Is It Hit Me?

Every runner wore a bib number with the time they start on it. As I was running people were passing me who had started after me, and I kept thinking I was going too slow and that I shouldn’t be taking this long to complete it. Through words of encouragement from my mom and decipline mentras from myself I finished the race, I crosses the fanish line and the feeling of triumph as I crossed it was something I’ll never forget.

“Same. The doctors gave me some wonder pills and now I feel no pain at all.”

I led a few stretches, ran a few warmup laps, and headed up to the stands. With my parents and teammates beside me, I felt ready to go, until my race was called. Then my heart dropped and the pressure of not false-starting, successfully passing the baton, and running faster than I ever have fell on me. My Coach led the three other runners and me down a tunnel to the track. Then we are placed in order by heat and leg

“I think i have a several broken bones, how about you guys?” murmured Nicholas, as he moves slowly to see if he can still

People nudging and spiking you, trying to get in the lead. I managed to keep my balance and finally react to the starting gunshot. I began running and now the wind was fully forcing itself onto me. As I ran down the hill the mud grasped my legs and pulled me down. My butt and legs landing on the pile of mud. Feeling the impact I slowly got up, but runners coming down the hill kept nudging me so I could repeatedly fall. As I looked to the other side of the hill, I could see my coach running towards

I ran as fast as I could, I was tired but knew that I had to keep going. The sun shone down ferociously making it very bright and torrid. I felt sweat drip from just above my brow into my right eye. My eye began to get a burning sensation just as I turned the corner. My muscles ached, but I knew I had to shift into overdrive and pick up the pace. I started to run faster and faster. I began to get the feeling like I was about to throw up, but knew that I couldn’t stop now. I continued to sprint to the finish, and just as I crossed the finish line I looked to the clock and noticed that I set a new PR. The feeling of happiness that swelled up inside me took me back to the practice on the tuesday of the previous week: That day it was hot as fire

Running stayed on my mind all throughout the day, it was what I loved to do. At the Yukon state track meet my heart was racing more than ever. I’ve trained all season for this meet hoping to place top 6 in the state. It was blazing hot outside with the wind pushing a little hard against us. Me and my team was up next to run the 4x400m against many other schools that were competing that day. As we lined up in order from first leg to anchor, listening to the referee position us on where to stand, we were all scared. The referee shot the gun and the first leg runners took off. When it was my turn to go, I nervously stepped onto the red 8 lane track.

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.

Right before Shelby woke up, Coach Benedetto came get me and Shelby so we could go eat a scrumptious breakfast with the team. I had a amusing breakfast with the boys and the coaches. I was sad after breakfast, because we had to leave. Wishing that we all could just stay there forever. We loaded the bus and left the Rushmore Hotel. That is when it hit me. My stomach felt like I had just ate a bunch of butterflies. This was the most nerve racking race ever.

The conference meet was upon us. I was as nervous as a cat in a room full of rocking chairs. The tension between the runners soared as we lined up at the starting line. I took a few deep breaths, anticipating the gun. I had a nerve racking deep inside. Bang! The gun went off and I took off stumbling over people, shoving, fighting for space. I was breathing hard already, pushing up the first hill. There was a straight away after the hill. I was afraid to get passed, so I kept my pace with the first pack. Michael, who had tripped over the back of my shoe before the first hill, had caught back up. As the first mile came around, I heard determined coaches exclaiming our mile splits.

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

"Not feeling well. Had this problem all morning. Didn't want to miss practice, so I tried to tough it out."

“I found out she had a minor fracture in her arm,” he said. “It looked way worse to me, it looked crushed.”

“Get set,” I raised my hips and kept my weight forward, leaning on my hands. The gun cracked, and I did what I did best. I sprinted. About 35 meters in, I felt my weight going too far forward, and I stumbled the last few steps. I knew it was not my best race, and I was disappointed in myself for it. My personal record was 8.01 seconds, and my stomach flipped as I saw “Bruce...8.06” appear on the big screen at Reggie. I went to get water, and congratulated Caroline, since she got a record of 8.01 seconds in her race. Abby saw I was frustrated and tried to comfort me.

Nerves and the adrenaline feeling rushed through my body like a jet going sonic boom ripping through the air. I was on a school bus headed to a wrestling meet in York, Nebraska on a cold winter day in December. I figured my wrestling meet would be like all the other wrestling meets in the past, win most, lose a few. Never really thought this meet would be the final meet for the season. This meet would change my way of thinking towards wrestling and affect my confidence level.