Don't just run; Race against yourself

Vontrez Banks

Sports Editor

The Crete-Monee cross-country team is kicking off the season well. With a good talk with Mr.Nielson we got a chance to learn a little more about the sport.

“We tend to run 4-6 miles per practice”, said Mr. Nielson.

Nielson likes to work with the runners personally considering the amount of miles run each day.

“Running is a mental sport, That's why I like to work with the runners on mind displacement.”, said Mr.Nielson

This is to clear the runner's mind and try to reframe them from thinking that they are tired or winded. This also helps them pace themselves more. The coaches also run with the runners during practice.

“I tell every runner to change their shoes every 400 miles and also to look at the traction at the bottom of your shoes to know when it's time to change,” said Mr.Nielson.

Considering that the team runs on average about 5 miles 5-6 days a week the runners may have to change shoes often.

One main thing to remember is distance and speed goes hand and hand.

“Distance and speed goes hand and hand. You need both speed and distance

,” said Mr. Neilson

He also said you can work on hills to help out with both distance and speed. Hills help with the stride of your runs because you are trying to get up the hill as fast as you can in the shortest amount of steps. Once you're able to stride out more you can feel your speed increase on normal ground since now you're going farther each step.

Mr.Nielson has been running since highschool. He likes to do marathons and other things around the world. So that leads to the question of; What do you need to prepare for your marathons?

”You need 4 months beforehand to prepare”, said Mr.Nielson

This is to get your mind in the right place and know the distance you have to run.

“There is not a specific diet to follow just make sure you have the right amount of proteins and carbs” said Mr.Nielson

Mr.Nielson showed his coaching expertise and the ways he goes about things. Doing things to help the players and also putting himself in their shoes when running. Also setting a leading pathway for the runners to start good habits.