I want to get my speed back.

Growing up, I had always been the “athletic kid”. I was always one of the first people picked for games in recess. When I was three to nine years old, I did karate. After that I began to play basketball. In 7th grade, I focused on soccer. In soccer I wanted be a forward, the one who scores the goals, but that position requires you to be the one of the fastest on the pitch. So during the off-season, I worked on getting faster by doing speed drills and going to the track. My speed and overall fitness increased dramatically, and I was able to run two miles in 12 minutes flat.

After high school I decided to take my talents to the collegiate level and try out for the soccer team at CCBC Essex. I didn’t make the team, but I did get recruited from the tryout to join their cross country team. If you know anything about cross country, you know that it is a completely different ball game than soccer. Cross country focuses a lot more on endurance rather than short bursts of speed. Depending on the position, a soccer player could run as little as 2.5 miles, while a cross country runner runs 5 miles. 

Running cross country completely changed my training. Instead of running 3-5 miles during my training, I was running 7-12 miles. I found great success during my two years at CCBC Essex, winning the regional championship in 2018, and qualifying for nationals in 2018 and 2019. Now my cross country campaign is over, but I haven’t stopped running. 

My goal is to run a 60 second 400 meter. This means that instead of running long distance everyday, some days I’ll have to run 200 meters and another day I’ll run 2 miles. I will also need to wear a weight vest for my training, which causes the body to exert more force while running with it on, therefore making it easier to ru without wearing the vest. I will track my progress  each week and be sure that I’m doing a different track workout than the week prior.

I’ve had many people in the past ask me how do I do it? How do I willingly wake up and run everyday and push myself to go faster and faster? It’s really all just about gradually working towards the goal. When I set a goal, I don’t just go out and expect to do it the day I set the goal, I progress towards it. For example, if my goal is to run a 9 minute mile and I currently run an 11 minute mile, I’ll aim for a 10:30 mile and gradually work my way to a 9 minute mile. This also helps prevent injury.

By training to run a 60 second 400, I hope to translate my newly gained speed to my long distance running in the future. When colleges open their practices back up, I hope to join CCBC Essex for a few of their track workouts, to see if I’m able to keep up with my former cross country teammates who are now converting to track in the spring.