Is It Hit Me?

The flags are in sight and off on a wild sprint! I’m going and across the line I am! Exhausted but satisfied. I thought I saw my time was 28 minutes. I had to know the seconds. ( Yes, every second counts.) I was preparing myself mentally for what my time would be. I was eager to know. I ran to my Coach as soon as he was in sight. I ran to him and I immediately asked for my times. He told me and I had to see for myself. 28:04. 28:04!! I was excited! I can’t remember if I jumped up and down or not. Wouldn't be surprising. One thing I did for sure was, walked away and cried. Not only was it 28:04. It was my heart's desire. Coming close to the end of the season, I couldn’t see myself running a varsity time. So the lowest time I hoped I’d get would be 28 and it was!!

Every runner wore a bib number with the time they start on it. As I was running people were passing me who had started after me, and I kept thinking I was going too slow and that I shouldn’t be taking this long to complete it. Through words of encouragement from my mom and decipline mentras from myself I finished the race, I crosses the fanish line and the feeling of triumph as I crossed it was something I’ll never forget.

This will help me in the future to remind me to be happy, and grateful for the opportunity to run as I do in my life. This race changed my point of view of “opportunity” to try and do things right the first time, and if I don’t, then forget about it because I can’t change it. Before this race, I felt as if I failed, everything was over, and the disappointment would never leave. For example, if I ran a terrible race, with a terrible time, I couldn't stop thinking about it for WEEKS. Now, I let it go and forget it ever happened. This also keeps me humble, by not letting me think about my accomplishments for too long, because there’s always a new opportunity. Walt Disney once

Right before Shelby woke up, Coach Benedetto came get me and Shelby so we could go eat a scrumptious breakfast with the team. I had a amusing breakfast with the boys and the coaches. I was sad after breakfast, because we had to leave. Wishing that we all could just stay there forever. We loaded the bus and left the Rushmore Hotel. That is when it hit me. My stomach felt like I had just ate a bunch of butterflies. This was the most nerve racking race ever.

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.

“Same. The doctors gave me some wonder pills and now I feel no pain at all.”

“I think i have a several broken bones, how about you guys?” murmured Nicholas, as he moves slowly to see if he can still

It was the big day for me and the team it would be our last race before going to state. Though I’m a good runner I know that this year still isn’t my year to strive for state because I still need to get faster. For right now though, I was planning on—kicking—major butt! As my team and I got off the bus we headed towards camp, passing at least twenty or more schools. Once, at camp I got my last bib for the season and began walking the course with my team. We all talked and laughed like a big family and honestly we were a big family.

Nerves and the adrenaline feeling rushed through my body like a jet going sonic boom ripping through the air. I was on a school bus headed to a wrestling meet in York, Nebraska on a cold winter day in December. I figured my wrestling meet would be like all the other wrestling meets in the past, win most, lose a few. Never really thought this meet would be the final meet for the season. This meet would change my way of thinking towards wrestling and affect my confidence level.

I led a few stretches, ran a few warmup laps, and headed up to the stands. With my parents and teammates beside me, I felt ready to go, until my race was called. Then my heart dropped and the pressure of not false-starting, successfully passing the baton, and running faster than I ever have fell on me. My Coach led the three other runners and me down a tunnel to the track. Then we are placed in order by heat and leg

“I found out she had a minor fracture in her arm,” he said. “It looked way worse to me, it looked crushed.”

Running stayed on my mind all throughout the day, it was what I loved to do. At the Yukon state track meet my heart was racing more than ever. I’ve trained all season for this meet hoping to place top 6 in the state. It was blazing hot outside with the wind pushing a little hard against us. Me and my team was up next to run the 4x400m against many other schools that were competing that day. As we lined up in order from first leg to anchor, listening to the referee position us on where to stand, we were all scared. The referee shot the gun and the first leg runners took off. When it was my turn to go, I nervously stepped onto the red 8 lane track.

"Not feeling well. Had this problem all morning. Didn't want to miss practice, so I tried to tough it out."

“Get set,” I raised my hips and kept my weight forward, leaning on my hands. The gun cracked, and I did what I did best. I sprinted. About 35 meters in, I felt my weight going too far forward, and I stumbled the last few steps. I knew it was not my best race, and I was disappointed in myself for it. My personal record was 8.01 seconds, and my stomach flipped as I saw “Bruce...8.06” appear on the big screen at Reggie. I went to get water, and congratulated Caroline, since she got a record of 8.01 seconds in her race. Abby saw I was frustrated and tried to comfort me.

In the spring of my seventh grade year, I tried out for the track team. I had only recently started running and was far from a one hundred meter dash champion. There was an enormous amount of other kids trying out, but I was confident that at the end of the three days of tryouts, I would make the team. The morning after the third day of tryouts the names of those who made the team were posted