Handing off

I find handing on of of the other things that is hardest to do in track. it all depends on what person you are handing off to. with every person if you are receiving the baton it will be different steps that you will have to take. When receiving a baton you have to mark your steps on when to take off in time to get the hand off perfect. usually depending on your foot size and how fast the incoming person is. for the normal person they usually take fifteen steps out from where they stand to get the baton. then go back and stand in your spot...once your team mate comes in and hits the line where you marked your steps. then you run they will catch up and you have the baton! off you go!

Another thing you have to get right when handing off is getting your arm in the right position for receiving the baton. it is one of the hardest things to perfect. most people do something called bobbing for the baton. that is when you move your arm up and down when trying to get the baton from the other person handing off. it makes it almost impossible to hand the baton of when they do that!

handing off is one of the most important parts in a relay. if you mess up on hand off your whole team could lose because of that. or if you were to drop the baton on a hand off you would be disqualified from the race. And let me tell you from experience it sucks to have that happen to you!

Shoes

There are many different types of shoes that you can wear when running track. it all depends on what type of events you usually run in. There are very many different types of shoes and brands of spikes and shoes you have to choose from.

When running distances your choices for shoes would be regular running shoes or a pair of long distance running spikes. The spikes for distance are a little different then you might think. They are very light weight and the spikes on them a different too. The spikes general are not as long and there are only five spikes. compared to a sprinters spikes with eight. Long distance spikes also have a heal to them...this helps support their feet more when running. Sprinters don't need a heal on their shoe because you don't run on your heals. You usually run on the front third of your foot.

When choosing what spikes to get you should go for the lightest pair you can buy. The lighter the better. It will make it feel like you are not even wearing anything on your foot and make you fly right across the track. Another thing to look for when finding the right spikes is make sure they are plastic on the bottom of the shoe...you don't want them to be able to bend in half. that can actually slow you down. you want the type that supports your foot and can make you the best you can be.

Technique

i can not even list how many different things there are that you need to work on when trying got run correctly...I will list some examples for you so you can get the gist of what i am talking about.

• driving with your feet
• moving your arms correctly
• breathing
• body position
• how to finish
• starting off right

so that is just some examples. I can tell you some times it is very hard to break that old habit and make it a new one. Correcting someone and how they were running before is one of the most difficult things that you will go though in track training. from a personal experience i have been training for about 2 months now and I am still trying to perfect my starts which at some point seems almost impossible to me. But i know that if I keep working on it one day I will have it down to a perfection!

To do things right you will need to have lots a Patience. With driving your feet you really need to push them into the track and keep them lower to the ground. It may sound like something that is easy but trust me you don't realize you are doing it until it i s pointed out to you. With driving your feet the right way starting can be similar. you need to feel your back foot and really exploding out of them! One important thing to do is keep your head down. you are not going to be looking up right away. Also make sure your body doesn't go straight up once you get out...that will make you significantly slower, gradually move so you are standing right. you shouldn't be standing up until about 50 meters into the race.

The Mind

I think to play any sport you have to be mentally strong enough. There are many different things that people really don't think about when they think of sports and just playing them. typically you would just think of the physical part and how strong you have to be to play. yes you do how to be physically strong that is very important but you can be strong but everything can be ruined if you mind is not in the right place or thinking the right thing. But being mentally prepared for "the big game" or the qualifying race can play a big part in how you perform that day. Just for not being in the right mind state or over thinking things can make you lose that race or the big game. there is a lot more to being able to be in sports then you really think.

When thinking before my races I get to thinking about my running forms and if I am going to beat the people standing next to me. Most of the time i like to tell myself that i can beat them and it is going to be no problem, but i know sometimes that is not the best way to think. You have to know that you are going to have to work for what you want. If you want to get first place you will have to push yourself and get that first place. When running your race or playing that game you can't over think everything because if you were to think to much you can't concentrate on one thing that you need to really focus on. for example before i go out to run my race i say to myself that i really need to push myself out of the blocks and just go! If i think that's and have a good start usually i do most of the other things right...like not standing up right away or moving my arms across my body instead at the sides. You have to clear your mind of everything that happened that day or everything personal. and just focus on that one thing that will make you do better overall. Another thing you have to think of mentally is not over thinking the people you are about to compete against. when going out on to the track and thinking it is going to be no problem and I could take everyone on the track would not be right for me to think...Just by doing that i would go out and not run my hardest because I would be telling myself that it is no problem and i don't have to work as hard. You may not know it but the mind plays a bigger role int hings than you would think!!

You should always work as if you were running or playing against the world camp!

Workouts

Have you ever just had that feeling where you know that you have to go do something and you really just don't want to do it? well i get that feeling a lot before i am going to workout. I dread getting my workout clothes on when i know what is coming for me. I don't want to walk on the track knowing that a very hard, intense workout is coming for me. And then during that workout you start to feel like crap and you are not going to be able to complete the whole thing...i feel that everyday! But five minutes after running you start to feel great and that you just accomplished something really big.

I have the feelings like that every day...when i hear that the work out is going to be a latter being running a 300 250 150 100 and 50 meter with only walking back being your rest period...my brain starts to think everything negative that I possibly can. But now add on a mile cool down run. afterwards...that mile workout is probably going to be someones walking passe is what I am thinking. Every time i start thinking like this i know that i shouldn't. A lot of doing all sports is the mind setting you put yourself in. If you are thinking that you are going to lose or your going to die at the work out you most likely will lose and not do so good on your workout. Thinking positive and above what you really can do is one of the best things you can do. By thinking this you might be able to accomplish something that you never thought you would be able to.

that's is all for now! more about this on the next post...be ready!!!

relay

I think doing sports as a kid is one of the best ways to meet people and make friends. Playing soccer and running track was one of the best things i did as a little kid.

now doing track in high school has brought me very close my of the girls on the team. There are three different relay teams that I run. On relay teams there are always four different girls that run the relays. With having the relay teams it is a great way to get close to people. You are always with the people on the relays...perfecting your hand offs, making sure you have the right steps down and most importantly not dropping the baton. All of thoughts steps are very important when running a relay. if you were to mess up your steps and go to early the whole entire race would be messed up. And if the baton were to be dropped you would be disqualified from the whole race. which that would suck very much especially if it were at state or a very important race that you were trying to qualify for something.