“Two weeks.” These were the words Coach Kaczor spoke to me and my fellow teammates on the cross country team freshman year. He was talking to us about quitting. Many of us, including myself, were new runners and were struggling with the mileage the coaches were expecting us to run. I saw these two weeks as 14 days, 12 practices, and too much mileage to calculate. I was ready to quit.

But he encouraged us to “give it two weeks,” and see how we felt about quitting after that time. He said if at that point we still wanted to quit, he would support our decision. But first, we had to work hard for the next two weeks, and continue to come to practice each day with a positive attitude. 

To be honest, I scoffed at his remarks, so sure my opinion on running was in no way going to change in just two weeks. I hate running, I suck at running, and that’s how it is, I thought. 

I took Coach Kaczor's advice and tried to have a positive attitude towards running, despite my reservations. As much as I despised running and wanted to quit, I didn’t want to give up. Something about giving up to me felt as if I would be letting him down (especially since I could see how much he cared about each and every girl on the team). 

I began to meet some of the girls on the team. We connected on our struggles with running, as well as our slow pace. The thing about running is, you have time to talk when you’re out on a trail running. 

I began to bond with my teammates and looked forward to practice. My legs were sore but I learned the best ways to roll out, stretch, and ice after practice to help my muscles recover quicker. The workouts were hard, but I began to crave the challenge they posed. 

I almost didn’t recognize myself. In just two weeks, I had gone from the girl who could hardly run a mile without collapsing, to someone who looked forward to running everyday with her coaches and teammates. 

Coach Kaczor’s words rang in my head and I knew my change of heart was a testament to his words and how much they inspired me. 

Coach Kazcor is a coach who understands that running is about as mental as it is physical. He understands how important togetherness is for forging the trust you need to have in your teammates to push one another to succeed. He taught me how to set goals and never let myself slack on accomplishing them. 

Those words, and that talk he gave at the start of my freshman season have stuck with me to this day. I even wrote my college essay about his speech and how it encouraged me to continue running. 

Without Coach Kaczor and his encouraging words and faith in me, I never would have continued running. If not for that moment, I would have probably quit right then and there. 

Instead, I learned a work ethic that has stuck with me to this day. I now know that when I am faced with a challenge, I refuse to give up, and simply remind myself to “give it two weeks.”