Track and running thread

Topics about sports and recreation.
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Silence
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Post by Silence » Thu Sep 07, 2006 12:59 am

Actually, our team is pretty deep this year...everybody is so close (so we all have a chance at the top 7 Varsity team), which is good. WAHS has lost some of their power (second in state last year), but FUMA is still strong--they're one of the best in the nation.

I forgot to mention that yesterday's meet was just 2 miles long, with the Varsity teams doing 4 x 2-mile relays. The JV people just did a huge heat with 200 people. I find it's easier to not sprint with the mob at the beginning just because others are doing it, and then I started passing about 5 people a minute. However, the end was terrible for me: we breached the final hill and were in the last stretch, with the crowd around us and the finish line in sight. However, everybody (including me) who sprinted, and right after the hill too, due to inexperience got in hot water when we figured out the stretch was several times longer than it looked. 5 people must have passed me at the very end.

Our next meet is at FUMA on Saturday, which will be torture since marching at the previous night's football game and then having to get up will be a problem for me. Anyway, congratulations on your first meet! Sounds like your team is doing very well...

Of course, our district is perhaps the toughest in what is the toughest region in the state. So if you get past the districts and the regions, then you've pretty much got the state under your belts. Let's hope we can keep up with the larger teams out there.

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Silence
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Post by Silence » Sun Sep 10, 2006 12:52 am

Just had our second meet this morning, at FUMA--an hour's drive away. I did okay on the meandering, hilly, and complex 3-mile course (slightly shorter than a 5K), but I would have done much better if I hadn't been so sleepy and if my team had done 5K time trials.

I got 20 minutes, which is better than I had expected, but the winner got 15 minutes and 5 seconds--amazing, especially for one of the first races. That's a little over 15.5 minutes, a blazing 5 minutes, 2 seconds per mile.

As usual, I started behind the pack but slowly worked my way up--especially on this one huge hill. The problem started very near the end: after going uphill for about a mile, the track plunges down, and the gravity opened my stride. I tried to slow down, but I was still tired to sprint the last uphill stretch.

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SSCBen
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Post by SSCBen » Tue Sep 12, 2006 10:59 pm

Just got back from a cross country meet. This meet from what I know was a 3 mile course.

The course overall was fairly tough for parts and easy at the end. My last mile must have been like 5:20. My time was 17:53. Pretty good for me and pretty good for the early season. I'm almost at my goal time.

Andrew got 17:29.

We won the meet simply due to the fact that we got 3rd, 4th, 5th, 7th, and 14th. The 14th should have been better, but they'll move up.

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MilkMan
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Post by MilkMan » Sun Sep 17, 2006 11:18 pm

I started cross country this year and we've had one race although no competition races so far. The one race is a special alumni race that is held where graduates from the high school come to race at a small park called curtis where our home races and many of our practices are held. I got a 22:53 which is pretty bad but it was my first race. We have a race this wednesday but i might not make it because of Marching Band.

EDIT: The course at curtis is 5k.
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MilkMan
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Post by MilkMan » Sun Oct 15, 2006 1:56 am

The record season of cross country is over for my team, however we still have suburbans and district races. Our team record was 3-5 which isn't very good but our primary runners are juniors including the team captain so we should be much better next year. My best 5k race time was 20:08 out of all of our races.
Cross Country has definetly been fun and there is only 2 more weeks of it now. I'm not doing winter track but I think I'll do spring to get ready for next year's cross country.
"Anything with a nozzle and a pump is good enough for me." <--------------- Same lying signature 3 years and counting!

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Silence
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Post by Silence » Sun Oct 15, 2006 2:01 am

This past month now I've been really out of it due to a cold passing through the team and due to tendinitis of my Achilles, which is just starting to leave--marching band is easier now. Our team has been doing fairly well though, and it's possible that both the boys and girls could be at least third in the district. I'll probably start running a lot by myself until things start up again in the summer.

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MilkMan
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Post by MilkMan » Sun Oct 15, 2006 2:06 am

Heh, I do Marching Band and Cross Country too which is a drag sometimes. I hate Marching Band and I only do it because you need to to be in the school jazz band. I viewed the marching band topic and I too am in the CHS Band. Cheltenham High School Band! :D
"Anything with a nozzle and a pump is good enough for me." <--------------- Same lying signature 3 years and counting!

Flashflood
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Post by Flashflood » Mon Oct 16, 2006 1:56 am

i have to say this. Man you will be awesome in a water gun fight. Most of the fight consist of weight lifting and running. mentally it consist of quick reaction & good judgement & enduring to the end. With your skills you would definetly be on my team just by looking at the sports and trainning you do.

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DX
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Post by DX » Mon Oct 16, 2006 2:47 am

Cross Country runners usually don't lift, unless they also do sprinting events during Track. Then again, their endurance is great to have. Track people in general are good to have. The Ridgewood Militia has 1 distance runner, 6 sprinters, and 1 distance-sprinter among its ranks!
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joannaardway
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Post by joannaardway » Mon Oct 16, 2006 11:49 am

As I said before, I don't sprint very fast.

However, loaded with an equal amount to other people, I can easily outrun most people, even over horrendous terrain, simply because of natural strength.

My brother is definately not a sprinter.

However, you should see what kinds of weight he can shift - he's got almost total pain-immunity for several different reasons, and can easily shift what others would drop in pain. His stamina and endurance are off the scales, but just don't expect him to perform speedwise.

However, he is still a very formidiable opponent. His spatial awareness is almost legend, and he can and will dual-wield any two soakers he's given. It's a pity that I don't have two monster XLs to test him with.

Strength and speed are different matters, and both useful for different things, but neither should be misunderestimated.
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aquaarmourydavid
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Post by aquaarmourydavid » Sun Nov 19, 2006 9:41 am

Wow.....look at me! Posting after a verrrrrrry long time out of the soaking community :eek:

I find it kind of ironic that there's a thread about running/TnF going when I visit for the first time in 2-3 years. You see, running was the number one thing that lured me away from soakers and thus soakerdom.

Down here in New Zealand XC season was over ages (june-july) ago, summer track is starting around December though.

I've been running now for a couple of years, mainly as a more long distance oriented runner; Half-marathons etc, 5k's are probably the shortest I'll go. I'm one of those blokes you see doing laps of the block when you go out, and when you come back 2 hours later is still doing them!

For battles etc, I've never really thought of running as being something that would give you an advantage....always assumed agility as one of the defining factors. However now I see where you guys are coming from, no use having all the agility in the world if your exhausted after 10mins. ;)

Anyway it's great to see SSC still going strong after all these years. Good job Ben, Mods and members. :D

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SSCBen
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Post by SSCBen » Sun Nov 19, 2006 1:32 pm

Welcome back! I hadn't seen you for quite some time. One of my friends is extremely dedicated to running, so I know what you mean about how rrunning can take up a lot of time!

By any chance could you get Aqua Armoury online again? That was one of the best sites of its time and I really enjoyed reading it.

Now that our cross country season is over, I might as well say how the state meet went. I've heard conflicting reports as to the course's length, but as far as I'm concerned it's a 5K or just over a 5K. It's supposed to be the hardest course in the state. For my brother (Drenchenator) and I it went fine. I placed 28th and he placed 12th. The good thing is that our regional meet and our state meet didn't have too much change in placement despite the fact that there are more apparently good runners at the state meet (my brother was 13th at regionals and I was 25th). Just goes to show what I had always said about our region - it is the state meet. In the top 15, there were only 4 people from any other region. Why they don't make the regions a little more fair is what I want to know.

The problem is that the remainder of our team didn't do too great. Drenchenator and I were both in the 18s (myself being one of the last people to get in the 18s) on the Maryland state course, which is pretty damn tough if I do say so myself. This is a course where the tall people who just strided the other courses lose big. There are a lot of hills, but it's not just a continuous up and then you're at the top thing. It's a relentless combination of going up and down that doesn't let you rest unless you play the downhills right. Drenchenator and I both lean going downhill and pretty much let gravity do the work, and this helps a lot. We also have a good muscle rotation going that prevents your thighs, hamstrings, or calves from getting too tired. This works for us because we use cross country as training for track and don't care too much about placement. The other guys however couldn't handle the hills. The two guys that were supposed to pace with me came in about two minutes after I did. Had they placed with me, I know our team would have got about 4th place, but we settled with a 7th place finish.

I'm glad cross country is over now so I can start working for track. This year we're looking to seriously challenge anyone who comes in our way. We're one of the smallest schools in the state, but I think we can win the small school division anyway, which is set up unfairly to begin with. Something is wrong when you have to compete against schools that are 150% of your size. At least the outdoor track divisions are a little more fair. That's just my rant for right now though.

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Silence
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Post by Silence » Sun Nov 19, 2006 4:51 pm

Welcome back, even though I obviously wasn't here then!

I'm slowly getting back into running, although I recently cut my knees through pants because my dog tripped me.

I missed the entire second half of the season, just when I could have come close to nineteen minutes. The Achilles heel tendinitis stayed for several weeks, and then suddenly disappeared. Crazy.

So aside from that, the fact that we've had band performances every weekend, debate (which I'm quitting), and tons of homework hasn't helped. Congrats for finding enough time to run!

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DX
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Post by DX » Tue May 08, 2007 4:10 am

Here's a serious question: I'm looking to break 24 in tomorrow's 200, how would you suggest doing it? I've become stuck in the 24s like I was stuck in the 26s last Winter. When I'm going at my top 200 speed, I get this weird sensation in my throat like I want to burp but can't due to the speed. It slows me down because it gets uncomfortable.
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Drenchenator
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Post by Drenchenator » Fri May 11, 2007 11:11 am

I may not be a true sprinter but I can tell you this: don't get worked up. Just run. Our coach is always talking about relaxation while running. And quite frankly, if relaxed, faster times are run but less energy is used and the body is less tense. I don't know what to do about the burping thing, but just run. I ran my first 200 about two weeks ago and easily got 23.5; it's not as hard as it seems.
The Drenchenator, also known as Lt. Col. Drench.

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