Track Meet Recap

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Hi Friends!

Last weekend, I competed at my second track meet. It’s early in the season but I’ve been working hard bringing 100% to every practice. I was really pleased that I was able to cut 8 seconds off my 1500m time from 2 weeks ago, and 7 seconds off my 800m time.  It’s so true that winning is determined by what happens before the game. The meat is in your practices– and the game is dessert!

This week was a very MEATY week. The workouts got harder and harder each day and I am so glad to have a rest day tomorrow. I think rest days are just as important as workout days. I will give it my 100%! ;P

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Here we go again!

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Hi Friends!

After taking some time off, I’m back in full swing with track season. I had my first meet this past weekend where I ran the 1500m and 800m events. I felt pretty strong and am happy to be training with my teammates again. You can see my results here. Now that I’ve moved up to the 11-12 yo age division, I am hoping that my teammates will be interested in doing some 4x400m relays. I’ve always wanted to do that 🙂

Here’s a short video from last night’s practice. We did MANY of these in addition to stadiums and 200m repeats. It was fun!

In between sets… My thoughts? Every attempt is an opportunity. GO!

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See ya!

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A Winter Track Meet

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Last night, instead of a regular cross country practice, my coach told our team to join in on a local track meet. So we all went to Cathedral Catholic High School for the Winter Distance Festival. I didn’t know what to expect but realized shortly after we arrived that this was going to be fun. No pressure, pretty casual. It was a small turnout with mostly high school runners and I like running against new people.

I entered the 3200m event and ran in the Junior/Senior Girls group. I just got some new spikes and this was my first chance to try them out. They were AWESOME!!! So light. They felt like air. If you’re wondering which ones I have, I have the Brooks Mach 14. I LOVE THEM!!!

Anyway, I’ve never done a 3200m at the track so I decided to just treat it like a cross country race and run my own race. For the first 4 laps, I was in the lead but got overtaken by one girl. I could tell from her pace that if I picked up my own pace, I would not be able to keep it up for the distance so I stayed at my pace and tried to keep the distance between us from getting too far apart. I managed to do this and stayed about 30m behind her until the last 300m where I started to pick up my pace and try to lessen the gap.

Down the final 100m stretch, I managed to come in 2 seconds behind her. I was really proud of myself.

I just learned her name and this is the girl who beat me.

I have 8 days left to go before Nationals. Stay healthy everyone!

 

 

 

Don’t just practice… Practice like a champ!

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*guest post at Team NOW

I read an awesome quote today by someone called, Coach K. He said,

“To have championship season, you have to have championship practices.”

I really really believe that is true. I’ve always thought that it doesn’t matter how many practices I go to, or how long I practice for. If I don’t bring my absolute best efforts TO the practice, I may as well not count it. Last year when I won the Junior Olympic Cross Country Championship, I knew in my heart that I didn’t just have a great race. I had great practices. Even though there were so many days when I didn’t feel like giving 100%, I always reminded myself what I wanted and why I was there in the first place.

I WANTED A CHAMPIONSHIP SEASON.

When I remember why I am there, it is much easier to dig deep and endure the challenges. Just last week, I had to do a hills workout in 90+ degree heat. I knew it was going to be painful. I had 3 hills to choose from and I picked the steepest, toughest one.

14 of these with a single 1-minute rest in the middle made for my championship practice.

Until next time– keep crushing it.

 

 

 

 

NOW = No Opportunity Wasted!

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I’m so excited to be a NOW energy bar athlete and part of a team of athletes who also live life to the max! If you’ve never heard of NOW, definitely go check them out: NOWenergybar.com

 

This picture was from the USA Youth Outdoor Track and Field Championships in June in Arlington, Texas. I won the 1500m event and it was my last race of the season. I had a blast! Right after this picture was taken, we went straight to Six Flags for some more high energy thrills!

I’ve been having a great summer running and cross-training, getting ready for the cross-country season. I’ll be sharing more of my NOW adventures here and over on my blog at NOW.

See ya!

 

 

 

PS – In case you are wondering about my intention to break the national record in the 1500m event, I did my absolute best but was unable to do it. After my last post, I did manage to cut another second off my time, but breaking the record proved to be 1 more second out of reach. I don’t regret pushing myself to reach a higher goal. That is probably the reason I continued to PR with every race. Don’t be discouraged if you try for something and you don’t get it. There is always next time!

 

 

3.3 Seconds

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I have 3.3 seconds on my mind.

Sometimes I think- that’s so short. Some roller coaster ride drops are around that long, and I think they’re way too short. On the other hand, 3.3 seconds can seem like forever, like if you had to stand in an ice-cold shower for that long. Brrrr!

3.3 seconds…

Last weekend, I ran a new personal best time in the 1500m run at the LA Jets Track and Field Invitational. I reached my goal for the season which was to beat 4:47 by running 4:46.97. Since I had been working really hard and getting faster each week, I was really happy and proud of myself.

When I saw the official results, I discovered an interesting fact: the national record which was set back in 2005, is 4:43.70. And I realized…

3.3 seconds is how far I am from breaking the national record.

AND I REALLY WANT TO DO IT.

So, as it turns out, I reached my original goal and already have a new one in place. There are only a few more weeks left in the season and I know they will be difficult and painful. I am choosing to believe that in this case, 3.3 seconds is on the short side and I’m going to go for it 200%. Everything I’ve been doing is going to get taken up another several notches. I’m ready for it and I’m excited about the possibilities.

I have a new motto: Train insane or remain the same.

Until next time…

 

 

 

 

The “Field”

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I am just starting my 2nd season of Track and Field where my usual events are the 1500m run and the 800m run. This year I wanted to add the Field part of Track and Field to my schedule.

I decided to try the Long Jump. I have no training in it, but who cares? It is sooooo fun! All you have to do is run up to a white line and make sure that your foot doesn’t pass it when you take off (otherwise the jump doesn’t count.) Your goal is to jump as far as you can. You get 3 tries and they take your longest distance.

It sounds pretty simple, right? The idea of it is, but it can be hard to make sure your foot doesn’t go past the white line. You want to get as close as possible to the edge, though, so you don’t lose any distance in your jump. And you want to run fast so you have a lot of momentum going into the jump. Finally, you don’t want to fall backwards when you land because they measure from the first body part marked in the sand. So if you fall back onto your hand, they’ll measure to there instead of to where your foot landed. It’s a lot of things to think about and do at the same time.

These photos are from this past weekend’s meet:

I got so much sand in my ear after that jump! Ha ha ha

I’d love to hear from anyone who trains in this event. Any tips you could share with a beginner?

Results.

End of the year thoughts…

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I heard that a picture is worth a thousand words.

This picture was from an 800m race in May 2011 during the final 100 meter stretch to the finish. That’s me and my good friend, Willie. We became friends after racing against each other practically every single week during track season. He is an incredible competitor and amazing runner. I love his spirit and HEART.

I think this picture is so cool. I remember that moment very clearly.

And in the photo below, we are just being buddies 🙂 This was taken in New Orleans at the AAU Junior Olympics in August.

I was the only person from my team there and I also didn’t have my coach. It can be a little scary being all by yourself.

The cool thing was, Willie and his teammates and even his coach helped me feel less “alone” out there. It makes such a big difference when you are surrounded by thousands of competitors from all over the country.

Any familiar faces feel like home no matter whose team they’re on.

Here are a few photos from throughout the year of friends old and new who have inspired me in so many ways (that a thousand words could not even describe!):




It’s been a really fun year. I feel so lucky to have met and made so many amazing friends this year. They taught me how to win and lose gracefully, how to break through personal goals, and how to never give up. What champions! Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. 🙂

I wish you all a joyful and blessed new year!

 

2011 USA Youth Outdoor Track & Field Championships

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Hello, I am back from Myrtle Beach! More than 2,000 athletes ages 7-18 were there and I had the best time!

It was really hot and humid out there- like 99 degrees. As soon as we got there I did a light mile jog along the beach. I had a big pasta dinner afterwards and then I went straight to bed. I was excited and nervous for my race the next morning.

Other than the heat, everything about the race went pretty much like most of my other races. I had plenty of time for my warm-up and stretching. Then I checked in and waited until our event (1500m) was called to go out to the track.

I was in lane 11 of 12. When the gun went off, everyone took off like lightning. I was almost in last place. This happens with almost all my races. I’m hardly ever in the front at the start of the race. My coach always reminds me to run for my split times and to not worry about where the other runners are.

When we hit the 300m mark I could see the timer and even though I was still behind several runners, I hit my mark exactly where I wanted to which was at 0:56 seconds. Heading into the 2nd lap, I moved into the 1st position and stayed there for the rest of the race. I knew there was someone right behind me so I tried to keep accelerating with each lap and continuing to make my split times. It was hard especially since it was so hot. Luckily I was able to run fast enough to keep him behind me.

I won the race and I was really happy and proud. My time was 4:58.23. Watch it here.

I really missed my little sister, Mia, during this trip. She was very sad to see me leave and I promised her I would bring her back something from Myrtle Beach. The whole weekend I looked and looked for something she would love and I ended up getting her Altoids and a Webkinz puppy dog. Even though you can get them anywhere, not just Myrtle Beach, I just knew that these would make her the happiest.

Mia surprised me, too. When I came home from the airport, I saw a big sign on the garage door that she made. It was so nice. I could tell she spent a lot of time coloring and decorating it. She’s such a great sister 🙂

When I got home, we played some DS games together and then she said she was going to write me a note. So I wrote her one, too. This is what we exchanged:

 

 

I love my competitors :)

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Last weekend I went to Los Angeles for a Track & Field meet hosted by the LA Jets Youth Track Club. Each year they attract some of the best track and field athletes in the region.

I entered two events: the 1500m and the 800m dash. My first race was the 1500m. Since that distance is what I consider to be “my race”, I did not want to save anything for later. My coach told me to run until I had absolutely nothing left. He said this because he knew that I would be racing against several top runners including a boy who just ran a 5:01 (fastest in the country) the week before.

My fastest time ever was 5:06 and Coach said that if I was going to break the 5-minute mark, it would probably be at this meet.

You can watch the race below (I’m in the yellow tank top): **It was extremely windy (20mph).. so bear with the sound..

It was a surprising race. I was expecting a very close, head-to-head battle and the whole time I thought someone was right behind me. It worked because it got me a new personal record (4:59.42)! 🙂

For my next race (800m), I knew that I would again, be racing against extremely fast runners and that they would be racing in the lanes right next to me! It was an exciting thought and also one that gave me my usual butterflies.

Here is the race below:

 

I liked this race because it was the first time all season that I was chasing somebody else. I gave it my best and in doing so I made another new personal record (2:30.60)! It was a totally different experience and I had fun.

After my races I usually talk with some of the other competitors and they are all really cool kids who work hard and are kind. He was no different.

This is why I love and appreciate my competitors. Win or lose, they bring out the best in me and help me push myself to new highs!