The End to my XC Season

   With Wartburg's Cross Country team being National runners-up last year and contending to be national champions this year it is very difficult to be on the varsity line up. As a freshman, I know I should not even consider myself to be on varsity, but growing up in a small town of Epworth, Iowa I was the number one varsity runner on the team. Coming here, I am the top JV runner. I strive to be the best I can be and my goals will not change since the season is over for me. MY freshman season may be done, but my views for track still follow. Become varsity! Running is my passion and to be anything less than your best is to sacrifice the gift, as Steve Prefontaine would say.
     This season was a long, but short one at that. It was just as long as it was in high school, but we have less meets. They also fall on Saturdays which in high school they were usually during the week with the exception of two we would run on Saturday mornings. Going through the season, I was potentially ranked between 9th and 10th on the team. My roommate and best friend now, Jaclyn, would be close behind me and occasionally would beat me when I fell apart during a race. There were also two senior girls, Debbie and Bekah, who would push me out of the top ten at some meets. We haven't been running our two top girls, so its difficult to see where I need to be in the top ten so I could at least be an alternate for Nationals.
   With this past week starting off, my excitement soar because the conference meet was this Saturday. All my hard work and training will pay off if I just believe! Then there was the previous Sunday workout after fall break. I felt wonderful running and after the workout I felt a slight pain in my knee. I made no big deal about it, and pushed it to the back of my mind. Then the next day I woke up and could barely walk up and down the stairs with it. I took the day off and talked to coach who adjusted the rest of my workouts that week. This was a mental block because I was so ready to race at conference and be an alternate for Nationals.
   Driving to Pella, Iowa for Conference on Saturday, I stayed calm and relaxed, but I knew deep down my knee was going to bother me. I brought tape to tape it up and hold my kneecap in place, but that can only do so much. My team started to do our 20 minute warm-up on the course and I followed along. I tried so hard to not think about the pain, however it crept into my mind every second. Starting the race, I went out with two girls that are usually way ahead of me. I felt so good and my body felt so great except for my knee. Then there were the down hills. One of my teammates told me to use the downhill and I tried but the pounding on my knee grew bigger. I slowly started fading after the first mile and started feeling sorry for myself. Why did I put myself through this? I stopped a couple times, planning on just dropping our of the race, but my coach would not let me. He said I was finishing this race no matter what! I limped in pain and cried myself to the finish line nearly a minute slower than my race personal record.
   People knew what was wrong from the moment I crossed the finish line and teammates came over to help me. They encouraged me that I will be okay and that I just needed rest and recover so my knee could heal, but as a competitor, that is the last thing I would like to hear. I want to be the best and when my injuries come at the most inconvenient times, its so hard on my mind. I took a deep breath and reminded myself that it is only my freshman year. Even though I will not be an alternate for this years team, I am planning on scoring for the team next year because I am one tough cookie:)