My first cross country race. I have never run a cross country race before and today is my big day. I wake up the morning of my race with big fear and stress of not being able to do so well. And I have mixed emotions about it. I have oatmeal in the morning and because of all the stress I have, I feel full and I don’t feel like eating. I then quickly go and change out of my pajamas put on my uniform grab my bag and throw in my water bottle, lotion, deodorant, jacket, money, and my phone. I subsequently then go to, tell my parent I want to go to the race now to be ready for the race and warm-up because I’m scared of arriving late. And it’s the last thing I want to happen today. 

When I arrive I begin warming up and as I am, I can feel the adrenaline pumping and rushing through my veins in a sense of great fear, and I could hear my heart, beat and beat increasingly. As I finish warming up me and my teammates hear the official’s call saying there were 10 minutes before the race begins. 

So my teammates and I walk over to the starting line and began doing strides and shortly we did our prayer and waited there for a full sixty seconds then we heard the official say the rules and at this time my heart was beating faster and faster uncontrollably and I felt adrenaline rush and rush through me. And I had thoughts of maybe I could just quit and not race today. 

The official began saying “Runners on your mark get set to go!! And within a second the gun went off and everyone starts running in a mass at first and dust quickly fills the air. As I began running I feel like I have no legs and my hands are shaking a bit because of how fast I started off. And I could feel my feet plotting the dirt in a steady rhythm as I go.

 While I proceed to the halfway mark of this race and I am sweating and I feel the sweat slowly drift from my head to my eyes and stinging them. Out of a sudden, I think to myself why did I decide to join cross country? Just why? My feet are starting to feel as heavy as a rock. Even though I feel like walking because of the pain I am in right now I don’t. I know it will be over soon. I keep my head up straight and continue.

And as I approach the final 300 meters my breath is heavy and my face is sweaty, and I feel a strong urge to quit again. But then I remember Mind over matter, and with that, I sprint to the finish line with my head going from side to side as people cheer me on. The air is blowing and I could feel my shirt as if it was a cape because it was being blown back. 

As I finish I went straight to my team’s tent and began to drink water like it was my first time drinking water. I was so happy. Even though I didn’t get 1st or 2nd or even 3rd  I was still happy because I tried my best and I stayed strong throughout the race.