ACTION|| Track and Field ISSAAA

Kasarani was our last big meet. Right now we are all training very hard for the Addis Ababa ISSEA next week. Although I do not feel like I am ready, I still think we will do well. We have a very small team but a very efficient team also. The older Varsity girl along with me, have a great chance of bringing a trophy back home. In order to be ready for this meet we have had a very tight schedule

We must now come 5 times a week to practice and each day has a specific focus. On Mondays I work on my endurance. The usual works out are 6 times 300meters and a 15min in the end to cool off and get use for the long runs. Tuesday afterschool I do some triple jump. Since Kasarani I have really started to enjoy this discipline. I find it a lot more fun than long jump. It requires more technique and muscles. The work that is needed behind every jump really fascinates me. I felt like I had come to my best distance in long jump and would only improve by a few centimeters at every meet. In triple jump however I am just learning how to do it and for this reason I improve by at least 20cm every practice. My coach says that she feels confident to but my goal at 11m for next week. I do not know if I will be able to get such a distance but I will do everything I can for it. On Wednesday I do some shorter distance work. We do intervals of 200m or 150m. These are for me to be able to sprint off my events even if the fatigue is kicking in. And after the work I usually do some relay work to get familiar with my team and put all our chances on our side to win. Thursdays resemble my Tuesday practice, except that I spend the second half of practice in the gym doing strength work. I really do no like working out in the gym, however the exercises we do really do help on my sprints. This taught me that sometimes you must do what you do like to get better results and enjoy your races a lot more. On Fridays I do shot put and relay work. Shot put is a very complete discipline. After having done it for over 4 years I still learn new tricks every practice. Last practice I worked on my releasing angle and on timing my throw with my slide. This is for me the hardest part of it all. Staying low requires a lot of leg muscles especially in my thighs. After the glide comes the hardest part. I need to time my releasing time with the right angle to my standing up to maximize the amount of force I transfer in my shot. I really enjoy learning about all the different technics of shot put as it proves that sports is not all about strength but has a very important mental aspect.