Reflective Essay #1

Tori Beaty

INTG 323

Reflective Essay #4

19 February 2012

Flash Goes for a Run

The story starts off with myself running down a country road on a cold fall morning, when a flash of light and gust of wind fly by me.

Tori: What was that??...And now it’s coming back this way?

*All of a sudden there’s a man dressed in red spandex in front of me with a puzzled look on his face. I immediately recognize him as The Flash.

Flash: What are you running from? Can I help you with something?

Tori: I’m not running from anything…I’m just running.

Flash: Just running?? Where are you trying to go?

Tori: I’m going to head out on this road for a couple of miles and then loop back towards school.

Flash: So you’re going right back where you started?

Tori: Yeah, don’t you ever just go for a run?

Flash: No, never…I really only use my power when I need to.

Tori: Well you should try it some time, it can be really relaxing…Want to come with me?

Flash: Sure, I guess I could give it a try.

Tori: Weren’t you just on your way somewhere though?

Flash: Oh yeah, I was going to meet Superman in Florence for lunch, but he’s always late anyways…Always some kind of girl trouble he has to attend to.

*We start running and it’s obvious that it’s difficult for Flash to keep a slower pace.

Flash: It’s so different to actually be able to look around at the scenery while I’m doing this.

Tori: I bet…sometimes it’s really nice to just come out for a nice long run when I’ve had a rough day…You probably have a lot of those huh?

Flash: You could say that…

*We eventually make it back to the school and Flash seems much more at ease.

Flash: Wow, I do feel good after doing that, thanks for letting me come with you.

Tori: Any time. You’re powers aren’t only good to help everyone else you know? You should use them for your own benefit every once in a while.

Flash: You’re probably right…same time next week?

Tori: Absolutely

*Flash takes off as a burst of light and I smile to myself knowing I just found the best running partner a person could ask for.

Part II

            The second part of this reflective essay goes along with the first part, because the person that I chose to talk to actually is the best running partner I could ask for.  We’re both on the cross country and track team and since we both have similar abilities, we tend to run together.  On days that we’re not feeling like running or we have to do a 15 mile long run the morning after a difficult meet, she’s always there to encourage me as well as push me to do my best.  Over the past 3 years we’ve both become much better athletes, but also much better friends.  She always lends a listening ear and offers advice. We’ve talked about many different things during all the miles we’ve run together.

            This past weekend gave me the perfect opportunity to tell her how much I really appreciate her.  We both ran in the same race and did extremely well.  We both ran major PR’s (personal records) and ran faster than we ever imagined we would.  After the race I let her know how proud I was of our accomplishment and that I appreciate having her as a training partner.  I told her how nice it is to always have someone to count on, especially on the days that it’s difficult.  She was very agreeable to what I had told her.  She said that she knows us working together is definitely the reason we’ve done so well and that she’s equally happy to have someone to count on.

            Overall, talking to her wasn’t as awkward as I had expected because the opportunity presented itself in a completely natural way. I was somewhat surprised by her reaction because I had never taken the situation from her point of view before. It was really nice to find out that she counts on me just as much as I count on her.  I guess what I got out of the entire experience is that I should take advantage of those times when it seems natural to express your appreciation. Also, even if you don’t recognize it, there are people who count on you just as much as you count on them.