Personal Narrative: My First High School Cross Country

Ten years ago, my favorite pastime, and still to this day, is to run and compete in track and cross country. Back when my grade school had recess,my classmates and i would compete by running from one side of the field to the other mainly to see who happened to be the fastest of the classes but also to show the coaches what we were capable of doing so in a near future they could assign us a spot in the elementary track team. This is where my passion for running ignited. The adrenaline that rushed through my veins when i ran had a satisfying feeling, especially when i came out in the lead by a few meters. Ten years later, after winning countless cross country and track meets,that same feeling flows like a river as if the rivers were my veins.
Upon entering high school, that same feeling that once felt supreme, would be washed away woefully.
i always heard that cross country happened a dangerous sport, and to me, that was the exciting part about it. As the summer went on, my confidence that I would reach my prime grew undoubtedly stronger every time i would look at at the improvements I did during the summer when getting ready for my first high school cross country season. I finished the summer session of the season and everything went as planned, capturing three amazing races that had me in the top 20 for those meets and I looked good to make regionals that year until one day during practice, all of that would lead downhill. Running after school on a sunny afternoon with the team and getting ready for the city meet, which all of the Brownsville schools would go plus other nearby valley schools, the sun flared its heat in our faces but the wind cooled off our sweat for a refreshing
feeling. When going down a steep hill, my foot was swallowed up and I went down the hill. With the help of my teammates, I managed to get up with no hesitation. I had a few scratches here and there but nothing severe, or so I thought. After finishing my run and only taking a few steps, my knee suddenly collapsed, making me fall only to hit the concrete floor. I couldn’t get up and it made me frustrated because I felt embarrassed and useless. The trainers came and helped me get up so I could be taken to the trainer’s room. After checking my knee, it turned out that i had torn my ACL and that would be the injury that would end my season. All of my hard work went down the drain and it only made me feel infuriated.

After my surgery, the physician put me in therapy sessions that would help me recover quickly. I was determined to get pass that slump and prove to everyone else that that would not stop me from succeeding in what i loved doing the most. Every week of therapy that passed by, i repossessed some mobility in my knee. It did not surprised me to know that my left knee became weak, since it had been weeks that i did not running. After a month closing down to two months, i managed to walk and also put to regain my muscle that my leg lost due to the injury. In a month of getting back in shape, i felt good to run again. It took a while to get back in running shape at first. I would do light jogs and every now and then i would do some speed workouts to get my body used to what it feels to compete. I had my goals set to succeed and not look back at all. Week after week, my will to improve got stronger. After being cleared by the trainers, i ran track that year almost at the end of the season for only two meets. Although i didn’t win any races, i felt proud that i didn’t look back nor listened when people said i would fail. I had to prove people that this was my passion; a passion that pushed me to succeed. In every aspect of the situation, i kept calm,waited and eventually ran again. This injury taught me not to give up even when others didn’t believe in me. I had the will to succeed in my mind everyday to one day get back to the top.