First Real Week of Track

DISCLAIMER   Well, this might be a bit premature since it's only Thursday, so we have one more day before the first week is completely over, but whatever.

This week has been pretty awesome. Coach has been able to have us work on our relay handoffs twice already, and we worked on them a ton last week, so when we actually start running the 4X100 in competitions, we'll be able to kick some major butt!!! I think the first time that we will actually run is next weekend, there's some invitational that's happening, and it'll be good for us to have a trial run before we have a dual meet.

I also like having practice after school. For one, it means that we don't have to wake up early. Last week, we had practice at 9, which isn't bad, but I really wanted to sleep more over my break. Also, it means that Coach has to limit how long practice is going to be. We can't be at practice all day, he has to manage to fit all of our workout in under two hours. Which, I will admit, is hard with so many kids that we have on the Sprints Team. Like today was the longest that we've stayed late so far, we went from 3:30 to almost 5:30, and we were only doing speed work, not the conditioning stuff. And tomorrow will be weights, which means that it'll take forever.

The one bad thing about it is that we get home late, so there's less time to do homework. But there's not really any way around that, I would still be missing out on over two hours a day when I could be doing homework. And I never really started my homework before 6 anyways, I just liked that I was able to relax and unwind from a day at school before I had to do any work. Now, I have to jump right into it.

But of course, by starting practices, it means that soon we'll be having meets. And the Three Musketeers will be able to kick some major butt again!!! And this year, there's no way that the Titan girls won't be both League and CIF champions. *fingers crossed*

-Pippi

New Spikes!

Yay! I finally got my new track spikes. Although technically I didn't need new ones because I got my old ones at the beginning of last year, so they have a lot of life left in them, I never miss out on a chance to get new awesome shoes! Yeah, I'm a total girl, I know. Anyways, Coach told me that I needed shoes with a more rigid spike plate, so I went and found some. And these are definitely more rigid. I can't bend the bottom at all, no matter how much I try.

The funniest thing about the shoes: there's a sticker on the bottom that reads "The chrome finish will flake off with use over time". I'm not quite sure why I think this is so funny, but when I read it, I started cracking up. Hopefully the finish won't flake off too much; I don't know what kind of color is on the bottom.

These spikes are actually really good shoes. They're Showdowns so they're good quality. The arch is really rigid and pushes up against my foot which feels really good especially because none of my other shoes do that. The colors are also awesome colors. They're black fading to grey with blue accents, which looks more professional than my white and green ones from last year, and the white and pink from freshman year. Maybe just having epic looking shoes will help me run faster this year......

-Pippi

Preseason

Preseason.
It's quite an intimidating idea. The fact that you have to work overtime just to keep up with your competitors. All year, 'round the clock--track season never really starts nor ends. Not to mention the fact that preseason (or off-season, considering it goes all year) partially takes place during the coldest part of the year. Oh so pleasant, yes?

I myself have not been to much of the off-season training. Who would go to track practice in the summer heat when there's a beach to be visited? Or force yourself out into the frozen air during the winter when there's homework to be done? That, right there, is the number one problem of preseason: motivation. I've struggled with it countless times.

But then, I think of that first day of practice. When all the cute little Freshies are puking up their breakfast, while us varsity athletes, conditioned in the off-season, stand tall and stride long. That right there is enough to keep me going. That, and the thought of seeing my name on the top ten list for an event in our league.

Speaking of the first day of practice... Season starts in exactly 10 days. And yes.

It is going to "get nasty" on the track this year.