Yay, Track

Track starts in about three weeks and boy am I ever excited. Nothing makes me happier than continuously running around a track until I’m about to keel over and vomit. It is fantastic. I love the meets where I am there until 11pm and then get home and have to do homework and other things. I love running in snow, rain, and other “not fun” things like that. Track is just wonderful.

Last year was my first year doing track…ever. It was fun to begin with, but quickly I realized how much I disliked running. My very first meet I was assigned to run a 4x400m relay. This would be fun, except for the fact that we have yet to run a 400m in practice! I had no idea how to pace myself or anything. So, I went with what seemed like my best option-run like a bat out of hell. It was a great idea until I reached the 300m mark and my legs could barely move. I was like a walking tree trunk, and was struggling to inch across the finish line. I ended up finishing at 60 seconds flat. Not good, but decent for my first 400 meter ever.

As the season progressed I dreaded running more and more and more. I got my 400 time down to a point where I was running in every meet. Just what I wanted to do. The whole season consists of running, turning left, and running some more. My first though was, “Well at least your can’t be credited with an error, like in baseball.” That notion was soon shot down when it got to handoffs. The handoff itself might be worse than running the actual race! Trying to have a clean, flawless handoff, and still run fast, comes with a great deal of failure at times. You don’t want to be the one to mess up the handoff, and lose points for your team.

As the track season came to a close, running a 400 still wasn’t my cup of team, but it wasn’t as bad. I wish I was fast enough to be a 100m or 200m guy; it’s the last 100m of the 400 that really kicks your butt. So now that I have secured the reputation of “a decent 400 runner” I have to go out for track again, bust my butt, try and get better, and win some metals. Track is the only sport (with the exception of swimming and cross country) where you get done with your task, and want to die/puke. If a baseball player felt like complete crap after every game, or every at bat, no one would play baseball. Yet, despite the feeling of death, people still go out for the great sport of track and field. (WC 466)