Track Blog #1 – Back on Track

By Brenna Cohoon

It is hard to believe that I wrote my last blog over two months ago.  At that time, my cross-country season had just concluded.  I was in the midst of my brief break before starting up again to prepare for track.  I started training for this season early in the month of December, where we were spoiled with extremely mild temperatures, at least for the winter in the Chicago suburbs.  Although I would have loved to have a White Christmas, it was nice getting to run in shorts during the week leading up to winter break.

Training over break was relaxing.  It felt great to get in some solid miles without having much else to worry about for the remainder of the day.  It was almost like summer running. Well, except maybe a little colder.

2019 began in the blink of an eye, but before 2018 ended, I took the time to recall some of the best memories from the year, most of which came from running in some way or another.  The most important thing I gathered from each moment is that, quite simply, I learned a lot about myself. 

I learned to love the challenges that came with each race rather than always playing it safe and running in my comfort zone.  Taking risks allowed me to adjust my race plan so I could improve upon the things I could control.  I made the conscious decision to live by these lessons that I learned in this new year so I can continue to grow.

This new year not only brought new opportunities and a fresh start, but it also provided us with plenty of cold weather and snow.  As a distance runner, these wintery conditions are not necessarily ideal for training.  Throughout January, the roads got to be very icy and it was not safe to run outside every day.  

This resulted in completing quite a few of our runs on the third floor of our school, in the field house shared with three other teams, or on machines such as treadmills and ellipticals.  Again, this was not ideal, but my teammates and I dealt with the adversity, sporting a winning attitude.  No one complained, but rather, we saw these difficulties as a chance to get better.  The important thing was that we were still training to the best of our ability, so the most we could do was stay positive.

However, after dealing with all of the snow and ice, the extreme temperatures hit, causing us to stay inside for another couple of days.  School was cancelled, and so was practice.  I had to hold myself accountable in order to get my workout taken care of, whatever that may have been.  Running outside with a windchill that was 47 below zero did not seem like the wisest decision, so I focused on just staying consistent and following my training as closely as possible.  Some good music and plenty of optimism allowed me to power through the boredom of working out indoors. 

I was just itching to get back outside, so when the weather finally decided to cooperate, I thoroughly enjoyed getting a solid long run done on the roads.  Since then, the weather has definitely improved, but we are still faced with challenges every now and then, such as the snowfall that came over this past weekend.  It may now be the middle of February, but Mother Nature is still bringing us some lovely surprises, Midwestern style.

It can be a real struggle getting back into the swing of things and transitioning from cross country to track.  Clearly, challenging weather conditions can be an obstacle along that course.  Just starting to train again can be difficult.  For me, my mindset was something that I truly needed to focus on improving. 

I had worked so hard during the fall to strengthen my mental toughness, but it seemed as though much of that had disappeared those first few weeks back.  I had almost forgotten how to respond to adversity.  Instead of greeting it with a smile, I panicked a bit, fearing that the physical work I put in over the cross-country season had gone to waste after a brief break.  This break was supposed to help my body recover, after all, but I was worried that I should have done more to preserve my fitness.  I noticed this pattern in my thinking and related it back to my training in the fall.  There were definitely days where I did not feel super strong physically but thought nothing of it because I had so much belief in my abilities. 

I knew that I needed to change this thinking and turn things around.  I felt different because I hadn’t raced in so long, and competition is such a huge part of what motivates me and propels me forward.  I needed to improve my competitive mindset before actually competing again, so I used the tools that my coaches have taught me and implemented them in our workouts.  Since acknowledging what I needed to change, I have already felt much more confident.

I am certain that it helped me in my first race of the season on Saturday.

My team hosted a small quad meet where I was scheduled to run in the 800 Meter Run and 4x400 meter relay.  It was definitely more of a speed-focused meet in comparison to most meets, where I race in the 1600 Meter Run or the 3200 Meter Run.  I did not have a specific plan heading into my races. I just wanted to get a feel for the shorter distances after racing three miles during the cross-country season.  

I knew that I needed to begin by getting a strong start and continue by pushing my mental and physical limits rather than settling.  Last year, my first few races were extremely calculated.  I came up with splits for each 160 or 200 and hoped for the best.  That strategy did not seem to work very well. I ended up falling behind halfway through and never hitting the rest of my splits.

On Saturday, I wanted to finish my races and be proud of the effort I exerted.  The gun went off, each race began, and before I knew it, the races were over, too.  I was not scared to take a risk and push the pace.  I was secretly hoping to run my personal best in the 800 Meter Run but knew that would be difficult on our 160-meter track.  Nevertheless, I crossed the finish line and was shocked when the clock read 2:21.  My previous personal record was 2:23.20, which I ran in the 4x800 meter relay at Top Times my freshman year shortly after racing in the 3200 Meter Run. I was ecstatic, knowing that I accomplished this by running beyond my comfort zone!  Afterwards, the 4x400 meter relay was a way for us to really test our speed and have some fun. 

It is still so early in the season, though.  As happy as I am with Saturday’s results, I know that there is so much time left, and I need to continue taking things day by day.  Right now, I am incredibly proud of how my teammates have raced so far this season and cannot wait to see what these next few months will hold!

Photo Credit – ©2019 Catherine Cohoon