Today I am leaving to go to the Drake Relays. The Drake Relays are a world renowned track competition, and I am running in the 100th year anniversary. I am also running in an event that is in its first year at Drake, the shuttle hurdle relay. This is completely awe inspiring.
This shuttle hurdle relay is a very new event in Iowa. Its first year in the state was only 3 years ago, when I was a freshman. It is obvious that it is brand new because whenever I tell someone that I run it, they always look at me with an odd look, and ask what I’m talking about. Everybody knows the 4x100, the 4x400, and the distance medley, but nobody knows the shuttle hurdle. So let me explain to you, like I explain to everybody else, what the shuttle hurdle relay is.
The relay team consists of four runners, just like every other relay, but instead of using the whole track to run, all we need is the front stretch. Each team has two lanes, with hurdles facing opposite ways in each. The first and third runners start at the finish line and come straight at the second and fourth runners. When the runner coming at you goes over the last hurdle, you have to be set in your blocks and cannot be moving. Then, when that runner hits the break line, the next runner can go. The total race is 440 meters, with each runner running 110 meters and jumping over 10 hurdles.
So that is the shuttle hurdle relay, running back and forth on the front straight. Right now, my shuttle hurdle team is seeded third. Let me rephrase that: we have the third fastest time out of any school in the state right now. Drake is not like state where you run against teams in your class; Drake is everybody has an equal shot and the top times qualify, no matter how big your school is. Our goal is to run a faster time then what we have now. There is nothing else we can do if we improve, so we have to let the cards fall where they may. The ultimate goal is to get past the prelims and be in the top 8 (there are only 16 teams and 8 go to finals), then in the finals run a sub 59 second time and hope for the best. I have never been to Drake, but I am told that this is a very fast track (meaning you feel faster on this track compared to normal) and our time should drop and we should at least place at the Drake Relays.
Showing posts with label track. Show all posts
Showing posts with label track. Show all posts
Thursday, April 23, 2009
Thursday, March 12, 2009
Track
Track started for me yesterday. I have already posted about how absurdly early the track season starts, but now it seems like track season. It feels like we should be running outside, enjoying the nice warm weather and bright sunny days. But no, my first day of track practice was held in the gym, because it was too cold.
When I think of track, I think of running in shorts and a tee shirt around a track that is nice and warm. I don’t think of myself needing to wear tights and sweatpants and four long sleeve shirts just to begin to feel warm. I don’t think of running on a track that is covered in ice, and I don’t think of running by the still snow covered ground. This whole weather thing put a damper on my outlook of track.
But since I am running now, I am yearning for spring to fully arrive. I can’t wait until its 65 degrees and sunny on a regular basis only interrupted by a little rain. Rain in March I can deal with, but snow and ice is a different story. These long Iowa winters start to take their toll when it comes to decent weather.
I like running track. I know that may sound odd to some people, why would you want to just run? How could running be fun? But to be honest, I really don’t run all that much in track. I am a high jumper and hurdler. This means that the farthest I have to run at any meet is 110 meters plus whatever the approach to the high jump is. So I don’t go out and run, I go out and have fun because I’m around all these people who are running while I don’t really have to. If I said this to my coach though, that would not be pretty, but it is the truth. I like track because it is not as demanding as football or basketball, but I have fun nonetheless. I don’t have to spend three hours every night practicing and track practices are laid back and not very intense. So overall, I have to work hard at track, but I don’t have to devote my whole life into it like I do for football and basketball.
When I think of track, I think of running in shorts and a tee shirt around a track that is nice and warm. I don’t think of myself needing to wear tights and sweatpants and four long sleeve shirts just to begin to feel warm. I don’t think of running on a track that is covered in ice, and I don’t think of running by the still snow covered ground. This whole weather thing put a damper on my outlook of track.
But since I am running now, I am yearning for spring to fully arrive. I can’t wait until its 65 degrees and sunny on a regular basis only interrupted by a little rain. Rain in March I can deal with, but snow and ice is a different story. These long Iowa winters start to take their toll when it comes to decent weather.
I like running track. I know that may sound odd to some people, why would you want to just run? How could running be fun? But to be honest, I really don’t run all that much in track. I am a high jumper and hurdler. This means that the farthest I have to run at any meet is 110 meters plus whatever the approach to the high jump is. So I don’t go out and run, I go out and have fun because I’m around all these people who are running while I don’t really have to. If I said this to my coach though, that would not be pretty, but it is the truth. I like track because it is not as demanding as football or basketball, but I have fun nonetheless. I don’t have to spend three hours every night practicing and track practices are laid back and not very intense. So overall, I have to work hard at track, but I don’t have to devote my whole life into it like I do for football and basketball.
Thursday, February 12, 2009
Track Already
Track starts Monday, February 16th. Wow. That is my first reaction. If we had not have had consecutive days of unusually warm weather at the beginning of the month, there would still be a foot of snow on the ground. The last time I checked, it’s hard to run in the snow. But nonetheless, practice starts Monday.
I will not be attending this first practice, or the first couple of weeks of practice for that matter. This is because basketball is still going on. The state tournament for basketball gets over in mid-March, by then there have already been a couple of indoor track meets. I don’t like how sports overlap like this. Give me a week off at least before I have to commit to the everyday running of track. This same problem occurred during the fall. Football goes into November if a team makes it to the playoffs, but basketball practice starts in mid-November as well. I think that if my football team would have made it to the state semifinals and lost, I would have had the weekend off before basketball started. If we would have made it to the championship, I think I would have missed some basketball.
This is wrong. Sports have their own season and should not drag on, or start up early. Track is a spring sport, the last time I checked, February in Iowa is the farthest away from spring you can get. Also, overlapping of sports gives the athletes no breaks. Coaches are always saying how you need to be in good condition and how you need to be well rested and ready to go. But when I have no break between sports, I never get the chance to rest. It’s always full go. It’s everyday, with no exceptions. I don’t like how coaches expect players to instantly switch from one sport to the next. I feel that it takes at least a week for me to transition out of one sport, and into another. But I know that if I want to make it to state in track, I won’t be able to take a week off, I will have to start right away, just like always.
I will not be attending this first practice, or the first couple of weeks of practice for that matter. This is because basketball is still going on. The state tournament for basketball gets over in mid-March, by then there have already been a couple of indoor track meets. I don’t like how sports overlap like this. Give me a week off at least before I have to commit to the everyday running of track. This same problem occurred during the fall. Football goes into November if a team makes it to the playoffs, but basketball practice starts in mid-November as well. I think that if my football team would have made it to the state semifinals and lost, I would have had the weekend off before basketball started. If we would have made it to the championship, I think I would have missed some basketball.
This is wrong. Sports have their own season and should not drag on, or start up early. Track is a spring sport, the last time I checked, February in Iowa is the farthest away from spring you can get. Also, overlapping of sports gives the athletes no breaks. Coaches are always saying how you need to be in good condition and how you need to be well rested and ready to go. But when I have no break between sports, I never get the chance to rest. It’s always full go. It’s everyday, with no exceptions. I don’t like how coaches expect players to instantly switch from one sport to the next. I feel that it takes at least a week for me to transition out of one sport, and into another. But I know that if I want to make it to state in track, I won’t be able to take a week off, I will have to start right away, just like always.
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