Personal Narrative: High School Running Track

that I can be happy at and if running track in college is a good idea and when I realize what the best thing to do then I will decide but until that time comes I wait and research and think about what I could do to my life to have a smile on my face everyday and having the life that is worthwhile. I love running track with a passion I know that because when I'm on the line about to push off the blocks the feeling I have in my stomach is like faith telling me and all I think about is run run run and saying repeatedly “I can do it”, then when that gunshot goes off I go, I run my heart out and I don't stop until I win and go for the best of my

I was born to run. I adore the feeling of aching legs, winded breath, and the absolute joy of knowing I have accomplished something so utterly momentous: winning a race. When I run, I feel strong and vivacious both on the inside and on the outside. Last year, I decided to join the high school cross-country team. I was extremely excited and could not wait for practice to begin, but I was also somewhat nervous. What if I was not talented enough? What if my skills were not competent enough? What if the coaches thought I was just… mediocre? I was so nervous, I began to doubt and feel dubious about my running potentiality.

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

When “I would just run” says Jesse when very people thought less of me. Hitler was promoting his race and on the first day of competition Jesse won gold in the 100 meter dash. He broke the world record in the 100 meter dash but when he woke up they did not count it because he was black. Hitler thought that his race was the superior and was hoping to show that was right but he was utterly disappointed when the USA track and field team won gold in many events. Hitler laughed at the sheet when he saw that had black members on the sheet “I almost fell down laughing” -Adolf Hitler this expression would later change because the African Americans from the team would win many competitions. Jesse Owens said that whenever someone is being prejudice “I would Just run” - Jesse Owens. Jesse later on in his life he joined the civil right movement to make an impact. He was a very motivated person when it came to track and field. “When people ask my why I run I tell them because I like to prove myself” - Jesse Owens. Jesse want to do his best and compete against the other best people. “I did it because I had to and I wanted to.” Jesse was not only mentally motivated but other pushed him to do his best. But sometimes he would have very hard decisions in his

I turned in my form for Running Club by the end of the week and was ready to start running. When training began, we ran a few laps around the school and I noticed as the runs came to be longer, I would become tired sooner. Miss. Ames noticed and ran alongside me. During the runs, we would discuss other topics which would distract me from thinking about my performance in the run. Later on, the coaches would time the runners to see our performance. Being timed increased my irritation with my performance; however, Miss. Ames reminded me that I was making progress regardless of what my

I refused to ever let someone replace me on the track again. Not only did I earn that respect, I demanded it. My workouts were no longer a social hour, but a boot camp. I was the hardest working undersized athlete in the program. My junior track season finally arrived, yet once again I would not have the chance to compete for a junior varsity district championship. No, this year I competed for a varsity district championship. My efforts in the offseason led to a promotion on the team. The lingering emotions of anger and disappointment were replaced with gleaming pride. My previous failure had propelled me to success within a single

I have always been told that I got blessed with my genes. Everything I do athletically just comes natural to me. I have had the opportunity to play multiple sports whom of which I have had success in. In all of the sports I’ve participated in I have loved soccer the most and track is just the most natural sport for me. I’ve played soccer for over half of my young life. Soccer just makes me happy when I play. I have also been blessed by being average at soccer too. I didn’t do well my 9th grade season so coming into being a Sophomore I wanted to change that. I worked hard in the off-season and I became a varsity Captain and I finished the season 3rd in the area for assist and was a 2nd team All-District player. I was proud of myself but i knew I didn’t give it everything I had.

I decided to not be sad or hurt and to use that as motivation to help me move forward and become stronger. So I did, I tried my very best in practices and in races, I would look up videos online on how to improve my running. By mid-season, I had improved so much in running that I was put in with the JV and then Varsity team. Just like that quote, I decided to rebel and challenge the disapproval assumption of me failing or not being good

Not having more hours and time on the clock and day, I learned quickly the way of life; waking up early in the morning; walking to school in the dark for morning practices; getting out of the classroom tired; going back to the pool and coming back home seven at the night. Not having food ready for myself and dad—who wouldn’t be home for hours— made life challenging. Struggling to stay on top of school work not just for days or weeks, but for months seemed impractical; coming home tired, just wanting to eat a meal and go to sleep wasn’t an option, rather I would stay up till 3am to get my homeworks and studying done. Along the way, wanting to have sports as an escape from the reality, but not having the same skin tone and background as everyone else, I constantly endured racial comments from my teammates. This adversity only made me work harder; attending both Junior Varsity and Varsity practices, watching multiple videos on perfecting my form, resulted in becoming the Most Valuable Player of my team. Furthermore, my struggles didn’t end in the pool and with my difficulties comprehending English, I was constantly reminded that a foreigner shouldn’t succeed in school. But these struggles only motivated me to excel in academics and become an honorary

Run your own  race was said in chapter 3 by Alicia Rollins. To me that is really telling you to stay in your lane trust god. In life you have to stay in your own lane because worrying about other people you will do nothing but get behind. In this situation talking about run your own race i would like to put that in a real life situation like football and school. The reason i said football and school because they're different things you think about while doing  your job. People may talk down on you like they are better than you in sports and they can joke or whatever  they want. But you as a strong person you ignore it and don't let it throw you off track because you  know at the end of the day you are really at the school for education and

Last year I started a new sport, cross country. I only did it because my lacrosse coach said that it might help me get better for lacrosse. So I went to the first late summer practice last year to see what this was like, so then we did warm-ups and a lap around the track. Then it was the first time I met coach Chase, My first impression of him was going to be very strict, But soon realized that this was false because of one of the first things he said. He said “I know there are a lot of nerves here right now, but cross country isn’t about winning every race, that comes later” then continued with “Cross country is about showing what you can do to yourself.” This struck me very hard because I was not that fast and was near the back. Through that fall the team did very well, I also made some progress myself. After the season was over I made a decision.

The fact that I was a black kid playing like a pro was not something whites wanted to see. Over the spanned of my baseball career there have been coaches who made it clear that I wasn’t wanted. I remember going to try out for this team located in the trio area that some of my formal teammates played on. When I arrived to try outs there was already a bad vibe on the field. During the middle of try outs the coach approached me and explained how he felt I wasn’t going to be a good fit for the team. He stated that I should use the time during the off season to improve my skills and try again next year. As I looked this man in the eye I knew skills had nothing to with it, so I simple left and joined a different team. Although I hurt I had to moved, I couldn’t allow it to hold me

“Jovanie, I’m going to have to let you go,” my coach said to me in a nonchalant voice. My stomach started twisting in a million knots and I felt my eyes watering, but I was not going to let them fall… yet. “Not here, not now” I reassured myself. I slowly walked off the bus trying to act unbothered, but I was. Everybody that knew me understood what track was to me. However, starting off in a different school as a freshman, where nobody knew me was hard. I had to prove to them that I was a good runner, but I have failed.

Having said this, the effort I had put in track gradually decreased as the season went on because all I could think about was my Coach’s discouraging remark. The first two years of my career in track were a disastrous failure. I was too embarrassed to talk to my coach for

All the different beaches around the shore compete in tournaments, and ever since I was young, I loved to compete. I was so thrilled that I would maybe get the chance to take part in these tournaments during my second year working. Before the first tournament, I asked the new tournament captain Todd when would tryouts be. His response to me was, “Kelly, I do not think we need you, these events are better when you are taller and stronger.” I was not even given the chance to try out just because of my size. I knew I should have gotten the chance because I competed in an all women’s tournament the previous year and did pretty well. This tournament was held Sandy Hook, and there were about 15 different beaches competing. The tournament had events including running, paddling, and swimming. As the old tournament captain Thomas was discussing what girl should be in each event, he realized that our team did not have a strong runner, so he placed me in beach flags just to fill the event. Out of the 15 ladies running beach flags, I ended up winning. Since there was an unlimited amount of entrees for the run-swim-run event, I was able to participate. I placed sixth out of forty girls, including beating all the girls from Bradley Beach. I really think that this proved to the tournament captain that I had the ability to