Saturday, January 4, 2014

Stress

     Everybody has it in some amount. Everyone has to deal with it. But how? Several studies have shown that running/jogging helps relieve this stress. I agree 100% with these results, and I'm sure any other runners would too.

     At the beginning of the season, running was probably the cause of my stress. It wasn't that I hated doing it or anything but the coach made us have practice before school, after school, on weekends, and I never got a break. Homework drove me insane and I broke down crying trying to figure out a simple math problem. But like they say, times do get better. I guess I just finally got used to everything being so hectic in my life and I stopped worrying about not being able to complete things. The first period of time I stopped running, I started getting so much more stressed. I felt like homework was coming in from everywhere, and to top it all off my English teacher never gave me an A on my papers. Honestly, not even once. I'm a little bitter. But anyway, I realized that when I actually ran it got my mind off of so many things I didn't even know were there.

     There will always be problems in your life and obstacles you have to overcome, but running can make them seem more bearable. I don't really believe in taking any medication to relieve stress because it just makes you fat and sad. Doctors should prescribe exercise, not Prozac.

     When I run, I feel that I could finally think. Sometimes I bring along my iPod, but when I don't it's like the whole world just quieted down. Us human beings and especially us high school students are constantly  spending time with other people, laughing loudly, listening to lectures, blaring music! But sometimes you just have to get away from it all for thirty minutes.

     If I'm ever mad, I always want to punch something. I've broken a few walls because of this, and now I just wonder why I didn't just go for a run. Your feet hitting the pavement is a much better way to deal with anger than punching walls. When you run, your mind clears out and your body does whatever it wants. It's a lot better than seething all alone in an empty room.



Thanks for listening guys, if you're ever feeling stressed out, go out and run!

Song of the week:

HardCORE!

     Yes, winter break has started and I'll just be completely honest with you guys. I haven't run in like FOREVER. I am so deeply ashamed of myself but gosh darn I've been incredibly lazy. Granted I had the flu for a while and could barely get out of bed, I still should've probably done some core work. So training starts NOW! Even though there's only two more days of winter break... No better time than the present right?

     An important lesson I just learned is to never put things off. Back on the first few days of break, I thought to myself, "Oh yeah! I have tons of time left to workout I'll do it later." Well, that never happened. I just kept indulging in more and more holiday food. But hey, what's done is done. I'm just begging all of you to never be like me, so start going out and jogging or at least core work!

     I actually really like core because I could do it inside where I won't freeze off my limbs. It's also really fun to mix up all the workouts and junk. Now I'm just going to share some of my lovely workouts with the rest of you.

    First major thing to do is crunches! Woo-hoo! These are relatively simple because you just lay on the ground with your knees bent like you would do a sit-up but instead you just lift your shoulder blades off the ground. I usually do 30 regular crunches, 20 crunches with your legs laying down sideways to work your obliques, and 10 with your legs up at a 90 degree angle. Around 4 sets of these and you're all set.

     Next, are planks! If you don't know what a plank is then it's basically being in a push up position but on your elbows and staying like that. For these, I either do 45 second repetitions or I challenge myself and see how long I could stay up for. The longest I've hit so far was 8 minutes I believe and after that you sort of drain yourself of any ambition you had left. You could do back-planks, front-planks, side-planks, or front-planks!


     Even though everyone hates them, push-ups are good for you. I'll admit, I can barely do five without having my arms begin to shake uncontrollably, but that won't stop me from trying! I do at least 5 push-ups in between every repetition for crunches. Therefore, I'm doing them, but they're not so concentrated that I end up breaking both my arms.


     Finally, lunges! These are really good for your legs, but I find them extremely difficult. At cross country, our coach made up this thing called the "lunge-matrix." It consists of eight forward lunges, eight side lunges, 8 back lunges, and eight more side lunges. The numbers are interchangeable but that's our basic routine. I think it's a pretty good workout and I recommend you guys to try it!

I'll definitely be doing more core-work blog posts, but for now it's goodbye! I wish you all the best!

Song of the week:

A Runner's Christmas Wishlist

     As the holidays are approaching, I'm sure everyone is desperately trying to come up with some kind of fantastic gift idea that will totally impress your friends and make them love you. Speaking from experience, I know this is a tough thing to do at most times, which is why I'm here to help you (when it comes to your runner buddies that is). Although I have no idea what you should get your 93 year old grandmother who spends an abnormal amount of time on her rocking chair, I do have an idea as to what to get someone who loves to run. Of course let's not be completely selfless, you could definitely buy these things for yourself too!


     The first thing I would recommend is socks. Who doesn't need an extra pair of socks? I personally love socks made for runners because they feel really comfortable and secure. I wasn't even aware a sock could make you feel safe but it could happen. They also look really cool in my opinion. And to top it off, it's a great gift for girls and boys! These usually go for about 6 dollars a pair.

    
Women's UA Mini Headbands

     The second gift I'd highly recommend giving would be running headbands. I'm not sure if boys would appreciate these, but for girls it's a must have! You have no idea how long I've been wanting a headband for... I still do. But anyway you could either buy the thicker winter ones designed for running in cold or summer ones that could be worn all year round basically. Prices vary a lot but the thicker ones go for 10-20 dollars while most of the thin headbands come in packs for about 10 dollars.











     You know what everyone loves receiving? Gift cards! No matter their gender, anyone would love a gift card to their favorite sporting store. If you don't know what store they'd like to buy from, I recommend either Dick's Sporting Goods, Sport's Authority, Footlocker, Lady's Footlocker, Saucony, Nike, Underarmour, or maybe even a local running shoe store. The great thing about gift cards is they're totally customizable, but you should probably put on at least 20 dollars.

     Lastly, if you're kind of broke but intent on making that one person happy, make a customized water bottle! This is something all the girls do on the team. Buy puffy or fabric paint from your local crafts store and a nice water bottle. Then you just customize the water bottle anyway you want with the paint! Don't worry if you're absolutely awful at anything artsy, just try to make it neat and I'm sure they'll love it. I like putting cute quotes and sayings on mine with little foot prints going along the side.

     I know there's tons of different thing you could get for a runner who is dear to you, but these are just some of my suggestions! Happy Holidays everyone!

Song of the week: