Tri-sport athlete Kamila Nava (11) ran along the 56 bike path during the San Diego Holiday Half marathon., Dec. 14. Her mind was blank except for admiration of the blue San Diego sky and green vegetation. She was several miles into her first half-marathon, the San Diego Holiday Half-Marathon, and all she could think about was how beautiful the Earth is, taking in the scenery with each stride. 

“I get a high from running, and when I’m sprinting my legs loosen up and it just kind of feels like I’m dancing,” she said. 

During cross country season, Nava was pulled up to run with the varsity team for leagues as an alternate, giving her a sense of accomplishment that helped her push herself and run the half-marathon.

“The accomplishment that I felt from cross country in those races helped me build confidence,” Nava said. “And I was like, ‘I can totally run 13 miles.’”

Before the half-marathon, the longest Nava had run in practice was six miles. She had anticipated it would feel like a big jump, but she said that during the half-marathon, she found herself actually enjoying the longer run. Because the run occurred during water polo season, the only running training she had done to prepare was a quick run one day before school.

“That week we swam like 7,000 yards,” Nava said. “I think the only really big thing I did was continue water polo. That was basically my training: swimming. Swimming long swim sets is mentally draining, so I think that helped me build confidence in that I wasn’t too worried about running that many miles. ”

Nava started water polo her freshman year, and after the winter sports season, the natural thing to do as a water polo player for the spring season is to join the swim team. But Nava found that she wasn’t enjoying it, so during her sophomore year, she decided to run track instead.

 “When I was swimming, it wasn’t the best experience,” Nava said “I had fun, but it just wasn’t something that I wanted to do for two hours of my day.”

Water polo and running are very different sports, but Nava found that the skills she had obtained from water polo transferred well to track, and later, during her junior year, to cross country. 

 “[Water polo] helped me build a lot of strength,” Nava said. “And since it’s a very physical sport, I think it transferred to running because it’s a lot on your body. It’s definitely not as physical, but it helped me build mental strength and to have really good movement with my legs.”

That strength helped her push through those 13 miles and for the majority of the run, Nava wasn’t in her head, her mind blank. But after the 10th mile, she became more aware and wanted to stop running. 

“I was like, ‘this is going on so long,’” Nava said. “I was worrying because I was getting closer to the finish line and I was by myself at that 9.5-mile mark. My friend dropped off of me and she went ahead and I got a little bit nervous, but I knew that they were ahead of me, and I knew some of the other girls were behind me. So I just kept running.”

After the race, Nava was in disbelief that she had just run 13 miles. She couldn’t fully comprehend the significance of what she had just done, but she knew she was proud of herself. 

“When I finished, I was like, ‘Oh, I’m done,’” Nava said. “I said that out loud. I finished, I did it. My coach, came up to me and she was like, ‘I’m so proud of you, good job kid.’”

Nava said that doing something new has grown her confidence and has been a real turning point in her mindset. 

Before the race, whenever she would tell her friends and running mates that she was doing the half marathon, most people were surprised. But Nava chose to not let that raise her anxiety and to keep believing in herself. 

“It really made me realize that I can actually do whatever I want if I just don’t think and commit to it and am not in my head,” she said. “It really gave me a sense of confidence that I was like, ‘Yeah, I can do whatever now,’ and genuinely what people say about what I can and cannot do doesn’t affect me anymore.”