The Unknown

When it is officially off-season and the 9 months of competing are over, what are the track athletes supposed to do?  How do they stay in shape?  After the last meet of the season athletes typically get a couple of weeks off, which is a nice time for us to relax from traveling, competing, and studies.  But directly afterwards its right back to the pavement to prepare for the fall… Cross Country.

If you are like me you will have a summer job to make money for personal expenses, and school. You most likely live in a hot and humid climate and hate running at any time of the day because its hot no matter what! Now if you’re not from the Midwest, you might not realize the excessive heat and humidity that is a daily occurrence here in Kansas City but running past 7 a.m. is a nightmare. That’s where the dilemma shows up. Do you wake up at 5 am, knock out your 10 mile run, and make it back to shower, change, and drive thirty minutes to make your 8-5 job? Or do you bear the heat?

I have become the guy who runs directly after work, in the full 100 degree temperatures, getting my work in with the mind-set of trying not to pass out. Yeah ill end up on the treadmill a couple of times, which isn’t too bad if you’re watching the series modern family, psych, or God forbid the Royals. I have found the grind from running everyday does take a toll on my legs, so I rely on the treadmill more often than not. Which, by the way, is a great tool for picking a pace to run at and being forced to stick to it!   My old high school coach always told me that the hardest part about running  is walking out the front door. This statement could not be more true, especially when I am stuck running by myself the entire summer.  After being at work for 9 hours and having approximately an average of 5-6 hours of sleep, the only thing that gets me out the door is the “unknown”.

The “unknown” to me is a lot of things. The unknown of what kind of shape I am in, vs what I should be in. The “unknown” on what shape my teammates are in, cause everyone who is a competitor wants to be the best, same team or not.  But most of all the "unknown" of my competition. In order “to keep on keepin on”, I have to convince myself that there are other athletes working their ass off thinking the same thing.  Each day when I head home from my 8-5, I am not thinking work is over, but it has just begun.

What gets you out the front door? Do you wake up in the morning to workout or  do you value your sleep? Keep on Running!

Kyle

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