A Different Perspective

Age: 13   Height: 5-4   Gender: Female
Nike Moto 7

I watched as my dad stomped around our yard pulling out weeds from the ground with violence. He looked like an angry dinosaur and every time he came across a weed, he would attack it like it was some sort of prey. I knew he was having a bad day. I was a quiet church mouse watching him from inside planning to comfort him and ask him if he wanted to go running today. Finally I got off my lazy butt and asked him. He was thrilled by the offer and told me to get changed. Then we both got in the car.
                I told him in the car I needed to train for track, and that it starts on Monday. I was planning on doing 100 meter sprints and the mile run. I’ve never done track before, I’ve always ran cross-country. I know I’ll probably like cross-country running better than track though. I just like being surrounded by nature; to me it clears my head easier and faster. On a track sometimes I feel pressure by the eyes watching on the bleachers and the sidelines.
                When we got to the track it ended up there was a soccer game going on. So, it was crowded. “Great.” When we started running I realized it was so crowded that running was more like an obstacles course rather than a track! I love running but I prefer it in the woods, because of this reason.
                My dad and I started running a slow two miles. He told me it was a good pace, but it wasn’t good enough for me. I know when I do start to run track I’ll probably be one of the only girls running the mile! But it was okay because I was used to that. At my old school they only had cross-country, there were never a lot of girls on the teams. Good for me because that meant less competition for me! That’s probably why I won a first place ribbon last year. At my old school I had to run with kids a year older then I was because the year before that I put my name in the wrong grade… opps. People wondered if I was still going to run and I was like, "of course I’m still going to run!
                When I ran with my dad he talked a lot about breathing when you run. Like if you’re able to master breathing in through your nose and out through your mouth when you’re running you can breathe away your cramps. Or, when you sprint your breath turns into short fast breaths, then if you slow down your breath will go back to long and slow breaths. I tried it and it works! I love sprinting too. I felt like I was flying I was moving so fast!
                After we finished the two miles, we did one 8 minute mile. I forced myself to run that. It was definitely mind over body when I ran that last mile. Great runners push themselves to the extreme limits of what their body can do. My dad did it in his marathon. If you ignore the pain in your body and if you’re mentally determined to run something, you can! It’s pretty amazing how you can mentally run something.
                After our run my dad was over joyed! It was like running flipped the switch from mad to happy. I should try running when I’m angry and see if it helps. It was a good first run for the season. But I’m not sure if I’m ready for track on Monday. The fastest I’ve run a mile was 6minutes 55secounds, (so pretty much 7 minutes.) That was fast enough I told myself. I know the other runners can run it much faster. I hope I get lucky on Monday!
                                             From, the runner’s daughter