The State Cross Country Meet

The State cross country meet is truly an experience to remember. I have only been able to run at state my freshman year, but I still remember it vividly.

The drive up was full of anticipation, excitement, and if I am being honest, a lot of dread and pressure. My team and I rode up in two white vans and sat pretty quietly the whole way, listening to the subtly music that our coach was playing. No one wanted to say much of anything, and we were all pretty tiered, because it was only about 6:00am on a Saturday. When we arrived at the course, I was surprised by how many people I saw roaming about and all of the excitement. We arrived early and started walking a little ways around the course before picking up the pace to a jog about an hour before the race began so that we could warm up a little. I remember that we passed a team carrying a boom box as the walked and blaring classical rock from the speakers and singing along. I remembered that I could not relax enough to dance along like they were, but I did mumble the words a little and nod my head as were continued past them. As we finished our warm up our coach came over and gave us a description of the course, though we were pretty sure we already knew it. We talked for a while as we stretched and tried to keep relaxed, which I remember was a very hard thing for me to do freshman year. The announcer came through on the speakers and proclaimed that there was only 20 minutes before the race would begin! I drank some water, put on my spikes, and headed to the starting line to do some strides with my team, but I was filled with nerves as I looked around at the hundreds of competitors and people watching me. Soon after, I stepped to the line, heard the sharp intake of breath from 200 girls, and then the crack of the starting gun. My heart was pounding and I made my way through the race with the help of adrenaline and a few parents and teammates who came to watch shouting my name. In the end the state meet was not my best race ever, nor did my team finish very well, but it was still an honor and a great experience to have run against people much better than me and see how I could do against the best in the state all together in one race. 

Running Buddy

"I am going to get up at 7:00 am on a Sunday and go run 7 miles!" "I am going to do some 400 intervals on the track tonight." "I am going to hit the trail for a nice run around the lake." These all sound like nice testaments when you are getting ready to go to bed and planning out your schedule for the following day, and at the time you really do plan on doing that workout. But if you are anything like me at all, you get up and put on your running shoes, maybe you even eat a banana and tighten the strap on your watch, but then it hits you. The fact that you are about ready to go for a run, and it is going to be boring, because all you have to listen to for the next hour is the soles of your shoes hitting the pavement and the quickening pace of your breath. Or maybe you don't think that it will be boring and you enjoy the peace and quite of running by yourself, but then you realize that you have so much other stuff to do and don't have as much time as you thought to get a run in, or maybe you are just SOO comfortable in bed and don't want to get up quit yet, but whatever it is, people always seem to be much less motivated when they have to run by themselves. That is why finding a running buddy can be very beneficial. Creating plans with someone will make you much less likely to back out at the last minute if you know that someone else is depending on you to show up at the track the next morning. In addition, when two people run together they can help push each other to keep going and finish the workout, improving the training and fitness of both parties. So if you are ever struggling to follow through with your running plans or need something to help you improve your pace, consider asking a coworker or peer to try going on a jog with you sometime and see how your guys's paces match up. Running is also a great way to become closer to people, because when all you have to do is talk to the person next to you for the entirety of a run, and you run together multiple times a week, you get to know each other pretty well! 

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The PR High

 Racing at a competitive level is a very mentally and physically taxing activity, and so people, and often runners ourselves, wonder why we race/run the way we do. But it is true what they say, the endorphin given off seem to give you a "runner's high", and though we often get frustrated and tiered during the workout, the feeling and pride of completing a hard and effective workout is all worth it in the end, well... most of the time. For my teammates and I, and I am assuming many other runners around the world, finishing a good workout that we know will help us in our training or with our health and fitness gives us the feeling of  accomplishment and happiness. My teammates and I always count down the reps out loud during an interval workout or the miles in a long run because we know that we can all celebrate that one step closer to the end of a great workout. We always feel pretty good afterword (even if we simultaneously feel like it wouldn't be so horrible if we just dropped to the ground and didn't move for a few days because of the fatigue).

While the runner's high feels pretty good on a normal day at practice, there is honestly nothing that can beat the feeling of getting a personal record for a  race. For cross country, when you have been pushing your body to the limit for the last 18-25+ minutes of a 5k and you finally cross the finish line to see that you have finally broken 22 minutes, or finally beaten your record from the questionably-short meet last year, it feels awesome to say the least. It is often hard to feel the motivation during the race to push forth and give it all you've got in the last mile of a race, but if you can just think forward to the promise of a PR (personal record) you might, just maybe, find the motivation deep in you to give it just 2% more. Because honestly, nobody puts their body through that much stress and pain for fun. Nobody. And I hate to say this for the fear of making runners everywhere seem vain, but when we sprint across the finish line, or at least whatever a "sprint" is for us after racing the last few miles, we do it for the glory and the feeling of self worth and success that comes with finishing a strong race for ourselves, whether we are in the back of the pack or leading the race.

The Importance of Hydration

I know you have all heard it a thousand and one times, but allow me to tell it to you again so you can hear it for your 1,002nd time.... Drink water! I know, I know, i just had to say it. But what they say is true, water is important. Anyone who has taken a basic biology class knows about how water is an important component in the process that helps cool and regulate body temperatures as it evaporates off of skin( aka sweating), and that the average human body is made up of about 70% water, but I am not here to tell you about all that, I am here to offer a few tips. Any one who has tried to drink the recommended H20 amount for the day, about 8 glasses, knows that it is not necessarily the easiest task. So how do people go about obtaining the substantial amount of fluids that is so vital to the health of everyone, but especially runners? Well I am not sure if there is exactly a science to the art of hydration yet, or at least I am not aware or it, but I will let you in on what I do.

Tip number one, ALWAYS carry a water bottle with you. If you constantly have easy access to water, than you are more likely to drink it when you see it mocking you from the corner of your desk.

Tip number two, try to get a water bottle with a straw. Now to be honest I am not totally sure why this works, but drinking from a straw seems to make it easier to get more out in less time, and makes you subconsciously drink more fluids.

Tip number three, if you are anything like me, water is 10 times more appealing when it is cold, so try to keep it that way and add a few ice cubes in the morning. Hopefully it will make you want to drink more.

Tip number four, if you are truly disgusted by the taste, or lack-there-of, of water, than feel free to add a packet of crystal light or some Mio to add some flavor.

Tip number five, try to drink two water bottles by the time you get out of school or off work. This makes it so that you have already drunk around 48oz of water and don't have to try and chug the whole recommended 64+ ounces of water before you go to bed. Not only does that put you in danger of diluting your blood too much, it will also make you have to go to the bathroom in the middle of the night... like five times, and trust me... i would know.

How to take the first step

In my last blog, I talked about how the first step to becoming a beginning runner is to quite literally take the first step! But how long or fast should the "first step" be you ask? Well that frankly depends on the fitness level you are curently at. For someone that is fairly active and does a good deal of moderate exercise throughout the week, such as playing in a volleyball league, walking around the park, or lifting weights at the gym, you could probably start at a higher level than those who do not do quite as much moving throughout the day. If you are one who considers yourself to be a regularly more active person, you could probably start your training program by picking an amount of time that you feel you can comfortably run at before needing a 1-3 minute walking break. I would suggest starting at 10 minutes of jogging at a comfortable pace and seeing how that goes on your first time out. From there you can try and do one or two more intervals of 10 minutes depending on how you are feeling, you can adjust your pace as well. If you need to slow down on your second interval to a near walk, shorten it down to 5 minutes, or simply need to end your workout at one interval that is completely fine and even recommended. Do not over do it! Your muscles and circulatory system will need to get used to the running so do not get frustrated if the process is taking longer than you thought it would.

For those of you who consider yourselves to be more on the less active side, I would suggest you still try to go about your first few runs as intervals, but just decrease the time period of running to a more manageable amount. If that means it is only one minute of running and one minute of walking for three repeats, that is ok! We all start somewhere! Just try your best and do what you can do without straining your body too harshly. Just keep in mind that no matter what level you are beginning at it is important to have your rest days in the program as well, and you should not always just increase the mileage you run each day. I suggest a two day increase and one day rest pattern. For instance, let’s say I ran three 10 minute repeats with two minutes of walking in between on Monday, and on Tuesday I ran three 13 minute repeats with two minutes in between, on Wednesday I would maybe run two 10 minute repeats with 2 minutes of walking, or I would just run for 15 minutes. Just remember that the goal is to lower the breaks and increase the distance, but remember to stay comfortable and healthy!

Anyone Can Run

It seems like almost every day I get into a conversation with someone about extracurricular activities, whether they are a peer of mine at my school or an adult whom I have managed to get myself stuck in one of those semi-awkward conversations with, such as parents or teachers at the grocery store. My peers will usually say that they do volleyball, show choir, or play the clarinet, but when I tell them that I run, half of the people whom I am talking to respond something along the lines of, "Wow, that's cool! I could never run!" or "Man, I can't even run to the end of the block!" Well I am here today to assure you that anyone can run (that is of course aside from people with health issues that prevent them from participating in such rigorous physical activity). But people always make it seem as if they could never in their lives run a mile without a break, and I am not saying this to demean the intensity, strength and physicality that it takes to be a competitive runner, I am simply stating that anyone who wishes could train to become a runner for fun. And the first step in becoming a beginning runner is… (Drum roll please) to run! Now I am not saying that it would be beneficial to go out on your first try and attempt to run 10 miles, nor would it be beneficial to just fast walk down your street every day for a month and hope to magically become a runner someday without putting in the work, but I am saying that in order to be a runner, you’ve got to run. While this seems like an overly simple and obvious statement, there are a lot of people who hope to become a better runner by only doing cross fit or eating heather. Those are important aspects in living the runner’s lifestyle, but they are not all it takes to achieving your goals. So whether you decide that you are interested in pursuing running as a healthy hobby, or you hope to run competitively someday, everyone has to start at the same place. But trust me, the more you run, the easier it gets.  In my next blog I will talk about more specifics involved with actually starting the process of becoming a beginning runner, because ANYONE can do it if they set their mind to it!