“Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep.” I slammed the yellow square that was on top of my Spongebob alarm clock.
It was five o' clock according to the glowing red digits on my clock. My friend, Luis, thought that I was crazy because I kept doing it everyday. My arms spread wide until I heard a crack in my back. I grabbed my Sony walkman mp3 player and put on my Asics. “ Gonna Fly High Now” was playing in my earphones. I pictured myself as Rocky as I ran. As soon as I stepped out of the house, I felt the cold from the chilly morning. After six years of running, this feeling has not left my bones. My feet started to move and I started to run. But, every time that feeling comes and I want to not run, I ignore it and focus on what I have to do.



During middle school in my P.E. class our track and field team came in last place because I walked to the finish line. A teammate, Jason, came to me and exclaimed, “ Thanks a lot fat ass.” After class I went home bawling. My health was deteriorating. I crashed on the couch thinking about what Jason had said. Nobody had ever mentioned anything about my weight before. Everybody was always nice to me. I had always ingratiated everybody I knew. The thoughts of what Jason had said could not escape from my head. “ Fat ass,” “Fat ass,” kept ringing in my head. I moved my hand lethargically looked for the remote. Then, I looked around the room. I spotted the remote next to the television. I found it difficult to stand up and go get the remote. After I had the remote and was back sitting on the couch, I wondered what I would be like in the future. Fear encompassed the vision in my head. The next day I started to run.

The first day of running was backbreaking. As soon as I stepped onto the track at Sylvan park, I sprinted. I looked at the sign in front of the track. It read,“One lap= ¼ mile.” I had only ran a quarter mile. After that, I walked home. When I came home my mom asked me why I was back so soon? I told her that there was no way that I could lose weight. She told me not to give up“ That 's very creative advice,” I thought sarcastically in my head. But it was enough to convince me to go running the next day.

I went to the park the next morning at seven o' clock and I stretched. I was calm and relaxed, not rushing to run right away. I looked around the park and saw people with dogs. I heard birds chirping. Then, I started to sprint again. I stopped because I could not keep going. I looked around once more and saw an old man, in his sixties or seventies, jogging around the track. He didn't move fast, but he kept going. I started to do that daily. I woke up every day at six during the school year and at seven during the summer, even when I didn't want to. I ran consistently at a good pace, neither fast nor slow, for two miles. My sneakers were ripping every three weeks. This was my third pair that had torn. So, I decided to go to Foot Locker that day and got a pair of Asics. They were the most durable shoes. They lasted me almost five months. I was slowly progressing in my weight loss plan.

Before I knew it, it had been two years since I had been running everyday. So much had changed since I first started running. I started out running a quarter mile, and now I was running an average of two to three miles daily. I had succeeded in my plan. Now as I run everyday, I know I can accomplish anything if I focus.