as I was running as a sixth grader. 

##### After not training for a few months I started to lose my endurance to a point where I couldn't run a mile without stopping during it. Not really interested in running at the time, I started playing basketball again once or twice per week. This has definitely helped to get me in shape some, but I still do not have the endurance as when I was running up to 5 miles a day when I was younger. 

##### Yesterday though, for the first time in a long time, I went outside and ran a mile. My time was under 7:30, which isn't too bad at all considering just a year ago I couldn't run a mile without stopping. 

##### This has made me want to get into better shape and work towards getting that mile time under 7 minutes and then finally under 6 minutes again! 

##### I will continue to update you on my progress that I am making!

# Off to do some morning training! 

![image1.png](https://steemitimages.com/DQmV3rjhwHdHg2C1yuPbY7o6JRbFvyXDL88jLuWeCQuVbex/image1.png)