Race Training & Lifting Heavy Things...Where it all started

Wayyyy back in 1984 (the year my current coach was -1 years old...let that sink in a little bit), my grandma said I should join the cross country team.  I remember being a little bit - Whatever - but do it because Grandma had that look on her face- about it, but I joined.  I remember running my rear end off that first day of practice and the cross country coach, Mr. S., asking me if I was holding back, or if that was as fast as I could actually go.  I was a little deflated as I tried not to throw up since I'd never really run anywhere that fast on purpose before.  But at the same time I was bound and determined to get better. Thus started my real love affair with running hard and fast.

Wait, what??  You wouldn't think that cross country would equal hard and fast running, but in girls cross country in Iowa we raced 1.5 miles (if memory serves me right).  That's really short in the world of endurance running. I'm not even sure it technically makes it on the list of endurance events, but for me at 15 it never ended was quite a long distance to race, especially up and down the hills and golf courses of SW Iowa.

Now this is where it gets interesting.  Mr S. believed that to race stronger, we needed to weight train.  So each week throughout the season he would bring us to the weight room and have us work on upper body strength to help our arms power up the hills, and some lower body strength to help us power up the hills and handle the down hill pounding our legs would take.  Thus my love for lifting heavy things fit in perfectly with race training; It was the beginning of a beautiful and interconnected relationship.

Old roots, new skills