MemoirMIKW

“The Faster you run the faster your done” Rushing down the white colored hallways with the red lockers off to the side seeing the mahogany door to the left there is a sign that says girls’ bathroom, and underneath the sign there is brail for the blind. Slamming the door open I could not help but notice the light pink wall paint that illuminated brightly from the florescent lighting hanging from the ceiling. The bathroom stalls were crystal white and the cleaning products filled the air. I burst into the first stall. BLAHE! Vomiting all over the clean toilet my breakfast sat in the toilet until I flushed it. When I was done vomiting I walked over to the mirror. My reflection was blurry. I could not contemplate if it was my vision or if the mirror was dirty. I stared at myself for quite some time trying to convince myself that I could do this. I could be a winner. I was so nervous and dizzy, yet I new that I could not let my teammates down. I washed my mouth out and fixed my uniform. Then the door flew open. “Are you okay Kiah? I saw you rush in here and I came to check on you.” I whispered, “Yea, just a little nervous, but I will be fine.” “Good cause you know we are going to bring home a gold metal and make everyone at our school jealous.” I chuckled a little. “Yea’, I know.” “Don’t worry Kiah cause you always over think things. Keep your mind clear.” “You’re right my mind is clear now and I am ready. Thanks.” “You know I got your back anytime and I know you have mine. Let’s leave and wait for our race to be called. I think they are setting the hurdles up now. Don’t forget Kiah the faster you run the faster your done, please keep that in your mind.” “I will. I know we can do this”. Lauren and I walked out of the school and back into the stands to wait for our race to be called. The announcer shouted, “All runners competing in the 400 hurdles go to the sign in desk near the Home and Visitors screen!” As we made our way over to the screen all I kept saying to myself was “clear your mind clear your mind”. We got over to the desk, we took off our sweats, got our number, and stretched. “Lauren and Kiah you can do this. Just don’t forget to lean and pull your trail leg up.” Lauren and I nodded our heads at our coach. As we walked in to our lanes we looked at our competition. Sometimes when you size up your competition you know if you’re going to beat them or not, and by looking at the girls that we were running against we knew for sure that they had no chance against Lauren and I, but I was still nervous. A lot of people that don’t know anything about track will always ask you what place you got, when you ran your race, and the truth is it’s not all about what place it’s about time. Considering that the 400 hurdles was only going to last one minute and some seconds you would ask me why I was so nervous. I am nervous because in that one minute something tragic could go wrong. When you’re running a race that one minute seems like eternity even if you run as fast as you can to reach the white line. The announcer quickly hurried us up to our lanes and we get in to position. The announcer screams, “On your mark get set.” BANG he pulls the trigger of the gun and we start. Approaching the first hurdle was easy, but I still had nine to go. Once I had reached the fifth hurdle I started to slow down. I knew that I had to pick some more speed up if I wanted a good placement time. I was in first and Lauren was in third. The last hurdle was coming up and I jumped. “OOOHHHH”, gasped the crowd. All I heard were the footsteps of the other runners sprinting past me in a hurry to get to the finish line. I had my face laying on the wet red track and the hurdle on top of me. I had zoned out for sometime and saw nothing but black. Then all I heard was someone telling me to get up and finish the race. I got up and ran to the finish line and collapsed on the ground grabbing my hip with pain. All of my teammates and my coach came over to me. They picked me up and carried me to the medical table. The pain from my hip was excruciating. It felt like a car had hit my hip bone and crushed it. The lady at the medical table wrapped some ice around my hip and asked if I could walk. As I got up from the medical table I put my feet to the ground and stumbled to the dirt. As I lied there I was determined to walk on my own. I raised my foot up and using the table I raised myself. I took some wobbly steps on my own and then sat back down on the table. The lady stretched my leg out some more. Crack went my hip bone. The lady had popped my bone back in place with out letting me know that she was going to do it. I screamed with pain. Lauren had her head turned, for she saw how much it hurt. As I lay on the medical table I replayed the whole race through my head. At the last hurdle I forgot what my coach had told me. “Just don’t forget to lean and pull your trail leg up.” I remembered my coach telling Lauren and I this just before our race. I was still replaying the whole race in my mind when something could not help but cram its way inside my brain. It was like the devil on my shoulder telling me what I also did wrong. It was not me just forgetting to pull my trail leg up this was deeper. The track meet came to a close and my teammates and I got on the bus to go home. When I we got off the bus my coach wanted to speak with me. “Kiah is your hip ok?” “Yea, it’s feeling a lot better.” “Good don’t forget to stretch it out some more and ice it.” “Okay I will.” “Do you think you will be ready for the meet next week?” “Yea, I think I can do it. I am not going to let one fall scare me forever.” “Good that’s the kind of stuff that I want to hear. See you tomorrow at practice. We will just stretch your leg and practice getting over the last hurdle okay, she said with a bright smile on her face.” “Okay see you tomorrow. Bye.” “Bye.” As I got in the car I made it clear to my mom that I did not want to talk about the meet. I was trying to let go of what was gnawing at me. I told myself that at the next meet on Friday I would do everything perfect. Friday finally came around and there I was again at the starting line waiting for the announcer to shoot the gun. I got down into the starting position, said a prayer, and cleared my mind. The announcer shot the gun and I was off jumping over the first nine hurdles. I once again approached the tenth hurdle. I cleared my mind and remembered to pull my trail leg. I jumped and landed. Sprinting to the finish line I knew I had conquered the devil that was digging in to my brain. The evil thought of me not being able to succeed. I was focused! As I crossed the finish line a big smile came across my face. The angel from heaven was now on my shoulder telling me that I had cleared my mind and believed in myself. Now that I have crossed the finish line a winner I know that I can do again, and that nothing is going to stop me or stand in my way.