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)