Tip of the Day

Tip 6


Preparation is key.  If you go to any sort of competition (sport, chess, band, etc.) you need to prepare.  Running preparation can be quite difficult but with a little determination, anything is possible.


Step 1:
  ENDURANCE: The ability to withstand hardship or adversity.
Start building up nice endurance.  If you've never ran before start by running 1-2 miles every couple of days and work up to running it almost every day.  If you have ran before run anyway from 3-5 miles almost every day.  Doing the occasional long runs (5-8 miles) will do more then you think.  Even just running one long run a week can help your body because you are pushing yourself farther then you do when you just do the "every day route".  Building up your endurance is one of the many key ways to get prepared for the competition you will be doing or even just trying to beat your personal time.


Step 2:
  CORE
Almost everyone wants to have a nice looking stomach, but think that unless they work EXTREMELY hard for a very long time they will never be able to achieve their goal of having that perfect "swimsuit" body.  Not true.  When running having a nice core just makes running easier (It helps get your knees up with out thinking about it, making it easier to go faster and go up hills).  There are some really easy ways to help you get your core stronger. For example: 
  My cross country coach made my team do a core workout at the end of every practice.  We would do these crunches where all we had to do was get our head off the ground, but believe me it's A LOT harder then it sounds. This was the workout: 
10 crunches with your legs straight out
10 with your legs Indian style
10 with your legs bent to the left
10 with your legs bent to the right
10 with your knees are bent up in the air (feet on the ground)
10 with feet crossed and in the air
10 with feet crossed and higher in the air
Then do it all again
That is just one of many ways to get your core in shape. If you decide to do those and it is to hard, you can cut the workout to 5 crunches each, or just one time through until your body is able to do the full workout. 
When I first started doing that workout last cross country season I thought I was going to die it was so hard, but within about a month it started getting really easy. Even if it isn't easy at first don't give up.


Step 3.
 Get faster. With the endurance that you have, and core strong getting faster won't be to hard with a little determination. Doing latter drills, 200-800 meter sprints, or whatever other speed drills that you do will make you a much better runner. Think about it; even if you cut off 20 seconds of your time, that is HUGE. 5 seconds could win you a race, think about what 20 seconds could do! Getting faster another key to be great.

These aren't all of things that you can do to prepare for your race (or whatever it is you are preparing for), these are just some of the most important. Just remember to never STOP working on these steps. When you finish running your long run, sprints, or whatever you ran you can go do core workouts. Don't skip doing workouts because you feel you are good enough.  Just keep on going and never lose determination.


To accomplish great things we must not only act, but also dream, not only plan but also BELIEVE!  <3 Anatole France


Champions do not become champions when they win the event, but in the hours, weeks, months, and years they spend preparing for it. The victorious performance itself is merely the demonstration of their championship character. <3 T. Alan Armstrong