Last Seasons

                As I was saying in my last blog post, my track season this year has officially come to an end and I plan to take a week off before starting to train for my cross country season. The end of this track season is kind of a big deal to me because I am a junior this year so now I only have one high school track season left, ever. I also only have one cross country season left in my high school career and it is kind of scary to think that my years running cross country and track will be over soon.

                Next year is not only my last season of high school track and cross country but it also may be my last seasons of running cross country and track in general. I really enjoy cross country and track, they are one of my most favorite parts of high school and I will really miss them. It would be nice to be able to continue running cross country and track but I don’t think that is going to work out for me.

                College track and cross country is much more challenging then high school in most cases and also much more time consuming. I also am not a very good runner so I probably won’t be able to actually be a part of a college track or high school team not them I am too disappointed by that because there are some other things that I will probably want to focus more on in college then track and cross country and I don’t think I am that dedicated to the sports to continue in college.  

                While it may not really be an option for me to run as part of a college cross country or track team I would still like to continue to run at least on my own when I am in college. I still really enjoy running and don’t want to completely give it up so I think I would still want to continue my running in college and if possible maybe even join some type of running club in college.

                I am really sad that next year is my last season of high school cross country and track because I enjoy the sports so much and there is still so much that I hoped to accomplished in the sports that I am yet to accomplish. I hope that I am able to also enjoy my last seasons in high school and I want to continue to run even when I graduate. (428)

State Qualifiers

                This Thursday, Friday and Saturday are the days of the state track meet. The state track meet is a big deal for all of the track athletes because it is one of the main events that we train all season for. This year I was not able to qualify for state but am very proud of all the members on my team that qualified. This year my track team qualified in thirteen different event.

                My track team has been able to improve a lot over the season to enable us to actually qualify a lot of our members for state.  At the beginning of the year many of the events on our team didn’t look very promising for qualifying for state but we were able to improve a lot and qualify in more than expected. I think we qualified in more events my freshman and sophomore year but many of those events included the upperclassman who all graduated and this year our team had more underclassman runners then we had upperclassman runners so it took a while for the freshman to get adjusted to high school track but once they were able to they improved. As a result of the underclassman improving it helped our whole team improve and we were able to qualify in a lot of events.

                State track and the Drake Relays are the biggest meets in high school track and along with conference and district they are the most important meets and are the ones that we prepare and practice for all season. While my team had a lot of events qualify for state we probably won’t score very many points at state. One of our main focuses this year at the state qualifying meet was making sure that we qualified in as many events as possible because we know that we probably won’t be able to score many points at state so we weren’t really concerned about stacking our relays to make sure we score the most points. We have a pretty good chance of scoring points in the 3000 and the 100 because only the top eight score at state. Other than that we probably won’t score in many other events but my team is just happy to be able to run as many events as we are at state. (386)

Weeks

                I should ideally be running most of the 365 days in a year but in reality I tend to take a lot of breaks during the winter and I also take the weekends off a lot too. Track season just ended for me on Friday and now I also plan to take another week break before I start my running again for this summer and for training for cross country season.

                I should be running every week in the year with the exception of the week after track season and the week after cross country season. Cross country and track season don’t allow for a lot of breaks in your running and so really the only ideal time to be able to take a week off of running is after your season.  I need to run in the summer because those are the weeks leading up to cross country season and I also need to run in the winter because those are the weeks leading up to my track season. I also obviously need to run in the spring and the fall because those are the weeks in which I am actually in my cross country or track season. Since that means that I normally end up needing to run every week of the year it is nice to take a week off of running after each of my seasons.

                Even though I should be running every week of the year except for two I normally don’t run every single day of the week and I find myself taking off more days then I really should. In the winter I take off a lot of days because it is normally way too cold to run outside and it can get really boring running the same thing every day on the treadmill. I also will take a few days off in the summer because sometimes it is way too hot outside to run or I am on vacation and don’t fell like running very much.

                This week is the week after my track season so it is one of the few weeks in a year when I actually take every day off of running, seven days in a row. Other than that I try to run every week because I have to prepare for or am in my cross country or track season.  I really need to take this break each year because it can get a little tiring to run most days of every week. I’m sure this week will fly by and be over before I know it.  (429)

Relays

                In a track meet the athletes can either run in individual events or in relay events. Individual events end to have less pressure than relays because if you have a bad race that effects your performance it mainly only effects how you perform but if you are on a relay team and you have a bad race it effects how the whole relay team performs.

                I have had to run many more relay events this year than I have ran individual events. I am mainly a four hundred meter runner and have only really ran the open four this year, the four by four, the distance medley relay and the sprint medley relay. I find the relays to put much more pressure on me than the individual events.

                In individual events I still want to perform my best and try my hardest in order to be able to score some points in the meet for my team but it doesn’t put as much pressure on me as relays. In relays I still want to try hardest and score points in the meet for my team but if I have a bad race or mess up it effects my whole relay. In individual races if I mess up I can really only blame myself but in relays if I mess up or someone else messes up and we don’t place well people on your relay may blame you.

                If you run a bad leg in your relay it could also affect how the people after you run. If you hand off the baton in last it can be harder for the next person to compete with the other runners and run their best times if they are really far behind. It can also be pressuring if you are anchoring the relay because you don’t want to let your team own by having people pass you and finishing in a place lower than the one you were in when you got the handoff.

                A track meet has both individual events and relays. Both can be enjoyable to run in but relays can sometimes put more pressure on a runner because there are more people depending on you to run your best so your whole relay can succeed. (375)

 

 

Running on Vacation

Each summer I normally go on a few vacations. In the summer I also need to run as often as possible in preparation for the approaching track season. I have to run during the summer in order to get in shape and to get faster by the start of the cross country season. Running every day during the summer can become kind of a drag and hard to continue to do but it is especially hard to keep up my running when I am on vacation.

While I enjoy running for the most part it can be really hard to make myself run during the summer. In the summer I normally just want to relax and hang out with my friends so running each day can be a challenge and I normally only actually end up running five out of the seven days in a week. During vacation it becomes even more of a challenge to make myself run during the week.

Each year after the fourth of July my family normally goes on vacation to Minnesota where we stay in cabins by a lake. We swim, fish, go boating, go tubing and skiing and we relax on the beach. I love going to Minnesota and staying in the cabins and look forward to it each year because it is so much fun. When I am laying on the beach in Minnesota or even just relaxing by doing nothing the last thing that I want to do is go on a run but I always know that I need to at least run a few days on my vacation to stay in shape and in order to not make all my previous training a waste by taking a week off and having to start all over again.

It is always important for me to make sure that I continue my summer running through my vacation even if I don’t really want to. I need to make sure that I am running so that I am in shape for cross country season and can improve my times during cross country season. It is hard for me to run on vacation because I just want to relax but I always know that I really need to run and my sisters and my dad also help remind me that I need to make sure I am running and so they help to motivate my running during vacation. (404)

Districts

                Thursday is the day of districts or the state qualifying meet for track and field. If you want to run at state Thursday is your only chance to qualify. A week after that on Thursday, Friday and Saturday is when the state meet takes place.

                One way to guarantee your qualification to state is by placing first or second in your event at the districts meet. In every district the first two places go to state and after that they take the next twelve fastest runners. So even if you place third at districts or eve n sometimes fifth or sixth you can still qualify for state if your time is fast enough and you were just in a very fast district for that event.

                This year in my district we are competing against Clinton, Washington, Dubuque, Prairie, Iowa City High and Iowa City West. This year districts is looking very competitive in all of the field events. Many of the top twenty ranked athletes who do field events are in our district and based on the standings as of now form the year ten people could make it to state in discus.

                Last year we had people qualify in most events except for a few but this year we have lost a lot of athletes that qualified last year so it will be much more difficult for our team to have someone qualify in most of the events but it is still very possible. One thing that my team really needs to work on in order to qualify would be improving our handoffs. Lately a lot of our handoffs in relays have been costing us few seconds and if my team is able to perfect them by the state qualifying meet and they are able to drop a few seconds they can greatly improve their chance of qualifying for state especially in the four by one and the four by two hundred meter relays.

                The state qualifying meet is on Thursday and my team still needs to work on a few things to qualify like handoffs. Having only one chance to qualify can be very stressful and pressuring. If you mess up your handoff or our even just having an off day you could jeopardize your chance of going to state. Last year we had a teammate who was ranked high in long jump and had a very good chance of qualifying but she ended up scratching on all of her jumps and didn’t make it. Hopefully everyone on my team is able to perform their best this year at districts and we have many of our events qualify. (440)

State Track

               State track will be in a few weeks. I am very excited if I am able actually able to qualify for state. I have gone to state track for the last two years as an alternate and I am hoping that I will at least be able to go to state as an alternate again this year but I would really like to actually qualify or be on a relay team that qualifies so I can run at the state meet.

                This week we have a junior varsity meet on Monday then a varsity meet on Thursday. Next week we have are conference meet on Thursday and then are state qualifying meet the following week. After that we only have state and then the season will be over. This season has seemed to go by really fast especially considering many of our meets have been cancelled this season because of the weather. I will be really sad to see this season come to an end because after that I only have one high school track season left.

                Since my season is almost over I want to be able to end the season on a good note and one way to do that is to qualify for state. My freshman year I was an alternate in the 4 by 800 and my sophomore year I qualified in the 4 by 100 and the distance medley. This year I would actually like to qualify and run at state. If I were to qualify for state I would probably qualify in an event in which I run a four hundred because that’s the only thing that I have been running all year.

                I would really like to qualify for state because I think it would be really cool to be able to run at state and I have really enjoyed going to state in the past. State track lasts for three days and we get to stay in a hotel with the track team. It would also be great to qualify because I have been working hard and training all year for all my meets and so I could go to state and it would suck to be unable to go after all the training I’ve down but if I am unable to go this year then I will just have to work really hard in the next year so I have a chance to qualify next season. (405)

Coaches

                Coaches have a big impact on your training during any sports season. Coaches encourage you and help you train to perform your best during your season. Without coaches you may feel lost as to what you need to practice and work on to improve. Coaches tell you what you need to work on and improve on to run your best.

                During cross country season I have had the same coach in the last three years. My coach is a great cross country coach because he knows what he is doing and what we need to run each day in practice in order to be able to compete and run the best that we can. My coach also gives me pointers on what I need to work on and what I need to improve like the different aspects of my running form.

                In track season I have had a different coach each year. I have always had the same head coach which is also the same coach as my cross country coach but the sprinting coaches who normally are more in charge of the sprinter practices have been different each year. My first two coaches that I had had us run similar things in practice but the coach I have this year has us running pretty differently practices then before.

My coach this year is a college student at a nearby college who got injured so she can’t run track this year. Her practices are mainly different from before because the mainly focus more on training for four hundred meter events when in the past they normally focused more on training of one hundreds and two hundreds. It can be kind of difficult to have to get se to a new coach every year but once you get used to their coaching styles they can help you improve you’re running.

Coaches are really important to a runner’s development. Without coaches it would be harder to know what you need to run for practice and the things you need to do to improve your running. Coaches help you train to compete and run your best and they also can encourage you to try hard and to run at the best of your ability. Without my coaches, I would be in a very different place in my running then where I am now. (390)

Impact of Injuries

            Having injuries can really affect your entire season and your ability to run and compete. Injuries not only effect the injured athlete but can also effect the entire team. Some injuries may not last very long and before you know it you are back running but some injuries can last a really long time and you may never get to see the track before the end of the season.

            I have been really lucky in my running career to have been able to avoid any injuries. I have yet to be seriously injured or even to just have something like shin splits. But a lot of my teammates have faced injuries in their running careers and I always feel bad for them when they have to sit out.

            Really serious injuries can put a runner out for the whole season and the whole team can be affected. In track if that runner is who is injured normally runs on relays they have to find someone to fill in for that person and even if the athlete normally only runs individual events it still impacts a team because it can cause the team to lose some of the points that they might normally gain in a meet.

            Other smaller, not as serious injuries can be very bothersome to a team as well. If someone has shin splits, which can be painful but still isn’t too serious of an injury, they can still normally run in meets but a lot of times they might sit out of practice to ice their shins or to bike or some other activity that won’t affect their shins as much as running. When they sit out of practice it seems like the runner is normally more behind all their teammates and behind the place where they could be if they were practicing with the rest of the team. It can also be frustrating if a teammate is injured so they are normally never at practice but you still have to go to practice every day and work hard while the other teammate may automatically just run in varsity races anyway.

            If an athlete is injured whether it is with very serious injuries or ones that still allows them to run it can still be very frustrating for the whole team. If you have relay that is normally dependent on an athlete who is injured it can be hard to find a replacement that can fill in for that athlete. It can also be very frustrating for the injured athlete to be unable to practice and run with their team and instead they are forced to just sit on the bench and watch. (445)

Olympic Runners

                This weekend was Drake Relays. My sister was the only girl from Kennedy to participate in the Drake Relays but the boys track team had a lot of runners at the Drake Relays this weekend. The Drake Relays not only has high school students participating in the events but they also had college students and they even had professionals.

                My sister ran the 3000 meter race on Thursday so I went to support her on Thursday and to watch her race. I also went to watch the Drake Relays on Friday night. Friday night is one of the times when they have the most professionals running during the Drake Relays. It was really exciting and inspirational to watch all of the professional runners. It is really amazing to be able to see some of the runners that I look up to and that inspire me to run. During the national anthem and before every professional race at the Drake Relays they set off fireworks. Then all the athletes took to the track to compete at amazingly fast speeds. After the race the winners jog the outside of the track and I got to high five some of the great athletes.

                I was able to see the professionals run in the women’s shuttle hurdle, the women’s 1500 meter run, the 110 meter high hurdles and the 400 meter hurdles and I got to see some of the professionals high jump and pole vault. In the shuttle hurdle Lolo Jones was a member of the USA red team that went on to win the event. In the pole vault an athlete from Cuba won and someone from Jamaica won the 110 meter high hurdles. I also got to sit by the start of the 1500 meter race so I got to see all the professional runners line up and get ready to run their race.  It was really cool to see all of the runners because many of them were also Olympic runners and were some of the fastest runners in the world. I also enjoyed being able to see some of the college athletes run because it there times are a more realistic time for me to be able to reach some day.

Weightlifting

                Every day after school I have track practice which normally last a little under two hours. We start out the practice by running a two lap warm up around the track. Then we do some stretches and then we start are workout for the day. Then to finish up with practice we normally run a cool down and then sometimes we do an ab workout and that’s the end of practice. We have never lifted any weights this year at practice.

                Many track teams lift weights but are team does not. Cedar Rapids Jefferson’s girls track team lifts weights and they normally always have really good sprinters on their team. A girl who used to go to my school moved schools this year and was on our track team. Now she is running track for Solon and on their track team they have normal running practice for two hours after school and after that they also lift weights for an hour. She has been able to improve her running and her times a lot this year and I wonder if a lot of that has to do with the fact that this year she has started to lift weights where as in years past she has not.

                Not only do some of the good high school track teams lift weights but also many of the college athletes lift weights for track. Since some of the better high school track teams tend to lift weights and because a lot of the college track teams lift weights it might be beneficial for our team to consider to start to do some weightlifting. Doing weightlifting probably won’t hurt our running performance very much unless we do too much weightlifting but it should still be more beneficial to our running then it would be hurtful.

                My coach has started to add some cross fit workouts to the distance runners practice to try to make them stronger but I think that my team would still benefit more by adding weightlifting and to make sure we are weightlifting more consistently and on a daily basis. It can be important to make sure you have strong legs and arms for running because your legs and arms are what push you forward in a race. The stronger legs and arms you have the faster that you may be able to go but if you do too much weightlifting you could become really muscular and muscles can weigh a lot so it could weigh you down too much so it’s important to find the right amount of weightlifting needed to be able to run your fastest. (437)

Going to State

                Drake Relays came to an end this weekend and now state track is only a few weeks away. I really want to be able to go to state this year and so I really need to make sure that I am giving all my effort in the last few weeks in and outside of practice.  With the times that I am running right now I would probably not be able to make it to state except for maybe as an alternate but if I can drop a few seconds off of my four hundred meter time than maybe I would be able to run at state.

                If I want to improve my time so I can run at state I need to make sure that I am working hard. I need to make sure that I am going to practice every day and that I am running as fast as I can during practice and that I continue push myself and to try my best. I also might need to consider lifting some weights outside of practice so I can strengthen myself more in hopes that that will also help me to improve my four hundred times.

                Outside of practice I also need to make sure that I am trying to eat only mostly healthy foods. Eating really unhealthy foods and eating a lot of junk food could really slow me down when I am running and slow down my times. So I need to make sure that I am avoiding eating fast food and I need to avoid eating too much candy or sweets. Instead I need to make sure that I am eating a lot of fruits and vegetables and that I am getting enough protein and vitamins. By making sure to eat healthier food over unhealthy food I can make sure that I am in a better position to run the fastest times that I can.

                My freshman year I went to state as an alternate in the four by eight hundred meter relay and my sophomore year I went to state in the four but one hundred meter relay and in the distance medley relay.  I hope this year that I will not only be an alternate but that I will actually get to run at drake and to do so I need to make sure that I am trying my hardest, going to practice every day and that I am eating healthy food. (408)

Four Hundreds

                One of the most important events ran in a track meet is four hundred meters. A lot of the events in a track meet include running a four hundred. Each good track team has at least four or five good four hundred runners. This year my team has really been lacking in the number of good four hundred runners we have.
               Four hundred meter race is more of a mid-distance race. If you have good four hundred meter runners they also can normally run good times in a two hundred or eight hundred meter race so it can be really crucial for a team to have really good four hundred runners. If your team is lacking in 3000 runners or 1500 runners it is not as big as a deal because it is only one race in which you need them but a four hundred meter run is in about five different events so it can impact the results of a meet more.
              For girls high school track, having a good four hundred runner means that they can run times in low sixties if not under that. My track team really only has one runner who can run in low sixties and she can’t be in every event so our track team has really been hurting this year. We are able to score some points in field events and long distance events which can help our team in a meet but because we lack so much in four hundred meter runners it can really hurt our team’s performance. We haven’t been able to win a meet yet this year and last week we got last at one meet.
             A four hundred meter race is a middle distance race and is in many events which makes it really crucial to have good four hundred runners on a track team.  A track team can still score points elsewhere without any four hundred runners but if you want to do good in meets or win meets you need to have good four hundred runners. Hopefully my track team will be able to gain more four hundred runners next year so we can improve as a team. (363)

Limited Time

            My most busy time of the year is always during track season. I find my free time to continue to shrink during track season. There are so many meets to run in and it is also approaching the end of the school year so homework and studying also seems to be increasing with less time to complete it.  

            In cross country season I also have meets as I do in track season but not as many and they normally don’t last as long.  During cross country season there is only one thing you can run at a meet and it is two and a half miles. Running two and a half miles at a pretty fast pace can be very tiring and so during the season we normally only ever have one meet each week. In track I will normally have at least two meets a week and a lot of times one of them will be on a Saturday and in cross county there is normally very few Saturday meets.

            Cross county meets also take much less time than track meets do. In cross country there is normally only the junior varsity race and the varsity race and sometimes there is a freshman sophomore race so a total of three different races. In track meets there are so many events so track meets last much longer than cross country meets. Most track meets may last around five hours and when I have track meets on Saturday I am normally at the meet for seven hours and I don’t even have to be there early for a field event. Cross country meets normally only last about two or three hours so I can actually do some of my homework after a cross country meet whereas after a track meet I have hardly any time to do homework.

            During the spring and track season I also have to start to study and prepare for my AP tests. This year I have three AP tests that I have to study and prepare for and the tests are right around the time that we have state track so during the spring I am slammed with preparing for track and my AP tests.

            The spring is my busiest time of the year and I am normally always really stressed out. I have to start to study for my AP tests and I have so many track meets that always take up most if not all of my day. In the winter I don’t even have a sport so I have a lot of free time and in the spring I only have Cross County which has more spread out and shorter meets then track does. (451)

Drake Relays

            Each year the best Iowa high school athletes compete in the Drake Relays. Today is the last day to get in your times in order to qualify for Drake. This year we have some runners who are very close to qualifying for Drake but so far yet no one has fast enough times to qualify.

            Qualifying for Drake Relays is based on the athlete’s times. Drake will take only so many of the fastest runners and the fastest relays. In the three thousand meter run those with the fastest twenty-one times will qualify. In the four by one hundred they accept eighty and in the four hundred hurdles they only take eight so each event varies on the number of entrees.

            Last year we had a lot of people qualify for drake. The shuttle hurdle relay qualified as well as the four by eight, the four by one, the sprint medley, the open eight hundred and two three thousand runners as well as some runners in a few more events. But this year we have yet to have anybody with a guaranteed spot in the Drake Relays and tonight is the last chance for them to qualify. We have a few relays that are really close to qualifying and only need to drop about one second and there are also a few individual events that we have runners who are also very close to qualifying.

 My sister has a really good chance to qualify tonight. She qualified last year but has yet to qualify this year because she can’t really pace herself very well and in the meets we have had so far there hasn’t been a lot of competition and she was able to win easily. It has also been windy and cold which makes it more difficult to qualify. Tonight it may be a little cold but my sister will have a lot of competition to help push her. There are about eight girls that have run faster times than her this year at this meet who also are wanting to qualify and so if she is able to compete with them she may be able to run a fast enough time that will allow her to qualify. 

Drake relays is harder to qualify for than state because state is separated by the class, 4a or 3a etc. but for the Drake Relays it doesn’t matter what class your high school is, anyone form any school can compete. Hopefully we can have some runners qualify tonight for drake but if not we still have a better chance at qualifying in more events for state track. (437)

Rain

Being a cross country runner I am not afraid of the outside elements. Practice and meets are rarely cancelled except on extremely cold or extremely hot days. I have had to run with lots of wind, in more than one hundred degree weather and when there is so much humidity that it’s unbearable. I have also had to run in rain and thunder storms.

                When it is over one hundred degrees out and sweat is pouring down your face as you run you want and need it to rain to offer some sort of relief. During cross country practice this year it was really hot more so than usual and so when the sprinklers came on around are school we would run through them. While there are some days we really hope for rain there are also times when you don’t want to be running when it is raining and thunder storming.

                Running in the rain can be awful especially when it’s cold outside. Your clothes stick to you and you can hardly see anything as the rain drops into your eyes but as a cross country runner I am still forced to run in it. When it is pouring down rain in practice we still run outside anyways. One year we started out running on the trail when it was still only lightly raining but by the time we reached the two and a half mile mark it was pouring and started to thunder and lighting and we still had to run the two and a half miles home. Another time we were running on the track and in the middle of the track on the field they were about to start a junior varsity football game. While we were running it was raining and half way through our workout it started to thunder and lightning and the football game was cancelled but we still kept running until we finished our practice.

                Being a runner means I run in most weather conditions even when some sports don’t. I am forced to face the heat, humidity, rain and wind. It can suck to be forced to run in pouring rain but it can also be a unique experience to have. (370)

Mental Toughness

             Running may seem like a sport that is all dependent on your training and physical state but your mental toughness can also play a very important part in your running ability. It is still important to be in shape and to train for meets but if you aren’t mentally prepared it can affect your running. Most runners need to be strong mentally in order to perform their best. If you don’t believe that you can run ten miles or you don’t believe that you can run a certain time you normally can’t. If you get it in your head that you will never be able to run really fast or to drop a lot of time off your race you probably won’t be able to.

                Having a good mental set when I’m running is something that I really struggle with. This weekend at my track meet I had to run a four hundred and it was really hot out and really windy that I thought it would be impossible to run a personal record on my four hundred that when I was running I still tried hard to run my best but I didn’t push myself as much as I would have if I would have believed that I could run faster.  If I can tell myself that I can break my record and I am capable of running whatever time I want I would probably be a much better runner. While I do try to tell myself that I can run faster there’s a part of me that still kind of doubts my ability and holds me back from possibly meeting my full potential.

                My sister is now a very good cross country runner but her freshman year of cross country she wasn’t nearly as good as she is now. After my sisters freshman year I think she gained a lot of mental strength and helped to improve so much in her times. After her freshman year my sister decided that she wanted to be a really good runner so she pushed herself and trained hard over the summer. She also believed in herself and her capability to be a good runner. When she started running sophomore year she dropped more than four minutes off of her freshman year times

                Running may seem like a sport in which you improve your times by training a lot and getting in shape but a lot of it also comes down to your mental strength and if you are able to push yourself and believe in yourself. If I could build my mental strength it may help me to be a better runner.  (441)

Summer Running

            The summer is a great time for me to put in hours running. During the school year I find it difficult to find time for running in the winter when I am not in track or cross country season because of all the homework I have to do but in the summer I have plenty of time to run.

            School can be very stressful and I always have a lot of homework or studying I need to do for school but in the summer I don’t have to worry about any school work. I can focus more on running during the summer. I normally do some babysitting during the summer and I might get a job this year but I will still have plenty of spare time that I can use to run and train for my cross country season.

            I also enjoy running in the summer because I can actually run in the morning. It can be nice to run right when you wake up and get it out of the way so you don’t have to worry about running later in the day. During the school year I normally don’t want to get up at five in the morning to run because then I will lose a lot of sleep and probably be tired all day so I am forced to run in the afternoon after school and after a long day at school I normally just want to stay at home and relax and not have to worry about running. I can also run with some of my teammates on the trail by Kennedy during the summer where in the winter it is normally too cold to run outside so I have to run inside by myself.

            One down side of running in the summer is that it can get really hot. Running eight miles in one hundred degree weather is definitely not fun. If I wake up early enough in the day I can normally avoid some of the heat but on some days it doesn’t matter how early you wake up it is still really hot outside.

I am looking forward to running in the summer. In the summer I have more time to run without having any schoolwork and can run with my teammates on the trail. I also enjoy being able to run in the morning so I am able to free up the rest of my day. (405)

Track Meet

Saturday was my first outdoor track meet of the season. It is exciting to finally have this seasons meets begin. My track team still has a lot of areas that we need to improve on but having our first meet helps us to get a better idea of some of the things we need to work on and allows us to get some times on all of the runners to get a better judgment of what events everyone should be running in.

One thing that my team really needs to work on is handoffs for relays. In most of the relays that my team ran yesterday, the handoffs were slowing us down.  If we can perfect our handoffs we might be able to drop a few seconds from each of our relay times. It will also be easier to improve our handoffs if our relays were more set in stone. It is still very early in the season so some of the people in the relays may be changed but once they stay fairly consistent it will be easier to improve hand offs because then the people running will normally be handing off to the same person.

I ran three four hundred meters yesterday. My time was pretty consistent in all three of them. I still have a lot of work to do and a lot of time to drop off of my four hundreds if I want to be able to run at state. My team has another track meet on Tuesday and hopefully I can improve my times more if the meet isn’t cancelled because of bad weather. On Saturday the weather for our track meet was pretty good for our first meet. I was expecting it to be colder and windier than it actually was. At the meet there was actually little wind and it was really sunny, my face even got sunburnt.

I am very excited to finally be able to start running track meets this season. Hopefully I can improve my times and my handoffs as well as my track team. There is only a little over a month before track state and hopefully my team can improve a lot before then. (367)

Need for Motivation

             I enjoy coming to school at eight every day during the summer in order to run with my teammates. It is always had for me to find my own motivation and without others to run with I would probably hardly ever run. My sisters also help motivate me to run by pushing me to do my best and to challenge myself.        

While I really do enjoy running I still need the motivation to get me to actually run. The hardest part of running is actually starting to run. When I am actually in the middle of a run I am normally enjoying myself unless the practice is really difficult that day. I also always really enjoy finishing my run. After I have just had a challenging practice or a long run I always feel really accomplished and just feel better because of the great workout that I had and all the calories I burn. While I enjoy actually running and how I feel after I run, I am really lazy and find it hard to actually get up and get ready to go outside and run.

Running can still be really hard and you get really sweaty and stinky after a workout and I don’t always look forward to those parts of running. Before I start my run I always think of all the other things that I could be doing and all the foods I could be eating instead of running that I have to force myself to get up and run so it can help to have other people who motivate you to run.

 My older sister loves running and is very dedicated to running. She is much more dedicated to running than I am and tries to run every day while I don’t mind skipping a few days here and there. Without my sister I would hardly run at all during the summer or off seasons but she always drags me out of the house to run with her. My teammates also motivate me to run because I don’t like running by myself and it can be easier and more enjoyable to run in a group.

For the most part I enjoy running but sometimes I can find it difficult to actually force myself to go on a run. Once I actually start running I end up loving it but I can’t always find the motivation to get up, put on my shoes and go outside to run.  My sisters and teammates help motivate me to run and help push me to be the best runner that I can be. (433) 

Morning Running

             Running is very beneficial form of exercise and can help you jump start your day. In the summer I always try to run in the morning. When I run in the morning I normally feel more accomplished during the day and I don’t have to worry about running the rest of the day.
 

During the summer one thing I have to worry about is that the temperature is always increasing during the day and can be very unbearable to run in so if I run in the morning I can avoid some of the heat by running when it is still a little cool out. If I wait until later on in the day I also tend to find that I have less motivation later on then I did earlier in the day. If I run later on in the day I normally have already showered and don’t want to shower again or I want to go hang out with my friends instead of running so it seems to be easier for me to get my run done in the morning because I normally have more motivation to run.
 

I am normally more likely to run if I run in the morning then if I plan on running later in the day. I normally set my alarm and force myself to get up and run. I can also go and run at school at eight in the morning and then I can run with my teammates so I don’t have to run by myself. If I don’t set my alarm and wake up early I will normally sit around when I wake up for a few hours and am lazy for the rest of the day and when I do decide that I should run it is normally to hot so I normally have to wait until after I eat super when the temperature is starting to drop a little and it is normally not fun to try running a few miles on a full stomach.
 

I try to run every day during the summer but I normally skip a few days especially when I don’t run right away in the morning when I wake up. It is easier to run in the morning when it is still isn’t too hot outside and I still have some motivation left to run. When I don’t run in the morning I find it hard to find a time when I will run later in the day. (414)

           

Spring

Now that it is spring the temperature has finally started to rise a little bit especially in the last few days. With the temperature finally increasing and winter coming to the end it is finally becoming warm enough to run outside more.

The first few weeks of track practice it wasn’t always warm enough to run outside and if it was there was snow covering the track so my track team would have to practice in the parking lot. When it was too cold in the beginning of the season and the basketball team was still practicing my team was unable to use one of the gyms so my track team had to practice in the hallways at the school but now all the snow is melted and we are able to go outside and actually run on the schools track.

The warmer temperatures in the spring are also better for running in track meets. So far yet this year my track team has only been able to run in one indoor meet and my track team was scheduled to run in two more outdoor meets but both were cancelled because it was too cold outside to run in a meet. Last year during track season a lot of our meets were also cancelled because it was too cold. I think there was a total of six meets cancelled last year but this week the weather is supposed to be a little warmer so hopefully we won’t have any more track meets cancelled and can run in the rest of our scheduled meets.

It is important to run in as many meets as we can in the beginning of the season in order to have more opportunities to qualify for the drake relays. With warmer weather it is easier to have more outdoor meets to run in so there will be more opportunities to qualify. I am very happy that the spring has finally arrived and the temperature is starting to increase especially as a runner because it allows me to be able to run outside more and to be able to run on the track during practice. I am also excited to be able to have the opportunities to run in more outdoor meets this year then I ran in last year during track season.  (386)

Strength

                Runners obviously have to use their legs and arms when they are running but does that mean that runners should try to strengthen their arms and legs with certain exercises such as weightlifting and if so what should they do and how much should they do? If you can improve your running by working on improving your strength then it could be very useful for runners to do weight lifting or cross fit.

                It is important to learn anything that a runner can do in order to better their running. If lifting weights helps a runner to be faster than if they were not to lift weights and only ran to train then it would be very beneficial for runners to make sure they do different exercises like lifting weights or cross fit to better their running.

This year my track team has started to incorporate more strengthening into our workouts. The distance runners have started to do some cross fit type exercises for strengthening after their running exercises. My sister says that she thinks she is getting stronger and she does think it is having a positive impact on her running. The sprinters have been doing workouts to strengthen their core which could also end up being very beneficial for their running.

               In the newspaper there was an article about a schools track team, Jefferson that my school runs against a lot. In the article it talked about how the Jefferson track sprinters did a lot of weight lifting in order to train for track and the sprinters from Jefferson always seem to have really good relays and are normally really fast. So weight lifting to help strengthen their arms and legs seems to be very beneficial in their case.

                Weight lifting and cross fit seems to be helping the runners in track to improve their running but it would still be interesting to see if there is a point in which doing too much strengthening or having to strong of muscles could slow you down and hurt your running instead of helping it. If runners are able to find the perfect balance between weight lifting or cross fit and running it would help runners improve their running in order to run the best that they can. Runners use their arms and legs so if strengthening them helps improve their running it is a good thing for runners to do. (401)

Preventing Injuries

             What steps can someone take to help them to prevent injuries caused by running? Becoming injured in the middle of the season could bring an early end to your running.  Some injuries could happen no matter what steps or things you do to help prevent them but runners should try to prevent certain injuries whenever possible.

Running can put a lot of stress on your legs and lead to injuries. One injury that is very common among runners is shin splits. Shin splits isn’t always a very serious injury but could still cause a runner to miss a few meets and can be very painful so a runner may not perform their best when the have shin splits. Runners may also strain or tear some of their muscle which could take a few weeks or months to heal before they could run again and so it could lead to an early end to their running season.

It would be important to know what different things a runner could do to try to avoid injuries because no runner wants their season to end early and want to keep competing and running the best that they can. Having to miss or end a season early can also affect a runner’s future running career because normally the more you run the better you continue to get so if you miss a season you could start further behind then those who were never injured and haven’t had to miss a season so it can be really important to take all the steps that you can before you get injured to avoid any injuries.

A few teammates on my track team are injured right now and have to sit out for a while. Being injured doesn’t only affect the runners it also can affect the whole team. One of the runners on my track team who is injured is a really good eight hundred runner and because of her injury someone else has to fill in on our four by eight hundred relay and now the relay may not be able to make it to drake to compete as they did last year so the people on her relay are also affected by her injury.

Learning ways or steps a runner can take to avoid injuries can be really important to know because if a runner is able to avoid injuries they can have a very successful season and more successful seasons to come. If a runner can avoid injuries it also helps the success of the whole team. (424)

Proper Running Shoes

What kind of running shoes should a runner buy and how often should they buy them? Most sports require certain equipment in order to be involved in the sport. All sports but swimming require shoes and most other sports require a ball. The most important thing a runner uses when they are running are their shoes so it can be really important to know what shoes are the best quality for running and how often a runner should replace their shoes.

            The type of shoe you use for running can impact a runner’s performance. A running shoe that doesn’t fit properly can cause pain and slow you down. A running shoe that weighs too much can cause a runner to run slower than if they were wearing a more light weight shoe. A properly fitted shoe that is light weight could be the key to helping you perform your best when running so it can be really important to know what kind of shoe you need to purchase.

            Having the right running shoe is also important because if your running shoe isn’t the correct build for your feet or running style it could cause injuries. Runners have different arches, feet and running styles so it’s important for the runner to wear the correct she for them in order to avoid injuries. Certain shoes could also cause blisters that can be painful to run with. If you have shoes that have been overused and are worn out it can cause problems. Shoes that have been used too much can also lead to injuries because they are worn out and won’t work correctly so it is important to replace your shoes. Most running shoes should be replaced after running in them for about three hundred and fifty to four hundred miles.

            Different shoes can be better for different people and if your shoes get worn out or you don’t have the right shoe it can lead to injuries. One of the most important things that is needed when you run is running shoes so it is important make sure you have the right kind of running shoes and that you replace them every so often in order to run your best.
(369)

Meet Restrictions

 During track and field meets and during cross country meets there are very tight restrictions on what you are able to wear during your races. Over the last few years that I have been running in cross country and track the rules have seemed to have gotten stricter. You can’t wear more than one logo on your clothes and it can only be so big or you can be disqualified and lately they have even decided that if you wear a headband when you are racing it can only be one solid color, it can’t have in patterns or logos.

I don’t understand at all why it could possibly matter if my headband that I am wearing for a cross country race is more than one color. How can that have anything to do with how I perform or how others perform in a race? I can understand the restrictions on logos because it is like free advertising for the different companies and could influence some people to buy a certain brand because a really good runner wears that brand but I don’t see how a stripped headband is the same thing.

Another rule that they have for cross country and track meets is that you can’t be wearing any jewelry. If you are wearing jewelry during a cross country or track meet I could see how it could be dangerous for a runner because it could be accidently ripped off or someone else could get scratched or cut on it but it is very rare. The regulations that are implied seem a little extreme and unnecessary for some high school girls who are just running in circles.

The rules and regulations may not seem like a big deal. All you have to do is to avoid buying clothes with a lot of logos, don’t wear jewelry and buy solid colored head bands but the rules can be harder to follow than expected. Any clothing that is actually of good running quality has a logo on it so it is hard to avoid wearing clothes with logos. In track when the season starts it is normally still pretty cold and at some meets you have to wear under armor or running tights to stay warm and any of the running tights that you buy are going to have a logo so you have to hunt for the running tights that have a small logo or a logo that is easy to hide when you are running. If cross country and track meets loosened some of the restrictions during meets it shouldn’t affect the meet very much and it would make it easier for the runners to follow the restrictions.

(449)

Impact of Food on Running

            Should runners eat before they run? If runners do eat before we run, how much time before they run should they eat and how much should they eat? Depending on the runner, one may find it beneficial to eat before they run or may choose not to eat before they run because it hurts more than it helps. I have been trying to figure out when is the best possible time to eat before I run, if I should even eat at all and what are some things I should or could eat that would help me when I’m running. Eating the right foods and the right amount at the right time could possibly be beneficial to the runner and help them to perform better.

            I doesn’t really seem to matter if someone eats before they run or what they eat because it may not have that much of an impact but what if the things you eat does affect your ability to run. If you eat a lot of food especially junk food it can make you feel sick and slow you down when you are running so would it be better to not eat at all? Or does not eating food cause your body to eat away at your muscle or your fat which can affect your running in the long term.

            What you eat and when you eat before your run can be an important issue to look at because depending on the different things you eat or how much you eat it could impact how fast you run or how well you are able to perform during your run. On meets days or when you have important races it can be important to watch what you are eating during the day if your eating patterns before a race can really effect how you perform. Most runners always want to perform their best on big race days and wouldn’t want something as simple as food get in the way of performing their best.

            If you eat too much food right before a race it could slow you down because your stomach is full and it’s hard for food to digest when you are running. Eating junk food could also slow you down because it’s unhealthy for you. I have heard that eating Swedish fish when you are running long distances helps give you more energy and allows you to run faster. I wonder if that actually works and if there are certain foods that should be consumed before or even during your run that would help your running performance or that would hinder it.

(437)

Olympics

This week the Winter Olympics is taking place in Russia. The Olympics is really fun to watch because you get to watch some of the best athletes in the world compete.  I personally prefer watching the Summer Olympics over the Winter Olympics but I still may catch a few of the winter events if I get the chance.

                I enjoy watching the Summer Olympics more than I like watching the Winter Olympics because there is running in the Summer Olympics and I am a runner. Watching all of the runners in the Summer Olympics helps to motivate me because they are so fast that even though I will probably never reach their speed I still want to try to get faster and be a better runner.

                It’s incredible to see how fast all of the runners are. It is really fun to watch the sprinting events because the runners are really close to the same speed and it’s a completion all the way to the end. Watching longer events can get kind of boring but it’s still awesome to see the amazingly fast pace the marathon runners can run twenty six miles in. There pace is probably faster than the pace at which I run two and a half miles in. Swimming is also a fun event to watch because it is kind of structured like running, you have to go a certain distance but your swimming instead and there is also a lot of close competition too.

                In the Winter Olympics I enjoy watching figure skating because they have fun routines and are very graceful.  I also sometimes like to watch the speed skating and the different skiing events because I am just at awe with what they are able to do. I can hardly ski or skate without falling a lot so for an athlete to be able to do it really fast is amazing to me.

                I enjoy watching the Olympics because it is a chance to be able to see the best athletes from all over the world compete and it just amazes me at all the skills they have but I prefer the Summer Olympics over the Winter Olympics because the Summer Olympics has running. (370)

Track Events

What is the most difficult race in track to run? After giving this much thought, I have finally concluded that the most difficult race you may run in track, in my opinion is the 400 hurdles. All of the track events can be very challenging and the difficultly of an event can also depend on the runner. A long distance runner may find the most difficult race to be a 100 because they just aren’t built or used to running at the speed that it takes to participate in the event. A sprinter would find it completely impossible to even finish seven and a half laps around the track because they don’t have the endurance.

                A 400 meter run is an event that is kind of between long distance runners and sprinters. I have teammates on my team that practice with the long distance runners but also run 400s and people who practice with the sprinters and also will run 400s. Because a 400 meter race falls in about the middle length wise with all the other races, sprinters and long distance members on my team run it and I think it also makes it difficult event to run.

                To run a four hundred meter event you not only need endurance but you also need speed. A one hundred meter event really only acquires speed because you are running a very short distance but when you increases that distance it acquires more endurance to be successful. In fifteen hundreds and in the three thousand you are able pace yourself more but in a four hundred you may be able to pace yourself a little bit but not as well because you still need to be at a speed that is close to your full speed or you will fall behind.

Just running four hundred meters is already difficult because you need to have good endurance and speed but then when you add hurdles to it, it becomes much more difficult. Now you also need to have agility to be able to get over the hurdles. You also want to make sure you are counting your steps between each hurdle so you aren’t stutter stepping and wasting time.

                All the track events are going to be difficult in some sense especially depending on the person. You need to have a lot of endurance to run a three thousand meter race but you need a lot of speed to run a one hundred meter event. Because a four hundred meter hurdle event takes speed, endurance and agility I think it is the hardest track event to run. (435)

Signing

Yesterday was the signing day for most sports teams, including cross country and track. Signing day can be a very big deal for athletes who are able to get a scholarship to a school to participate as an athlete in one of the sports at a certain college.

            Due to cold weather and bad road conditions because of snow, the signing that was supposed to take place at my school yesterday had to be postponed until today. Some athletes, especially those who are signing to play football at a school, still signed yesterday but many athletes like those in track and in cross country still have to sign today.

            I am not signing because I am still a junior and am also not fast enough to go and run for a college but my older sister will be signing today. She is getting a scholarship to go and run cross country and track at University of Nebraska Omaha and she is very excited to sign today. My school also has a few basketball and soccer athletes who will be signing as well as someone who will be signing for track and field. At the signing different athletes will sign to the school of their choosing and members of their family and friends will be there supporting them. At the signing the coaches and athletes will also say a few words and everyone will eat cake.

            Signing can be a very big deal because while most athletes are already committed to go to a certain school, signing the paper makes the deal more official. I will be attending my sisters signing as well as my parents. It is exciting because my sister loves to run and really enjoys cross country and now she is able to continue running cross country with a scholarship that is for University of Nebraska Omaha.

            I was also excited for signing day because I got to see all of the athletes that signed to play football for my favorite college team, Iowa State. Iowa State signed a very good receiver, Lazard form Urbandale, Iowa and I am excited to see how well he plays for the Iowa State Football team next year.

            Getting to sign for a school is a big deal because athletes are able to get a scholarship to continue the sport they enjoy participating in when they are in college. Signing can also be a big deal for the coaches at the colleges because they get to welcome new athletes to their team.

(420)

                       

 

Eating Before Running

                Before going on a run, you have to decide if you should eat before you run or not.  You should eat before you go on a run but you should eat about thirty minutes before you run not five seconds before you run.

                I have to admit that I have literally eaten right before I have gone on a run. If I haven’t eaten in a while and then I decide to go on a run, I normally get very hungry when I am running.  But if I eat right when I am going to run it can give me a stomach ache. In the summer, a lot of times I would walk outside to start my run and I would have food in my hand that I am eating and its normally not very healthy food so it doesn’t always agree with me when I run.

                According to Runners Magazine, if you don’t eat before you run, your body will attack your muscles not your fat and so to help prevent that you should eat before you run. This especially applies to longer distance running, if you are just running under thirty minutes it shouldn’t affect your muscles as much.  If you are running less than thirty minutes then you probably don’t really need to eat before you run though eating before you run may help prevent you from becoming hungry during your run.

                If you do decide to eat before you run, you should try to eat healthier foods. You don’t want to eat candy and junk food before you run because that could make you feel sick. You should eat foods that will help fuel you when you are running like apples, bananas and granola bars.

                Eating before you run will help fuel you when you are running and help prevent you from feeling hungry before you run.  But if you eat unhealthy foods before you run or you eat a few minutes before running it could make you feel sick during your run so you should eat healthier foods about thirty minutes or so before you start your run.  (353)

                                                           

Goals

           When you have just completed a season of running whether it be track or cross country you normally set new goals in preparation for your next season. When you are a freshman and you finish your first season, you are normally not too worried about how well you preformed in that season because you still have three years left to improve.

When I was a freshman I thought cross country practice was so hard the first few weeks that I looked up to the seniors in awe that they have been able to stick with cross country for four years and not give up. I was so amazed that anyone could somehow survive four years of the impossibly hard cross country practices and I didn’t think that I would be able to survive that long.

Now I am a junior and I finished my third season of cross country a few months ago and it has seemed to go by so fast. I can’t believe that I only have one season of cross country left. It makes me really sad to think that I am already three fourths of the way down with cross country and next year is my last season and after that I will never run high school cross country again. I had so many goals for cross country that I haven’t even accomplished yet and so I want to work hard and accomplish them during my last season.

 After my freshman year of cross country, I wanted to eventually run under sixteen minutes and make it to cross country state as a sophomore, at least as an alternate but I didn’t get to go to state cross country as an alternate until junior year and I still haven’t ran under sixteen minutes. I may have just set to high of goals to reach but it’s still disappointing knowing I haven’t achieved all my freshman year goals yet. I know there is still more I could have done in order to reach my goals and now I only have one year left.

           It is good to set goals and work hard to reach them, but you should make sure you are setting challenging but accomplishable goals. High school also goes by really fast so you need to make sure you are working really hard each year because before you know it, it will be your last season.
(400)

Winter and Track

Track season starts in the middle of February so the weather is normally still cold and there is sometimes still snow on the ground. Having cold and snowy weather can ruin the start of your track season. This year we have had a really cold winter and so we will probably have a very slow start to track season because track starts on February 17^th which is less than three weeks away so I don’t think the cold, snowy weather will be clearing up any time soon.

When the weather is cold and snowy at the beginning of the season it doesn’t affect the teams who can practice on indoor tracks but for the teams who don’t have that opportunity it can make running very difficult. My track team does not have the opportunity to run on an indoor track so when there is snow on the ground we normally run in the schools parking lot because the snow is normally shoveled in the parking lot and it isn’t shoveled on our track and when it is too cold to go outside my team is forced to have track practice inside.

There are not very many places to run inside a school except for the gym. My school has two gyms one of the gyms is much smaller than the other. Because we are the girls track team and normally have less team members than the boys track team, the girls track team is normally forced to squeeze into the small gym while the boys get to use the big gym. The small space in the gym makes it very difficult to accomplish any quality running.

Winter weather at the beginning of the season makes practice very difficult, especially for the long distance runners because we are forced to run in the small gym or in the parking lot and it is harder to accomplish more things at practice if you don’t have the appropriate places to run. Because it is more difficult to practice for track in the winter it makes for a slow start to the season and it takes longer for the track athletes to get in shape.

The winter weather doesn’t only affect track practices, it also affects track meets. When it is snowing and cold, a lot of track meets will be cancelled because they are outdoors and it is hard to make up the track meets because once it is warm you already have a lot of track meets in your schedule. When a lot of your meets are cancelled early in the season it is also harder to qualify for drake relays because there aren’t many meets that you can participate in to try to run a good time and if you do have an opportunity to qualify for drake it will be harder to qualify because you aren’t in shape form the slow start to your season from practicing indoors while the teams that have had the opportunity to run on an indoor track are in better shape than those who don’t have that opportunity like my track team. I hope that the weather warms up soon so we don’t have to have a slow start to our track season and get to run all of our meets.

(546)