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!

Marathon Man: Bill Rodgers

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“Being a runner means you are now “free” to win and lose and live life to its fullest.”

~ Bill Rodgers

 

Last Friday, Bill Rodgers was in town visiting and I was lucky enough to have a chance to meet him. He won the Boston Marathon and the New York City Marathon four times.

He is 63 years old and still runs almost every day. In fact, he told me he ran 11 miles that morning. That’s almost half a marathon!

I thought he was very nice and encouraging. He told me to keep running smoothly and to enjoy every minute. I appreciated the time he spent talking with me. I hope to experience running a marathon myself one day.


Here is a video of Bill Rodgers during the 1979 Boston Marathon finish where he set a course record, an American record and ran his personal best time of 2:09.27.

New World Record Set For…

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…the most people patting their heads and rubbing their tummies at the same time for a full minute!

It happened today at my school and I’m so excited I was able to take part in making history!

The previous record was held at 872 people. This morning, we had 1002 participants as we smashed the old record!

Yes, it was official. We had multiple official witnesses along with an adjudicator from Guinness World Records to record the event.

My cousins and uncle and aunt in Minnesota recently sent me a copy of the 2011 book for my birthday. I had never seen the book before and I had so much fun reading all of the amazing records recorded.

And now, just a few weeks later.. I took part in a record-breaking event that will soon be a part of the next book!!! Yeah!!!

Junior Carlsbad and Carlsbad 5000 Races

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This past weekend I ran in the Junior Carlsbad 1 mile race for my 3rd year in a row. I think this might be one of my favorite races. It is so exciting and there are so many kids running.

I love it.

As always, I get my usual nerves right before the race, but then they all disappear as soon as the horn sounds.

At the start, there was a boy running next to me. He got out ahead of me about 10 feet. We were the two leaders of the race. I passed him after our first turn and then managed to lead for the rest of the race. I finished with a time of 5:49.

My little sister also competed this year. She is 6 and she ran in a 1/2 mile race. She gets a little overwhelmed by all the people so I offered to run with her after my race was finished. This made her happy and I had fun running with her, too. She did great! She came in 7th place 🙂

On Sunday, I went back to run in the Carlsbad 5000 for my first time. It was so fun. I saw a LOT of my Roadrunners teammates there along with some other kids from school. This was my third 5K race and I was hoping to beat my previous time of 20:07 from the Bumblebee 5K in December. I felt strong throughout and came in at 19:53. Yeah! I was really proud of myself.

One of the things my mom always asks me is what was going through my head while I was racing. And I always tell her the same thing. I was either humming a song or absolutely NOTHING was going through my head.

At the Junior Carlsbad event, there was a live band of young kids. As we were walking by I heard them perform a cool song that I had never heard before and really liked. I asked my dad what it was and he said it was “Crazy Train” by Ozzy Osbourne. The band singing it was a local band called Zip Zap.

Cool. I immediately decided I wanted to add the song to my iPod.

That ended up being the song going through my head during the races 🙂

Have a listen:

Super Cool Gadget: Nike Sport Band

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I got this awesome sport band for Christmas from my Uncle Tom, Aunt Sarah and cousins Maddie and Bella in Minnesota. It is so cool because you can track EVERYTHING from your run.

Pace. Distance. Time. Calories burned… Plus, it’s water-resistant!

It feels like a watch and I just love that my family would give me such a thoughtful gift. They know I love to run and this sport band is simply amazing. I’m having fun keeping track of my miles and especially my pace.

Nike also has some super cool challenges that you can join. I’m almost done with my first one, The Nike “In Like A Lion” Challenge. Run 50 miles in March. I also joined Run Across America and Run Around the World! (I have until 2027 to complete that) Yeah!!

For all you running enthusiasts, you can pick one up for yourself here.

 

See ya!

It’s ON!!!

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I had a nice 4-day weekend. I spent a lot of time working on my new campaign this year to raise $1,500 for my school.

Between Kinkos, the post office, and recruiting help from my parents and little sister, I managed to get my letters out this afternoon. Yes!!

I guess you never really know what will happen. Maybe no one will respond. Maybe my letters will get tossed in the trash. But maybe they won’t. You never know. It’s okay. I gave it my all this weekend for my school’s sake.

My school has given me so much. It is my academic training ground, but it is also my athletic training ground! I wouldn’t have been able to do what is on my news page without Carrillo. Doing this campaign is the least I can do.

Hey, I hope your Valentine’s Day was amazing. I had a GREAT DAY!!!!

Happy New Year – I LOVE ROLLERCOASTERS

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I went to Six Flags Magic Mountain for the second time in a month on New Year’s Eve. I met two of my best friends, John and Tyler there. We are so close, we call ourselves “blood brothers.”

They had never been to Six Flags before so they were very excited. I couldn’t wait to ride the rides with them. We had a special flash pass that day that gave us very special privileges. We didn’t have to wait in any lines AND we got to ride the rides twice in a row!

Over winter break I did a research project on the science of rollercoasters. What I learned was so fascinating that it made going back to the park and riding the rides that much more fun. I will be presenting my research to my class soon and will post some of it here soon 🙂

My favorite ride at Six Flags is TATSU. Oh my gosh, it is the BEST!! You feel like you are flying.

I also love Goliath and Scream. There are so many great rides at the park. I am so glad we have season passes and can go back often!

Check this out!

Bumblebee Foods 5K at the Big Bay Balloon Parade

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Today I ran in my second 5K. It was the Bumble Bee Foods 5K at the Port of San Diego Big Bay Balloon Parade. The race kicked off the nationally televised parade at 9:45 a.m. There were 100,000 spectators there!

I was very excited about this race since I hadn’t been running much since school let out for winter break. My plan was to have a strong start, run at a solid race pace, and empty out with a very strong finish.

I’ve noticed that with 5K races, there isn’t a big emphasis at the starts. Since there are so many people including a lot of walkers, the start is not as intense as with the 1-mile races or my cross country races.

Your time doesn’t start until your chip crosses the start, but I think it’s a good idea to still start near the front because it eliminates the need to have to weave through so many people when you’re racing.

I got to the starting line pretty early and waited. There were a lot of adults around and by the time the race started, I got pushed back several rows. I think people couldn’t see me or just decided to get in front of me. Oh well.

I did not feel I had a good start because there were so many people to run around and the road was very narrow. Everyone was trying to get out so fast that somebody even fell in front of me!

Once I was passed the start, not as many people were in the way. Then I went into my maintaining pace. At the end I was too tired to sprint so I just went as fast as I possibly could.

I was looking for some other kids that might be my age but didn’t see any. During the race, I thought I was running kind of slow, but when I got near the finish and saw the clock, I was surprised to see that I was way faster that my last 5k! My time was 20:07.

After the race, my legs felt weird because I used all the fuel in them. I was sweating a lot and breathing hard.

I didn’t know how I did or what- it was hard to tell. We were going to go home, but the remembered to watch the balloon parade. The balloons were huge!

My mom decided to ask about the race results and guess what? She found out that I had won for mens 12-and-unders!! I was so excited and proud of myself. I couldn’t believe that I came in 1st place. What a fun morning.

Click here to see the race results.

Camp Pendleton Marines Visit My School

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Today, at Flag Salute, the Marines came to collect all of the food we gathered for the Camp Pendleton food drive. It always feels good to know that the families at our school can help others when we work together.

I received my weekly running award and later, was surprised with a special invitation by Naval officer, Michael Enriquez. Watch below 🙂

I WILL DEFINITELY DO IT!!!!!!!

Marine Corps Marathon