Thursday: I had to be one time for Art Awards at Schaumburg Township Library (1st place new artist award)
Today my coach let me run four miles today. FOUR MILES!!!! I was so happy! I was improving and everything but I was so scared too. Everyone else of course was going five miles 'cause that's what they do; they're so good.
So I'm running Schaumburg to Braintree then Braintree past Duxbury to Wise. I've been on Wise for a while then I see Salem Drive. I know they told me to go Salem but I thought since it said Salem Drive that it's not it and I go further.
I see Roselle and I ask a guy and he says if you take a left to Roselle then you hit Schaumburg Rd. And well from past experiences Schaumburg Rd. has always been shorter than Salem so I go further.
I past Jewels Osco and everything and I'm passing Plum Grove now. I'm still running and tired and so freaked out because I don't want to be late for the art show or anything and I DEFINITLEY don't want my parents to get the police calling or anything and right now I'm just running for my life... literally.
I hit Michigan lane and the minute I see "Welcome to Elk Grove" I know I went WAY too far. I stop and ask a guy for directions and he says to go back to Plum Grove and take a right to Schaumburg. I listen to him and when he says "You're this far?" I just got even scared and started to run back knowing that my coach will get soo angry because I've done this before during the summer. I start running back then I walk. I walk because I'm too tired and not talented enough to run this much all at once. At Plum Grove I see a lady in a white truck with her friend. And I ask her if she can give me a ride. She says no and I just take a right to Schaumburg. When you see how far that was though; like the sight of that down hill slope and how never ending it was I was just terrified.
So I'm actually TRYING to get running 'cause I was sooo scared and I was like "If I don't get back the police will be searching for me" and as I'm running that same lady that I talked to just before honked her horn and let me inside. No words can describe how RELIEVED I was. This was like a Christmas miracle I swear; I cried to her for two minutes saying I'm sorry if I troubled her.
She told me the reason she didn't pick me up earlier was that she thought I was a hitch hiker and didn't want me to kill her or anything. That's highly understandable I didn't hold a grudge on her in the first place. She was telling me "when I saw you I knew you weren't a hitch hiker and after dropping my friend I had to come back. But never get into a car with anyone and never ever pick anyone up because you never know they could kill you." She and I were saying how it was sad we have to be paranoid about helping people and then she dropped me off the Schaumburg High School. Her name was Michelle. I hope I never forget her because she's like a saint to me and she didn't steal me or anything. It was 4:30 and we started running at 3:10.
Yeah and I call my mom to pick me up and thankfully she didn't know I was lost. She picks me up and right before we're home I tell her 'cause I feel guilty for hiding this from her and she was shocked and angry but yeah I guess the award cermony thing for getting 1st place in the new artist category at Schaumburg Township Library sort of balances it out. At least I still get to run.
Friday
The next day I told two people and when I was talking to the assistant coach (Mari who's also my geometry teacher) everyone found out and this kid named Paul Brewer who also runs was like "How could you be so stupid, has anyone ever taught you to never get into a car with a stranger?" I wasn't thinking at the time when I was lost! Geeze I didn't want my parents having to pick me up because they'd probably never let me run again.
The whole day I put up with the criticism and I confront Mac. Mac says "Hanan getting lost and getting into a stranger's car; you did everything wrong. Didn't you read the street signs, you've ran on Salem before. If you do this again we'll have to make you run laps around the school." He says some more things I didn't catch but I go to the trainer to stretch my hip and go to the bathroom to wash up.
I come to the group with tears in my eyes and Mac's like "don't cry you'll make me cry" and I just sit down crying with my face covered and say "You're right Mac, I should've known this. People my age know how can't I? I'm an idiot" and he's just like "Well good... at least you learned your lesson" and yeah they're trying to give me "easy" road runs so I don't get lost because as everyone can see I can't handle a complicated one. I do four miles going Knollwood.
I feel stupid and after I run I find out that on Thursday (when I got lost) I ran five miles. I was impressed but angry because I was an idiot. My brother who's a year younger knows streets and this sort of things and I don't; I'm going to have to study maps.
That's my story and yeah I don't know what to say except again I feel stupid.
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2 comments:
Hanan,
I'm so sorry you had this experience and I also feel bad that you are so down on yourself for what happened. Yes, getting into a car with a stranger, or picking up strangers is pretty dangerous but you are fine and I think you know that you shouldn't do that again.
Now for some advice. Hanan, you absolutely need to start thinking of yourself in a more positive light. Read your post and note the times you describe yourself as less then others, the times you say that you are stupid, an idiot etc, then imagine someone you know, someone you admire and imagine that they would talk about themselves in such a way. Hard to imagine because they wouldn't. You shouldn't either. Also the only people who should be lecturing you on what happened are your parents, Mac, the adults in your life. Paul can stuff it. He's not your father, he's not anything. Say "I appreciate your concern but its none of your business", or something to that effect. People may still continue to give you their opinion but you just need to blow them off. High school is so irritating that way! I remember very well.
Look in the phone book for a map of the area and see how the major streets run. That's all it takes. Mac has plenty of stories of how I used to get lost and even worse I used to do it during races when I was leading. Very frustrating for Mac and I will admit embarrassing for me...but I learned.
Now for the good stuff. You got a 1st place new artist award? Excellent!! Well done! Tell me more on how you earned this award. Was it a specific entry or was is a collection of work? What kind of work do you do? Was it done in art class? Details!
-RunnerGirl
Thanks Janeth your support helps much! The whole talking down about myself is something... I guess I tend to over-do. You're right I should stop I'm a bit over critical on things and yeah... Funny to hear you'd get lost on races though. LOL that makes me feel better to know I'm not the only one.
For my art award, I drew and colored a portrait of my aunt's family to give to her as a gift. I drew it during the summer and started coloring it but I didn't finish it until last month with my art teacher giving me critique. I was happy and got this painting set so yeah =)
How's life with you? I'm sorry about your dog and everything and I hope you enjoyed your Christmas. Running is going OK today I got a little lost on Greys Farm and of course I hit Schaumburg Road instead of Hoover Elementary or something like that. -.- Oh well yeah I would love to hear more about your life and all. I assume you have kids right? Do you influence them with running or anything?
Thanks again and I hope all is well,
Hanan
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