Personal Narrative-Racism

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.

Imagine this. On a Monday morning around 9:30, it was that time of year again: Fitness testing week and it was the day where we took the hardest, most physically painful test, also known as running the mile. The first lap seemed pretty easy to run but towards the end of the second lap, finishing the other two laps seemed impossible, so I just wanted to just walk it from there, when all of a sudden, a rush of energy came over me, allowing me to run a good 10 minute mile. Although I did want to give up and walk the rest of the mile, I pushed through it and managed to jog the whole time, making the reward of finishing sooner feel even better.

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.

Still I first, I begin to slow down in pace. I shouldn't have used up most of my energy in the beginning. I'm only half way done with the the 1600 meter, and I'm going to need to preserve my energy. I decide that I will have to take a small break to "Recharge" my energy. Others are now getting very close now, so I decide my little break is over.

“Alright, you guys have run the course before. You 've all trained hard throughout the whole month for this. For many of you, this will be your last race this season, so make it count!” Coach Guzmán announced during a whole team huddle behind the Sports Pavilion and next to the track at Tustin High School. This was the day before the race, the Empire League Finals, which determines which schools will move on to the CIF Southern Section Preliminaries, the Cross Country equivalent of the quarterfinals in other sports.

As I was turning the last curve, all the people screaming and cheering gave me a boost to finish the race. I finished around 5th by the time I was done. I then handed it off to the second runner, Brent Thiel. He and I were pretty much the same speed. He got out to a good start and by the time he was done he kept us in 5th place.

The course was just under five miles total and started out with a short sprint that went up a hill and back down and then in to a short section of muddy/sandy water to cross. The course continued on and the first obstacle up was over-walls and then after a long sprint up next where two high hurdles to climb/hurdle over. The course continued on for anther brief sprint and up next was 6 ' wall and then the 7 ' wall and a short sprint later the cargo net climb. It was now time for another sprint and then came the bucket brigade carry

The entire day had been a struggle as we slipped on the various rocks underneath our feet as we made our way up Mt. Phillips. Every ten minutes our Scoutmaster, Mr. Britton, would gleefully shout, and “Come on boys, just a little more climbing and we will be at the top.” Although I wanted to believe him, I was running out of energy. This was the most difficult challenge I had ever faced in my seventeen years of life

Before climbing hills on foot, cycling possessed my passion for a couple of years as my only activity. After one year of riding with Tim, he announced that he would be climbing Mount Rainier. My response was simple; “good luck with that.” Though I began participating on training hikes with Tim as he prepared for his colossal challenge, the two of us continued to ride on a regular basis as riding the “Seattle to Portland” Bicycle Classic remained a mutual goal.

I’m on a mountain, I just overcame my first obstacle the chair lift. Which I thought would be harder than it was I miraculously didn’t fall or knock over the other skiers/snowboarders. I glanced back up at the gleaming mountain becoming easily distracted by the flawless stroke of every turn as the pros make their way down. I say quietly to myself “Isn’t this suppose to be a beginners hill?” They have gopros strapped to their helmets and are racing each other down.

Drew Pohle 10/25/15 Miss. Nigro Personal Narrative The bow crosses the finish line and the stroke rate goes down. My heart sinks in my chest I look around and see the other boats in front of ours and realize that we lost. We sit there a few meters after the finish line, and then, with our heads slumped, we start to row back to the dock.

I hear for thirty-five straight minutes straight heavy breathing and I see sweat from both teams since the match is equal. I hear my coach giving us instructions on what to do. As second half starts I can hear the parents cheering for us. I can hear myself panting and could smell the smell of sweat. As see that there is only ten minutes left for the game to finish I can see everyone’s face and see exhausting in them.

At this point in the race, the painstaking burning of my legs increases to its full potential; I know I am giving all that I have at this point in the race. A downhill, the last element of the course that will even slightly ease my pain, comes into view, and I know I need to use every last ounce of it to my benefit. Like the last race we ran here, a teammate’s mom is yelling out our times to us and advises, “USE THIS DOWNHILL; IT’S YOUR LAST ONE!” Of course I know this but the encouragement helps immensely.

In the middle of the run there was a fork in the snow, it either lead to a black diamond run or a blue run. My dad asked me and my brother if we we’re up to go on the black diamond run, and I replied “No way”, but we went down it anyway, I went even faster than I was before, it gave me a huge adrenaline rush, and every time I fell, I got back right up like it was nothing. It was an amazing experience going down this massive hill, I’m really glad I spent time with my family

But more importantly I thought about whether I would do cross country next year. Beforehand, we were shown a map of the course just like we did with all our other races and were told that the last stretch towards the finish line would be uphill. This encouraged me to go as fast as possible when I got to that