For my Saturday long run, I usually like to go somewhere I won’t be running on the street, so I usually went to Viejo San Juan, the path by the river in Bayamón, and even the old sugar plantation in Canovanas. Some of the other places my group go to were a little scary for me because you run on the street. 

This weekend they were going to one of them, Jajome. I had been thinking about going there because it’s getting too hot, even in the morning, running in San Juan, but Jajome is up in the mountains in Cayey, where it doesn’t get as hot as San Juan. I decided to take a chance and try it; I figured it couldn’t be that dangerous with a few other people.

When I got to Jajome, I was surprised to see a lot of runners, not just from my group, all doing their long runs. If I didn’t know, I would have thought it was a race but everyone was doing a different distance and starting at different times. 

It wasn’t long after I started that I saw the first car go by but since it was a mountain, it went slowly. I still ran close enough to the curve so the car couldn’t accidentally hit me, but not close enough that I could fall over. I was still nervous but I quickly realized that as long as I was cautious and didn’t run in the middle of the street, I didn’t have to be that nervous because cars know there are runners around. There was even a sign telling drivers to be aware of the runners. 

I had to finish six miles, walking 3 minutes after running.75 miles. I thought that would be easy because I have already done that a few times, but that was on mostly flat paths. This was not the same, even though I didn’t have the sun bothering me. After the fourth mile, I couldn’t finish .75 miles without walking a little in between.

I finished my 6 miles in one hour and 31 minutes. That is exactly what it took me to finish my first 10k last year, which coincidentally was right there in Jajome.

I’m so glad I faced my fear of running there and saw that it’s not dangerous, had a new experience, was able to spend some time with my friends and had a lot of  fun. 

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Published by mariacristinasanfeliu

I’m an aspiring writer still looking for exactly what I want to write about, with a lot of creativity, imagination and desire to write. I studied Writing and Rhetoric at Syracuse University where I explored many different sides of writing through my classes and extracurricular activities in order to narrow my search for an identity as a writer. I have written for Citrus TV Noticias and La Voz magazine, both of which gave me the chance to explore different mediums in which to write in. Through Citrus TV Noticias I also gained experience in translating from English to Spanish and vice versa, which is also something that I would be interested in working on since I am fluent in both of these languages. I was also an intern at Syracuse University Press where I got hands on experience in what goes into actually editing and publishing a book. Through out the last four years I have faced a lot of challenges, which helped chape the person I am today. After being in a tragic car accident, being in comma, having a Traumatic Brain Injury, and being in therapy for over a year, I am a new me, willing to face challenges and knowing how to deal with them. I want to write about my accident and life after it to help others, show them it can be done and help in any way I can.

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