Anika's Non-Fiction Blog

I'm about 15 words over the limit so let me know if you have any suggestions on parts I could take out.       The reason I started running was because of my family. Both my mom and my dad run. When I was little I watched them run half marathons and other races. I always loved going to their races because the atmosphere was so exciting. I loved the nervous tension and the excited chatter as the racers got ready to run. I especially loved cheering my parents on when they ran because they would always wave to me. So, when my dad asked me if I wanted to run the 1k at Illinois Marathon, I was pumped that I was finally going to be able to race just like my parents and follow in their footsteps.             I didn’t really train much for my first race—I think I ran a lap around Hessel Park once or twice, but I still had a blast on race day. I ran a very slow 1k and I didn’t really understand the concept of push...

In response to: Have you ever felt embarrassed about the things you used to like? I used to spend hours on my bedroom floor with my best friend Ella playing with American girl dolls. I was obsessed. Ella and I would spend part of the morning setting up our dolls’ houses–half of my bedroom floor for Ella’s dolls and half for mine. We would set up beds, clothes, and other parts of our houses. Then we would sit on the floor the rest of the day with our American Girl dolls playing all sorts of elaborate made-up games with them. We would pretend that they could talk and make them go on adventures such as a trip to the local bakery. If we were not playing games with our American Girl dolls, we often spent our time looking through the American Girl doll catalogs and planning what outfit or accessory we would get next when we had saved up enough money or what we were going to ask our parents to get us. Every time a new catalog came in the mail, it made my day. I was always so excited ...