Hey Florida Runners! Summer has ended unfortunately, but that just means one step closer to the racing season! I'm still getting adjusted to running in the heat of the afternoon, but thankfully the recent storms has allowed the first two weeks of training to be in relatively nice weather. We have been focusing alot on hill work. Definitely more than I have ever done. Our team went to the UF football stadium one day to run up and down the steps. Probably one of the most pain full workouts I have ever done. Other than hill work we have been trying to get off the pavement and run on some trails, especially for longer runs. Since P.K. doesn't have a track we do our workouts usually on the roads or a some grass fields located on campus.
September 1st I had my first race which was a small time trail in town. While on the line I read my team a quote that said "Fear cannot be without hope nor hope without fear." It's a little something I started this year in hopes of inspiring and getting everyone pumped up on the line, and it seemed to work really well. The course was very muddy and wet, due to the recent storms, but that's what cross country is all about. My team had a few new runners make varsity for the first time, and I am honored to spend my senior season with them. They are all incredible runners with bright futures.
My team and I will be running the Lecanto Invitational and at Alligator Lake in the upcoming weeks. I have never raced at Lecanto, but it seems like a great course and I'm excited to run on a course that I have never raced before. I'm really looking forward to some of the bigger races this season such as FSU and flrunners. Although they are a few weeks away I can't seem to take them off my mind. I'm so excited the racing season has started. Aside from running school is....school like usual, but I am taking classes at the University of Florida and at my high school, so it keeps me on my toes and keeps my schedule pretty busy. My sister also just left to Italy to be a foreign exchange student for her entire junior year. It's really different not having her there at my races, and I'm sure our girls team misses her just as much as I do.
Anyways, I hope everyone has a great week of training and racing.