Jazmin, A You vs. You Challenge

Jazmin completed her first 5K with SRLA last September.

Jazmin, a senior at City of Angels School, joined SRLA for the first time this season. As she came to the end of her marathon journey she took sometime during this strange season to reflect on why she runs.

I've never been a runner or seen myself as a runner until this year. The first time I was asked about joining SRLA this year I turned it down because of my personal fear of failing and not being able to complete a marathon. After a week of reflection and my sister and friend trying to convince me to run, I finally gave in and decided to sign up to prove to myself that I can do it. How hard could it possibly be? I told myself it's just putting one foot in front of the other right. It seemed easy but I never knew how physically and mentally hard running was until I started running.

I didn’t expect my first week to be so difficult but then I also had no prior experience and had no idea what I was doing. It was so hard that I contemplated quitting on the third day but luckily I didn't and continued to keep going. The following weeks were hell and during my second week I started to experience foot pain which was really painful when I was running and to add to that I started to doubt myself.

“During my runs I had brief moments where I told myself to quit that I didn’t have it in me to finish and to just stop running and give up but instead letting my fear keep controlling me I did the opposite. I kept running and pushed harder until I finished every run.”

Jazmin ran a full, 26.2-mile marathon, to complete the SRLA Cross the Finish Line Challenge in March.

Every run was different in my experience while some days I did better, other days weren’t as good but I kept going and now today when I run I have the best feeling. I now enjoy the feeling of my heart racing, blood pumping, and the energy I have while I’m running. I have never experienced this type of feeling and it feels like I'm somehow disconnected from the world just for a slight moment and feel like I’m in my own personal world.

From my runs I decided to take back control of my life and not let fear control it and to make the best out of what I have. During these last couple weeks I learned that running was a you vs you challenge. That only you can decide to either make it a good run or a bad run, to give it your all or not, to persevere or to quit, to celebrate the small victories or to be unhappy with your results.

I discovered that running doesn’t just mean putting one foot in front of the other. I learned that running included mental and physical strength and that anyone can do it if they are willing to put the work in to improve and continue to keep improving.

YOU CAN KEEP STUDENTS LIKE JAZMIN RUNNING

Donate, volunteer, sponsor or run with our students to make a difference with SRLA.