It’s pretty safe to say that I’ve never been the most athletic. I’ve always struggled in sports while school and studying came naturally to me. Yet, sports were and still are a giant part of my life. For example, softball is my main sport, even if I’m not amazing, I play in the offseason and played this past season with the school JV team. Another example is when I tried eighth-grade track or became a basketball manager for the girl’s varsity team. So, after being involved with sports so much, I decided to run track once again, but this year I had no idea what to expect.

For the most part, the minute I heard about track, I had my heart set on it. Also, my friends, Audrey and Katie encouraged me to join. The month prior to track was filled with training, mostly building muscle and a little bit of running. This is where my athletic ability was important. I started waking up at 4 a.m. to work out, and occasionally I would run a mile. The miles never went over well with my breathing. As a child, I had gotten pneumonia which made my respiratory system weak. Since then I have mostly overcome the issue, but it is still prevalent. 

The week before track I focused on running a lot more, finally realizing how out of shape I was. I ran miles by myself or with Audrey, she was my support and impacted me a lot. She never ceased to push me further and improve.

Finally, it was the first day of practice. My nerves were through the roof. Butterflies constantly tumbled in my stomach, but it was also exciting. To me, it was like a new adventure or challenge to overcome, but it wouldn’t be as difficult since basketball conflicted with my schedule. Nevertheless, I was stoked. The hours flew by in a frenzy, and the anticipation piled up. After Biology, my last hour, it was finally time. Endless questions streamed through my head. Who am I going to run with? Will I be able to keep up? Can I do this? Although the questions didn’t matter, I was going to try my best!  

On my way out of the classroom, I coincidentally saw Audrey and made my way to her. I explained how I needed to stop by Mr. Glavin’s room to pick up my bag, then we could go to the locker room. 

As we walked in the locker room, it was a lot more packed than expected. It dawned on us that soccer was trying out as well. We met up with Katie and decided to head to the track. 

A lot of familiar faces were hanging out on the turf as well, which helped ease some of the butterflies. People huddled together with their friends discussing what they were going to do. I too finalized my thoughts. Last year I went with the sprints team as well as the high jump. Neither of the two events seemed to fit with the extent of my athletics. After all, I did only go to one invitational meet. Those options were crossed off my list. That just left distance and mid-distance, deciding that field events are not for me.

When it seemed as if everyone had shown up, the coaches called for us to listen. They explained the basics and quickly told us about the warm-up. Run two laps then continue on to your respective coach. I asked around with my friends as to who was running distance or mid-distance. No one answered. Wonderful, back to square one.

I stayed with my friends as we ran our laps, but soon parted ways. The coaches put us through drills such as certain stretches and stepping over hurdles. In the meantime, I tried to converse with a few people I recognized. Alexis and Sarah, but they were talking to others. Everybody knew everyone already. I asked about it and Alexis told me they knew everyone from cross country. That they were a “family”. This only made it harder to try to fit in, but everyone was very welcoming. I met people like Olivia, Meghan, Katelyn, Lauren, Fiona, Jessica and Emily, though I don’t know their last names or how to spell their first. One of them described the group as a “cult” which I thought was funny. Suddenly, what was so big and scary wasn’t so bad. Even one of my basketball friends, Dori, was running as well. 

Just as we finished warming up and divided into groups based on running and events, it was time for me to head out. The girls’ district basketball game started at 5:30 pm and the bus left at 4 p.m. 

When I was walking up to the school it dawned on me that I wasn’t alone, and this season was going to be great.