Hello Flrunners! As always hope everyone is having a great season thus far and continues to as the season progresses. There have been some pretty impressive performances all throughout Florida and everyone is really showing that distance running in Florida is one to be reckoned with. Congrats to all the runners who each week continue to excel and truly show their passion for running.
Some of you might be wondering why I have not raced yet. Unfortunately I have been plagued with a reaction in my right leg. My body, in the most unkind way, told me I needed to rest and recover. Having dealt with previous serious injuries, I have learned the importance of listening to your body and knowing when to stop. Thankfully nothing is broken, but I still have to take full precautions until I am fully healed and ready to roll! I will be taking a few weeks off from running and in the mean time working on things to help me be stronger than ever when I get back. My schedule now consists of water running/biking twice a day and a lot of core work and strength training. Since I’m cross training I am using some of the muscles that I do not use that much in running. I have been EXTREMELY sore!
It is rough to watch the season pass by and not being able to compete just yet, but I have come to learn that there are ups and downs of being an athlete. As long as you learn from what happened and try to improve then everything will work out in the end. I have learned a lot about my body and still probably have more to learn. I am now able to work on things to help me be a better runner later on in college and hopefully in a post collegiate career. I am also blessed that nothing severe happened and this is one of the minor bumps that leads to greater things.
The Maclay Marauders never cease to impress me though. I am more and more proud of them each and every day. I would like to point out some very impressive performances from both the girls and the guy’s side of the team. The varsity team competed at Pensacola this past weekend. The top finisher from Maclay was Kristin Sweeney who placed 10th. Our young eighth grader Caroline Willis also did an outstanding job. Watch out for her this season and in the seasons to come.
(Photo by Doug Covert)
(Photo by Doug Covert)
Okay, I would like to talk about a little guy named Jake Mazziotta. He is currently an eighth grader and he definitely shows what a true hard worker is. Jake as a seventh grader had a PR of 20:07 for 5k. Take a look at this progression.... 18:27, 18:00, 17:55. Those are the times he has run this year for a 5k, in that order. He just keeps getting faster and everyone is so excited to see what he has in store. I can't even put it into words how dedicated he is and he is really developing into one heck of a distance runner.
Some other Marauders who did not attend the Pensacola meet competed in Bainbridge, Georgia. I was able to attended this meet and help out with the team a little. The one lady that really shows dedication is my fellow senior teammate, Kristen Fontella. She is an amazing soccer player and runner, but due to a soccer accident, Fontella (as I normally call her) was out for quite some time. It took a lot of patience and recovery from her to even think about running again. She really has shown a lot of dedication and mental toughness. She is now back and running and playing soccer.This past weekend she set a PR by over a minute, and continues to show how much stronger she has gotten. Kudos to her, and I can’t wait to see what the future has in store for her. I guess what I am trying to say by sharing these amazing stories is that Maclay is truly a hard working team. Whatever comes our way, we are able to overcome it and stay positive.
That is it for now; I will let you all know how my recovery and training is progressing.
Happy Running and God Speed!