boy does it rain here…wednesday looks great!
another good day 
it rained all morning but got warm and nice out in the afternoon, so I got my picture taken for the paper 
then did 2x200, 2x150, 2x40 barefoot strides in grass, then an upper lift. I took a little extra time stretching, but it was a pretty quick day since we have comp tommorow.
my back is acting up a little, so I will have to pay the chiropractor a visit sometime this week. otherwise I have a little shin irritation, but it is just a little sore on top, not like before when it was on the inside and unbearably painful… the massage moved a lot of that stuff around i guess. hamstring feels great!
the college business is completely agonizing, but I’m thinking right now I’m going to go williams. I know amherst is not right for me, but middlebury is very very tempting, i loved it a lot… however I think that had quite a bit to do with my “special friend” who goes there. I have an ex who is not exactly an ex- he is definitely still more than a friend :o but I feel like it would be dangerous to have that be a factor in choosing a school, because if things didn’t work out I would still be there and there’s no way of knowing how much i’d like it- since at this point it’s impossible to separate the two. I still have a few days to think it over so my deposit hasn’t gone out yet, so we’ll see what happens.
i also just figured out that AP tests go on for the next couple of weeks; luckily i don’t have any on the same day as competitions, but it’s still an energy drain… lots of studying, lots of sleeping, lots of bananas- somehow i thought it would be a good idea to take 5 of them, i must be insane.
Williams has a great strength coach / track coach in Fletcher Brooks.
I have heard wonderful things about Fletch…
Today I went to the chiropractor in the morning, who did all kinds of happy things… he cracked my neck and my back, and did ART for my lower back and some on my piraformis to keep the sciatic (sp?) nerve from getting pinched… also stretched out my quad which was really tight. It felt really nice, although my quads did end up a little woozy during the meet.
Meet-wise I was perfectly satisfied, I didn’t have any PR’s, but that tells me that my training is working as it should and I am training through these meets at the level I am meant to. I have faith in my coach, the PR’s will come after the next couple of weeks when we shift our lifting and workouts to comp phase. That having been said, I coasted a 48.3 in the 300h, (taking first my more than 3 seconds ) The psychological stress of competing against my teammate last year must have been having a huge effect on me, because last year I would have died running a 48. This time I went out solid into the wind stayed steady, and held my form together… I never shifted into high gear because I made up the entire stagger within the first 100 and was running entirely alone- having someone running with me is what will get me to run as fast as I really ought to have done today, and what will eventually get me down to the 45’s and 44’s. When I finished I was tired of course, but I recovered REAL fast, so I think I have another notch to pick up there.
Long jump was sort of crappy in distance, but I jumped directly after running, and everyone was jumping way under their PR’s… maybe the wind? I don’t know, but I won that by 11 inches so the job got done. Same kind of story with high jump- I jumped high enough so that my teammate and I could go 1-2, and left it at that for now. 100h my quads were feeling shaky and the race felt sort of clumsy… it wasn’t bad, but it wasn’t good either, it was just sort of a race to get the job done, seems like the theme for this meet. I ran 15.8 to win, which I suppose is a good starting point- my PR is 15.3, and my first race last year was something atrociously worse than that, and I’m hoping to get under 15 before all is said and done. I guess it’s been a while since I’ve run a hurdle race, it didn’t feel smooth at all, ew 
My body felt pretty good though and it still feels good for the most part, not much tweakiness. Next comp is saturday night, pray for warm weather!
44? What will your coach do for training near mid to late may? What things in practice must be done for the Speed Endurance? What splits are needed? What about the jumps?
What about the highs? Good job…the ART was great for long term safety…better to be a bit flat today then ripping something next wednesday against your next foes…
Assuming you’re local, what town is the chiro located in?
He is great…
He even offered to come out to Williams to treat me before big meets- he’s incredibly effective and he really knows what he’s doing.
Does he work out of The Dedham Health and Athletic Club?
No, I think the office is called Back and Neck Pain Relief Center…? The sign outside has it just pain relief center.
Heavy work today…
-Came in feeling a bit flat from the meet, so for 200 repeats coach told me to go out nice and slow at 35… so I went out quick but not pushing and felt like I had taken it down a notch, but came through at 30 and was really surprised since it didn’t feel that fast.
-took 2 seconds off the second 200 (as instructed) and came through at 28.
-4x150: these were meant to be at pace for 300h, so coach told me 23, but I ran them in 20, 21, 21 21 not really on purpose, but I felt like I needed to be going faster. (All this was done with walk back rest)
-4x40 strides, 2 of them were handoffs
-THEN, heavy lower lift: 3x6 cleans @85, 3x8 everything else; squats@185, lunges at 50 (heavy weight irritates the knees) and step-ups @75.
I left feeling quite a bit more flat. 
The quad that did NOT get ART yesterday is a little woozy. I remember once when my quads were in spasm and I can’t remember exactly what it felt like to touch, but I wouldn’t be surprised if it was something like this.
Off to do a long and thorough stretch… getting ready for somewhat easy comp on saturday night: high jump, trials and finals of 100m hurdles, and 4x100.
Oh and P.S.- I am officially a member of the Williams College class of 2008!
yesterday was a little TOO hard… feeling a bit flat which is normal, but some soreness and irritation in both hamstrings, woozy quads :rolleyes:
-20 minute tempo run: 30s on, 30s off, pretty easy pace, 60 or 70%… felt AWESOME, I really needed it
-4 quick handoffs, then lifted lats and bench before I had to leave
My lower body is definitely feeling the effects of yesterday, I think I am going to stretch and take an ice bath tonight.
Also, weirdly, I forgot to eat lunch…? I came home to eat but got distracted and left before practice where my stomach started growling… I NEVER forget to eat! I am obsessed with food and I generally eat extremely clean and well, but I am thinking that perhaps I am not eating enough. My ribs, shoulder blades, hip bones, and collarbone are kind of sticking out and I haven’t gotten my period for 3 months… this could just be stress, because i skip more often than not, but still- can’t ever be too vigilant.
now my OTHER hamstring is shot to hell… to a lesser degree, but still.
ice bath felt real nice only after everything went numb… i couldn’t stop shaking for a while after i got out, so it must have been cold enough.
Your signature states: LA JOIE NE VIENT JAMAIS -in English: “The joy never comes.” I would like you to know that joy does come, but only in bits and pieces…
Like the comedian Denis Leary once said… “Happiness people is a cigarette, a chocolate chip cookie, or an orgasm…after the moment is gone we all have to wake up and go to work.”
Best wishes to you in your future endeavors!
thanks…
I don’t intend to sound so negative all the time… sometimes I am happy too!
On the contrary, I think you are a positive person. I’ve been keeping up with your journals and you seem to be positive, and hardworking. Just thought I’d cheer you up a little 
very weird meet tonight…
My right hamstring was really unhappy even after I did all I could to help it. I took an ice bath last night, got up and did a warmup and stretched this morning and iced it again, and it still was giving me problems. I high-jumped first and my steps were really inconsistent, partly due to a HUGE HUGE headwind, so I jumped well enough to qualify for states and no better, which is not saying much for me.
Then ran the 100h trial into the ridiculous wind, which was not fun, and I got into this really odd frame of mind where I completely lost focus and didn’t care about the meet for a while and just felt sorry for myself because of my leg. Then I got over it right before the hurdle final which went much better… I beat everyone out of blocks and over the first two hurdles and then landed off balance over the third and was neck and neck with Carr the entire race and got outleaned at the end. (I dusted mcfarlane, and everyone else ) I’m not even sure what the time was, all the times were really really slow because of the wind, but had it been a still night, it would have been an awesome time. Then finished up with a 4x100- I left early and had to almost stop for the handoff, but still passed everyone on the curve, and our team won.
My hamstring is still alive.
sort of felt you’d choose the purple cow.
Great school and good folks. Make sure you get everything you both want and need from them and the 4 years.
Good luck the rest of the spring and see you on the circut next winter.
Honestly it was a much harder choice than I thought it would be…
But when it came down to it, I didn’t want to have a boy influence my choice of schools, and it would have been hard to turn down a 90% scholarship :eek:
Best of luck with your season and hopefully I will be able to meet you next year!