Are you in great shape or peaking to early?

With the beginning of march, comes the start of a new track season. This brings excitement and anxiety to most competitive runners because its time to test how well your winter training went. For some its a kick in the butt to realize how out of shape you really are and for others to realize that you are in perfect fitness.

Now the question that runners ask is are you really in great shape for the start of a new season or are you just "peaking" at a time where no one wants to peak.

Its one of the hardest tasks for a runner to time your training just right where the highest level of fitness you reach is at the end of the season where you would wish to hit your best mark. The fear is going into the beginning of march and hitting a great PR that you cannot reach later in championship races. Every runner hates looking at the results of championship races and noticing the winning times are the same as your times that were run back in march.

So my advice is not to stress and overwork at the beginning of the season. I am certainly not saying it is bad to run fast in the beginning of march, but I'm saying to run and train how one wise old runner (my dad and running mentor) used to tell me, be "relaxed but fast".

Signing Your Life Away

       Its the month of february, which means for runners in there high school senior campaign its time to sign with the college they wish to compete for in the incoming fall. A huge pressure for a high school runner who wants to make sure their future is set with the right school. Not to mention all the pressure from the colleges who want them and the high school running fans urging them to attend a certain college. Some runners on the other hand, face the pressure of receiving an offer in the first place.

What I want to know is what makes a runner eligible to be recruited, and what standards do colleges need in order to persuade an athlete to sign with their institution. Their are many cases where running fans question why one of the top high school runners did not decide to go to an elite running university, or why an elite running university decided to make an offer to an athlete with average best marks. Personally it drives me crazy, but every high school kid has his or her reasons for attending a specific university. It could have been that they like the academics, location, school atmosphere, etc. As well does every university have there reasons for choosing a recruit. Just because you are not the best in the state or in your division, does not necessarily mean you are not eligible to be recruited. It is my belief that there is no real standard that makes a runner eligible to be recruited to a university, if a coach notices something they like about you then they are going to want to recruit you for whatever reason. It could have been because you hit a mark, or won a race in a certain mannor, or felt that you were a coachable athlete that they can mold into something great. The number one thing for athletes to remember before they "sign there lives away" to a university is to choose based off there own opinions and not fall into any pressures. There is no standards that makes a college the right one to go to except for your own.

     

I say running S.U.C.K.S.

       Yes, I am a runner and I say running S.U.C.K.S. Although, ironically most other runners would agree that running sucks. The act of running is not always what draws a runners love affair for the sport, I personally enjoy what you get out of running, the emotions, the life long lessons and learning. Most of us do not enjoy the pain and agony of the sport but what it does for us. For some it can be a life changing effect, others it is part of there personality who they are and what they represent. Every runner has there reason for running, even if they say its because they enjoy pain, my belief is that they enjoy the value of pain, not necessarily the literal pain they feel while in the act. So when I say running sucks, your right to believe that it is dreaded by most, even myself at times.
       So in the event of running being so excruciating, I have attempted to make an acronym for why you cant help but fall in love with it. Running is S = SELF-SATISFACTION, U = UNDERSTANDING, C = CONFIDENCE, K = KEY, and is S = SACRED.
       Running is self - satisfaction, for the fact that in our sport you set your own goals and receive a self satisfying feeling of achieving them, goals as simple as finishing a race bring self satisfaction to a runner. Running is understanding, because it gives you a new understanding of "an absurd past time called life"(from the movie without limits). Running is confidence, whether it helps you build to it or add to it. Running gives you confidence that anything is possible, whether its because you accomplished a goal through running or because you witnessed something amazing. Running is key, and what I mean by this is that it can be your key to succes, your key to a better life, your key to new doors you've never seen before. And last but not least running is sacred, it gives you things that no one else has experienced except  possibly other runners. It is sacred because the millions who run have a unique experience as to what running means to them. Every person in the world is different, which means every runner in the world is also different.
       Its safe to say I love running because it S.U.C.K.S.