Cross Country Practice

Soon, the exhaustion became routine and it took no effort to change into my running gear and welcomed the continuity. Before I knew it, I began to wake up before my alarm clock and race to the door and begin my run as I could. With my fighting spirit, I was able to push myself to adapt to different types of situations and start to accept them. I motivated myself to endure the pain I had gone through and came out to be a better runner. If I hadn’t pushed myself at this time, I would remain in the same situation and dread running even a mile.

Each of the four years I have been in college has brought a unique challenge and opportunity for growth. For two and half years I ran year-round on the cross country and track team, until I realized I was forcing myself to run eight to sixteen miles a day. That, and the fear that I missing out on other opportunities, resulted in me giving up the sport I enjoyed for over eight years. I do not regret the decision though. I am still able to run and pursue physical fitness through many other enjoyable means such as long bike rides, tennis and hiking.

In physical education we were put to do the mile I was always second to last if not last I wasnt made fun of but I didnt really good about myself. As the years went on I was still fat couldn’t do anything until sophomore year of high school is where it all changed. I remember it quite clearly as if it was yesterday I was sitting in my math class when one of classmates had large number pinned to his bag and a uniform on that hadn’t seen before. That's when I got curious and asked what sport was all this for he then explained it was for cross country and that I should join it would be fun. It turns out that the season was about to end so it was to late to join so I had to wait for next year so I did. I went my junior in the summer since that's when they practiced and ran for the first time. After this first run I thought I was going to literally die and didn't want to this any more and to top it off all the guy runners who I thought that were slow beat one by one. This is where I decided I wasn't going to be last or lose a race to anyone. I practiced the whole year and did track top it off. Now the summer of my senior year was very motivational since I got up early ran and did this everyday till school started to be the best of my high school. Well the season would begin and I was breaking my school records and receiving medals from invitationals and

For 2 years I was a member of the Central Toronto Athletic Club. CTAC is a competitive middle distance running club that trains its athletes to compete in track and field and cross country events. It is a year round athletic club that is a platform for talented people of almost all ages to train and to focus on their self-progress as an athlete. At CTAC I was encouraged to push myself to test the limits of my speed, endurance and strength and to discover what my body is truly capable of. Running was a very satisfying sport because my achievements were directly proportional to the amount of work that I put in. At CTAC, I learned discipline, dedication and perseverance. I had to balance my schoolwork with daily practices or workouts, I ran six

When most people run up a hill, they slow down. When I see a hill, I speed up and say to myself: “I LOVE hills!” Of course, I don’t really mean it. Nobody’s fond of running up hills, especially on a violently hot day in the middle of August. I was taught this mantra by one of my Cross Country coaches, Kelly. If I don’t think that I can do something, the first thing I try is telling myself that I can. Mindset is about 75% of your performance in a race. I love to run because it makes me feel like I can do things that are impossible. When I get back from a five mile run in the pouring rain, I feel like everything is right with the world.

When I first joined cross country I was not fast nor a runner. I was one of the slowest people on the team, but I wanted to get faster and I was determined to improve. Some days we would do a hills workout and I would get to the top of the longest hill and think, “I could just run back to Armstrong right now and be done”. But then, I thought about how if I did another hill, I would get better and some time during a race when there was a big hill I would look at it like it’s nothing. I could go up the hill easily and pass a couple girls. So I would do another hill. Then the next time we did hills I rememberd how many I did the last time and pushed myself to do one more. Through that cross country showed me that I could be faster and tougher than I thought I was if I put in the effort and want it

In sixth grade I quit the school band in the middle of my third year to join Running Club. The goal of Running Club was to run a 5k after weeks of practice and I accepted the challenge. Throughout the duration of training, I would find the long runs consistently demanding and a test to my motivation to persevere in the club. One of the coaches, Miss. Ames, was my teacher from the previous year and she ran with me during practice. She constantly encouraged me to push myself a little more every run and to keep practicing. I was frustrated with my performance, but Miss. Ames continued to encourage me. Nevertheless, preparing for that 5k was an eye-opening and an overall amazing experience.

I’ve always had a desire for running and when I heard Richland Center High had a Cross Country team, I knew I wanted to be on it! When I did start, it was tough. There were times my sanity would ask, “ WHAT IN THE WORLD ARE YOU

Of the more than twenty million Americans who are running today, most who start do so for the wrong reasons, with the wrong attitude, and tend to lose interest after a few weeks or months. Many quit. This is usually because they become concerned with superficial goals such as time and distance and never discover the more profound mental benefits that running offers. (Lilliefors 15)

Back in my country I love running, but we don’t have a good coach to coach us better. Coming to America I was so happy to join the track team in my school even though the practice was harder than I thought. It formed me to be the person I am today, not giving up in anything tough. It gave me the motivation to move forward in difficult moment, for instance the first week of track practice I got shin splint, that is not a thing to get if you are a runner, so I met my doctor and she told me to take two weeks’ break. I know it’s easy

During my high school career I did not get many opportunities to further my understanding of technology as my school was focusing more sports orientated. But this did not stop me from pursuing my hobbies as I later became a part the unofficial IT administration, working with the head of technology and networking for my school. My job was more of less setup and maintaining WiFi access points in the dormitories and the school or maintaining the computers for the library. On my off time also helped a number of my classmates build their own computers and keep them up-to-date.

Ready, set, “bang,” the starter gun goes off, thousands of people cheer, hundreds of runners on your left and right, and the only thing you’re focus on is crossing the finish line. Your heart is pounding, your stomach twists around itself, and the lactic acid builds in your legs to a point where all you can focus on is the pain that each step takes. But this is Cross Country. Outlasting the pain is part of the sport and if you hadn’t known that from the start you wouldn’t have joined right? And you wouldn’t have stayed all four years either.

One thing should be said about Cross Country, it is no easy sport. Most of the time is spent running, miles upon miles. There is not always someone around to monitor everyone’s activity levels, it would be very easy to stop running; however, doing that only hurts oneself. Even though times it would have been easier to quit, I persevered, knowing that it would benefit me in the long run.

A week before I decided to quit gymnastics I was discussing with my family and friends that I wanted to join cross country. It was the beginning of ninth grade and I was not enjoying gymnastics as much as I used to. I didn’t want to quit entirely because I was progressing my skills on beam and vault, but at the same time the sport became too much to handle. I also knew that if I wanted to run cross country that I would not be able to do gymnastics since the sport required me to drive up to Lincoln four to five times a week. Deciding whether to

As I develop on the Bartlett Cross Country, I became aware of how important everything around a person is —teammates, coaches, and parents. Every morning, members of the cross country team would wake up early to run an extra few miles, allowing us to become the best we can be. The dedication I place into cross country has allowed me to build a strong character. The hard work I put in and the outcome I receive has helped me realize that hard work would always pay off. Similar to cross country, school also requires hard work. The quality of work you receive out of school will resemble the amount of effort you place into school. That is why I believe that in order to succeed you have to put in great amounts of effort and dedication. Along with