Off To College I Go!

This Sunday night, April 17^th, I went up to High Point University to get in a fast 5K on the track.  When we arrived to the campus that afternoon I was taken away by how beautiful the campus was.  As we made our way to the track, I stared out the window the whole time looking at the university campus. 

When we parked at the track and got out I was bursting with excitement about how perfect the day was. When we went into the stands I was amazed by the track it looked awesome and I couldn’t wait to run on it.  My dad and I then went to check in at the tent.  I found out that I was assigned lane 1.  Everything was going perfect.  As we headed back to the stands we ran into Caitlyn, Jordan, and Meagan, I was really happy since I did not know that they would be there.  After talking with them for a little while we saw Jenna and were able to say “Hi”, since she was busy running around doing a great job of running the meet.

We watched some of the races and cheered for the runners.  Then I saw my grandma and gave her a hug.  I was excited to see her and on top of that, it was her birthday.  After talking with her for a while, I went and started my warm up for the race.

I went to final check in and picked up my lane number.  I went onto the track, switched my shoes, and put the number on, as my excitement was building.  I went onto the infield and did my strides and drills as nerves mixed into my excitement.  Then we got lined up, the announcer called us to the line and the gun fired.  We went off and Meagan took the lead getting me off on pace.  The first mile went very smoothly with Megan pacing me, we hit 5:20, right on plan.  I am very grateful to her for driving to High Point to pace me for the first mile.  But soon after I started getting tired as I got deeper into the race.  Laps 8, 9, & 10 were really hard as I struggled not to slow down.  I hit 2 miles in 10:51.  With 600 meters to go I pushed to speed up.  I was 16:28 at 3 miles and then the last 200 meters was really tough, but as I rounded the turn into the final straight away I saw my little sister Rose trying to get on the track, this made me smile and I sprinted with all I had left.  I crossed the line at 17:06, a new PR for me and I got the win.  It was not as fast as I had hoped, but when you give all you got and get a new PR and win, you cannot complain. 

I was given a bouquet of flowers for winning.  I gave them to my grandma, because I got the PR on her birthday.  I was so excited that I got a PR, that I texted a friend as soon as I got to the car.  The meet was amazing and I had a wonderful time.  What an awesome start to Spring Break!