What a Trooper

Oscar was part of the 4th and 5th grade track meet held on Monday at Columbia High again this year. They compete with Endeavor, Snake River, Ronald Reagan, and Greenhurst Elementary schools. Oscar is more of a long distance runner than a sprinter, so he qualified for the 600 meter run. He has been looking forward to this day for a very long time. He has been practicing and talking all about it.

Now the not so good part. Sunday he was playing with his brothers outside in the backyard (taking advantage of the beautiful weather) with no shoes on and stepped on something sharp. So the bottom of his right foot was hurting to walk on. We doctored him up and sent him to school the next day hoping he would be okay by the time the track meet started. The bottom of his foot was okay, but he came home and told me he almost twisted his ankle playing soccer, and someone had kicked his leg as well, all on his right leg!!! I felt so bad for him, I should have told him to take it easy at school that day. Track meet time comes and he is feeling okay, his event is always the last one so he would have plenty of time to stretch and relax. BUT aparently some kids didn't show up for the running long jump so Oscar and a few other teammates were asked to fill in. When I saw Oscar lining up to jump I was really confused because he talked about this. After he landed the first time all I could think was I hope he doesn't hurt his ankle (he had to jump 3 times)

At last his event comes up. I am so thankful because I was tired of chasing Mason and Parker out of the isle, in the bleachers, and keeping tabs on all three of them. My neck was still a little soar and my back was hurting from sitting in the bleachers. Oscar had come to watch Oscar but he was always over talking to somebody else he knew (marketing he says). They line up and start running, by the time Oscar has made it 200 meters I could tell something was weird. He was running slower than normal, at first I thought he was just pacing himself, but he continued to slip back and back. In the home stretch he looked like he was giving it his all, but when the race was over I could tell he was disappointed.

When he had made his way back to us in the bleachers, sure enough he was LIMPING. I really felt sorry for him. He told us his ankle had started acting up on him around the first turn in his run. I was sad for him, but I was also totally amazed that he kept running. I know I would have just stopped! What a trooper, he finished the race! Two days later his ankle is well, but his back calf hurts where he was kicked. Maybe by the weekend he'll be all ready to go for soccer!