Personal Narrative: Track

Cross country has helped me with my transition from childhood and adulthood by teaching me that success is earned through hard work, determination, and leading by example. That's what I did after my first bad race, I worked hard and continued on my quest and showed my coaches and my teammates that I could lead the

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. Knowing this was my last race I would run with my close friends and relay team, being it 's the last race of the season and we all weren’t going to be in the same age group next year, I had a whole new mind set. I was constantly thinking, “we have to make top ten because we can make top ten.” “We have the times, we have the strength, we have the speed, we just need to have the guts to walk in there like we are going to shred the track into pieces.

During my final year of Cross Country around Regionals at Oglethorpe, I ran my final race for my high school career. Banks County was nearly number one in the State, the furthest we had ever ranked in history, and spirit and hopes for State Championship were high. I was nervous, like nobody’s business, I had messed up during my senior night because I was upset for my parents for not showing up and escorting me. And I was scared that I was going to do horribly. But as I ran, I realized that if I let my past mistakes and failures hold me back or get in my way, so I ran, harder and better than I ever had before and apparently even beat a “skinny kid”.

I ran in my middle school’s track team for two years. I ran the mile, one hundred meter dash and triple jump. Out of all the events I participated in I absolutely despised the mile, I hated the aftermath the most. The feeling of my lungs burning, legs aching from the long run and the heavy asthmatic breathes. Although the mile had several cons, I loved the challenge and I was too stubborn to quit.

I was always a very active kid, I liked running around and just having fun. So in grade seven a couple of friends told me to do track and field because they thought I was a fast sprinter, but I didn't really believe them until I tried out for the team and made a spot for the 100 meter sprint and the 4x100 meter relay sprint. On the race day I ran the 100 meter race and came second with a time of 13.10 seconds. I was proud of my time and place because it was the very first official race that I ran in. As for the relay race we came first with a couple of seconds to spare.

Knowing this I pushed myself to my limit pre track season; I worked harder than I have before in the sport and made incredible improvements. Once track season started I was so eager to show the world what I was capable of. The first few competitions were both fairy large and very important. I went into both competitions excited and motivated only to walk away frustrated and disappointed. Everything that could have possibly gone wrong while I was vaulting went wrong.

And we were off; All 13 of our runners and 55 of theirs exploding off the starting line and across the field. I was in front, I always was for about the first 100 yards, then a wave of runners passed me and I settled in to where I was supposed to be. The light rain hit my face and body as I pushed through the 3.1 mile course. Although I had no shot at winning, I hoped my teammates in front of me were giving it all they had, albeit they most likely weren’t doing much better. After settling into a rhythm, I started to battle with a runner near me.

Of course, being told such things by one of the most renowned coaches in the country would be enough to make anyone push their limits. After my sophomore cross country and track seasons were nulled by my physical limitations, I developed a sort of excitement that I wish I could feel again. “I can do ANYTHING” I would tell myself as I ran each workout. Sure enough, by the beginning of my junior cross country season, I was quickly catching up with the other girls on my team. In fact, my outlook was amazing; there were three elite meets that season, each with a limit of runners on my team that would be taken.

I competed in an individual event, the 110 meter hurdles, but in the preliminaries I false-started and was disqualified from the race. I was extremely hard on myself but I had to suck it up and become a team player so that I could come back and compete in the shuttle hurdle relay. I didn’t want to let my team down. In the relay I was the first leg, which is the first to run.

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 then got my height and weight measured 6ft 1in 221 lbs, which Is huge for a thirteen year old, but compared to all of the others I was underweight. I then began to wait for the coaches to call us up for warm-ups, my dad came up to me and told me this “ You have been training for this since February, you have put the work in and now you are ready”. As I was waiting I looked around and saw many very athletic looking athletes, many were bragging to each other about how they would definitely make the team. Lots of guys looked bigger, stronger, and faster. I could tell that I was the only one who was still thirteen.

Then, the races began, and I became quite anxious as the beginner race

I had spent months training for those 20 minutes. I prepared for every possible thing that could have gone sour during those fleeting moments that would determine how my freshman season would end. If the start was too slow I would gradually speed up after mile one. If my hip injury worsened mid-race I would alter my stride to avoid pain. What about if I completely fell apart one mile in?

To me, running is the greatest feeling I could ever feel. In my elementary days I knew I was the fastest kid on the playground. So naturally when I got to high school track was a must for me. My first track meet I was so nervous it felt like my heart was in my stomach. Then as I set myself up in my blocks, close my eyes, and wait for the gun to go off it was like everything went quiet.

The course was muddy and slippery and damp. I knew that the last runners who were going qualify to state were going to run a nineteen-minute race. While other teams were practicing and warming up, my team was playing in the playground. From what I’ve been through this week, I know I wasn’t going to make it to state, but I still wanted to know how close I would be .The teams were called to the starting line and I was nervous.