Personal Narrative: My Experience With Track And Field

One of the proudest achievements that I had was through my experience with track and field. Track and field has acted as a backbone aspect of my life for years and contained pivotal learning experiences that I will forever be appreciative of. I ran track every year for five years; however, when I first started running, during 7th grade, it wasn't because I liked running, it because all of the "cool" kids did a sport and I wanted to impress my friends. Although I wasn't particularly good, track continued stay a part of my life even after I moved 200 miles away during that same 7th grade year and no longer had any "friends" to impress. I started the sport with the wrong intentions and now began the next school year absent of any previous external or current internal motivation driving me to do well in the sport. I started to let myself go, I cut corners in practice, and I got progressively overweight. As the years continued and I entered high school, my focus on my studies

I came to terms with myself and made a realization that applied to all facets of my life. I realized that the only thing that was stopping me from any goal was the blame I placed on other situations when, in reality, the blame was all to myself. I did extensive research, exercised for nearly 25 hours a week, and started a strict diet allowing me to lose over 60 pounds during the following months. I started the subsequent track season unrecognizable to my team and showed everyone how powerful determination and goal-orientation was. During the season, I continued to work doing grueling hours on the feild and even more off the field. This earned me immense respect from my coaches and teammates and I was unanimously voted and awarded most improved of the season. One of the most memorable moments of my life was when my head coach told me that out of all the athletes he had trained during his time as a coach, he was most proud of