Off Season Training Sessions

Several of the girls on my team have recently been getting together a few times a week to work on some tactical stuff and conditioning for the upcoming track season. While I often have to work and miss out on some of the trainings, It has certainly helped me get in the gear for track and feel excited and more prepared for this year! My freshman year I did not do nearly enough training for the track season, and it seemed to sneak up on me very fast, so it was certainly a brutal awakening to get back in the swing of things. This year though, I feel like I maintained the fitness and endurance I had built up during the cross country season a little bit more than previous years and have been working to keep it up, though it of course faltered slightly.

I think these short training sessions have helped me to get in the mood for track and to feel more ready and in shape this year. The sessions are also a great way to reconnect with some of the teammates whom you may not have seen for a few months! Your teammates are most likely some of your best friends, and you certainly have to learn how to trust and depend on them when the time comes to compete and give it your all, especially in the case of a relay. That is why these sessions are such a great idea, because they not only provide an opportunity to get reintroduced with your teammates before the season, but it also gives a way for those on your team to more easily make sure they are pulling their weight during the off season so that they can be the best athletes they can when it comes time for the season. It comes down to the  buddy system, when someone on our team knows that there are others out their putting in work, they will feel more obliged to tag along and get in a good workout. It also goes both ways, and you may be more likely to exercise if you know that you can do it with a bunch of your friends, I certainly know that that it the case for me.