Cross Country Research Paper

When I first joined cross country I was not fast nor a runner. I was one of the slowest people on the team, but I wanted to get faster and I was determined to improve. Some days we would do a hills workout and I would get to the top of the longest hill and think, “I could just run back to Armstrong right now and be done”. But then, I thought about how if I did another hill, I would get better and some time during a race when there was a big hill I would look at it like it’s nothing. I could go up the hill easily and pass a couple girls. So I would do another hill. Then the next time we did hills I rememberd how many I did the last time and pushed myself to do one more. Through that cross country showed me that I could be faster and tougher than I thought I was if I put in the effort and want it

When I went on my first run, in the hot humid weather, I felt something that I hadn’t felt in a long time - happiness - and peace with everyone and everything around me. I began to look at myself in a new light. Over the course of the summer I managed to

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.

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

When I was on the track team I was always the last one to finish and my brothers made fun of me for it. Compared to everyone else I felt like a turtle racing against a cheetah. I just wasn’t a sprinter and I couldn’t jump, so running track wasn’t for me. The one thing I did have though was determination. When I did not want to run anymore because I didn't

Many activities I participate in require serious commitment. Most notably, I am the captain of the Cross Country team and on the varsity Track team here at Brookfield East. To be at peak performance, I must train every day. Although running is difficult, it is how I “seize the day.” To get to where I am now, it took countless hours and substantial dedication. Now I am at the end of the road, all the time I put into acheiving my goal was not in vain. I have become faster than I ever was before and have lead my teamates to do the same as we pushed each other and met with success. The demands of race also require a straightforward mindset focused on competing. The difficulties that were tolerated during the training and race are turned

“Good Job keep going, you can do it, run run faster, you got this!” These were the words coming from the audience as I was finishing my last 100 meters in the cold, pouring, rain during sectionals. I was in second place in my heat and my heart was thumping and I couldn't see through the water stains on my glasses, but I heard someone someone breathing hard and their spikes hitting the track as they ran behind me and I knew I had to push even harder.I remembered the rough trading I had in practice and knew I could do it.

In cross country I believe in me working hard and finishing strong. I never walk or stop to catch my breath because I go hard from the start to finish. I may not be the strongest or the fastest but I will be working the hardest. “Cross country teaches us to challenge our self. It teaches us to push beyond where we thought we couldn't go. It helps us find what we are made of.” When I run I always start fast and end faster. When I see people walking at practice I say, “Stop walking, start running!” Then they will start to run. My coach always said, “Tell your body no!” that means the more you stop the more your body will want to stop.

When the stakes are high and completion is close, you have to find something deep down that know one else has, and that is heart. You soon realize that your best is not your best, and that you can always reach a new level of greatness. Countlessly, we believe that it is impossible to to aim higher, but that is where we go mentally weak. Every season, I set a goal to run a certain time by state, and work hard until I conquer it. When I am in a race, and I'm dying of pain, my goal seems to get harder to reach by the second, but that is when you dig deeper than you ever have. Falling on the ground in tears because you did the absolute best you could, despite the pain, is much greater than falling on the ground in tears because you wish you would

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

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

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.

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 remember when I turned five, something in my mother’s head clicked. She wanted me to join track. I did not understand the point of running just to reach the finish line. Other sports like football, soccer, etc. have something to run for, but what does track have to run for? Yes, it’s to reach that finish line, but what is that going to do for me? That was the first thought that came to my seven-year-old self. Let’s just say for the first couple years my thoughts about running were far from being changed.

It all started in August on my first day of 6th grade where I came out for the cross country season not knowing what I was about to get myself into. My dad said I had to either get a job or do sports in school, so I chose to do a sport because what 13 year old would want to get a job anyway? Soon after the first week of practice was over, I was running as the number two runner. Staying as the number one and two runner as the rest of my middle school years, almost breaking the school record and being named “top dog” I