Undergraduate / 'weeks and months of running' - Common Application: Extracurricular Activity [4]

Common App short answer. Pretty straightforward. I'm going for a lighter feel, more humorous. What do you think?

Of the many lessons I have learned from Winter Running Club, here are some of the most memorable:

1. If you run fast enough, you won't hear anyone judging your fashion sense for wearing tights.
2. There is not a sock in the world that will keep your feet dry if you fall through the ice on the Red Cedar River.

3. If the sidewalk is slippery, don't try to run faster than your feet. You can't.
4. The number of people who will show up on a given day is inversely proportional to how cold it is outside.
5. There is a strong positive correlation between the nastiness of the weather and how rewarding your run was.

However, the most important lesson I have learned from weeks and months of running through snow and sleet and hail, from windburned cheeks and frozen fingers and aching quads, all suffered for the sake of cutting a second or two from a race that won't be run for months yet, is this: In running, like in life, the real work is done in the off-season.