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Personal Narrative: My First Cross-Country Race

585 Words3 Pages

The air burns your lungs as they fight for oxygen. Your feet pound the unsettled earth, sending shocks of pain through your legs. You can feel the microscopic tears destroying your muscles. Your body is fighting every stride, feeling the pain. Your mind begs you to stop, knowing the pain. Your heart beats faster, loving the pain. You cross the finish line with exhaustion resting in your body, fulfilment in your soul. You have no more to give the world at this moment, and the world asks for nothing. I won my first cross-country race, or so I have been told. I have searched my mind for this memory for years, wondering how I could forget an event that holds such importance. Looking back now, it was the start of the best, horrible decision I have ever made. I was pulled up to varsity cross-country, …show more content…

Not running wasn’t an option. As numerous runners do, I fell into a pattern of treating my injuries instead of preventing them. After 2 years cycling through various injuries at a constant rate, I was asked a question I could not answer. A teammate and I were talking about my expertise and following my explanation of injuries current and past she asked me why I keep running. I did not know. It was a simple question with a complex answer. I could have said because I love it or because running is fun. However, I do not love being injured; how can someone love a sport that leaves permanent damage? How can I love a sport that breaks me down physically and mentally? Running takes all of my energy, forces me to give it more than I believed I could offer. Cross-country is especially brutal. Every day, every practice, I relinquish my body’s right to recovery in the hope that I will improve. However, I couldn’t put myself through dozens of injuries just for the sake of improvement. There was more to it. Running held a power over me that kept me from

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