Distance Running - The Year Round Sport

Distance running is a year round sport. You train all summer long to be in peak shape for fall cross country season. After cross country ends in late November, runners take about a week off before slowly ramping up the training for winter track. We train over winter break so we are ready to compete from late January through the Big South Indoor Championship in early March. Spring track starts in late March so much runners only take a couple days completely off of running between the winter and spring season. Spring track can go all the way through late May if you are good enough to make it to the NCAA National Championship in Oregon.

To have the motivation to run year round, you either really love running every day, have high ambitions with huge goals that are months away, or both. As for me, I train hard and run every day more because of the desire to win and exceed my goals at the National level more-so than the enjoyment of running every day. My love for distance running is because of my competitive instinct. I would not go for a 10 mile run every day just for the enjoyment of running 10 miles. Each run an each workout pulls me closer to that end goal I set for myself and gives me an advantage over all the other college distance runners I compete against.

Team is Family

As a team, we are with each other for over 3 hours every day. We practice together, eat together, travel together, and hang out together. Almost everything we do is with our teammates. Because we live the same strict lifestyle, teammates are just like family. It is great having a close to team to train with for many reasons. The number 1 reason is because we motivate each other. We motivate each other to run on days 1 of the members does not want to run or push one another to get through a tough workout on a day of the the guys may be run down and tired. This is the most effective ways to become a better athlete and also push teammates to improve a fast rate.

Traveling to Competition

One of the fun parts about track and cross country meets is seeing a new school for the first time during weekend competition. Since my freshman year, I have raced at many different sites all over the east region and parts of the central region of the U.S.  Some of the schools and sites we have traveled to for races include, the Armory Track in New York City, Louisville, UVA, Arkansas, Tennessee, Clemson, and Coast Carolina at Myrtle Beach.

It is always fun seeing what different schools look like and also have and making the most of the trip. When the track raced in NYC, after the race, we went to Time Square for lunch and shopped for a little while before flying back to High Point. I enjoy short getaways once in a while. These trips give me something to look forward to on the weekend besides the race.

Impact of Diet on Running Performance

Having a good diet is just as crucial to run a fast mile or 5k as rest and training. Many people think distance runners can eat whatever we want since we burn over 1,000 calories a day on a 10 mile run. Although it is true that distance runners can eat all the desserts and junk food we want without gaining a single pound, the effects on daily energy level will drop and the runner's body fat % will rise which will also effect performance.

There are many benefits that eating healthy can have on the body including:

• Increased recovery rate between workouts
• Higher energy level
• More consistent energy level throughout the day
• Stronger muscles
• Better mood
• Feeling lighter when running
• More toned body

I became conscious of my diet during senior year as a high school distance runner. I began eating 1 bag of spinach every day to see if I performance would improve. I thought of this idea after hearing other runners talk about how green vegetables are so important for the body because they are rich in iron, and many vitamins and minerals I don't even know about.  My senior year cross country and track seasons happened to be my best season ever up to that point and I experienced my biggest improvement ever. As a competitive distance runner at the elite level, cutting 6 or 7 seconds off a mile time is huge. My improvement from 4:19 to 4:12 senior year is mostly a result from my diet.
I replaced hamburgers with sandwiches on wheat bread, fries with potatoes and vegetables, fish instead of pizza, fruit and yogurt for dessert instead of chocolate cake and grilled food instead of fried. In order to take fitness goals and performance to the next level, this is the commitment I feel was needed.