Hurdling

“Set!” I hold my breath. Boom! Exploding from my block and gaining speed with every stride, I feel more and more air brush against my face. All the anxiety from crouching back in the blocks is released at once. I focus on my steps. If I can’t approach first hurdle in eight steps, I will stumble and lose momentum. After four or five steps of acceleration, I stand up tall to prepare for the jump. My strides shorten as I approach my eighth step. Last short stride! Now right knee up. Lean forward. Leap! I am airborne. As I fly over my first hurdle I can’t help but look to the side. There is nobody next to me. I am winning. I just need to finish the race. My luck ends there, however. While my eyes drift to other lanes my body twists and stumbles to the next hurdle. I take a short step to regain my balance, but lose some speed. In the short three step distance between hurdles, there is no room for error. A chill runs up my spine. I try to regather myself and pick up my pace, only to realize that the blue obstacle is just one step away. Only three more to go! I want to tell myself. Fear overtakes me. From two steps away the waist high hurdle seems insurmountably high. I have already taken more than 3 steps, yet the hurdle still stands undefeated before me. Worst of all, my steps are off. My non-dominant left leg is now in the back, about to become the lead leg over the hurdle. With only one arm length between the hurdle and me, there is no room to adjust. I have never…

Unexpected Triumph Arriving at the track, I vividly remember stepping outside and smelling the blades of freshly cut grass. It instantly made me noxious, for it triggered the voice in my head questioning me, "Are you good enough? Are you fast enough? Are you worthy enough to be here?" I assured my criticizing conscience that my track career had come to an end after eighth grade, and I kept that promise to myself freshman year as I avoided the stress and anxiety known to be caused by track…

Hurdling Obstacles Challenges, obstacles, and the unplanned struggles that pop up throughout our lives. As we go through our everyday lives obstacles and challenges will be presented. However, there are a few ways we respond: one, give up because we think it's “too hard”, or two, persevering to conquer what's in the way. When presented with a long lasting obstacle that we have to choose to overcome everyday--shutting down and shutting up or preserving and proving it/them wrong. For myself, I…

when he was 17 for one year then went to Hawaii college for the rest of his school years. He was a state champion hurdler in 1979 from Saint Anthony. Rodney went to California college (Sanozasalty) mainly because the team was good at Sanozasalty but not only that he had many family at California. Rodney said “I was a big fish in a small pond for the first day” because a lot of people knew him. When he went to the track team he said, “I was a small fish in a big pond”, he had time to adjust to…

"After that, the camera's were turned off." But here's the thing. The ships kept going, drifting through the darkness, even though they weren't taking pictures anymore, they were using their other senses: little instruments that detect like how many particles are around, what the temperature is, so they were hurdling through this empty space really fast, measuring, sending that data back, and scientists liked it off with their listening, waiting. They knew at some point these capsules would get…

Drake stadium Is so beautiful. When you’re standing in the middle of the field this feeling of importance and accomplishment is overwhelming. My teammates and I are on the line ready for the gun to go off. Our hair is pulled back into tight braids that fade into pink, I can feel a sunburn starting on my scalp. I climb into the blocks and get my practice run through and a sharp pain pulls in my groin. Being the one to start the relay adds a little more pressure, I’m thinking don’t false start,…

The year is 1986 I was at the Chernobyl incident I was trying to evacuated the citizens when it happened. As I was leading the people out of the town I noticed one person by the rector pealing back the reinforced concrete like it was putty, fighting myself on weather or not I should help,more and more of the town was being destroyed I decided to stop the man that was causing the chaos I pickup the pipe that laying on the wilted ground know that I would die. After I made it to the hole in the…

It was before the summer Olympics games in Beijing in early 2008. My family and I were on an extended visit to Beijing. The daughter of one of my father’s friends invited me to the new Beijing National Olympic Stadium, i.e. the Bird’s Nest. Her mother was participating in a pre-Olympic track and field event at the Nest, basically a dress rehearsal for the Olympics. The stadium along with its dramatic lights is quite impressive. As we walked on to the stadium grounds, with its open roof and early…

Dasher boards are a shielding system used in nearly every hockey arena in the NHL. They are the feature that protects the fans from errant pucks and the notorious boards of hockey, in which players are slammed against in a hard check. However, new technology has marketers looking to make use of these necessary safety features. Dasher boards are fast becoming a - - for virtual advertising. First Objective – Protect Obviously, a hockey shot hurdling a small disc made of vulcanized rubber,…

I’m not just a part of a group of people who have chosen to become nurses in the Navy-- I’m also connected to everyone else in the world because I can help whenever and wherever I am needed. In a professional aspect, having a career without boundaries means that I have the opportunity to use the most advanced technology in the world and to work and learn from the most-qualified colleagues. Therefore, a Naval Nurse Officer career combines my love for the sea, interest in humanitarian aid, and…