Cross America Personal Narrative

I have not been able to participate in athletics nearly as much as I would have liked. I started running track in the spring of my seventh grade year. I performed surprisingly well and decided to participate in cross country the next fall. I spent the summer training and preparing for the season, and it definitely showed. I ran in the varsity race for my first cross country meet ever. I was an eighth grade girl who was running the same workouts as the junior and senior boys. My team won the conference meet and I won all conference honors. We went on to place second at the section meet, which earned us a place at the state meet. I earned all section honors myself and missed going to state as an individual by only a few places. At the state meet,

As the summer wore on, I began to experience hip pain. It was only minor and I thought nothing of it. I had aches and pains all the time, and they had always gone away on their own before. This pain was different though, it didn’t go away. Cross country season rolled around and the pain was still there. I didn’t tell my coaches or parents because I didn’t want to miss any meets. After the second meet of the season, I could barely walk. The next morning at practice, I was supposed to run a hard workout, but I knew my body wouldn’t let me. I told my coach I was experiencing some hip pain. He told me that my body probably just needed a rest and not to worry. After a few days of rest, I was still in pain. I began going to the chiropractor three times a week. The chiropractor would always massage my hip muscles and couldn’t figure out exactly what was wrong. I spent the rest of cross country season only being able to practice occasionally. I was only able to run in four meets that season: two at the beginning of the season and two at the end. My first meet back at the end of the season was conference. My team was able to win, but I was extremely disappointed in how I ran. It felt like my body would not physically let me run. After the season was over, I was advised to take six weeks