Personal Narrative Essay On A Runner's High

Of the more than twenty million Americans who are running today, most who start do so for the wrong reasons, with the wrong attitude, and tend to lose interest after a few weeks or months. Many quit. This is usually because they become concerned with superficial goals such as time and distance and never discover the more profound mental benefits that running offers. (Lilliefors 15)

Feeling exhausted, I focus on my breathing. I breath in through my nose and then out through my mouth, breath in and out. Repeat. After passing the mile mark, my coach is shrieking for me to relax, because I am on my way to qualify for cross country states. The top twenty girls qualify, and I have been dreaming of this day since freshman year. All I have to do is hold my position, and then I am golden. Suddenly, my legs begin to feel like jello. My running partner slowly fades ahead of me, and I cannot keep up. It feels like I am running backwards as the rest of my teammates pass me one by one. Fighting fatigue, I tell myself I am finishing this race, whether or not I have to crawl like a turtle to do so. I am crossing that finish line.

I go to the grass by where we will line up for the race and I put my spikes on. Making sure every spike is tight; I double knot the laces and stand up. Now my stomach really hurts. The nerves of a runner before a race are one of the worst things to handle. The announcer puts me in line and I take a deep breath once it’s my time to go up to the blocks. I set up my blocks for my standards and take off my sweats. The breeze hits my thighs as my tank top flows from side to side. The sun wishes me good luck just before I start my race. I slightly shake as the announcer tells us, “Runners to your mark!” and I get down. Shaking more vigorously now, my heart is pounding in my chest. It seems like hours waiting for him to yell, “Get set!” “Go!” but once he does I know it’s go time. I push off my blocks, and I run as fast as I can. I can feel my legs moving together in motion as the balls of my feet dig into the track. My spikes are doing their job in helping me grip to the surface as I make my way to the finish line. Neck and neck with the girl next to me I hope she gets winded out near the end and slows down so I can just scarcely make it past her. I feel like I am running as fast as a horse. Crossing that finish line and coming to a slow stop, I breathe heavily as I exhale in relief of being over. I did it, I’m done… and I did well. My legs raw, I get off the track. (AB) Some fellow sprinters congratulate me as I do the same to them. That is what’s nice about track, it seems like most of the people are very friendly. They have no problem congratulating you or talking to you about how nervous they are before a race. We know we are all in the same boat and all we want is to succeed. Every blue moon a distance runner will congratulate a sprinter but I don’t think it has ever happened to me. I don’t know if they are just caught up in their own world or if they are just being stingy about the whole

“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.

"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 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

I had heard about the cross country team but I didn’t know anyone who was a part of it. The cross country team was full of girls who were welcoming and shared the same passion for running as me. I was putting in a lot of time into this team, from long practices everyday and meets every Wednesday and Saturday, but I wouldn’t have had it any other way. I was able to mentor the younger members on the team and share my love for running with them. After being a part of this team for three years, together, we have won three consecutive senate championships and developed a bond like no other.

For 2 years I was a member of the Central Toronto Athletic Club. CTAC is a competitive middle distance running club that trains its athletes to compete in track and field and cross country events. It is a year round athletic club that is a platform for talented people of almost all ages to train and to focus on their self-progress as an athlete. At CTAC I was encouraged to push myself to test the limits of my speed, endurance and strength and to discover what my body is truly capable of. Running was a very satisfying sport because my achievements were directly proportional to the amount of work that I put in. At CTAC, I learned discipline, dedication and perseverance. I had to balance my schoolwork with daily practices or workouts, I ran six

Sweat dripping from your chin, oxygen hard to find, legs feeling numb, eyesight blurred, dizziness setting in, coaches going crazy with words of encouragement and the finish line is only a few feet away. The final stretch is here and all you have to do is catch up to the kid running inches in front of you. You feel like every breath is your last, as your stride gets you that much closer to your opponent. Running out of space, moving legs at turbo speed and doing all you can to catch that kid. Your stomach feels as though as it is on fire, as you get a step the kid. Now you have to pass him and maintain your distance. You can hear the parents screaming your name, motivating you to run even faster. Now the finish is right there, with the adrenaline keeping you going you push yourself through the finish line. Once you pass it you can feel nothing, but your heart pounding like a drum against your chest. You can taste the lactic acid in your mouth, hear the ringing in your ears, see the blur of parents walking up to congratulate you on your efforts. You have done it, you have completed a cross country race.

Throughout the active school year, I take part in cross country, track and basketball. I also played volleyball for a year, but I decided to concentrate on my main passion, cross country, instead of dividing my time and attention into two sports at the same time. I have been running cross country ever since I was old enough to run in the munchkin races. The sport has been passed down through the family, almost every single one of my siblings have run or at least tried it. In track, I have ran the mile and two mile since the seventh grade. These last couple years I joined into the long distance relays. In 2016, the first year we decided to start a relay it consisted of my sister, Victoria, Tristen Ness, and Sammy Swanson. The first time we ran

I also ran track. (When I was an aid for the teachers and/or staff, I use to have no class,

If you are a runner, whether new to the sport or a veteran, you know there are those days where being motivated to run is difficult. Whether it is the distance or overcoming the soreness and pain associated with a previous run, there are days when the idea of running is completely unappealing.

After the race my initial thought was that it was the hardest run that I have ever ran and that I was so extremely tired. Today, however I feel differently about this particular race. I feel as if this race was a stepping stone to where I am today in cross country. I realize that without this race being so much fun and challenging then maybe I never would have stuck with it my entire high school career.

During the featured article “how to make your exercise high last,” the author, S. Angle, describes the high you receive during and after a workout. This high is a feeling that you can’t miss, it happens after a great workout is finished, this feeling puts one's self in an astounding mood, plus making you ready for your next workout. The only problem with this is that it simply lasts for about 20 to 30 minutes before the feeling begins to go away. Studies by Johannes Fuss, Ph.D., the lead research of this study, have recently proven that this high feeling that many people enjoy are from our levels of endocannabinoids, and endorphins being at high levels. Endocannabinoids tend to have a more powerful effect on how we feel. Firstly, Endocannabinoids

Performance-enhancing drugs are substances used most commonly by athletes to improve performance and duration. Most of the athletes use these drugs to boost their energy consequently given them a competitive advantage against other their competitors. Amphetamines are one of the drugs that are gaining popularity by athletics around the world. It merely stimulates the nervous system of the body, and it increases concentration and attentiveness as well as keenness. Additionally, it creates a mood of improved energy and a reduction in a person's appetite. By doing this, it enhances the performance of an athlete. However, if taken in large quantities and frequently it may cause side effects that may lead to slowness in the following of directions