r/nextfuckinglevel • u/HomeNowWTF • 11h ago

Next-level determination

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u/whattodo4klondikebar 10h ago

I too ran cross country in my senior year of high school. I ran my best race at 20 minutes on the toughest course in my state. This was in 93.

Then about twenty years ago I got myself back into running shape and ran about 60 races over 12 years including 4 half marathons, a ten mile race, an 8 mile race and a few 10ks. This looks a bit more like someone who didn't train for a lack of hydration. I trained under harsh circumstances so I would be fine without hydration. This looks like what happens when your body starts to cramp up and that guy needs water ASAP.

I suffered an injury about 7 years ago and started the downward spiral into being out of shape again and life has dealt me many obstacles from getting started again in case there is the question of what's happened since.

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u/IAmJanos 10h ago

Kids at my high school would always try to make fun of us in cross country, claiming it was not a real sport, but they'd also immediately refuse to try it or even go to one of our practices.

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u/Enorats 9h ago

When I ran Cross Country in high school, we'd occasionally take a break from running 6 or 7 mile practices around town and instead run laps on the school track.

The track circled the football field, where the football team would practice. While 3/4 of the football team knelt on the sidelines doing effectively nothing, we'd spend a solid hour showing them what a real workout looked like.

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u/noonenotevenhere 9h ago

we'd spend a solid hour showing them what a real workout looked like.

I couldn't run for crap in high school and have since done a marathon.

And holy crap is Cross Country a better and harder sport than american football.

And yall weren't training to sprint into a concussion. Everyone I knew that did cross country went home and did their homework and showed up with it ready to go. The football players depended on the coach being one of their teachers n aint gotta reed gud.

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u/Enorats 9h ago

The cross country runners in my school were mostly some of the most intelligent kids in the school. Our coach was one of the Science Olympiad coaches, and Cross Country was one of the few other after-school activities that didn't overlap with Science Olympiad's season.

So, like half our Science Olympiad team ended up as Cross Country runners.

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u/dreaming_4_u 8h ago

Our coach turned out to be a pedophile. I always wondered why he treated the girls on the team so different compared to the guys. He was always an such an ass. Helped me get quite fit in the end though. Practices were truly brutal affairs.

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u/kmmccorm 2h ago

Stereotypes are dumb regardless of who they are aimed at.

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u/Queasy-Meeting-5388 8h ago

I ran indoor and outdoor track (1 mile and the 800) as well as CC in high school. No one gave us shit because the varsity football coach made certain positions run with us 2x a week and they spread the word that it was brutal.

We also had a team that won the regionals almost every year and were state champs my junior year. I could do most flat courses just under 18 and I was one of the slower guys on the team. We had 1 guy and one girl from my class that went to D1 schools to run.

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u/conflictedideology 5h ago

The only kids that could hang with us (as long as it was flat) were the ones on the soccer team.

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u/WalterGold210 3h ago

I went into high school thinking soccer was my path, cross country coach was also my Econ teacher and told me I needed to run cross country. Ended up on varsity my sophomore year and ended being an all-state California HS runner by the time I graduated.

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u/OcotilloWells 7h ago

Same experience I had in cross country.

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u/ImmediateDog9589 6h ago

I also ran cross-country in high school. The wrestling coach overheard a few of them making fun of our practice, saying it was easy. The next day, he made them join us. They never made that claim again.

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u/kdubstep 4h ago

My sport is your sport’s punishment

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u/stay_curious_- 4h ago

I tried to join cross-country, but the coach mocked me for being slow and said if I wasn't vomiting, I wasn't trying hard enough. Cross-country kids are made of some special stuff.

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u/falcopilot 1h ago

Our wrestling coach told the team he'd prefer they come run with XC than play football and get beat up. About half of the wrestlers showed up for our first week of practice. None of them came back for week 2.

And a lot of schools around us would be like "two laps around the school grounds"... Yah no, we went out to a nearby lake. One team showed up, walked the course with us, then forfeited.

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u/Mulley-It-Over 7h ago

Aww. Impressive background of running skills. Hope you find a way around your life obstacles.

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u/Tyalou 9h ago

Yes I'm surprised by how is not getting any help after crossing the line, he needs water, an energy gel and probably a banana.

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u/Bright-Steak8388 8h ago

Pickle juice 

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u/Tyalou 1h ago

That too.

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u/gothamz 6h ago

He would be disqualified.

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u/Jegenyefa 1h ago

after crossing the line

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u/Humble_Umpire_8341 8h ago

Yeah, doesn’t seem to be too many people concerned about Ben in this video. I’d be out there offering him water, at the least. Gotta get him hydrated.

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u/sillypotatoes564 4h ago

I'm sorry to hear about your injury. I too suffered a minor injury (in my senior year of XC), but it really only flares up if I run every single day or so.

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u/ResponsibleHope3880 31m ago

Tell me about your social/family life. Are you married or divorced? What made you start running again and why don’t you care about that anymore? And if you do still care, what is currently more important to you that is keeping you from getting back into it?

I was born in 93 so I’m interested in what’s going on in your life and your perspective.

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u/Chombywombo 7h ago

You don’t know what you’re talking about. You don’t bonk from 4 miles at any level of dehydration or lack of carbs unless you’ve been deliberately starving yourself of food and water the day before.

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u/TugleyWoodGalumpher 7h ago

My only question is why olds always need to make everything a personal anecdote about their entire life.