Whenever I ran up a hill during a race, I would hear my coach add adverb yelling, “Drive! Drive! Drive!” What he meant was to push harder, even when you are hurting and things become difficult. I have learned that this not only true for running, but for life when you are faced with adversity. To put it bluntly, when I first started cross country I was slow. For me, running 5 kilometers was the equivalent to completing a marathon and I had to force each foot in front of the other in order to keep going. Ironically, I had a genuine love for the sport because it gave me a chance to overcome obstacles and push myself beyond my limits. Before I knew it, the season ended and my personal record for the 5k was a mere 24:07. Track season came and went …show more content…
My track coach paved the way for me by writing a day-to-day workout schedule I would be able to use for an entire year. That summer, I ran like I never ran before. Six days a week I would run in the morning for about an hour and a half. The hard work seemed to pay off because my 5k time dropped to a 21:01. However, the real challenge came the following winter before track season. At the time, I lived in England-- a country famous for its wet and freezing weather. Most of the time I ran alone and the sun would always set before my run ended. The rain, wind, and freezing temperatures never deterred me. Not once did I walk or cut a run short because I knew I would be selling myself short. For the first time in my life I had something that I was passionate about and desperately wanted to accomplish. My ambition and desire to run faster got me through the winter and eventually led me to drop my 1 mile personal record from a 6:24 to a 5:31. To my surprise, my coaches noticed my hard work among 60 other athletes and awarded me the “Most Improved Award” at the track banquet. This was the first trophy I had ever won in my life and it made me proud knowing the hundreds of hours and miles that was put into earning