Hello all, Grant Nykaza here from Beecher, Illinois about to write a little something to ya’ll about my season thus far. I came off a very well-rounded cross country season, having qualified to the Footlocker National meet twice and winning an individual cross country state championship. Jesse Owens once said, “We all have dreams. But in order to make dreams come into reality, it takes an awful lot of determination, dedication, self-discipline, and effort.” That is one of my favorite quotes because it truly explains the sport of running. In order to succeed, it is all up to you. You have a choice of how good you want to become. It just all depends of how much effort you want to put in to become a better athlete.
My training throughout track season has gone very well. I have been putting in a lot more work this year compared to other years. My mileage has increased and I also swim a few times a week for a little bit of extra upper body strength. The last four weeks of training I have been at about 55 miles per week. Two weeks ago from today I finally did my first workout of the season: 8 200’s- 4 400’s. Nothing too stressful but something to get my legs moving a little quicker. Running and swimming alone will not make you faster. I roll out my legs and stretch almost every time I get done running and ice whenever something is aching me. To me, being healthy is the most vital part about this sport. To reach your season goals, the only way to do so is staying healthy. It only makes sense, right? I would much rather be 100% healthy and 90% fit, than 100% fit and 90% healthy. Another thing I concentrate on is P90x. I do not perform each stage of the workout, I only do the shoulders, chest and back portion which mainly just focuses on pushups and pullups. Also, to become a better runner you must provide your body with the correct nutrients to rebuild your body up after a workout. The WORST thing I eat has to be total cereal. GROSS! I concentrate on those raw veggies! Ha.
Currently my season has started off very strong. I have only had one race which was on the 25th of February. I ran the race to have a seed time for the Arcadia meet out in Los Angeles. The interesting thing about my race was that I ran my 3200 in a 4x800 relay. Downers Grove South and Tony Jones set up everything for me so it could be considered as an FAT time. Big thank you to DGS for allowing me in their meet and TJ for setting it all up for me. Downers Grove South put on a great meet at North Central College in Naperville, Illinois. I was put in the first heat of the 4x800. My first 1600 was run at 4:39, being a little off of my goal pace of 9:15. I knew to get out to Arcadia I would have to run 9:15 or faster. I finished my last 1600 strong, negative splitting and running a 4:34 second 1600, and having a 9:14.3 as my final 3200 time. I was satisfied with my 9:14 because I have only ran three workouts to run that and of course the fact that it is only February. I know I have a lot of work to reach my season goals but I also do know I will do everything I can to stay healthy and train correctly to reach my season goal of running a sub 9:00 two mile.
With all this being said, I think it is time for me to get back to my school work! Talk to ya’ll in a week or so!
