Personal Narrative Analysis

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

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

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.

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

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

My four years on the cross country team taught me so much more than how to run. I learned some of the most valuable lessons of my life through cross country. Most years, we had a quote on the back of our game day shirts. One of my favorite quotes read, “Pain is inevitable, suffering is optional.” This quote is not only relevant to running but to life as well. Every person will experience pain in their lives just as every person will experience pain while running and training. Suffering is often a choice. It can easily be self-inflicted, and, just as easily, be avoided. This quote encouraged me to push through

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.

Just as I formulated plans for racing strategies, I devised strategies to balance priorities in my schedule, to pursue the collection of all essentials to running. I formulated strategies to approach literature analyses, handle school rallies, and engage the community in activities, all of which are routes and trails imperative to running. As pressure rises, my heart pounds, but I am determined; I carry on through the hurdles, I inhale and exhale the justifications that shove the worries away. Whether it be the time that my family and I lost our house or the time my father departed from my family, I was resolute and forced the hardships aside. Each day, new trails are discovered and decisions that we are compelled to make, are

I remember a September morning at the peak of cross country season. At 5:30am my body dragged itself out of bed against my brain's will and I was pulling up to the track soon after. As we had all anticipated, today would be the track long run, in which all of our miles would be run in laps around the track. That came out to about 32 laps, an intimidating number for any of us. To the average person, such a workout seems challenging at best; although no one complained. In fact, our coach seemed to have an inspirational glow in his eyes as we made our way to the track. The moon and stars were still shining brightly as stadium lights flooded the field in blue light. We began our laps in a close pack determined to stay together until no longer

I have taken this same perspective and applied it to Cross Country running. While running is a competition

I kept running through pain and the second mile approached. The runner inside of me began to lose form and fatigue started to kick in. The sounds of the crackling spikes against the payment was intimidating. I, however was not going to back down this late in the race. As we passed the grassy, flat path my mind started to drift away from the race, the screaming fans, and everything in the race. I started to ask myself is this pain worth it in the end. I went back to the beginning of my training when I remember debating whether or not I was cut out for this line of brutal training and dedication. Everyday this repeatedly played in my mind. I was full of mixed emotions. On one hand, I wanted to be part of the team and form friendships with teammates. Or on the other hand, I would like to relax and concentrate on my studies and my studies. I needed the energy of excitement from the fans to rejuvenate my mindset. I wanted to feel that intense feeling of finishing the

Picture this: you are 14-years-old, it is 4:30 AM, and your alarm clock is going off to begin your day. Rushing out of the house, you grab any food you can scavenge while simultaneously brushing your teeth. From 5:00 to 6:30 AM, you train before school starts, and then enter seven hours of learning. Following the school day, you train again from 2:45 to 7:00 PM. This is a glimpse of my day as a student athlete.

Thinking about life as a “race” versus life as a “run” can mean two completely different things. When people think about racing in reality, they think of reaching a point to win; they have to reach an ending point to be successful. If one doesn’t make it to that ending point, then what is the whole point of racing in general? The gist of racing then becomes meaningless.

Until I began high school, I wasn't interested in trying to understand my academic potential. Like many people, I accepted that I was not suited for scholastics and didn’t put effort into my studies. I glided by in my early teens, and my mediocre grades reflected my indifference for school. By the time middle school ended, my grades had fluctuated so much that my teachers recommended me for normal-level classes. As an underachiever, I was fine with the demotion from honors classes, but chose not to tell my parents about my having authorized it. I did confess later, when I was much older, and as I guessed, they were not as amused as I was. Even then, they knew what I was capable of. Fortunately, after approving the termination of my high-level

When you upload a video to Youtube, Google attempts to transcribe the speech into subtitles, usually with comedic consequences. I am able to add the correct subtitles at the correct times of the videos.