Every long stride strained my burning muscles. I gasped for breath but received no air. Sweat seeped into my eyes, stinging them with salt. But, I felt no pain; actually, I could not feel anything. I could hear voices, but I could not articulate any words. I ignored the pull of gravity and the screaming of my body and lunged forward. All the while the only thought I could produce was, “Why am I doing this?”
I started cross-country freshman year. In middle school, I had played on the school football team. But being 5 foot 5 inches tall and ninety pounds, did not really equate to football. So, I joined the cross-country team as a way to condition for soccer. My naïve freshman-self had no clue of the endeavor I had just set out upon. Now here
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Who would force himself through pain during training just so he could experience even more pain while racing? Runners are a peculiar group. We bond through the appreciation and respect of pain, acknowledging one another with a slight nod or wave when our paths cross. My football friends will insist that their sport is much more difficult, and that running nonstop for over three miles is kid 's stuff compared to bumping foreheads with guys in pads. I casually retort that every few seconds there is a hiatus in their game. The luxury of breaks is foreign to a …show more content…
We smile when other athletes complain about running laps as punishment while we run twice that in warm-ups. It fascinates me that something so simple remains a constant and vital part of any athletic endeavor. Before there were balls to kick or throw, there were feet alone. Simplicity and freedom are the foundations of runners and their sport. There are no procedures, equipment, or even a team. Yes, you can have a coach, buy the lightest shoes, and run with a team of runners. You can don the same uniform, try to predict what mile splits you wish to accomplish, and imagine whom you will pace behind. But once the starting gun fires, you are alone. You either fail or succeed because your own preparation, accord, and willpower. The beauty of running stems from choice – the choice to continue. Freedom is the gift of running. Injuries, obstacles, pain – they are just detours. Speed, distance, and form are all relative. I am not weighed down by a set of rules. After four years, I no longer have to question my love for the sport. I have found my
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.
“I cannot always bring up my faith in a public school setting so it allowed for a unique opportunity.” Dobson knew Watson had a love for the 1,500 meter and after training her for just eight weeks she ran faster than she ever had in five
Sprints are the short distance races that consist of events like the 100 meter dash, the 200 meter dash and relay races like the 4x1 and 4x2, unlike the distance runner’s sprinters work on their speed and technique instead of endurance. However distance consists of longer races like the 1400 and the 800. In order to run these races you must be strong mentally and have great
My oldest brother was a successful runner all through high school; captain of the cross country and track team, and now runs in college. My second oldest brother had the same success.
I didn’t even know what cross country is before I came to this school. And by the end of the season, I was one of the best runners in the team. This transition didn 't come from nowhere. I was literally the slowest person in the whole team(including girls) when the season began. And I remembered what one of the girls in the team told me: Kenny, just go join another activity, there is not chance for you to make the APAC team.
On a cold, frosty, snow cover night in November at Welcome Home Stadium, was when my life changed. That night, two teams played for the chance to call themselves champions of 6th-grade football. All game, my team and I battled against the mighty Wilmington Hurricanes. We fought all game to win and finally we got the ball back with less than under a minute left and down by 4 points. The crowd was quieter than a church mouse as my coaches huddled us up during a timeout, and in that timeout, my coaches looked to me for answers.
I will never forget that moment, when I caught the ball I took off, I juked to the left causing my other teammate to fall then I hit a spin move and cause another teammate to miss, I then ran for the touchdown. Ever since that moment the coach started me at running back every single practice and game. For it to be my first year playing contact football I excelled tremendously in our league gaining recognition from coaches that taught higher weight classes and also coaches from different
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”.
Speeding up At the beginning of the cross country season I hated cross country absolutely hated it, I would walk down the hallway of saline middle school look at all of the pictures on the wall and saw some of kids running and thought why is My mom doing this to me? I thought I was a terrible at it, I would run like a 9 or 10 minute mile. So when the school year came along I dreaded the end of the day I would look at the clock and think a tiny bit longer, please just a wee longer (and that is very very rare.) When the season began I had a lot of trouble, whether it was keeping up or if it was breathing problems, and My friend Zaske (who was and still is much faster than me) was nice enough that instead of going up with all the faster kids he stayed back with me, but even when he was going his slowest I still had trouble keeping up he would try to encourage me by saying “come on Michael just a little faster,” and I would respond with “i'm…
RUN! proves that with determination and the right attitude, anything is possible. It is a well written story geared towards people who are both runners and non-runners alike. Each story is well written and has many different life lessons that can be taken away from it. Dean Karnazes has written a story
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.
It feels like it just flies by in seconds. Races can be very hard if runners haven't trained though. They have to set a good pace for themselves. If they don't, racers might run way too fast in the beginning and then get tired and won't be able to keep running. This sounds silly, but runners will also have to make sure their shoes are on tight
Track & Field Track and Field looks like a very simple, easy, boring sport to most people but it’s really not. Some people don’t want to join track because “they don’t like running”, what some people don’t think about is the field part of Track and Field. There are many different options when it comes to track and field. Track and field is a very enjoyable sport to most of the members.
Initially, my mind was set to join the soccer team. However, I found out there weren’t any openings available. The only team that had an opening was The Cross Country Team. I was terrified…my parents encouraged me to join as there wasn’t an option not to.
Over 517,726 football related injuries occurred in 2005-2006 across high schools in the United States", claimed by source 2. However, sports injuries are rare and typically do not put the athlete sports put athletes in harm's way. Source 2 claims that, many schools in the nation have a highly advanced training staff and coaches or at least trying to replicate how the NCAA handles equipment and injuries. With proper training and coaching, athletes lower their chances of getting injured in sports. Overall then, despite the possible injuries, the benefits of sports simply outweigh the potential