Personal Narrative: How Running Changed My Life

The pain is temporary but soon it will subside. My lungs are burning, my legs feel shredded, my arms are glistening from sweat. I am running mile after agonizing mile and I am covered in endless mud. The rush running through my body to get to the front of the pack is like a pulsating electric shock. It’s the courage that conquers the pain. It’s the endless dedication that pushes me across the terrain. Not only is running about performing one’s personal best efforts, it also about mentally breaking the wall of exhaustion; it’s giving everything you have to finish a race, just like life. Running has helped me overcome many hardships that I have faced due to my hearing impairment. It was a hot and humid summer day in 2013. There were huge, white fluffy clouds in the sky. That was the day that changed my life forever; the day I began running as if I had been running my whole life. I signed up for cross country thinking I was just going to go out and run for fun and another way to socialize with friends. That changed after I went to

We got onto the course that was covered with racing flags, music, invitational shirts, team tents, spikes everywhere, and a mile long line of porta potties. We set up our team tent and put all our bags underneath. I was extremely nervous, wanting to throw up. My nerves were racing. I was sweaty and felt sick to my stomach. I so badly wanted to place so I could earn a medal. My coach called us for our two mile warm up on the course. I put on my running shoes and layered up. Coach Bill Owens, of course explained what the hardest part of the course was going to be the hills. One of his biggest tips was to go out hard for the first 200m of the race and then set into your fast, comfortable pace. Be conservative, run with our heads high, use good form, and short strides while going uphill. Be smart. I felt overwhelmed by everything I needed to remember and do to race