A waste of a perfectly good cross country course, a.k.a. nature. Public parks benefit more people than golf courses do. Golf is for the wealthy elite, the 1%. Let’s take back the green.
Occupy golf courses!
It’s trail running now?
Hate the new name, still love the game.
When you take your official visit, take note of the ratio of seniors to freshmen. If you don’t officially visit, check the roster on the team’s website. The more even the ratio is the better. Chances are, you will be placed with a freshman guide on your official visit, but ask around about how many seniors and juniors are on the team.
Why?
If a team can keep runners on the team through senior year, they must be doing something right. If seniors are leaving the team, it could mean: everyone is injured, the coach is crazy, the training system is ineffective or causing burnout, the team doesn’t get along, or a myriad of other issues. Retention is a really good marker of whether people on the team are happy and stay happy.
A few months ago, I read an article about Mo Farah. It was about his rise to success and champion status. When he joined Salazar, he was a pretty good runner but very weak - both physically and mentally. He wanted to become the best in the world. He knew that to be the best, he had to live and breathe like the best. But how?
Mo Farah, on a lengthy training camp in Kenya, moved into a share house with some of the best middle and long distance athletes in the world. This included the likes of Craig Mottram, one of the best white middle distance runners of modern time (also Australian). He saw how these athletes lived structured lives; everything was dedicated to becoming champions. At that point, Mo Farah realised that will power was not enough to be the best, but pure action would rather create results.
This following quote in the article stood out to me. It struck a chord and I swore to myself that I would embrace it. So far I have not done that. But today, for the first time in a long while, I questioned my own self and what I want to do with my running. I know I have the ability to succeed. I have a support network to help me along the way. But just like Mo Farah, will power is not enough. Action needs to be taken. I promise, from tomorrow onward, I will embrace this quote and make a change for the greater good.
“If I am going to beat these guys one day, I am going to have to change my lifestyle.” - Mo Farah
…didn’t try hard enough.
Same thing goes for coming home from a workout…
source: http://mustangdaily.net/laura-hollander-from-high-school-phenom-to-collegiate-elite/
After falling in a race:
“I got back up right away,” Hollander said. “It wasn’t even a question to me. I had never fallen down in a race before, but I always knew that if I was going to fall I would never sit out of the race. It felt like I was running the last lap of the race ever since the first 200 meters. I had scars all over me and I was just bleeding everywhere and I messed up a tendon in my leg too. The wounds and my leg were hurting with every step. I just pushed through it as best as I could and kept telling myself not to give up.”
This girl is hard as nails.
On her choice of attending Cal Poly:
But Hollander wasn’t dead set on attending Cal Poly throughout the recruitment process. She was briefly interested in running for powerhouses Stanford and UCLA, as many other top schools took notice during her senior season in high school.
Ultimately, the Huntington Beach native chose the Central Coast after a visit to the school assured her of what team she wanted to be a part of. In fact, she didn’t even make an official visit to any other programs — she knew she wanted to be at Cal Poly from the moment she stepped on campus.
“Everything felt like a perfect fit,” Hollander said. “I loved the campus, I loved the team and the coaches were a big part of the reason I came here.”
I really endorse her decision to choose a school based on what felt like a good fit. Your college athletic experience is shaped by your team and coaches. Make sure you will be happy there.
On whether she can continue to be undefeated as a college cross country runner:
Hollander’s next test at Cal Poly will come at the Wisconsin Invitational in Madison, Wis., a meet that will feature 49 of the top cross country programs from around the nation. While a third win in a row isn’t likely given the level of competition, there’s no doubt motivation will stare her back in the form of the most elite field of runners she has ever faced.
She won. Sometimes possibility means more than probability.
