The Dark Side of Track

As a former athlete and a regular spectator of track and field I must admit that there are many dislikes that comes along with the territory. I was once told with all good things comes some form of bad and this falls into the category. There are several things I will bring up and discuss briefly. Some of the disadvantages include:

•  a physically demanding sport
• very long to watch as a spectator
• multiple events going on at once
• set vs. rolling schedule
• sometimes have to perform in horrible weather conditions.

Physically Demanding

This is a sport that athletes cannot just go through the motions. I feel like we do what other sports team do when they are being punished. RUN RUN RUN and RUN some more. After a while it tends to take its toll on one's body.

Long to Watch

I've been doing this sport pretty much my whole life and it is physically torture to sit through. This is a sport that literally takes hours. For viewers it gets aggravating when you come to see someone compete and have to wait and wait if the athlete is in multiple events. Also as a participant it may suck if you have to sit at a meet all day no matter how many events you are entered in.

Multiple Events

As a spectator it is kind of difficult if you are supporting two individuals who are competing at the same time but are competing in different events. Also as athletes its hard to watch and support your teammates when you are preparing and getting ready to perform yourself.

Set Vs. Rolling Schedule

Most viewers and competitors are fans of the rolling schedule because rolling schedules means the meet will be end sooner versus a set schedule. But in some instances we athletes do like set schedules because we have a good recovery time and you know exactly when your race is going to take place and will be able to warm-up appropriately.

Weather Conditions

I absolutely hate how we have to perform in all forms of weather. I think some conditions should not be allowable. It's torture and unsafe and I believe it can be a cause of avoidable injuries.



Team Cheering

Cheering on your teammates is critical. Why? Because when you are participating in an event, whether it be running, jumping, or throwing, it always helps to hear energy from your crowd of support. It's almost as if you get a boost of energy when you feel you can't go on or complete whatever the task ahead of you may be. So how can you show support in the world of track and field?

Well there are many ways to show support. Make sure when you see one of your teammates performing you actively participate. You can participate by letting your voice be heard, making posters, or visibly just being around watching if that specific individual gets thrown off by too much noise. Support comes in many shapes and forms and it is very important that all athletes in your sport feel like they have the support of the group.

Being a team playing and supporting others comes along with the territory of goods sportsmanship. Good sportsmanship is when teammates, opponents, coaches, and officials treat each other with respect. Team cheering doesn't only have to fall into the category of your own specific team. Most of the time you witness athletes ,with good sportsmanship, cheering on competitors of opposing teams. Being able to cheer on others, even when you yourself don't perform as well as you like is a very great quality to have. It helps the overall quality of the team to know that you can still cheer on others.

Elite Woman

"Now you understand just why my head's not bowed, I don't shout or jump about or have to talk real loud. When you see me passing it ought to make you proud, I say. It's in the click of my heels, the bend of my hair, the palm of my hand, the need of my care cause I'm a woman phenomally. Phenomal woman that is me." Maya Angelou

Florence Griffith-Joyner, also known as Flo-Jo, was an American track and field athlete. She is considered the "fastest woman of all time" based on the fact that she still holds the world records for both the 100 meter and 200 meter dashes both set back in 1988 and has never really been challenged since. Unfortunately Flo-Jo died at the age of 38 in 1998 of epilepsy.

Aside from whether her 1988 Olympic trial was wind-aided, Griffith-Joyner was dogged by many rumors of drug use. She was tested during competition and never once did she fail any drug tests. During the late 1980s she became a popular figure in international track and field because of her record-setting performances and her flashy personal style. Her style consisted of her flashy, form-fitting bodysuits and her glittering six inch fingernails. She was unlike no other.

Florence unexpected death was a blow to the world of track and field. While her legend lives on many girls all around the world look up to her and have aspirations of being on elite athlete on her level. Through athletics she touched the lives of many. She was truly a phenomenal woman.

A Day as a Student-Athlete

As student-athletes we all have responsibilities. It doesn't really matter what sport an individual belongs to because our lives pretty much consist of the same daily routines. It is critically important that all athletes have a balance with being a student first and then an athlete second. Time management is a necessity and while I cannot speak for all athletes I think that most athletes can come to the consensus that things can become quite overwhelming if one doesn't take care of everything in a timely, well-planned manner. When competing at such an intense level physically and then also having to exceed average expectations in the classroom a student-athlete needs to familiarize him or herself with a daily routine until this habit becomes beneficial to success.

Here I will explain how an average day as a student-athlete played out for me. Usually my day began very early in the morning. It would begin with an early morning practice or an early morning weight training session which usually was around 6:30am. Directly after that I would head to the training room where I would do some type of physical therapy or rehab because of injury or minor aches and pains. By 9am I would be returning home to shower, eat breakftast, and preparing for my classes. Classes usually lasted all day until it was time to return to practice which be around 330pm. Practice lasted a good 2 hours everyday. Directly at the end of practice I would return back to the training room for more treatment. After practice and treatment was complete I would return home, shower, eat and then head to the study center because as 'student'-athletes we are required to clock in so many hours every week. My day usually ended around 1030-11pm and the next day the cycle would repeat itself all over again!

My main message here is that you have to be prepared for long, full days. Being a student-athlete means making sacrifices that normal students don't have to make. Time management is key.

HAVE FUN



At the college level, most track and field athletes that I have come into contact with consider the sport to be of a job rather than the fun sport it once seemed to be in high school. Track is a sport that will either make you or break you. It isn't a sport where an athlete can just go through the motions day-in and day-out. It is physically and mentally demanding and it requires you to love, like, or feel some type of passion for or it will become a burden. What you must remember is that there needs to be a balance of enjoyment (fun) and being serious and putting in the required work. In every sport there will be up and down days but if you find yourself having more down days versus up days it is probably because you do not enjoy the sport as you once did for whatever the case may be.

Many times I heard my former coach telling his athletes that he should be able to visibly see that his athletes want to be there and now that I am helping assist, looking from the outside in, I can honestly say I understand exactly what he means by that statement. Just by watching and observing the body language and comparing energy levels of the athletes you can see who wants to be there and who does not want to be there.

Having fun is a necessity when competing at such an intense level. It should not be serious all the time. By working hard most of the time it should allow you to feel free to have some fun along the way.

Injuries & Knowing When Is Enough

Knowing your body requires you being in tune with yourself. Paying close attention to all your aches and pains can sometimes be overlooked because of your competitive nature. But as an athlete you must have a limit to when enough is enough before it becomes too late. Usually before a serious injury occurs there are signals that your body gives off telling you that something isn't quite right. Take precautions at all times. Even though we are told to push through the hurt with mental toughness we have to have some type of boundary. 

Although injuries are accidents the causes are sometimes preventative. Causes such as poor training practices or the use of improper or inappropriate gear and equipment, to name a couple are causes that can be avoided. But what athletes must remember is that not all injuries can be pushed through. At some point you have to learn to stop and get the medical attention that it needs for you to be as successful as you would like to be.

I can remember from experience how my injury came about and it was all because I was too ignorant to know when to stop because I didn't want to disappoint my teammates and my coach, but ultimately by not stopping I only made things worst for myself because I ended up tearing my hamstring. I knew my body wasn't able to complete the task that was before me but I went against the grain and had to suffer the consequences.

Athletes know your body and know when to stop.

Your Body is A Temple

As everyone already knows, the body and mind works together. Without each other, we as human beings, cannnot function correctly nor properly. Our bodies need a good support system and that is why it is essential for athletes to treat their bodies like a temple but not only athletes even those individuals who aren't. If you take good care of your body you will have the privilege of doing whatever you like to do when you like to do it with power, strength, energy, and vitality.

When competing we must understand the toll that track and field can take on the body. By not properly inputting the right nutrition you are only being a hindrance to your own success. My whole life I wasn't truly taught the importance of treating my body like a temple, and because of that my body suffered the consequences which directly affected my mental state as well. If I could go back and change anything about my athletic career I would change my eating habits. I choose that specifically because I believe that played a crucial role in my ability to perform at my highest peak and I also believe I could have prevented some of the injuries I experienced because I wasn't doing all I could do to be the best I could be.

Your body is a temple, so why not treat it like one?

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Mental Toughness

Mental toughness is a necessity in the world of athletics. As a former member of track and field I must say just about every day was a challenge physically as well as mentally. Even though I know longer compete I help assist the track and field team I was use to be a part of. Just the other day I was helping time one of the tougher workouts and it took me back to when I use to be the one on the track putting in work. And what I realized is that it is so much easier to watch it being done than to be on the other side of the doing. With track and field I think it is overlooked how physically demanding this sport truly is. When you think about the amount of time that a real race takes to finish, especially the sprint events, it seems almost absurd the amount of time we have to put in preparing for it. To compete in this sport it is a must that you have some degree of mental toughness because without it you will not last very long. Every day I had to fight to finish the workouts. I had to give all I had. For some it is easier than others, given one's fitness level, endurance, and strength. As an athlete, a true athlete, mental toughness becomes a part of who you are. There are so many obstacles we have to overcome that it is applied to all aspects of life not just athletically.