The Finish Line

Only one more week of track left. Can you believe it?! That means only one more week of morning runs and bleachers. Only one more week of jumping jacks and push-ups. Only one more week of sore legs and blistered feet. Only one more week of hearing my teammates sing pop songs during warm-ups. Only one more week of having one of those teammates pulling 'break-checks' in front of me every so often on the track. Only one more week of pushing someone's truck around the auditorium and piling into Coach's van for a trip to the dunes. Only one more week of adrenalin rushes, sunburns, forgetting my jersey, missionary tag, and frankies (that's a stretch by the way).
All this considering I don't go to state--something I seriously (and secretely gleefully) doubt.
It's a bitter sweet thing, but boy have I learned a ton:

•  For one, it's windy here. Really windy.
• Coach rocks! 
•  I can run a whole lap in a minute twenty-two (I'm really not sure if that gives me any bragging rights).
• They don't call us 'hicks in the sticks' fer nuthin! You should've seen my team when an icecream truck turned the corner in Winslow. You'd think we'd never known civiliation.
• Bleachers really aren't that bad half-way through the season.
• I can't high-jump.
• Track helps you fit into prom dresses. I recommend it.
• My track shoes are too big.
• I didn't know I could push myself so much.
• I can't swim.
• The definition of "ow..."
• Practice may be over, but unless you get the keys from coach before the entire team heads for the locked locker rooms, you might be there another half-hour. 
• Bus seats do not make good sleeping quaters.
• Fake grass?! How do they do that?
• So that's why they too much sugar is bad for you...
• Being done with practice improves my time quicker than winning a race. Wow. I know where my heart is.
• Running a race slowly is better than not running it at all.
• I've run plenty of full miles in my lifetime. Perhaps today I should hang back with the girl with asthma who has to take walking breaks...Sometimes there are different races the Lord would have us win.
• Personal Record!!
• You're not the only one who's nervous at the starting line.
• You get what you pay for.
•  Huh. Go figure. I can do it.
• Boy, do my parents love me!
• My friends rock!
• The circle (or track) of life: We have hurdles. We trip. Sometimes it feels like we're running in cirlces. There are different stages, or laps, with different strategies. We sometimes feel like keeling over. There are those who cheer us on and coaches who train us for good or bad. Sometimes it seems like so many are so much better than us or maybe we look back at those who we think are less than us. But, in the end, we all traveled the same distance.
• When we reach the finish line, may we all feel like we gave it all we could.