I like to run. That's about all you need to know.
...Just kidding! Basically I'm a 16 year old middle distance runner who is gonna be a senior in high school next year. I used to be pretty fast, but I got a little sick, tried to muscle my way through it and keep training, and got so sick that I was out. Ruined my outdoor track season. I'm a lot better this year than I was last year, and 2011 outdoor track was my best shot at putting up times that could get college attention, as by 2012 outdoor season I will have already been accepted to and rejected from colleges. Thus, I'm in a bit of a fix. Here are my PR's.
200m: 22.9
400m: 50.6
800m: 1:59.0
1600m: 4:31
3 miles cross country: 16:38
As you can see, my strongest event is the 400m, though a slightly weaker 800m and decent overdistance times suggest that my true potential is in the 800 meters event. The 800m is my favorite event, one that is far too long to sprint full out, but short enough that the best in the world must run it within 5 seconds of their 400m best per lap in order to excel. It is a race for masochists, and it is said that no event can generate more overall fatigue than the 800 meters (though cases are made for the 400m and the marathon). I love the pain, though. There is something quite electrifying about racing so hard you cannot walk for an hour afterwards (not so fun when you have to race another distance an hour later though). I love every second of it, and I believe that one day I can be the best. Greats like Steve Ovett, Sebastian Coe, and Wilson Kikpeter, all had 200 meter speed around 21.5 seconds. I'm pretty far off that right now, but I'm only 16 years old and have never strength trained before. I believe that by the end of puberty, I'll be there on the speed side. On the endurance side, all it takes is the determination to get through the gritty tempo work, and if I have a shot I WILL have the determination.
Only one problem: College Track. I have to get in before I can show 'em what I got. And at this point, I'm back at ground zero due to getting sick. As a speed guy, I'd have loved to put up numbers like 49.x in the 400 and 1:54 in the 800 for the colleges and the way things were going it seemed like I was going to, but my season was cut short in early April and I never got the chance. Now, it's the end of my junior year and I don't have the times needed to get into Stanford, my dream school, that also happens to have a track program in contention for the NCAA championship every year. Between now and early admission, there is only the cross country season. Thus, I'll have to prove myself not on the track, but in the forest and on the hills. The only distance raced during cross country is 5 kilometers, significantly longer than my main event, the 800 meters. However, a good 5k time in the fall is a perfect indicator of the endurance base needed for a monster 800 time in the spring. To win State Championships in Texas next year, I will need to have the endurance of a 15:30 5k runner. That kind of an engine will put me in the mix at the end of race, and I believe that with my superior speed (I'm much faster than most long distance guys who are competitive at 5k), I can kick down any opponent.
Aside from training endurance, I will also put some emphasis on maximum strength this summer. My standing vertical jump is 22" as of last week, a truly pathetic number. This is very good news to me! It means that I was able to run 22.9 with practically zero strength! It also means that with a year of puberty and 6 solid months of strength training (3 in the summer and 3 in the winter), my 200 and 400m times could go down quite a bit. It'll be too late to get recruited but once I hit the scene the extra strength and speed will be crucial. Thus, I will also train maximum strength as well as endurance.
The name of this log comes from the nature of my training. Going into outdoor track season, I averaged 50 miles per week on top of 5 days a week of varsity soccer as a left winger. It seemed soccer was the perfect way to add more edge to my already sharp kick, and after an early defeat I was winning every track meet in the 800. My times kept going down and it seemed like I'd be hitting 1:52 or lower for sure, putting me in contention to win state. Compared to my sophomore best of 2:17, I was an alien. A deadly combination of the flu and strep throat killed that alien. Now over the summer, the alien will be resurrected.
(Ok the real reason for the title is that the Alien trilogy was an AWESOME set of movies, go watch them NOW)
Enjoy!
oh yea and other general stats
Height: 5'4"
Inseam Length: 31"
Weight: 120 lbs (best racing weight is ~115)
Standing Vertical: 22"
Reach: idk, short
Basically I'm short and skinny, and I'm a runner. go figure
