The transformative power of athletics. The change you have inside you when you move from couch potato to active cool runner girl. (which is, yes, how i see myself occasionally.)

I think I can bucket the transformation process in 3 ways. What it did, what it does and what it will keep doing until my legs give out on me.

What it did: i was an athlete since I was 5 (if you count bunch ball as a sport). So i was never without a practice to go to or a game that i had to step up for. Having that as a constant mainstay in your life definitely transforms you. You are the athlete. As much as you don't want to admit it, you are the jock as school and are treated as such, the good and the bad. As you begin to progress and the numbers seem to fall away you understand so much more that you have reached certain athletic levels that most haven't. You have pushed yourself farther. Depending on your sport, it transforms the way you look at tasks. It transforms the manner in which you work (team player or solo act) and it makes you understand how to deal with failure and even more importantly to deal with success.

What it does: I am no longer the athlete that I was. But when i run the hurt brings me back to the days in the weight room. The morning fitness tests. The feeling guilty because my teammates were hitting 6 min miles and I was only at 6:45 mile. It gives me the swagger of an athlete that is lost on the day to day streets of NYC.

What it will do: Every time I put on my running shoes I get to run away from it all and run directly to that amazing feeling of competition, of rising to the occasion, of being at the top of your game. Because when it's a run, it is a game where you know the rules and you can win. Rarely will there be an outside factor that you can't deal with. The only question that you have to ask yourself is if you are willing to work a little harder.