Personal Narrative: Ready To Run

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.

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

I was a late-comer to athletics. So when the distance coach recruited me in tenth grade, it was a pleasant surprise to be half decent. I was deemed the most improved cross country runner in the nation, dropping six minutes for a 4K, landing me in my first state race. I have since been a contributing part of my varsity team. I have been All-Conference and All-Section for the past three years. This past year, my cross country team won state and nationals. I, myself, was runner-up in the team division at nationals. In Track and Field, I also competed at state. Running has become a huge part of my life, teaching me many lessons, especially that there is always room for

My phone lit up with a text that read “Hey you should come to practice today!” I knew it was from my well-meaning best friend, but I could not summon the motivation to get out of bed on a late August morning in order to go run. At cross country practice. I dragged my feet for a few days but after many more encouraging morning texts, I finally got out of bed, laced up my shoes, and asked my mom to drive me to the green belt. I was joining cross country. Having never run a full mile in my life, I was absolutely sure that running for no good reason every day would be a complete flop and I would quit after a few days. I was dead wrong. Cross country would not let me quit. It not only would not let me quit, but it taught me to not be a quitter.

Many of my friends were on the running team, and after much convincing, I decided to join. Once I did, I fell in love. The sport of running has shaped who I am and what I believe in. The highs are really high, and the lows are really low. It’s an astonishing feeling when I am done with a race and a goal that I worked hard for has been achieved. However, when I don’t do well and I’m knocked down, knowing that the time could have been faster, or the pace could have been more consistent, that is when I think I grow the most. With the constant drive to be successful, it gets hard, and it gets stressful. Although it is not always easy, or ever easy for that matter, I have never stopped loving the sport or the atmosphere that comes with it. I hope I never

Running my first 5k, I was ecstatic that I could maintain a jogging pace the whole time, now, 7 years later I find myself setting a personal record of 21:23 on the exact same course that I ran that first race. In fifth grade, through Girls on the Run, I was introduced to the activity that, today, acts as my physical, emotional, and spiritual sanctuary: running. Furthermore, partaking in this program truly taught me not just the method behind running, but also the madness. Throughout every practice that was held I became increasingly exposed to the euphoria and triumph that can only be found through running. Additionally, I was able to discover a truly remarkable community of people who took running as a joy not a chore.

87/140 blood pressure. Hypertension? No, adrenaline. My heart was beating fast and hard; I could practically feel the blood pumping through every vein, every capillary, every artery. I could feel ,the constant assault on my whole body of the speeding wind that brought in a brigade of sand to scratch my face and make its way through every crevice. We were moving at such high speeds that the truck seemed to never even touch the ground.

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

Lynn Jennings, an American long-distance runner, once said, “I succeed on my own personal motivation, dedication, and commitment. My mindset is: if I’m not out there training, someone else is.” (Found on www.active.com). When I saw this quote, it immediately stuck out to me. Running is not only a physical activity; it is also a mental activity. Most people think I’m crazy to run, but I think otherwise. I run because of the “runner’s high” during a race, of the friendships I’ve made, and of the beautiful places I run through.

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

Now, it was time for the race I was most excited for, the 4x400. It was the same distance as my previous run, but our relay had a shot of winning the title of first. We all got in the infield and practiced our handoffs. They had to perfect, seamless and quick. The difference between a good and bad handoff could cost us first place. Our event was last, so we cheered on our team as they completed theirs. Looking at the scoreboard so far, we knew there was no chance we could come back and win with only the few events we had left. That didn’t matter though, because we had to show we don’t give up and do what we

I joined track, UIL, and Cross Country. When I joined Track I was not as fast as my members. Whenever we practice they would leave and no matter what the distance was I never gave up nm, I believed it was possible no matter what happens. When the year finished I practiced hard over the summer so I could join the cross country team and show my teammates that I could be as fast as they are. I joined the team and managed to be the third fastest runner of the team. I was proud of myself but I did not let pride distract me from practicing harder so I continued practicing until I could become the fastest. By the second semester I became the fastest runner as well as the captain of the team until

I timidly walked out to my first day of practice, unsure what to expect and still questioning my decision to join. After the first day, I was already addicted to the bittersweet pain I felt in my legs as I pushed myself to go faster. This addiction left me feeling empty when track season ended three months later. Of course, the only logical solution was to join cross country. Groggily rolling out of bed for six a.m. practices, feeling the harsh Tucson sun burn my skin, and listening to my teammates’ discordant singing in the austere school showers; all of these were made worthwhile by the satisfaction of completing a tough workout, the laughter that filled our favorite restaurant during team breakfasts, and of course the shining silver trophy and fulfillment that came with winning a state

You’re at the start line with seven other people waiting for the start gun to go off, so you can run as fast as you can around the track and try for a gold medal. Put yourself in some of the runners or previous runners from the Olympics shoes, for example Carl Lewis. Running in the Olympics is a big part of all of their lives and also a big part of history. The Olympics have been around for a long time and they consist of teams from different countries coming to participate in different events such as running, which I will specifically be talking about in this paper.

I and run. All I can hear is the snap of tree branches, dogs barking who I can’t tell if they’re chasing me or just off in the distances, and the rocks rolling down the cliff next to me hoping that I’m not next to roll down. As I keep running I feel my body slow down I became grow weaker every second. As I slow down I think to myself, I have to keep running I need to get out of there I can’t stand it anymore. Just escape and get out of the awful place.