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)