This weekend was my first indoor meet of the season and it was held at Kent State University. I woke up at 5:15 AM to get ready and finish packing before I walked over to the cafeteria for mandatory breakfast at 6 AM. Once I ate my two bowls of cereal for breakfast, I headed to the bus to load up. Our bus was a little late and our coach wasn't too happy about that. I think the bus driver drove extra fast because we got to the meet in about two hours and it should of taken about two and a half hours. Once we got to the meet, we set our stuff down, and being a typical girl, headed to the bathroom! And I think this is the one downfall of the facility. They only had three stalls in the girls bathroom so there was always a fifteen minute wait to use the facilities!!!
We got back to our team area to be reunited with our coach from last year, Coach Tom! It was nice to catch up and see what he has been up to. He is now a jumping coach at Notre Dame College and says he likes it, but nothing compares to us :) Once me and my teammates were done talking to him, we layed down and just hung out for a little bit. We had until 2:50 to run so we just relaxed.
So after realizing that the meet wasn't moving along as fast as they would have hoped..we sat around some more. Eventually some of my family showed up and a couple friends of mine! My mom was there, along with my brother Taylor and his girlfriend Sarah. My grandparents came and my godfather also showed up. I thought that was it for my "fan club" but shortly after I talked to my family, I was tapped on the shoulder by Brian Musick and Jeff Musick! Sadly, Brian had to leave because he had more important things to do.. But Jeff ended up leaving and then coming back!
Anyway, by the time we raced it was five oclock and I just wanted to be done and go home. I was tired and hungry and just wanted to sleep in my own bed. I was very nervous standing at the line waiting for the gun to go off. I was trying to run under twelve minutes and my coach was pacing me. We were supposed to run consistent 95s for the 400s but that didn't happen..We started out at 92s for the first three laps and I was getting worried. I ended up dropping back from my coach a little and my 400s slowed. I was eventually at 100 seconds for one of my 400s. With a few laps to go, I started catching people and picking up the pace again. With 200 meters to go, my coach yelled to me that I was at 11:12 and I would really need to pick up the pace to break 12. I came down the last stretch hoping I would do it.. And I did!!!!! I ran an 11:57 and I was so happy because it was a 27 second pr from last year! And I did it in my first meet of the season! So after I exchanged sweaty hugs with my family, I went out to do a cool down with my teammates and coach. After I got back, me and my friend left to go home with my mom so I could spend a relaxing weekend at home before classes start :)
Tuesday, January 20, 2009
Monday, January 12, 2009
Steps, Steps, and More Steps!
On the last post, I was describing the Seton Hill Drive workout I was supposed to do at 4 oclock that day for practice. A few hours before practice, the weather was not looking promising. Altought we didn't get the eight inches of snow that my hometown got, we did get the freezing rain. The freezing rain raised my hopes that the Seton Hill Drive workout wasn't going to happen. It wouldn't have been too bad coming up the hill, but having to go down the hill would have been treacherous. So there was a rumor that if the weather didn't cooperate, we would be doing stairs. So before heading over to practice, I packed a pair of shorts, just in case!
When I arrived, I was talking to some of my teammates about how the sidewalks were very slick and I lost my balance a few times of the way over. They were very hopeful that this workout wasn't happening. Then, the coaches showed up, giving us a choice. We could attempt the hill workout, or settle for doing steps in the Administration building. While we contemplated the choices, our coach said that we would get a better workout with the steps instead of doing hills. Before deciding, I asked how many sets of stairs we would have to do. He informed me that we would have to double the number of hills we would have done, so that meant 14 sets of stairs. To explain the stairs, the sets would consist of us running up from the first floor, to the fifth floor. This also consists of about 12 flights of steps, give or take a few. This would be tough. I am usually tired walking up the stairs from second floor to the fourth floor. Eventually we decided that steps would be our fate. And we were off to get changed, warm up, and start the step workout.
While we were stretching after our warmup, our graduate assistant Hanna told us that we would alternate the way in which we would go up the stairs. Every other set would alternate between stepping on each step, and then skipping a step. As we got started, it didn't seem too bad. I was used to doing step workouts in high school so I think this helped. I also soon realized that I had an advantage with my long legs when we skipped a step and soon I was leading this workout. We stopped halfway through to get a quick drink and then we started up again. For our recovery, the girls chose to run down the other set of stairs, while the boys took the elevator(which was oddly the assistant coach's idea). When we finally ended the workout, our legs were shaky and we were out of breath. But it was a tough workout and ALOT better than the hill workout. Unfortunately, a little after we finished, me and my teammates could already feel the soreness setting in, which would last for a few days I would soon find out!
When I arrived, I was talking to some of my teammates about how the sidewalks were very slick and I lost my balance a few times of the way over. They were very hopeful that this workout wasn't happening. Then, the coaches showed up, giving us a choice. We could attempt the hill workout, or settle for doing steps in the Administration building. While we contemplated the choices, our coach said that we would get a better workout with the steps instead of doing hills. Before deciding, I asked how many sets of stairs we would have to do. He informed me that we would have to double the number of hills we would have done, so that meant 14 sets of stairs. To explain the stairs, the sets would consist of us running up from the first floor, to the fifth floor. This also consists of about 12 flights of steps, give or take a few. This would be tough. I am usually tired walking up the stairs from second floor to the fourth floor. Eventually we decided that steps would be our fate. And we were off to get changed, warm up, and start the step workout.
While we were stretching after our warmup, our graduate assistant Hanna told us that we would alternate the way in which we would go up the stairs. Every other set would alternate between stepping on each step, and then skipping a step. As we got started, it didn't seem too bad. I was used to doing step workouts in high school so I think this helped. I also soon realized that I had an advantage with my long legs when we skipped a step and soon I was leading this workout. We stopped halfway through to get a quick drink and then we started up again. For our recovery, the girls chose to run down the other set of stairs, while the boys took the elevator(which was oddly the assistant coach's idea). When we finally ended the workout, our legs were shaky and we were out of breath. But it was a tough workout and ALOT better than the hill workout. Unfortunately, a little after we finished, me and my teammates could already feel the soreness setting in, which would last for a few days I would soon find out!
Saturday, January 10, 2009
Seton Hill Drive!
This is my first time blogging so we will see how this goes. For those of you who don't know, I run for Seton Hill University. I am a sophomore here. Today, at four oclock, I will be starting a workout that will probably have me laying on the couch for a while later tonight. For those of you who don't know what Seton Hill Drive is, it's a menacing 800 meter hill that I don't think anyone can be prepared for. It leads up to Seton Hill University, which is obviously where I go to school. The time makes a turn 3 times while still going up and up. We start at the marquee and the bottom and end at the statue at the top. Our coachs like to think that the Seton Hill Drive workout is such a good idea, but to us runners, it's a killer. Usually, during cross season, we do a maximum of five hills. (Our recovery is jogging back down the hill) But today, freezing rain making not mattering, we have 7 hills to do. Me and my teammates have been dreading this workout since we arrived at track camp. I guess we will see how it goes. I will be so happy when it's all over. I'll let you all know how it goes later!
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