When is Enough Really Enough I was inspired by John Updike because he expresses his peculiar passion for golf bliss for golf was a unique way he takes us through his passion not telling you why he likes it but how it is played and the aspects that make it so unique. Most people do not think about when thinking about all the little details involved in a passion. His since of style along with detail for every key component and concept that goes into the game is what makes his writing so much different for all the other I have read.
For a long time I never knew that one person could change your life in such a way that it shapes your future. I never knew such a passion for running could be ignited by something that you never thought or saw yourself doing and by someone you could only know for a year. It was not until I was twelve and in junior high school that I found a peculiar joy with running track.
Running hurdles was the most difficult of all the runs. Having to accurately time your jump and leg swing in order to clear the hurdle and make sure you did not lose any speed or hit the person next you presented a great degree difficulty. The size of the lanes always felt insufficient to the size of the hurdle, which made you feel that you were going to plummet. The most invigorating feeling was when you heard the popping of the starting gun, and then your heart would race as the sound ignites your senses and adrenaline running through your veins. Although hurdles were one of the hardest events to master when, acing it became one of the quickest short-lived moments of victory when you won that ribbon. Another devoted event that caught my interest was that of the long jump. Even though long jump was not a running event but more or less a one-on-one event, the outcome makes me feel on top of the world. As the skill was more about timing and technique, getting disqualified was one of the easiest things that could happen. When proceeding with a long jump you must first make your marking by running as fast as you can straight though the sand. There is a white line by the end to designate that if you cross this line before you jump your jump does not count. The technique to landing your perfect jump was to fall forward. In Bliss of Golf, John Updike, “The one that feels effortless and produces a shot of miraculous straightness and soar,” is the way an accomplished jump resembles. The excitement that permeates the body when you not only jump the furthest in your career but also beat the record of the day is incomputable. All the other events I ran were learned from basic running. You are either running by yourself or with a four people but not much of a big deal. It felt better when you won something by yourself than with others only because if one person did not do well everyone wanted to get on that person but no one realized that we affected each other, which had to be the worst part if someone asked me. Track is one of the main sports that need running that does not require a team. Everything is done on your own, the prating, competing, and the pain received from injuries you have acquired are all on the individual. My coach, Mr. Whiteside, would tell me, “If you keep up with the road you are on, I see you doing this in college. A full ride scholarship for track and field is all you need.” Being the person I am, I was not thinking about the future, yet alone college for the matter. All that mattered to me at that time was that I enjoyed running and the feeling of power I received when I got a medal or trophy. Not only did that recognition of receiving awards later made me feel like I could accomplish anything, but the fact that other coaches from other schools had their teams watching me. They would telling my coach how impressed they were by me for being on a track team for the first time I had ever did anything involving track and competing. I also feel a connection with Fan by Doris Kearns Goodwin because when I think about it if and when I do run on a track the memories come rushing back to me like frenzy and I cannot help but feel like I am back in junior high running and beating my own personal best scores. Even though others may not be able to tell when I feel that sun glaring down on a long hot day and the feeling that I give up, I hear the voice of my coach says, “You know your limits, find them and break them. I know it is in you.”
After junior high, from the age of fourteen to seventeen I continued running for Naval Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps in high school. This was a different type of running in a way for me because everything, running to competing, was done in unison and as a team. Every point received was towards your teams’ goal and there were not a lot of individual awards given, well unless you were the smart one.
The difference between this type of running and my other from the past was I did not enjoy this one as much. It felt more like a job than a passion and many times I had considered quitting the team to go join another sport. All to say that did not happen due to the fact that I enjoyed other parts of the unit and I had made some really great friends in the years that passed.
Another relation to Doris Kearns Goodwin, when her passion faded after her father passed but then later brought back ruminations with her children that is how I started to feel entering college. I lost my passion for running due to all my injuries I had started to receive in the past but as soon as I had the thought of, “running relives my stress” I was back in motion. I would run but only until I felt the pain. Little by little I was able to run through the pain and I felt like my old self again. The girl that has once at her highest point in life was back on top.
Now though after running two years in junior high, four in high school and the occasional three miles in college, I look back on life and see that I might not have found my place in life if I did not decide to try something new. As a child I do not think I would not be who I am now. Even though I cannot run like I use to due to so many injures, I know that deep inside I have the beast inside just waiting to make its reappearance in my life and when that time comes full force it is going to a magnificent feeling to know I can once again do what I have set out to accomplish for so long.
In conclusion I feel that even though the lust for running and being athletic at the young age of eighteen the dire craving is slowly fading from my existence. The constant pain with all the other problems I received has taken a toll on this once majestic body. Until that time comes for me to do what I enjoy all I can do now is hope for the best and learns that many of my past mistakes make me achieve a successful future in whatever I put my mind to.