This is the conclusion of week #6 and half of the project is concluded. The deadline to the project is coming up fast and I am getting worried as to whether or not I will be able to make it to under 11 seconds. I am just now getting to the mid twelves. I can feel my self-improving, but I definitely feel my progress slowing down as I continue to get faster. At first my progress was very intense and noticeable, but now it is very slow and gradual. I am truly not sure if I will be able to reach my goal or fall short of it.
This past week I was able to get back into the groove of running. Unlike last week, this week felt more natural and felt amazing. I am thinking that after next week, it will feel even better because I will no longer have football practice keeping me from home until 7:30 every night. In turn, track will take its place. The only difference is that track practice lets up at 5 meaning that I will be able to get home around 5:15 every night. This will allow me to finish homework 2 hours earlier than before. This will allow me to get more sleep. After next week I will also return to D1, a sports training facility in Winston-Salem, which will allow me to put even more work towards getting faster. You might be thinking how I would have time to go to the gym every day, and the answer is simple; I don’t. I only go on days where I am not completely buried in homework. I am hoping that with this extra work, I will be able to complete my goal of a sub 11 second 110 meter dash.
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This is the conclusion of week 5 and almost the end of the first half of the project. The weeks, I have found, are starting to get mundane and consistent. Every day seems to be the same. This week, however, was rough. The workouts seemed like they were harder than anything I have ever done some days. I think this week was so hard because I have barely gotten any sleep this entire week. I think that I have gotten at most 3 to 5 hours every night.
This week I am going to try and get back into the groove of having good runs. This week I need to focus on my breathing and lengthening my strides. If I can focus on my techniques, running can become easy again and effortless. Once you get the basis and techniques down whatever task you are doing becomes easier and soon it becomes habitual. This week I am planning on scaling back the workouts a bit in order to better my breathing. It will not be by much but enough to where I am still conditioning but while still being able to maintain my breathing. I will also start wearing a breath restricting mask while I run. A restriction mask limits the amount of oxygen you can take in. This allows your body to use less oxygen whenever you put in that work. It is essentially a legal means of blood doping, they give you the same effect. It is basically the same thing is working out at high altitudes. I am hoping that in doing this, it will allow me to better control my breathing and have good circulation. Week 4, the big 4. 1/3 of the way into the project, oh word, still grinding.
Week 4 has really been a turning point for me, I feel like I am so much faster now and my dedication to the project has greatly improved. It used to be that some days I would dread getting up early in the morning and having to workout. Now it is routine for me. I am starting to wake up even without the alarm at 5:30 am for my morning run. During the runs I feel great, it now longer feels like a chore, but rather just something to do to get me going in the morning. You would think that running in the morning right before school and then going to football practice immediately after school would be very tiring and a huge time killer, it is, well at least half of the time. It is a fine line between getting enough sleep and having enough time to do all my homework and then have my hour of socializing, which is critical for any high school student that wants to maintain a healthy relationship among their friends. On days where I have literally a mountain of homework, I have found that it is a bit hard getting enough sleep. Other nights when I have little to no homework finding sleep is no problem at all. The workouts have become significantly easier and I have often found myself going back and doing the same workout twice in one morning. I truly believe that I am getting faster with each step. I am still a ways away to reaching my goal, but I believe it is achievable. Another week has passed and I really feel like I am getting faster. These workouts keep getting easier. This following week I am going to try and make the workouts harder so they will be even more beneficial. I might even start wearing a breath restricting mask to improve my lung capacity. I believe that if I can keep this up, I will be able to reach a sub 11 in no time.
This week I am going to try and run 15 dashes instead of 10 and see how it goes. If I am able to manage this then I might consider running with a weight vest and or a parachute. I am really happy with my results so far. I think this progress will really be able to translate on to the track and help my with hurdles during winter and spring track. Yo! What’s popping other students in Mr. barker’s class! I just realized that I almost forgot to do a blog post for this week, so I am sorry if this is not my best because I am really just trying to go to sleep. Anyways, this week I felt better about the work outs. I felt like I was able to complete them a lot easier this time. If I keep this up I will most likely have to make the workout more vigorous and intense. This week I will just keep it the same to see if last week was just a good week or if I am actually making progress.
I have found that the best time to do my workouts is in the morning. This is mainly because the morning is the only time I actually have time to do it. I have also found that working out in the morning is a wonderful way to wake up and get the day started. Working out before school has also ensured that I am actually awake during my first period, which I have been having trouble with until now. It also has given me a lot of time to think to myself and get prepared for the day. Not only have I found my athletic performance improving, my cognitive abilities are improving too. I think this is because of my brain actually being awake and alert and ready to process knew information each day due to the morning work outs. This is extremely helpful because sophomore year is literally the first time I have ever had homework that I can’t get done in school or have actually had to somewhat “study” for. |
matthew hillI am an avid runner who is just looking for a way to get faster and get that sub 11 100 meter dash. Archives |