Now What?

As your entering your first or final year of college you may still be asking yourself, "What the heck do I want to do with my life?" At times you get nervous because you feel like you should have decided right now, or possibly what you've decided may be the wrong thing. Either way your carrying a lot of stress on your shoulders.

My first year of college I knew to a certain extent on what I wanted to do. But the same time, I wasn't opposed to other ideas. It seems to many that college is the time where you find out what you want to do for the rest of your life. For some people it is true. They wake up every day to the same job they love and do it for the rest of their lives. For others, it takes a couple different jobs to figure out what they really like.

Get involved around campus! Join different clubs that interests you and don't be opposed to new ideas. You could end up finding something that you really like. The more you get to actually know the type of work you will be doing, the better decision you can ultimately make in deciding if it's right for you. I have an internship with Northwestern Mutual this summer as a Financial Representative. Financial planning and advising was something that I have always wanted to get into so this internship seemed like the perfect fit.

I liked the overall idea about financial planning and advising. I've always been good at numbers and interacting with people and I wanted to become educated on how to advise people/ companies to spend money. What I completely disregarded is the other things that come with it! I mean this in both the good and the bad. At a young age I am fortunate to have learned to save money in the right places. However something I completely disregarded of this professional is other parts of the job that come with us. The rejection, calling on old-friends and people you do not know, endless hours of paper work, giving up your social life for the summer, dressing up and being professional every day.

What I'm recommending to you readers is this: 1. Keep an open-mind in what you do and other ideas 2. Research what you would like to have as your profession & 3. Take everything into account, even the minor details on the other details that go with your profession. If it were not for this internship I would have no idea of the reality of the challenges of this profession. You need to want it and work as hard as you can otherwise anything less will leave you feeling guilty. Go and talk with other people/parents that you know are in the profession you want to go to. Heck, even follow them around at their work for a day if they will let you! This will let you know exactly on what your in for. You don't want to have a job you know little about but know you want and than 3 months later decide you don't want to do it!

Look into new career opportunities with an open-mind and be active in clubs around campus that interest you. Don't be afraid to ask questions to your professors, club-members, friends, etc. about the profession you want to go into. Al these people want to see you achieve success in a job that you will know. After all, these people know you better than anyone and will let you know the career that they could see you doing. So look into what you want to do, research it, experiment it with an intern/job, and talk to as many people as you can who are in that profession. Go to college this fall with an open-mind and find out what the heck you really do want to do with your life.

Once in a Kansas Summer

Talk about nice! With a temperature in the mid-80s here in Kansas City, people on their most tired day can find energy to enjoy this weather. After weeks and weeks of being abused by 100 plus degree days, today is a day to rejoice. Rain or Shine any runner can appreciate this weather. Today is a day of no excuses, no treadmills, no alternative workout, no P90x (even though its rips you to shreds), just go out and run! Normally 80 degrees isn’t something to be too happy about but it’s like running in 60 degrees elsewhere. I remember this track season after winning the 1500 hundred at our home meet in high 80 degree temperatures I was in the training tent for an hour with ice all over my body. Not today people, today’s mindset is set to get as much work at a high quality level as I can. Summer in Kansas doesn’t come up with many of these days so I will be enjoying the rainy, storm brewing breeze during my workout this evening.. What kind of work will you be doing today?

Little Things for Healthy Running

Do your legs/feet ever feet tight? in pain? sore? Regardless, there are two things that every runner should do: 1) Foam roll and 2)Ball roll feet). preventing injuries to your IT bands, calves(shin spints), and Plantar Fasciitis(feet). Part of being a good runner is being able to take care of your body. The more consistent you are in your training the better runner your going to be. Doing the little things right is always important and is something that all serious athletes do. Sometimes the difference between a good runner and great runner is minor details(especially in highschool). So here I will try to give you some tools to help you make yourself a consistent runner prime for improvement.

Before running at Kansas State I never really knew foam rolling could benefit my running. I was always a very good stretcher, normally staying an hour later than everyone else just stretching and talking strategy with my coach. I have always been extremely flexible yet still have had issues with my my hip flexers, lower back, and IT bands. My first year at KSU I quickly learned that on top of stretching and icing after a run foam rolling is key to improve muscle recovery, flexibility and health. I started using the cheap foam rollers that school provided but after a couple of weeks they became indented with overuse and not as sturdy as before, so I decided to invest in this one here- TriggerPoint GRID - Revolutionary Foam Roller - Black-this foam roller has allowed me to remain healthy and consistently run at a high level.It has a sturdy build with comfortable material that doesnt dent, bend, or wear. You probably wont enjoy using a roller at first as it is painful and tough to get used to but overtime your muscle gets stronger and more healthy, making this running tool very useful and a joy to use when working out kinks, aches, and pains.

2) Ball rolling: this is a technique where you you a small golf ball, baseball, etc to work the muscles in your feet. While standing, take off your shoes and place a golf ball on the floor. With the middle of your foot placed on top of the ball, put pressure on that foot and move your foot around having the ball massage your foot. This is something that you wont have to purchase becuase you can use any type of round object. Ball rolling will majorly reduce your chances of getting an injury to your feet. Your feet take a beating daily, so treating them to a massage is something to do before and after they go through the daily beating of long miles and workouts. Heathly feet is key to being a healthy runner, especially after getting on the track with spikes. Ball rolling is an ideal way for runners to go out and enjoy pain free runs.

There are many ways to go about being a healthy, injury free runner. From stretching to icing, foam roalling to ball rolling, doing these little things daily will help you see a dramatic difference in how your body feels on not just daily runs, but workouts and races as well. Hope this helps!

Summer: A Time For Resting?

Summer: A Time For Resting?

It’s easy to get caught up in the vacation part of summer and tell yourself, “I’ll just work out tomorrow.” After all you do have twice the amount of time on your hands and your schedule is generally not too busy. It’s easy to go a week or two without training or any form of physical activity. It doesn’t seem like it will hurt you because let’s face it, your friends aren’t working out so why should you?

As much as we like to hit the beach or hang out with our buddies, it’s important to remember that we are training for the start of the season. The work ethic you put into training during the summer will carry over into the season and you will be more ready that ever. However let me clarify on something: I’m not telling you to work out 6 hours a days/ 7 days a week. What I’m simply saying is, develop yourself during the summer and complete whatever the coach assigns you to full completion. If you wear yourself out too much this summer, you will be gassed out when the season starts and that's not the goal. Work on the areas you know that you have to improve on.

What do you need work on? Put your ego aside for a second and ask yourself, “What are 2-3 things I really need to work on?” After brainstorming and answering your own question (I recommend not doing this in public by the way), ask a former teammate for their honest opinion as well. Once these 2-3 things have been established, research whatever it is and read more about it. People learn things in many different ways and it may be easier to have a coach tell you what to do, but reading it allows for it to register in a part of your brain that you may have not picked up from just physical activity. Also, watch the best of the best. Learn from them and try to pick out what they’re doing and apply it. Once the summer ends and you see yourself improving, you will be that much further ahead when the season starts.

So for the rest of the summer take into account what you need to work on and work on it! You will see yourself ahead of the game when the season starts. Try to dedicate at least 3-4 days of working out. Whether it be weights, plyo's running, whatever! Just do what you can to make sure you are becoming stronger and improving yourself in the areas you need work on.

That's all I got folks. Hopefully it was somewhat inspirational and informative. The season's coming up soon so start putting in the work now!

Derek

Remember the Perfect

I’m standing at the free-throw line, imagining my favorite basketball player, throwing the ball out a couple of feet with some backspin. I stare up at the rim and give it my best heave. *Brick*. My dad turns to me out on the driveway, shakes his head and says, “quit doing all that excessive crap, keep it simple, 2 dribbles, a deep breathe, and IMAGINE yourself making the shot.” After disagreeing and trying to prove him wrong, I watched him make 88 free-throws in a row. I then decided to take his word for it. I lined to shoot again, followed pops orders, and swished my first shot. My dad continued, saying I needed to remember how the last one felt because it was perfect; always remember how those feel. This concept worked for me when I was playing basketball. It was a great technique which probably improved my free-throw percentage dramatically. Recently however I use it in my running.

You are not always going to have a perfect race, but you might have some moments. I have tried to remember those perfect moments when I am racing. I use workouts, races, long runs... Any reminder of a time when you felt you were strong, in control, and able to react to any move being made. The visualization technique is a huge help for me especially when I am in a new situation against guys that are most likely more skilled and experienced than me. I try to look back on my “moments” during a race and use them to help me win a race or improve a personal record. There are many types of strategies and techniques that racers use, but visualizing, and remembering those perfect moments works well for me... What about you?

Trick or Treat... No Candy, Just Success

October 31st, 2011.... Most people recognize this date with the holiday Halloween. Cross Country runners, however, know this as championship season. Whether I am in high school or college, this weekend is something I have looked forward to since my sophomore year in high school. Right now it falls around the same time as Big XII Championships, while high schooler's have STATE. This weekend should be on your mind year round. Either your gearing up to be in tip-top shape, or your preparing, training, and setting goals for this weekend.

These championship caliber meets is what sports are all about. It is a showcase of the best talent, and the best teams around competing to be top dogs. If that doesn't get you excited, if you don't get chills thinking about "nerd-bombing", a phrase coined by Jason Collette referring to eating people up the last moments of the race, and if you don't have this weekend as a major part of your goals then your not wanting to be the best. I have learned that the best runners are the ones who are consistently thinking about how they are going to get better and beat their competition in the big meets. When every coach are trains you for your final meet, its important that you use each race, long run, interval as a stepping stone in preparation for you to be your best when it counts.

These summer months seem like an eternity to me. I live and die on the competition aspect of our sport. I can't say I absolutely love going out and running day in and day out, but I sure as hell love how running is the purest form of competition. Your going to be as good as you allow yourself to be. The only time I enjoy running is when I know that I am getting better each day, so when I have days off I feel like a lazy shit. I find it important that each day your doing something harder or better than anyone else is. Running is mental, so if you go out each day with the mindset, "I am going to get better today", then when race day comes around you will know your ready.

I think in order to be one of the best runners its all about planning to succeed. I have found I have my best seasons when I set high goals for myself, including times or places that may seem a bit out of reach. But these goals give me something I know I have to work hard for each day.  By setting goals primarily for the big meets I allow myself time to understand my racing techniques, and to come to terms with my capabilities. No one cares about small meets. No one cares if you got 1st or 48th in the first meet of the season. Everything comes down to whether or not your ready to compete when everything is on the line. Keep that in mind these summer months as school is on its way and cross country comes rolling in! What kind of goals are you striving for this season? What are you doing now to be ready this fall?

Kyle

All Your Questions Answered

So I'm sure there's a bunch of questions going on over there: What's track like in college? What should we expect? How much do you train? And how am I going to compare to other athletes on the team? I'm going to do the best I can to answer all of those questions and give you a little taste of what my first year in collegiate track was like for me.

To be honest, I had no idea what to expect entering the first practice. By now I knew a few kids on the team, so we were all comfortable around each other but we were all really looking forward to see how everyone would perform. You hear about these athletes in high school and how phenomenal they are and now you are at practice with them. Pretty cool. The environment on the track is more competitive than any meet you have been to in high school, that's for sure. Some words of advice: Don't try to compare yourself to everyone in everything you do. You will drive yourself crazy and often times be faced with failure that you may or may not have experienced before in high school. I found myself always looking to compare myself to others and if I didn't do well than I would get extremely frustrated. Now don't get me wrong, I am all about friendly competition amongst teammates, however, I think that for the first few weeks don't find yourself getting caught up too much into it because you will improve more in a year than you will ever know.

You will finding yourself lifting more weights in a week than you do a year in high school. Weights is a big thing. With the track season being close to 9 months long, we become more injury prone and one of the best ways to prevent injuries is by lifting weights to make us stronger and less injury-prone. One suggestion for the summer: LIFT WEIGHTS! LOT'S OF THEM! As much as we love the beach body, unfortunately with track, a lot of those lifts are useless for the sport. Instead of curls, bench, and sit-ups, I would try doing some cleans, squats, snatches. Yes, I know, every one's favorite lifts. You actually begin to like them. But don't get too excited, it wasn't until the second year until I started liking them myself. :)

Now training folks, depending on where you go is 4-6 days a week! Most of the times you get Sunday's as your only day off. Pretty exciting right :) After the second week your body will get into a routine of going to practice and lifting weights. Just to let you guys know- it's a long season! I mean in Minnesota our season is quite pathetic. It's 8-10 weeks long, usually there's snow on the ground until the end of April, and it's very hard to perform at your best because the weather is unpredictable. Thank God for indoor track though! Usually the first indoor track meet will be sometime around the middle of December. I'm not a mathematician or anything but I'm pretty sure that's 3 months 4 months for those who start in August of training before any more at all. Pace yourself because the season is long!

Overall, the first year of track for me was great. The season was crazy long but I loved every day of it. At times you may find yourself getting disinterested and that's why I'm going to advise all of you to find a person in your event group that can be your accountability partner. This person should always have your best interest and mind and you guys should push to beat each other in any way you can. It's important to remember too, that every day you should work to get better while taking all the advice you can. There's going to be a million things being said to you your first year. Turns out guys, you may not have as good of technique and form as you thought you did. Constant adjustments will be made in your running, event, weights, etc. Just keep an open mind and remember that your coaches got where they are for a reason. If you're someone like me and may not have the greatest running form or lifting technique- ask for help!! That's what the coaches are there for. If you continue to go about doing things the same way you may injure or hurt yourself. Learn the right way the first time, it's easier that way.

Well that's all I got for ya. Work hard this summer because the indoor season will be here in no time!