When most people run up a hill, they slow down. When I see a hill, I speed up and say to myself: “I LOVE hills!” Of course, I don’t really mean it. Nobody’s fond of running up hills, especially on a violently hot day in the middle of August. I was taught this mantra by one of my Cross Country coaches, Kelly. If I don’t think that I can do something, the first thing I try is telling myself that I can. Mindset is about 75% of your performance in a race. I love to run because it makes me feel like I can do things that are impossible. When I get back from a five mile run in the pouring rain, I feel like everything is right with the world. I wasn’t always a runner. Some kids are born into the running cult, but not me. We have a treadmill in our basement that my parents occasionally use when they got on a health kick, but neither of them pushed me to be a runner. During the summer of sixth grade, my mother was talking to our neighbor in our driveway. While they were standing on the blistering pavement, the subject of Cross Country came up. My neighbor’s son was on the high school team and it was doing a …show more content…
In other sports, it’s difficult to analyze a player's involvement in the game. There are so many factors, and no concrete numbers to tell you how they did at the end. In Cross Country, you know how you did as soon as you look at your watch. I love being able to compare my times from week to week and year to year. When I look at my watch during the race, I know what I have to do to the achieve my goal. To be honest, I’m a pretty mediocre runner, so my goals are very small. I don’t plan on placing in races or beating team mates. I just want my time to get better week by week. This past season, I took four and a half minutes off of my time. Coach Hiedke told me that I’m the kind of person that can make their dreams come true, because he’s seen me do
In physical education we were put to do the mile I was always second to last if not last I wasnt made fun of but I didnt really good about myself. As the years went on I was still fat couldn’t do anything until sophomore year of high school is where it all changed. I remember it quite clearly as if it was yesterday I was sitting in my math class when one of classmates had large number pinned to his bag and a uniform on that hadn’t seen before. That's when I got curious and asked what sport was all this for he then explained it was for cross country and that I should join it would be fun. It turns out that the season was about to end so it was to late to join so I had to wait for next year so I did. I went my junior in the summer since that's when they practiced and ran for the first time. After this first run I thought I was going to literally die and didn't want to this any more and to top it off all the guy runners who I thought that were slow beat one by one. This is where I decided I wasn't going to be last or lose a race to anyone. I practiced the whole year and did track top it off. Now the summer of my senior year was very motivational since I got up early ran and did this everyday till school started to be the best of my high school. Well the season would begin and I was breaking my school records and receiving medals from invitationals and
I used to be able to run so fast I could fly. Racing through the woods behind my house I was untouchable, unbeatable; I imagined I was a graceful as a fox and as fast as a deer racing over bushes, logs, and ditches. Running served as an escape from the perfect student, perfect manners persona I adopted in the classroom allowing me to break out of my shy shell and go from being ¨the teacher’s pet¨ to ¨the fast girl.¨ My love of running-- as well as my parents-- drove me to play soccer; I ditched my goody two shoes for cleats and never looked back. I could chase down any opponent and outrun any defender, through sports I completely let my boundaries down.
After every race, you can vaguely expect what you will see up on the clock. I know, now, how much I put in, is only as much as I can expect to get out. Running has helped me form some ideas that are still fresh in my brain but will hopefully help me become a better version of myself. Just remember, someone may have a lifetime ahead of them, but they need to make the last bit just as good as the
A local organization that works to promote and make easier the relationship between the South Carolina coast and Charleston’s natural marine environment. Charleston is the lowcountry, and is usually identified by its maritime history and heritage, which is why it is important to keep all that information alive. The LMS wants to provide the opportunity to experience what the coast has to offer to those who have very limited access to the water. It is important that these people have these experiences, because otherwise the idea of a “coastal community” doesn’t apply.
“In running, it doesn’t matter whether you come in first, in the middle or last. You can say, ‘ I finished’ There is a lot of satisfaction in that” - Fred Lebow. I began cross country in eighth grade shortly after my brother joined the year before. He enjoyed it a lot, so I thought it would be fun. I’ve been on the team for two years. I would like to run for the rest of my life. Cross country changed my life positively forever. It taught me to push myself past what I thought was my limit. It revealed to me a great community of people and it taught me to leave my comfort zone.
In sixth grade I quit the school band in the middle of my third year to join Running Club. The goal of Running Club was to run a 5k after weeks of practice and I accepted the challenge. Throughout the duration of training, I would find the long runs consistently demanding and a test to my motivation to persevere in the club. One of the coaches, Miss. Ames, was my teacher from the previous year and she ran with me during practice. She constantly encouraged me to push myself a little more every run and to keep practicing. I was frustrated with my performance, but Miss. Ames continued to encourage me. Nevertheless, preparing for that 5k was an eye-opening and an overall amazing experience.
"We all have dreams. In order to make dreams come into reality, it takes an awful lot of determination, dedication, self-discipline and effort." Running has been a part of my life for four years now and in my short involvement in the sport, it has completely changed the kind of person I am, and the kind of person I want to be. Throughout the past few years, people always ask me "why do you run? What motivates you? And to be honest, I have a variety of reasons for why I am 100% committed and dedicated to being a runner.
I’ve always had a desire for running and when I heard Richland Center High had a Cross Country team, I knew I wanted to be on it! When I did start, it was tough. There were times my sanity would ask, “ WHAT IN THE WORLD ARE YOU
Do you think running is interesting, and fun? Cross country is a very popular sport, to those who like to run. Lots of people like to run. Yes, lots of people use running in sports. There are many types of cross county.
In life, we all have a choice. I chose the path of least resistance and I payed the price for it. Not being diligent and proactive, I lost an entire season to show what I’m really made of. I always heard the phrase “preparation is key” but never truly understood what it meant until I experienced it first hand. For me to be an All-State runner, I have to make the choices of an All-State runner each and every day, not just sometimes. This is the reason why I have always fallen short on my goals. I have never prepared, mentally and physically, to be at that caliber. With my final season coming up in 4 months, I have taken the steps necessary to achieve my goal, my ultimate dream. To become a state
The summer before seventh grade my mom and I were talking about school and what sports I was going to play. I knew that I was definitely be playing basketball, but my mom kept bringing up cross-country. She said she thought that I should try it because I have long legs, which is good for running. I always thought running sounded boring because all you do is move one foot in front of another. I decided to still try it because of my mom and because for all I knew it could be something I really enjoy. I didn’t enjoy much then, I didn’t have many hobbies. I did like art, but not that much, I only did it when I was really bored. I loved basketball, but even I knew I was completely horrible at that. No other sports really appealed to me and that is why I was going to give running a chance, because I was desperate for a hobby.
Like the invention of the slinky, my story is kind of an accident. I never thought about running as a sport, or that it could be an alternative to soccer, which I had been playing my whole life. It really was an accident that I overheard my mom talking to her friends on the phone about the local race. Sometimes, however, accidents can be good things that become great things, and this was one of those times; I just haven’t realized that until now. Running cross-country is special to me because of the liberation it provided and the greatest friendships that made a huge difference in my life.
I had no experience as a runner nor did I have the form. This did not phase me however. That year I promised myself to push through all the six mile runs, sore legs, gnarly blisters, and at times, lack of oxygen. At every meet and speed workout practice I pushed myself further and further. I set a goal every time I kicked off from the starting line and never let myself get discouraged when I failed. By my senior year, I was the fourth fastest runner on varsity. That year our varsity team won the district meet, which qualified us to run in the 2016 state meet in Oregon. The transformation over the years were evident. My determination to accomplish my goal of becoming a faster runner was complete. If I had simply just given up that first day of practice, I wouldn't have ran along side of the fastest runners in Oregon or have met the multitude of people that are now my closest friends. Having a goal sets one up for a challenge, whether it being physically or mentally, goals keep us active and thinking in more ways than one. Still, if someone has self-control, confidence, and a goal, they are still not complete.
I'm a runner; I always have been and I always will be. Why? I'll tell you why. Running is the one physical activity, the one hobby, the one life style you can have that can change your life in a lot more ways than one. I started running when I was ten years old. I really enjoyed doing it and it was good for me. I started to get into it when my father married what is now my step mother. She was a runner in high school and college and told me about how she enjoyed it. At first I thought the idea was completely absurd, but then I actually tried it. I started to go out on the old county road that I lived on and just run a couple miles. It was fun to me and everything but I never understood why I did it until I grew older. I ran local 5K's and such but never ran to my full potential until I was in junior high. But even then I didn’t take it as serious as I do now. Something about doing something that no one else could at my age was enjoyable. Adults would wonder with amazement as my parents told them about how I would run miles and miles everyday. The most common comment I received was “I don't know how
Running was a part of my life between 2014 and 2016, when I was still a young middle school kid. I tried out for the track team, and I ran for my first time in March. Track and Field was a new experience for me, I had