It Runs in the Family

One time after state my coach asked me if my mom was a runner or if my dad was. This got me wondering if running does run in the family. I never really thought it did, but it would make sense. I know of at least 6 people either on the cross country team or are alumni of our cross country team who have siblings that have also run on the team.

My sisters also run, but (not to be mean) they are not as good as me and I do not think they like running nearly as much as me. My dad was also a runner, but he was a sprinter. So where do my running skills come from? I think running might run in the family, but it I don’t think genetics is what makes people good at running. I think determination plays a bigger part in making someone good at running.

Shoes

Shoes are a very important part of running. It is extremely important to find the perfect shoes for your feet, because they have such a huge impact on how you run. If you don’t have good shoes that fit right there’s a good chance you will face injury at some point in time, because your shoes don’t fit you right.

The best way to get a good pair of shoes is to go to a local running store. Not Dick’s Sporting Goods or Scheels or NIKE, an actual running store, dedicated only to running. There they will watch you walk or look at the arcs of your feet or do something to make sure you buy shoes that are right for your feet and won’t make you get injured. I normally go to Running Wild. My assistant coach works there and they are normally really helpful.

Unfortunately, even if you go to a store that’s really helpful, shoe shopping is not always easy. Normally you have at least 3 different shoes that the workers say are good for your feet, and then you have to pick the one you like best. At Running Wild, they let you actually run down the sidewalk in the shoes, which is very helpful, but it’s still hard to find the perfect pair. You need shoes that fit right, last a while, and are comfortable.

Brands of shoes are all different. Some last longer than others, some are made to perfect your running form and some are more comfortable than others.  Saucony shoes last a long time, but from my experience with them, they’re not that comfortable.

(My current shoes)

 

My favorite shoes are Brook’s Ghost. I have had 4 pairs of Ghosts and I will probably continue to buy them. They are extremely comfortable and they fit really well, but they do not last very long. Considering I probably run somewhere around 900-1300 miles a year I end up having to buy about 3 pairs a year, which is really expensive. It’s almost impossible to get shoes for under a hundred dollars anymore, so 3 pairs of shoes is a lot of money. If you buy Saucony’s they will last for about 500 miles, so that would save some money, but I do not like those as much. I have also heard good things about Mizuno’s and Asics. I am not a huge fan of NIKE’s, but I know people who like them.

It is very important to buy good shoes and it is also very important to know when you need new shoes. My assistant coach always tells us to look at the bottom of your current shoes and if you can start to see a different color coming through the bottom of the sole of your shoe, then you need new ones. I can always tell when I need new shoes, because my knees start to hurt and I start to get a lot of blisters on my feet. In general, you should replace your shoes every 300-400 miles, but factors like weight and where you run also play a part in when you need your shoes replaced. I think the best way to know when you need new shoes is when your joints start to hurt or you start to feel pain, even when you are not doing harder workouts.

Shoes are a major part of running. Knowing what shoes are good and when they need to be replaced is something every runner needs to know.

6th Meet

Last Tuesday my cross country team had our 6^th win of the season! We remain undefeated! It’s extremely amazing to win a meet and it’s absolutely unbelievable to have won six meets in a row! I am still in shock by how good our team is this year.

This meet was in Iowa City at the same course we ran on in the second meet of the year. I ended up running 14:44, which was 25 seconds faster than when we ran there in the second meet.  I placed fourth and was the second runner for Kennedy. It was a good course and since our team runs together for most of the race we do pretty good. I think we also are running better, because of the training we did at the begining of the season.

This was one of my favorite courses for many reasons. Courses with long straight away’s (The first stretch of the race before you have to make the first turn), like Iowa City’s make the start of the race a lot easier. Having a long straight away allows for enough room for everyone to start the race without being trampled and in my opinion, also makes the beginning of the race feel shorter. The course also is one big long loop, instead of multiple loops around the same course. I also think that this makes the race seem a lot faster. One thing that is bad about this course it that it is in a hay field. If you have allergies and you’re running in a hay field make sure to bring allergy medicine, because for me, running always makes my allergies worse.   

There is no one in our team that is exceptionally good, but we have four people who are pretty decent and a fifth runner who is not too far from us. Because we have such a close team, we are able to accomplish a lot in meets. I think the most important thing on a cross country team is to have a close team. It not only makes cross country more fun, but it’s the reason our team is doing so well. If you can push yourself to run with the people in front of you, there is a good chance you will be more successful.

We have been training for our race by running intervals on Mondays. I can't even explain how much these intervals suck, but I think that they are a big part of why we're getting a lot faster. We run 4-5 1000-1200 meter intervals. They take forever to recover from, but I think they are really helping us. We never did them last year, and now that we are doing them this year we are all a lot faster.

Runners High

After the meet on Thursday, I experienced runners high more then I normally do. New York Times explains how endorphins are released after exercise, which gives you the feeling of runners high. I am not really sure how to explain this feeling, but it’s something I have experienced multiple times. I just get really happy and energetic and I experienced this to a greater degree on Thursday.

I think it might have been because I ran so well, but I didn’t even break my all-time PR so I am not really sure why I was so happy, but I just wanted to dance and sing and laugh. This could also be because for some reason I get a lot of energy at night (yes, I do spend countless nights having dance parties by myself, in which my sisters make fun of me).  

So I had all this energy and so did a lot of other people, and we had over an hour long bus ride. Let’s just say I am pretty sure that bus driver will not be driving around the Kennedy girls cross country team anymore, but it was sooooooo much fun and definitely the best bus ride I have been on.

After we got off the bus, several members from the team headed over to Parlor City to enjoy some ice cream (which is probably my favorite thing to eat). We had a lot of fun! One of the cross country boys asked me to go to homecoming, which reminds me I should probably go dress shopping soon since there’s only like 6 days until homecoming :/ and some of the boys also decided to play leap frog across the street and we ran out of songs to sing, so it was a very interesting night. One of the nights that remind me why I run.

The next morning a couple people told me that I was actually acting high though, but I guess that’s what I get for running so well ;)

I am soooooo glad I have such a fun team this year!

  I wonder if all runners experience a runners high like I do. I would assume it’s different for everyone, but since I can’t exactly explain the feeling that running gives me, it’s a little hard to compare to what other people feel.

5th Meet

My team had another great meet last Thursday! We won our fifth consecutive meet this year and we won another trophy for our almost full trophy case!

The meet was in Dubuque, at a course that in the past I didn’t particularly like. Last year it was freezing cold and rainy.

However this year I ended up getting my seasonal PR and I think most of the team did too. Almost everyone ran a lot faster than they have been so my coach thought that the course might have been a little short, but the whole course was measured out with signs, so it would surprise me if it was short.

I ended up running a time of 14:40 and I finished fourth. I was also the fourth runner for Kennedy, so clearly our whole team was doing well. We ended up with only 22 points (a perfect and nearly impossible score is 15)! Unfortunately, Linn-Mar did not run their varsity runners at the meet, so our only big competition was Iowa City High, which we ended up beating by close to 50 points. 

It really made me mad that Linn-Mar wasn’t there. I was really looking forward to getting to compete against them, but instead their team ended up running in Illinois and getting 2^nd place out of about 20 teams from Illinois.

I was also surprisingly really sad that two of our Kennedy runners beat the school record that I set last year. I knew that my record was going to get broke, I was just hoping that I would be the first to beat it and judging by what my mom said about how strong the first two Kennedy finishers, finished their race, I’m thinking I might not get to set the school record again this year. I think I am going to make it my goal, though to set the school record again, but it will be extremely hard since I am competing against three of my very competitive teammates who have the same goal in mind and are also working very hard to achieve it. As selfish as it sounds, sometimes I think it would be easier just to have a team that was not as good, so that I would just be the best runner and there would be less competition.

This was also the first time I was the fourth runner for the team, which I wasn’t too proud of either. Normally I can run with the other 3 teammates, who run close to the same time as me, for most of the race and then speed up around the 2 mile mark, but they sped up more at the end then I did.  I think this is partly due to my shin splints, but I think that they are also getting a lot better.

Overall this meet has its up and downs, but it was a pretty good meet and I am looking forward to our next meet on Tuesday.

Page 3B in the gazette

A couple of days ago my team and me were interviewed for the newspaper and this morning the newspaper article was published. http://iowaprepsports.com/2012/09/19/kennedy-g-xc/

This was the third time I have been interviewed for the newspaper and it still excites me so much.  I cut out every single article in the newspaper that I am mentioned in (normally it just has my name and the place I got) and put it in a box. Someday I want to refurnish a table top with all the newspaper articles from cross country and track.

The article is about my three teammates and me, who run close to the same time in every meet. We have been taking turns leading the team to our four.

Our coach talks about each one of us separately in the article, which is kind of interesting. I thought it was funny how the one thing he said about me was that I don’t worry. I think that that’s probably not true. I do worry I just normally worry more before the meet than right before the actual race.

The last time I was in the newspaper, teachers, neighbors, old coaches, and my family all sent me copies of the article along with a note of congratulations, which I thought was really nice and I appreciated it a lot.

Tonight we have a meet at Dubuque. I am really hoping we win this meet too, but I know Linn-Mar is going be hard to beat, since we kicked them to a 4^th place ranking in state, and we normally are ranked about ten spots behind them.

I am guessing Lauren might lead this race if she is having a good day, because Dubuque tends to be a little hilly and I don’t think hills really bother Lauren. I am really hoping to get a season PR tonight and I am hoping my shin splints don’t bother me tonight.

Shin splints :(

Today is Sunday, and because of my emerging shin splints I don’t think I am going to run today. My friend really wanted me to run with her, but I think it would be good for my legs to take a break. Even if they are not full on shin splints yet I really don’t want to risk getting full on shin splints. For any of you who are lucky enough to never have experienced shin splints, they feel like a knife is stabbing you in the shin.

 I had shin splints really bad my freshman year. It was not fun. It got to the point where even when I was sitting down, not doing anything, my shins would hurt so bad I wanted to cry. My friend had them so long, that she had to start taking physical therapy. So the last thing I want this year is shin splints.

Apparently one of our other top runners, has shin splints. This really scares me, because she does not know how to stop running. I bet she is running today. Last track season, she got injured and did not tell anyone, or stop running until right before state, when she physically could not run nearly as well as she could earlier in the summer and she had to go to the doctor. After state she couldn’t run for over a month. She also got injured in cross country last year and had to sit out for a few meets. So I am really scared she is going to get injured again this year. We really need her and it’s not fair for the team for her to push herself so much that she ends up not running as well as she should. Hopefully she has learned from her mistakes and decides to take it easy this week.

I really hope my shin splints go away, but I have a feeling this week might consist of more icing, stretching and shorted workouts then most weeks.