Rebecca Buteau, Madison Central, The Last Lap

Two more meets. That's it. That's all I have left in high my high school running career. Honestly, I can't wait. It has been a long seven years of high school running. I know this partly because for the past two years, there is always someone who looks at me and says, "You still running?" However, it is definitely bittersweet. There have been so many amazing moments, but there have also been really hard times.

Ninth grade was probably the hardest. That was the start of all the coaching changes. Looking back, however, I would not change anything for the world. Coach Lamb is now in Hoover, happier than ever, and Coach Ellison and Coach Abby are just awesome. I am forever grateful to them for all that they have done for me. I am also so thankful for Coach Howell. He is an awesome coach, and he was so understanding of my injury. He never made me run through more pain than I could handle.

Of course, I am so thankful to my dad. He is the only one who knows everything I have been through. He has been there through it all. Honestly, without him, I don't even know if I would still be running. He always saw the bigger picture when all I could see were the pieces. I can't forget to give a shout out my mom either. She is the most supportive, amazing, nicest person anyone could ever meet. I love her so much, even though we butt heads a lot. Anyways, the reason I am really writing this is to encourage all of you younger runners to just relax. There will be times when you don't want to do it, and there will be times when you may want to quit. Persevering throught it, however, is so worth it. If I would have given up, I would not be running in college, which has been my dream since the 7^th grade.

 In just a few short months, I will be on a team of 25 or so girls, and I cannot even tell you how excited that makes me. It is truly a dream come true and an answer to years of prayers. Don't get me wrong, I am excited for these next two meets, but I finally feel like I am seeing the bigger picture. Life is so much more than just winning state or setting PR's. Sure, doing those things are awesome, but it is not why God has gifted me with this talent. I guess what really made me come to this conclusion is my 4x800 team. For the first time, I have a team that I get to lead and have an impact on. I love those girls. However, I think they have had a bigger impact on me than I have on them. They remind me that running is fun. It's not supposed to be stressful.

 My goal for the next two weeks is to enjoy it all. I will never get to relive these moments ever again. This goal may seem easy, but for me, it will not be. Part of me is just ready to move on and be done with high school. Nevertheless, if I don't slow down and soak in everything these last few days, I will one day regret it. If I discount all the blessings God has lavished upon me and all the blessings he has in store for me these last two weeks, then what's the point of it all? Why put myself through all the blood, sweat, and tears if I don't take time to thank God for all the little things? I'm finally excited about racing again, and I am not going to disregard that just because I am ready to graduate. So my advice to anyone who is reading this is to enjoy the process. Enjoy the bad times, and don't despise your weaknesses. In the end, your weaknesses will be the very thing that make you strong.

Don't believe me? Watch Wreck-it-Ralph. Vanelope's glitch ended up being the very thing that caused her to win the race and become what she was truly meant to be-royalty. Cool right? I can't take credit for it though. I got if from a sermon that Steven Furtick preached, but its true nonetheless.

Anyways, before I close up, I want to give a big thank you to James Mathews. If you don't know who that is, he is the guy who runs MSMilesplit. He is the one who always makes sure all the results are in, and everything is up to date. Without him, there would be no Mississippi Milesplit. You would not be able to feed your addictive habits of looking at it every 5 minutes. So thank you so much for all you do! Thanks for all the pictures and all the articles! Most importantly, thank you for making Mississippi running known to the rest of the U.S. because we really are getting more competitive. With all that being said, I can finally say that after next Friday, I will not "still be running" anymore...well, for Mississippi at least (Roll TideJ)!