Personal Narrative: My First Amputee Runner

I know it is going to be painful and all mental. We are the underdogs going into the race, so we know we had to prove everyone wrong. It is time to line up at the starting line. We say our prayer. I cannot help but cry because I am so proud of this team. We have worked all year for this moment, and we are ready to give it all we have. The time has come to start the championship race. I have my hand on my watch ready to track all of my mile splits. The starter points the gun toward the sky, "Runners take your mark." I did not even hear the gun go off. The first four hundred meters are all sprint that I cannot feel my legs. I know I have to make my way toward the front to stand a chance in this race. My first mile is seven flat. I hold a good pace, but I know I cannot let anyone pass me up. The cold air gives me a rush, and I keep the same pace for the second mile. I look to the front of the pack, and I see our top four girls in the top ten spots. I get excited, but I cannot let it get to my head. Mile three is rough. My lungs were starting to burn, and the race starts to get all mental. "Am I strong enough for this? Did I train

Since I was one of the top runners with a fast time of the one hundred and two hundred events, I had qualified for sectionals. Also, for the four by one relay and the four by four relay, the team of four that I competed in, both qualified for sectionals because we had been the top runners for these events. It was the end of another practice in track, and I stood next to the entrance of the school, waiting for my parents to come pick me up to go home. As I was waiting, I looked outside. The grass was swaying, the sun was behind the clouds like it was playing hide and seek, and the branches of the trees were waving to all nature around them. The day was peaceful, but my mind was racing and racing on the upcoming track meet at Sectionals. I was so excited and exhilarated to compete in sectionals, I couldn 't wait to tell my family. I always have liked the competitive drive every time before I would run a race. I always enjoyed the feeling of the wind against my face, and the power it took to sprint to the finish line. My knees started shaking, and the sharp pain in my stomach began to get worse. How would I get rid of the nervousness before and during the experience of competing in sectionals? How would I know if I’m completely prepared to do my best for the running events? How would I know the other competitors strength and weaknesses in order to get into one of the top places in one of

I have the standard set of beliefs as most people; don’t do anything illegal or to harm anyone, be a decent person, help those who need it. However, I’ve struggled most with the old adage of “treat others as you want to be treated”. It seemed simple enough to me as a child, and thus I began to do just as the age-old advice said. In most instances I have gotten what I’ve expected in return. My grades reflect my efforts at school, the treatment of me by my sister was indicative of how many names I had called her that day. Yet, there is still one issue that I’ve always wondered about. One could say that my experience in cross country has been far from normal. One year, I was running a thirty-minute 5k, and ranked eighty-sixth on the team. The

An hour or so before my race, a friend offered me some help with my skiing. Once again, I went outside and was practicing, but this time with help. I had some trouble even with help. I slipped, couldn’t slow myself down, and I actually nearly ran into somebody, but I eventually got the hang of it. Later on, my race began, and I was filled with anxiety. This time, however, I managed to make it past those steep inclines and declines, and I actually completed the course. It took me 44 minutes, but I completed it. After the course, my friends congratulated me. After a lot of trouble and challenges through the season, I finally finish my first cross country ski race, and I go back home prouder, more courageous, and with a new sense of

I expected to get a few bruises, but not a getting a concussion. Before the soccer game, my idea of a concussion was getting bumped in the head, receive headaches, and it would heal up in a week and then you would go back to the way you were. I was wrong. At times, concussions can be deadly, and if you have them more than once, it will decrease your chance of keeping your brain healthy and surviving. Concussions can also give you migraines and make you dizzy. I’ve only known one person who had a concussion and I didn’t look at it as an injury because he seemed fine, but I didn’t know about his symptoms. Getting this concussion was from playing a “friendly” game of soccer after running a cross country race. After that

Making it to the national high school rodeo finals is something I will never forget. Nationals is the biggest youth rodeo in the world and is made up of over 1,500 contestants. Each contestant competes in 2 rounds and possibly a short round depending on how well they do. Making nationals had always been a dream of mine and last year I achieved that. I made it in the cutting horse division and to do so I had to be one of the top four girls in the state of Oklahoma. Although nationals didn?t turn out as well as I had hoped it was an honor to have competed against the best in the world.

I couldn 't endure those athletes with slogans of "challenge oneself, surpass oneself " before; considering them as insatiable rebels with over-competitiveness who create barriers for the world to achieve social tranquility. As for me myself, I thought I was a person with great wisdom and foresight back then; for I only put in the precise force that are barely enough to rub through situations without bothering too much. After all, with the strategies of leaving myself some leeway, life wouldn 't get too tiring.

That race, and the world-shattering heartbreak that followed, forever changed the way I saw running. I discovered that even hard work is not always invincible at the hands of fate. As soon as I scraped my sweaty hands into the dirt and pulled myself up to go face my team a startling realization occurred to me. This loss, this heart-shattering defeat, was the ultimate test. Would I let it pull me down, or would I struggle to my feet and come back even stronger?

Getting off the bus, I was ecstatic. It was my chance to help my team in achieving our biggest goal. For fall, the day was particularly hot and humid. I enjoy running in cool, chilly type weather, so the heat was a conflicting factor in my race. But I refused to let the heat bring me down. The team performed our usual routine; fifteen minute warm-up, body exercises and cheered on the boys running before our race. Everything was in place, I thought. We lined up on the line, exchanged phrases of luck and prepared for the gun. The gun went off and our feet flew down the field. Upper Darby would succeed in our goal, I felt

There we were, in Houston Texas, Dejah, Aniya, and I were warming up, practicing handoffs in tent city. We had made it to the Houston Texas AAU National Junior Olympics. It was No Limits Track Club’s second to last day on our eight day trip. It was the most competitive day of them all. It was time for the four by one hundred meter relay. With my relay team stretched,warmed up, and ready to go, we headed towards the stadium where we would race against the fastest girls in the nation. Intimidated but not deterred we headed out of Tent City and into the gates of Turner Stadium.

Difficulties from spondylolysis plagued me for years in my teens. When the discomfort first began, I presumptuously told myself I remained tough enough to continue to play baseball through the pain; however, the soreness worsened, I needed to wear a back brace, and required several months of rest to heal. The downtime proved almost as painful as the injury itself. I felt well after this recovery period, except just as physical therapy ended, the achiness returned; a CT scan revealed not one, but two unhealed fractures that needed to be surgically repaired. During the weeks after surgery, I relied on a walker, and my pessimistic attitude caused many mental obstacles, one of which questioned my capability to be the athlete I was prior to my injury. Once again, I harnessed up my inner

Failure is an opportunity for some to improve and build upon themselves so they have a better chance to succeed in the future. My junior year at Western Branch was an exciting one with a lot of surprises and disappointments. That year my track team came close to winning the state championship, but with a lot bad performances by the team, myself included, we were not able to overcome the competition. It was an even greater blow when the girls’ side of the team won, despite the boys’ team having more naturally talented athletes. The work that we put in during the summer, fall, and winter felt like it was for nothing more than to lose some weight and get in shape.

The smell of horse clogged up my nose, The freshly cut grass of the area crunched under my boots. I was excited to compete in the teton county fair, I was very hyper. I love to compete with other people and I was determined to do the best that I ever could, even though I was trying a brand new horse that had never been to fair. I was about to step up into the spotlight with my horse, when the moment stopped in time. In this situation I used Relationships and Independence to help me make it through the fair that year.

My heart was beating so quickly I could feel it in my throat, sweat was running down my face and all I could see is the stadium full of people clapping some with smiles and others with straight faces and then I remember looking at the judges table and felt like my blood has somehow run cold and my heart seemed to still increase with speed. I glanced at the judge's face for one second because we were not allowed to look at them but there faces were embrained in me even if I just glanced at them for a second. They had the straightest faces no response, no satisfaction, almost like they were bored. This competition is what I lived for what I waited for and what I worked so hard for and in the end I fell apart on the most important day of my

Boom, bang, pow! Boxing was all I ever thought about as a child. I would dream, eat, and sleep boxing. Though I was a little shrimp weighing in only 75 pounds, I had a very big heart, which gave me the drive to keep on pushing forward. Everyone around me seemed like giants, but that did not stop me from doing what I love. Boxing sculpted me into a stronger person mentally.