8 is for 800 Meter Race

By Lauren

I scrolled down the list of names wondering what I could possibly be doing. Not my name not my name, I know her, not my name, finally! I thought to myself. The list said Lauren M. 800 meter. How long is that again? Oh yeah, Ugh half a mile. All day the dread of having to run the half mile in the first track meet of the year was a lot of pressure.

I waited and waited for them to call up my race. Then those dreaded words came out of the coaches mouths "800 meter girls race, line up!" My heart was pounding already and I hadn't even started running yet. We all lined up and got ready to start. "On your marks, get set, GO!" the man shouted, and I was off. First lap of four, you can do this, it's not that hard, I thought to myself. Second lap, only two more, third lap only one more, you can do this. I could hear the kids cheering and the coaches repeating "Good job, Keep it up, your almost done!" Last lap come on you can do this just keep going. I tried to speed up, but I was really tired and already running really fast. Everybody else had run this race before and had actually practiced it, unlike me; I hadn't ever even practiced more than a 200 meter race. As people started passing me I tried to go faster, but I couldn't feel my legs.

Finally I passed the finish line, I had gone from second to fifth, but I didn't care. I had finished the race without collapsing and in only a little more than three minutes. My legs felt all tingly and it was hard to think straight, my head was pounding so hard. But I didn't care; all I cared about was getting some water. When I could think straight again I realized that it hadn't been all that bad, just a little hard for the first time.

Life Lesson: Don't be afraid to do things that you have never done before. Also it doesn't matter how well you place as long as you tried your best, especially if you have never done it before.