Running

Running, it’s not only a sport but a lifestyle that I live my life by. When I am running I don’t think of anything my mind goes blank, I feel free but slowly I start to feel the burn in my lungs and legs. For most people this is time to stop and walk, but for me it’s the time to dig deep, push harder and harder until I finally reach my goal for that day. After every workout my heart is racing and it’s the best feeling ever I can’t even describe it. Winded and wheezing I try to talk but nothing come outs, my coach always tells me that I am the nicest after a run. I think it’s because when I run everything that made me mad or I got upset about is gone It slowly leaves my mind, and I start to think about my next race.

Friends, I met new people when I started running, had I not done Cross Country I probably never would have met these people that are more like family to me now. Some of the upper-class men are more like older brothers to me now especially Jacob he is a senior and one of my role models. We have endured a lot together, Cross Country and Track season. During Cross Country we went to Regionals. This meant we had to go up on a Friday and spend the night in a hotel, it was the funniest time I had in a long time I will never forget that weekend. Then that next morning at the meet my coach Shawn took me on a warm up run and talked to me. He told me “, you got it in you, stick with Cole and just don’t think about it stay right on his hip”. After that it was time to go to the starting line, it all went by so quick. When I finished Coach came running up to me and told that I had shattered the record that I had been aiming for all year by over 30 seconds.

Track season came and went so quickly, but for me it didn’t start until conference meet. When Austin got injured the night before and got taken off the 4×800. I woke up to a call for Coach and he told me “I know you have never ran the 800 before but I know you can do it and I really need you to step it up today.” The 4×800 is the first event and I was so nervous, ever bad scenario was going through my head. Dropping the baton, letting the relay team down, then it was time to run, the hand offs were perfect and we took 2nd place only losing by 1 second. It was the fastest the relay had ran all year, we also qualified for Regionals too. Regionals came and went so quickly I can hardly remember it until the start. I ran third leg and got the baton in 4th place, I ran the hardest I have ever ran before to keep up with 3rd place and by the time I handed the baton off I was in 4th place. Cole finished up the relay in 4th place qualifying for the State Meet. It was the first time in school history that the 4×800 had qualified for State meet. I felt honored to be a part of it. We went up the day before the meet and stayed in a hotel, it all went by so quick. Our relay team was ranked 16th in the state, but we all knew we could do better than that. We had a prayer before the race and then we went to check in and everything went smooth. All four of us walked to the line nervous, and yet excited that we made it there. I couldn’t watch the legs before me I just heard them call “A” to the line. The hand off was decent we were in 14th place and I could hear the feet pounding behind me. Quickly he passed me but I stayed right behind him the whole time until the final 200 meters when, I made my move and surged, over taking him and one more team to hand the baton off in 13th place. Cole caught one more team, which meant at that time we became ranked 12th in the state.

It’s at meets like the State Meet that I felt like all my hard work preparing, training for meets. All the practices, eating healthy, spending some Saturdays at invitational’s meets, all the long bus rides, especially the over night meets, it was all worth it when I crossed the finish line knowing that I gave it everything I had in me, when I could barley stand after I finished the race and someone had to be there to hold me up. It’s sad to think that one of my role models Jacob will not be here next year; He will be attending D University. It just won’t be the same without him being there at every practice and every meet. Running it’s a life style and the life style I have chosen to live my life by.