Thursday, November 1, 2012

Journal #14- Scary Times



A time in my life that I have been most scared in my life was lining up for the 4x800 relay at state.  This happened six months ago when my team qualified with the slowest seed time in the state.  We really were not too worried though, because we purposely ran slowly at sectionals to save energy for other events.  The nerves are what caused this race to be one of the scariest moments in my life.  Hundreds of people are at the state meet watching, and the atmosphere is one of excitement, and disappointment.  This was my first time running in high school state, and I had no idea what to expect.  All these factors contributed to my fear of running the race.  Walking on the track and having people screaming and yelling for me and the other runners was very intimidating.  I was the third leg runner that race, which means I still had about four minutes after the race started before I would run.  This was the worst part of the day.  Once I got the baton, all my fear subsided.  It was my turn to prove that I could run a good race for my team and my school.  The fear that I experienced before the race was caused my nerves and self-doubt.  We ended up breaking the school record again that race, but did not run quite fast enough to qualify for state finals.  The lesson I learned from state was that I cannot be scared to run my race because pain lasts for a few minutes while pride lasts for a lifetime.  This was a different kind of being scared than most people would normally think about.  Some things are understandable to be afraid of, while some things do not make sense.  It is our unnecessary fears that define us as people and set us apart from one another. I am glad that I get a little afraid before every race I run because it provides the adrenaline to run a good race. 

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