Today I ran at Pitshanger Junior Parkrun 30th March. I was really looking forward to it, but I knew it might be tough because I had hurt my back the day before. I had fallen over and landed quite hard, and even though I wanted to run, my back was still sore. While I was warming up before the race, I could feel the pain in my upper back starting again. I thought about whether I should still run, but I decided to give it a go and just try my best.
As soon as the whistle blew, I started running. I felt okay at first and tried to focus on keeping a good pace. But as I finished the first lap, the pain got worse. I had tears in my eyes because my back was really hurting now. It was hard to breathe properly, and my upper body felt tight and sore. Even though I was in pain, I didn’t want to give up. I was running well and didn’t want to stop when I had already come so far.
When I reached the last corner of the run, I knew I was nearly there. I looked at my watch and saw the time was 7 minutes and 30 seconds. My goal was to finish under 7 minutes and 59 seconds, so I knew I had to push myself to go faster. I tried to forget about the pain and just ran as fast as I could towards the finish line. It was really hard, but I kept thinking about my goal.
I crossed the finish line feeling tired but proud. I checked my time and saw that I had finished in 7 minutes and 53 seconds. I couldn’t believe it! Even though my back was hurting the whole way, I had managed to beat my goal time. I was so happy and proud of myself for not giving up, even when it felt really difficult.
After the run, my back was still sore, but I was glad I didn’t stop. I knew that I had done something really brave by finishing the race while I was in pain. It showed me that I can be strong, even when things are tough. I also learned that having a goal can really help you keep going, even when it’s not easy.
Next time, I hope I feel better before the race so I can run without any pain. But I’ll always remember this run because it showed me that I can do hard things if I stay focused and don’t give up. I’m proud of what I did today, and I can’t wait to run again soon.
