Regret

If I had the power to change one thing I would have trained harder at cross country. Knowing how good I have gotten since last year, I would’ve trained like I could have won States this year, instead of just getting seventh. Pain is something that I really hated last year I always complained about the littlest things. Looking back, I really regret not taking practice and races more seriously. Taking those things more seriously last year would’ve had a more positive impact on my career as a runner this year.

 When I was younger I should’ve looked up to the older kids who were pretty darn good. Alistair was one of our best runners at TA ever. I should’ve looked up to him and saw how determined he was and used that kind of determination to fuel my own love for the sport. I never went on Mondays because it was optional. Thinking back, those days of extra work could’ve really helped me now. My brother kind of looks up to me and kind of uses the same kind of determination I do to a certain point. The kind of determination he has I definitely didn’t have. 

One of my best friends, Oliver Greenway, was the best runner up until I took his spot this year. If I had trained harder, I could’ve beaten him last year, too. Last year at Bellows Falls I was the person right behind my teammate Mary Bosco. I wanted to beat her so badly that I actually used Charlie’s workout over the weekend that followed that race. That would be surprising and weird for me last year. The next race I beat her. If I had that kind of determination for the entire year, I could’ve done so much better. So after all that's happened to me, I could’ve done a lot better and dreamed bigger. You don’t really listen to someone who got fourth or fifth in the sport of cross country in the seventh grade. When you get older fourth or fifth starts to sound pretty darn good. But until then I’ll have to stick with the 7th-8th standards of if you get first, people will actually respect you. If  I had thought like that last year, I could’ve actually made it happen.