Gallery
The idea of doing a sport during high school had always seemed daunting to me. I'd never been a runner before, so the thought of joining my school's Varsity Cross-Country team was a scary one, but also very exciting. You see, I'm the kind of person who puts their all in everything they do. So when I made the choice to become a cross-country runner my senior year I knew that it would be a long and tiring uphill journey, but it would be a journey that I would not give up on.
I started off my pre-season training as soon as the summer going into senior year began. I ran everyday, trying to build a strong base of running that I could work off of. I started slow, there's no question about that. But I kept aiming higher, because I wanted to be the very best I could be. Slowly but surely, I saw results. Instead of two miles, I was able to run five miles a day with ease. I started looking forward to my runs every morning instead of fearing them. When school started, my ambition only grew.
At my school, the top 17 girls on the cross-country team have the opportunity to go to NYC and run in the Manhattan Invite. Now, on a team of about 30 girls whom a lot of which had previous experience running, I had a lot of competition. From the beginning, I had two goals for my season. Run a 5K in below 25 minutes, and qualify for the Manhattan Invite. But in the middle of September, I began to feel a pain in my shin before and after my runs. It scared me to think that this might hold me back from reaching the goals I set for myself, but I kept pushing forward.
Thankfully, by the end of my season I had a PR of 23:37 in the 5K, and I also qualified and ran in the Manhattan Invite. It was one of the most fulfilling experiences of my life, and I'm so thankful for the amazing team and coaches I had to help me along the way. Unfortunately, after my season I found out I had a stress fracture in my right shin, and that I would be unable to run in the Indoor Track season. But, with this extra time I'm now the manager of my school's Varsity Boys Swim Team, and I should be healed in time for the Outdoor Track season in the spring!
