Class Activity.

My blocks were set, my thoughts were on the finish line, and I was ready to run. As far as I was concerned  it was "just another race". All that I wanted to do was beat my own time. My leg had been feeling tight and had given out at the last practice but I was so focussed on winning that  all thoughts of pain left my mind. 

The official slowly moved his hand up towards the sky with the gun in his grips. It went off and I sprang quickly out from the blocks. Immediately all of the pain rushed right back into the upper part of my thigh. I felt the pain stretch down my entire leg. All that I could think about was losing and the enormous amount of pain that my leg was in. Stupidly, I decided to keep running. After a few more seconds I had crossed the finish line in 3rd place. Immediately I hobbled to our camp in the center of the track and burst into tears. After the race my leg seemed to double its feeling of pain. My teammates brought me a bag of ice to stop the swelling and I laid down on the floor clutching my leg.  I have never felt a sense of failure as much as I felt it at that moment. Even though a doctor had not told me I knew that I had pulled my hamstring. I lost my season and my chance at regionals for sophomore year, but in some way my injury made me care about the sport more.