Tales of a Rejuvenated Runner

So I've been meaning to write about this for a few weeks now... promised a few people I'd share at least a few of the exercises and things I've learned through these dog days of summer training... that have truly left me feeling like a brand new, rejuvenated runner!

To be honest, I ran basically my entire second half of my outdoor track season in pain. My hips and lower back were in a constant state of hurt. I never complained or was very honest with my coach about it because I didn't want to have to back off or worse yet, miss an opportunity at Nationals. The frustrating part is that it most definitely caused me my ultimate goal of winning the 10K. I think what it did do, though, was finally make me realize I had things I needed to address -- getting proper recovery and finding the CAUSE/root of my recurring IT band and hip irritations.

Luckily I have a National Champion teammate that I could look to as a resource. See, her entire previous freshman track season, my teammate (Emily) had such horrible shin splints that she could barely even get 2 workouts in per week. She would run maybe twice a week and go to the pool or bike the other 5 days! We all knew she was incredibly talented -- she was just being held back to the extreme by her shins. She had seemingly gone to just about every sports medicine doctor on earth to try and see what she could do to "cure" her shin splints, and many told her she would need surgery. She didn't settle for this diagnosis, though, and finally she was introduced to a guy at Bellin Health in Green Bay that led to her own rejuvenation as a runner. Her problem was really quite simple: little to no glute or core strength. She was lacking in strength in the two most important areas of the body for a runner. She began doing the exercises they gave her, day in and day out, and pretty soon those debilitating shin splints were... poof, gone! It was an awesome discovery, and needless to say, an absolutely incredible transformation as she went on to win the DIII Indoor 800m run!

So, as I finished a somewhat disappointing track season, I was ready to do just about anything to get out of the stupid pool and get back to running miles upon miles WITHOUT pain, as I absolutely love to do. I made an appointment at Bellin and went through what they call "Movement Chain Assessment." Here's what Bellin's website says about the assessment (http://www.xlplaylarge.com/index_intro.htm) : "The assessment is a comprehensive analysis of the body’s ability to perform efficiently. They utilize Dartfish Software Technology to videotape posture and biomechanical movements, in addition to measuring flexibility and hip strength. Upon identifying any muscular imbalance or weakness, an athlete is provided with a personalized instructional sheet and DVD with specific exercises to improve these areas."

The biggest eye opener was watching myself do a squat. I basically couldn't do one. The trainer recognized this immediately and explained to me the evident imbalance of my quad and glute muscles. I have always had extremely strong and well-defined quad muscles, dating back to my basketball and soccer days-- and I had thought I had done enough single leg squats and things of that sort to keep my glutes fairly strong. Boy, was I wrong! The trainer explained my glutes were always inactive during my runs, so my IT band was overcompensating for the lack of strength in my glute/hip region. That's why stretching and foam rolling only helped alleviate the pain to a certain extent. I had finally gotten to the ROOT of the problem!!

I also discovered through the analysis that my calf muscles were so wound up that my ankle joints were almost completely inflexible. Another thing they noted was how tight my upper back/shoulderblade area was. Probably the number one thing people have yelled at me during races is to "relax your arms!" I have always run with a very tight upper body, and haven't understood why it always seems to be so tight. Well, it was explained to me that the lat muscle connects all the way to the hip, so the tightness in my lats was causing my hips/IT band to become even more irritated! Again, here I was finally getting to the ROOT of the problem.. and the best part is, they were then ready to give me solutions to the problems I had endured all track season.

It has now been 9 weeks since I went through the Movement Chain Assessment. I can honestly say I have had the best training period of my entire career because of it -- it's not just that I've run more miles, it's that I FEEL better than I ever have, every single run, every single day. I FEEL so much stronger.

The best part of all this? The exercises are pretty simple. I think the biggest reason more runners and athletes in general haven't done stuff like this is it is somewhat time consuming. It takes a day to day commitment, something many runners aren't willing to do. I have several teammates who have started this program and end up not keeping up with it, because it seems they have the philosophy that just going for runs takes up too much time in itself. What I have realized more than ever this summer is when you get to a certain level, it's the little things that matter most - the day to day stuff - that will help you continue to see gains.

Here are the most basic corrective exercises I have done this summer:

• Glute Bridges - start with double leg, progress to single leg
• Side lying clams (back against wall)
  
• Lateral leg raises (with back against the wall)
  
• Band work -- angled steps (forward & backwards), lateral steps, monster walks, jumping jacks, & shuffle short steps (forward, backward, & lateral)
  

I have also majorly amped up my core work. The strength and conditioning coach at St. Norbert has given me some stuff that just plain hurts so good! Here's a little sampling of some of the core work I've done:

• Front & side bridges - 60-90 seconds x 5-6 throughout the workout -- single best core exercise for runners!!!
  
• Medicine ball chops & swings -- angled and overhead (chop is start high and go low with medicine ball, swing is start low and go high with the med ball)
• Overhead slams with med ball - start with a med ball over your head and slam it to the ground back & forth on each side
• Walking side-to-side rotations w/ med ball - take a step, swing the ball laterally (side to side)

One other aspect of my training I've really focused on is stretching and FOAM ROLLING! Dynamic stretching before a run and/or weight training workout (especially backward lunges/lateral lunges/side-to-side shuffles) and then foam rolling (visit http://www.tptherapy.com and order one of their Trigger Point foam rollers RIGHT NOW!) has helped me feel more energized during workouts and recover faster after they're done.

A quick side note is that these exercises are not a cure-all for all runners. My biggest recommendation is that you find a program similar to Bellin's in your area where you can go and get your gait/movement analyzed and get corrective exercises tailored to your specific needs as a runner! It's certainly revitalized me, both physically and mentally, and I'm confident it can do the same for any runner looking to take it to the next level.

So here I am, less than 3 weeks from my final collegiate running season. I can't wipe a smile off of my face -- life is so good right now. I know I can't possibly continue to feel this good all the way till November, but I'm trying to take it one day at a time, because as I said above, it's the little day-to-day things that have to be committed to in order to see gains in the coming weeks, months, and even years! I'm extremely excited for my future and what this season will bring, and that future is much brighter thanks to the day-to-day changes I've been able to make throughout this summer!

I've still got a lot of improving to do, but I've never been more inspired, more spirited, or more enthusiastic about both running AND life than I am right now :)

~Some amazing quotes to sum up my summer and my life at this moment:

• What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us. ~Ralph Waldo Emerson
  

• Your work is to discover your world and then with all your heart give yourself to it. ~Buddha

• Don't ask yourself what the world needs; ask yourself what makes you come alive. And then go and do that...Because what the world needs is people who have come alive.

• Too often we underestimate the power of a touch, a smile, a kind word, a listening ear, an honest compliment, or the smallest act of caring: all of which have the potential to turn a life around. ~Leo Buscaglia

• Every day may not be good, but there's something good in every day.

• If you aren't fired with enthusiasm, you will be fired with enthusiasm. ~Vince Lombardi

• The impossible can always be broken down into possibilities.

If you have any others to add, let me know... because in case you haven't noticed, I'm a HUGE quote person. My wall in my dorm room is covered with dozens and dozens of quotes. Can't ever get enough of 'em!

Till next time... Happy Running.

And... don't forget to smile :)

-Knight Runner

The Trip to Runner's Paradise

So here it finally is... a blog entry. I've been gone from my blog for far too long, and my apologies for that! It's not intentional... I absolutely LOVE writing, especially about running. I think it's just I need to make more time for it, and from here on forward, I will! :)

Enough about that... on to what really matters... and that is sharing with all of you my experiences in Runner's Paradise - a.k.a. the Pacific Northwest of the U.S., specifically Eugene, Portland, and Seattle!

We descended upon Eugene - TRACK TOWN USA - on a Thursday evening... unfortunately too late for a run, but we did stay at the Valley River Inn, which is where so many elites have laid their heads to rest before races at Hayward Field :) I got up the next morning and headed out for an AWESOME 9 mile run on the Willamette River Trail (which ran right past our hotel!) and then, of course, on to the woodchips of Pre's Trail. I absolutely loved the gorgeous view of the river and the peacefulness and tranquility (AND softness!) of the entire run. The next day, my good feelings continued as I ran a 12 mile tempo on Pre's trail and surrounding trails at 6:37 pace! :) I felt like I was floating as I ran on those woodchips; and imagining Pre along with plenty of his teammates running through that exact area (probably not nearly as well groomed, but that's ok ;) ) honestly gave me chills. It was such great motivation and obviously aided me in running what I believe is the fastest 12 miles I have ever run!

The whole area where Pre's Trail is - in Alton Baker's Park - is such a runner's dream. Paths not even suitable for bicycles, only runners. This is something I've never actually experienced before! It was awesome :)

The same day as my 12-miler we finally made it on to the University of Oregon campus and to my surprise I was able to walk right on to Hayward Field! It was such an unbelievable rush of emotions to me as I stepped on to that track. I forced myself not to run on it at all, because I want the first time I run on that track to be for a LEGITIMATE race. I have a true goal to make it there for a real race someday! Nonetheless, even standing on it, imagining the roar of the crowd as you approach the finish line was again enough to give me chills. So many Olympians and world record holders have graced the stadium with their presence - and there I stood among it all! It was pretty crazy how deserted it really was. We missed the Pre Classic by just 5 days, which is disappointing, and tough at the same time because it meant all the Oregon Track apparel was sold out at the bookstore! Luckily I managed to snag a small "Stop Pre" t-shirt which was all I truly wanted anyways!

I think I could've spent my entire vacation in Eugene - as it was I only hit up one of dozens of trails within the city. Unfortunately, I'm the only runner in my family, though, so the rest of my fam was ready to move on and see other things. I just told myself that only means one thing -- I'll have to get back to Eugene again soon. (see my big goal listed above!)

Ooh, and one quick side note about Eugene-- I wanted to be sure to run in the best trail offered there, so using my resources on Twitter, I asked a variety of pro athletes, mainly OTC athletes, where in their opinion is the best place to run. It was really, really fun reading each of their responses (and, yes, every single runner I asked answered me back!), and quickly realizing Pre's Trail is the Best of the Best!

So, from Eugene we made the trek to Portland. On the way there we drove on up to Mount Hood, which was stunningly beautiful, and fun to see snowboarders in July! It's always awesome to get to the top of a mountain and be able to look out at the world below. The view is so incredible, and to be able to just sit there and quietly reflect is an experience I wish I could have more often. I don't take enough time in my life to sit and relax in a serene atmosphere; which is why I think moving somewhere with mountains will probably have to be in my future :)

Sunday was my long run day, and I was lucky enough to again tap in to my Twitter pals and get directed to an AWESOME trail called Leif Erikson Drive in Forest Park near downtown Portland. It was a soft, gravel, gradually inclining trail with plenty of bigger rocks that at times made footing a bit interesting! I didn't quite realize how hilly it was going to be until I started - woman who I talked to prior to the run said the course is "relatively flat." Psssh... you can tell I'm from Wisconsin... it was the hilliest long run I've ever done! Fortunate for me, it forced me to slow down... I'm notorious for running my long runs much too fast. Another fortunate thing was the way back down -- pretty much completely downhill - phew! I definitely would not want to do my long run there every week, but it felt so good to again run with nature - no cars to try and avoid, no irritating people yelling "Run Forest, Run" out their car window... just me and the woods surrounding me! I know it sounds corny/cliche, but I really felt so free out there! Trail runs are going to become a staple in my training for sure.

That next day I was supposed to do a tempo run on a flat surface after all the hills I had done during my long run, so I headed off to Nike's Beaverton headquarters thinking I'd have a nice, easy, flat 4K loop! WRONG! It was an awesome little course - woodchips all the way around... but it was NOT flat. I guess I should've realized Nike's not going to make their trail easy! But remembering Nike's "Just Do It" motto, I managed a 6:40 pace overall for about 8 miles... and had Chris Solinsky pass me not once, but twice! It was just Chris and me on the trail for most of my run, which definitely made me smile. Two Wisconsin runners just gettin some mileage in. One happened to run an American record 10K... no big deal! Haha! It will be a run I'll remember forever. Oooh, and their track is SUPER sweet. It's hidden in the "woods" - the infield is all trees/forest, so when you're running workouts there, it's basically like a trail, but in the shape of an oval. I think I actually wouldn't mind doing 400 repeats there! ;)

From Portland we headed North again to Tacoma. I think my whole family wishes we would've stayed in Seattle - Tacoma was a bit... past its prime. I found a flat trail along the waterfront that had a gorgeous view of Mt. Rainier in the distance, though, so it ended up being okay. And the one day that we did get to Seattle, I was able, again with the help of a Twitter buddy- the University of Washington's track announcer, Paul Merca - to find the Burke-Gilman trail which goes right through the heart of the campus! It was nice and flat and definitely opened my eyes to the reality of biking commuters! I was passed by too many bikes to count, all absolutely whizzing by me! It was a bit frightening at first, but I tried my best to stay out of their way. As I approached the main part of campus, there was a huge car traffic jam on the highway, so I understand the need to commute by bike!

By the next day, it was already time to head back to Wisconsin. As I ran along the waterfront at 6 am, it was time for reflection. I thought about all the gorgeous scenery I had the opportunity to see (Mt. Hood, Mt. Rainier, Columbia River Gorge, Multnomah Falls), all the track history I was able to finally see/experience in person (Hayward Field, Pre's Trail, Pre's Rock), and the fact that it never even rained one single drop the entire time we were there visiting! I thought about my future - about how running on Pre's Trail just felt so natural - how much the whole experience affirmed my aspirations to continue to keep running competitively - at an elite level - for as long as possible! Being in an area where literally thousands of elite runners have stepped foot on tends to put you in that frame of mind ;) I also thought about how anxious I am to run with people at my talent level or better, who can push me day in and day out. There's only so much running by myself a girl can take! I can't wait to surround myself with people who are as passionate as I am about running.

Yes, I thought about all of this on a 6-mile run at 6 in the morning. I then brought myself back to reality, calmed myself down a little bit, and remembered I have to first focus on the here and now. The truth of it all is that I'm scared to death of life post-collegiately, of anything but my college running routine, but I have to put those fears aside for now and live up the opportunity that has been given to me to be able to finish out my collegiate eligibility in cross country this Fall! One thing is for sure... I will pour my heart and soul in to my final XC season - give the kind of passion and energy that has always filled the seats of Hayward Field in Track Town USA. I will finish my races with pure guts, as Pre always did, and what about fulfilling my goal of winning a National title you might ask? Well, that's simple... I'll... Just Do It. :)

Whoever's out there reading this, I don't care if you're a runner or not... get your butt to the Pacific Northwest! It's one, if not THE most beautiful places I've ever visited... it's a place you may be able to read a lot about... but it's just not the same until you can see it and experience it for yourself.

And, quick sidenote... if you can, get there with your family. Family vacations seem to be happening less and less these days. Yes, every single member of my family certainly has our different interests, which cause plenty of conflicts, but the bottom line is I wouldn't be where I am without their love and support, and getting a chance to experience all this amazingness with them by my side was more fun than I can even begin to describe. I'm so incredibly thankful for them; they put up with waiting in the hotel room while I finished a run or a lift and put up with me when I got crabby because I had to wait till the afternoon to run one day :) They (for the most part) understand my passion for running... and so I come back again to say...I am SO blessed.

I think that's all for now... I've certainly written enough :) Thanks so much for reading of my adventures, and as I said, I will be updating this thing much more frequently from now on, so keep following me as I continue to mature as a person and as a runner!

Till then, Happy Running... may you find the happiness and contentment that I found on the top of Mount Hood and Mount Rainier, in standing at the bottom looking up at the gorgeous Multnomah Falls, and in running in the footsteps of a legend on Pre's Trail.

-- A Very Inspired KnightRunner :)

Here's a couple of pictures from my adventures to Runner's Paradise. Catch more breathtaking pix in my Facebook album HERE.

My Mom & I at Hayward Field... :)

Running on Nike's trail at their Headquarters in Beaverton...


Mt. Rainier...

And one more quick sidenote... I am going to be working on the layout of my blog - trying to get it wider so it's easier to read!!

The Dairy State Passion for Track & Field :)

So I'm bored here sitting in the airport waiting to board my plane to head back to WI after spending almost a week here in Cleveland, OH for the 2010 NCAA DIII Track & Field Championships. It's been a fun experience, and Cleveland really is better than most people think it is when you mention the city. Got a lot of "ouch, you have to go THERE?" when I told them where Nationals was, but we stayed in a nice hotel and Berea (where Baldwin Wallace College is) had a lot of restaurants and did a very good job hosting! Other than not enough food at the banquet (which, ironically was the biggest banquet facility I've ever seen...) it was a very fun, positive Championship experience overall!

That being said, as I was sittin here bored, I was looking at local news coverage of Nationals back in the state of WI, or rather, pretty much the lackthereof coverage! I decided to compile a list of all the athletes from Wisconsin colleges that became All-Americans, both state school and private schools (which just so happened to be only St. Norbert,Carroll, and Concordia).

On the men's side, there were 27 Wisconsin All-Americans out of a possible 176 (44 events with 8 All-Americans each). This was about 15% of all possible AA's. Here they are:

100m: Kendall Wade UW-Stout, 7th
200m: Wade, UW-Stout, 6th
400m: Aric Hoeschen, UW-La Crosse, 6th
800m: Adam Lang, UW-Stevens Point, 3rd
10,000m: Kevin Hall, UW-Eau Claire, 8th
400m Hurdles: Ben Zill, UW-Oshkosh, 2nd
3,000 steeplechase: Chris Wirtz, UW-Eau Claire, Champion
4x100 Relay: UW-Oshkosh, 5th
Carroll University, 7th
UW-Platteville, 8th
4x400 Relay: UW-La Crosse, 4th
Carroll University, 5th
Long Jump: Kellen McCrary, UW-La Crosse, 2nd
Isaac Vasquez, UW-La Crosse, 7th
Triple Jump: Vasquez, UW-La Crosse, 6th
James Simms, UW-Oshkosh, 8th
Discus Throw: Sean Larson, UW-Stout, Champion
Shaun Davis, UW-Whitewater, 4th
Lewis Prior, UW-Oshkosh, 5th
Shot Put: Kyle Scofield, UW-Stevens Point, 2nd
Andy Novak, UW-La Crosse, 3rd
Pete Delzer, UW-Oshkosh, 5th
Bill Warren, UW-La Crosse, 8th
Hammer Throw: Larson, UW-Stout, 4th
Javelin Throw: Brock Solveson, Concordia University of Wisconsin, Champion
Decathlon: Solveson, CUW, 4th


On the women's side, there were 24 Wisconsin All-Americans out of a possible 176, or about 14% of overall AA's. Here they are:

100m: Camille Davis, UW-Oshkosh, 7th
200m: Davis, UW-Oshkosh, 5th
400m: Natasha Arnold, UW-River Falls, 7th
800m: Emily Schudrowitz, St. Norbert, 6th
10,000m: Jenny Scherer, St. Norbert, 4th
Megan O'Grady, Carroll University, 5th
3,000 Steeplechase: Stephanie Perleberg, UW-La Crosse, 3rd
Hannah Humbach, UW-Eau Claire, 4th
4x100 Relay: UW-La Crosse, 3rd
4x400 Relay: UW-River Falls, 4th
UW-Platteville, 6th
UW-Stevens Point, 8th
Long Jump: Ashton May, UW-La Crosse, 2nd
Triple Jump: May, UW-La Crosse, 2nd
Shot Put: Jecel Gerner, UW-Oshkosh, 2nd
Holly Ozanich, UW-Oshkosh, 4th
Ellie Sitek, UW-Oshkosh, 6th
Discus Throw: Sitek, UW-Oshkosh, Champion
Brittany Frederick, UW-Eau Claire, 2nd
Hammer Throw: Ozanich, UW-Oshkosh, Champion
Sitek, UW-Oshkosh, 5th
Javelin Throw: Amanda Trieloff, Carroll University, Champion
Pole Vault: Hayley Suckow, UW-Eau Claire, 3rd
Heptathlon: Jenna Starck, UW-La Crosse, 7th

I guess the point I'm trying to make is that Wisconsin is quite dominant on the DIII Track & Field scene!!! If you take all 176 All-Americans and divide that by the 48 contiguous states, you'd find that if each state was represented equally, they'd own 3% of the number of total All-Americans. Wisconsin has over 5 times that percentage of athletes represented!

I was recently told the WIAA (Wisconsin's High School Athletic Association) State Track & Field Championship, held in the first weekend in June, has the 3rd best attendance of any meet in the whole nation. I believe it! There is definitely a passion for the sport in this state and I hope we can continue a tradition of excellence! Must be all that milk and cheese... strong bones helping us run, jump, and throw very fast, high, and far! ;)

My Nationals Realization

I have been reflecting on Thursday night's race. After watching my teammate miss finals for the 400 meters yesterday, and a few other senior athletes at Nationals miss Finals in their respective events, I truly am recognizing that no race, season, or year can ever be taken for granted when it comes to running, or any sport, or even life really. You have to be thankful for what you have at that point in time, because there are NEVER any guarantees. I wish I could've come to realize this a little earlier in my career -- it would have saved me quite a few "pouting" type moments where I was way too harsh on myself and didn't savor what I had just accomplished. I have a tendency to compare times from last year to this year WAY too much when in reality, as I said, a lot of things change in a year, some that can't ever be explained or prevented. In my case, I felt FLAT on Thursday night, and I think part of it may have been my IT band injury. It has been very frustrating and has resulted in a LOT of time spent in the pool -- probably too much time in there. My eating habits are also quite atrocious-- not eating enough and going on binges of, among other things, Life cereal, at times. So, I need to get my nutrition figured out -- need to eat balanced so that I can get the most from my body ALL the time. I need to have a smart summer of training where I give my body a chance to recover.

I am SO thankful for the 8 times I have accomplished All-American status. It's an accomplishment I never ever in my wildest dreams could've imagined sitting on a bench in a St. Norbert basketball uniform my freshman year. Remembering that again helps me gain perspective and realize, hey, I've come pretty far, and that I need to be appreciative of what I have accomplished and not be too disappointed with missing out on that National title on Thursday night.

All in all, I of course REALLY wish I was running that 5K today, like I did last year, but I can't compare last year to this year, because there have been a lot of changes. And I think NOT running the 5K this year has helped me recognize the changes I need to make to be a better runner, and person :) By NOT running the 5K, I have learned a couple really valuable lessons, that I believe, in the long run (no pun intended ;) ) will give me a chance to take my running to that next level... perhaps to that National title I've always been seeking in my final XC season this fall, or perhaps beyond that in to the world of post-collegiate running. We'll see... only time will tell, and between now and then, I'm going to give my body a few days BREAK from running, because it desperately needs it, and then get ready for a spectacular and SMART summer of training!!!!! :)

Oh, and I cannot wait to cheer on my teammate, Emily Schudrowitz, in the 800m finals today!!! She was the 2010 NCAA Indoor Champ in the 800 & I definitely believe she can make it a sweep by winning it outdoors today! :]

A few great quotes I found... can you tell I love quotes? ;)

Yesterday is history. Tomorrow is a mystery. And today? Today is a gift. That's why we call it the present. ~Babatunde Olatunji

Life's a journey, not a destination. ~Aerosmith

The best thing about the future is that it comes only one day at a time. ~Abraham Lincoln

Till next time... Happy Running!
~Jenny, aka KnightRunner
(couldn't be prouder to be a Green Knight!!!!)

It's CONFERENCE week!

Hey Everyone!

Well, I should be studying right about now, as tomorrow starts the first day of finals week, but I'm feeling particularly reflective today, so I think it's a good time to write in this thing since it's once again been a month since I've last written!

I started off the day with a nearly 2 hour "long run" in the pool. It's a brutal thing to have to do - very boring and monotonous, but the one good thing about it is all the reflecting I can do while going back and forth. I thought about a lot of stuff in that pool today. I thought about how I got started running and the journey I've had as an athlete here at St. Norbert. I thought about injuries, and how I've been so very fortunate to not have many at all compared to a lot of runners I know. I thought about how I'm going to get past the somewhat recurring IT band problems I have been having, and that I can't let it frustrate me too much no matter what, because as my Coach put it, if I check out mentally, then it's all over.

That's just not me. I don't check out mentally. I am going to stay strong through whatever it really is that's wrong with my IT band. I'm going to be smart with it and keep taking it one day at a time. That was another thing I reflected on in the pool today. How valuable it is to live in the present! I can try and compare my times to last year, or I can look ahead to Nationals and think about how I'm going to perform there, but what does that really do for me in the here and now?!? Absolutely nothing! I've got to do what I can to help myself now, which today was going to the pool instead of running outside, and studying for exams so I can do well on both of them on Monday and Tuesday of this week!

Feeling like I wanted to do even a little more reflecting, I decided to take about a half an hour walk along the Fox River Trail in Green Bay after I got done at the pool. It was so gorgeous and so peaceful! After a disappointing steeplechase race last night in about 42 degree weather, I was very frustrated with how I raced and how my IT band has continually been tight the past couple of weeks. Well, by the time I finished walking outside this afternoon, I was truly ready to move on. Again with the living in the here and now -- what good is it going to do for me to dwell on last night's race? I've got a race to prepare for again already on Friday at Conference, and that matters a lot more than last night's race ever will. Would it have been nice to PR and provo? Of course it would have been. But life isn't always going to be easy, so I take a little bit of time to "pout" (as my Coach puts it) and then move on. Today is a new day!

Phew, does it ever feel good to get some of those "thoughts" out! This is why I love blogging!

Oh, and by the way, if any of my "followers" have any advice on dealing with IT band issues, besides stretching and icing, I'd really appreciate it! I have had 2 appointments with a chiropractor thus far for the Graston Technique, and it really hasn't done anything. My guess is it needs a little more time to go in to effect, but needless to say, I'm not a very patient person :-/

Off to study for exams - hopefully I'll be able to finish out the semester with a bang! Leaving for Conference down in Jacksonville, Illinois (7+ hour drive, woo hoo!) on Thursday morning at 7 am. Got a lot to accomplish before then, but it's still super exciting to be able to officially declare it's CONFERENCE WEEK!!!! :) Amazing how fast this season has gone by! Oh, and graduation is on Sunday. Whoa. I'll worry about that AFTER exams and a successful Conference meet! :)

Hope ya'll have a great week... be positive, smile and laugh often, and live life to its fullest each and every day!

Remember, “Nothing great in the world has ever been accomplished without passion.” So find your passion and get after it! :)

Till next time...
~KnightRunner

P.S. -- Happy Mother's Day to all the moms out there... and to MY mom, YOU'RE THE GREATEST!!! Don't know what I'd do without you! Love you so much!

Enjoying the Ride :)

Hello!

It has been WAY too long since I last wrote an entry in this thing - and a lot has happened since my last entry, that's for sure!

Exactly one week later, I am STILL on a high about my 10K run at Stanford. I ran a 35:21. It was a 27 second PR, it was my first time ever running an automatic qualifying time, and I was the only DIII runner in the field. It was the best race I have ever ran, period. My whole family was there (including my Grandma!) to witness it, which made it even more of an incredible experience. It was about 53 degrees and there was absolutely NO wind. Couldn't have asked for more perfect conditions. Everything about the night was amazing. The whole trip was an absolute blast.

Last Friday I got to witness a bit of history as well in the 10K heat before me. Lisa Koll of Iowa State ran a 31:18 to break Sally Kipyego's collegiate record! I could hear the announcer over the loud speaker while I was warming up, giving as close to a play-by-play as you can get in the sport of track and field. It was awesome to listen to him get so fired up as she got closer and closer to finishing and closer and closer to breaking the record. She ran that 31:18 absolutely all by herself, which makes it even more amazing! Needless to say, it gave me added inspiration/motivation for my race!

I think what is best about the race at Stanford is the confidence I gained coming out of it. I knew I could run faster than 35:48, but I also was coming off a somewhat disappointing Indoor season in which I was unable to break the 17 minute mark in the 5K and ended up in a worse position that at Indoor Nationals the previous year. I luckily still came away with All-American honors (placed 8th in 17:11), but honestly I just didn't run the way I wanted to. The Stanford race was everything I wanted and MORE. It's like it gave me a whole new slate. My hard work is going to continue to pay off and I know there are no limits to my improvement as a runner. I think I knew that all along, it's just that this race re-affirmed it for me. Now, my Coach and I have full faith in one another moving forward. It's going to be a GREAT outdoor season!! I am so overjoyed for it to begin the way it did and I can't wait for the coming months to finish out my track career running the best I ever have :)

During the course of the indoor season, I lost my beloved Grandpa George. He passed away on the final day of my Indoor Conference meet. We were able to gather as a family (5 kids and 15 grandchildren!) and just being together, reminiscing about what my Grandpa loved (the Badgers, motorhoming, and good Dean's milk) made us smile and be grateful that such a kind, gentle man was such a huge part of all our lives. We will without a doubt miss him so very much, but we know he is always looking down on all of us, and of course Heaven is serving him good Dean's milk, so he's doing just fine. :)

I thought about my Grandpa George in the few seconds before I started my 10K at Stanford, and I know he was there with me through that race. I know he was smiling at his "Jenny Boo" as I crossed the finishing line with a huge smile on my face.

Even though my Indoor Nationals experience was a bit of a disappointment, for my teammate, Emily Schudrowitz, it was a dream come true! She ended up WINNING the 800 meter Indoor title in a school-record 2:09.38!!! It was won by a St. Norbert runner for the 2nd consecutive year, as Ashley Graybill won it in 2:09.95 last March! According to my Coach, it's the first time one school has ever won back-to-back titles in an event with a different runner. It was an incredible race, and after being injured most of last season, it's truly incredible that Em was able to work her way back and WIN a National title. She's amazing and I'm so thankful/honored to have her as a teammate! My other teammate, Dann Schneider, also was an All-American for the 2nd straight year in the 400m dash, so we did manage to come away from DePauw with SNC 3 for 3 All-Americans! And I am blessed to be able to say I am now a 7-time All-American.

After Indoor Nationals, 20 of us from the team headed to San Diego for a training trip! It was perfect weather, as it always seems to be in San Diego -- 72 degrees and perfectly sunny! It's basically the most perfect running weather you could ever ask for. I'm not sure how people can live there with it being the same just about 365 days of the year, but I know there's obviously plenty of people that like that! It's a great vacation spot, that's for sure. We had a ton of fun and my teammates raced well at the Point Loma Nazarene University Invite. Their track was right along the ocean!!!

I came back that Saturday of the meet and caught up on some school work, went to classes Monday and Tuesday, and then flew out to San Francisco with our assistant Coach, Kristen, on that Wednesday! I still can't believe the Stanford meet was exactly one week ago today. Seems more like a month or two ago. It was such an incredible night - seems like it's frozen in time, I guess!

So... here I am, back from California, sitting at home in Delavan, WI on Easter Break. I write that because I have woken up in so many different places lately I have had to remind myself exactly where I am! :)

It has been an absolutely crazy ride this past month or so, that's for sure. But, with the Stanford race behind me, I see nothing but sunshine and blue skies ahead for this outdoor season! I'll have a couple tune-up meets to run some "speed work" (aka 1,500's and 800's) and then my next big race will be the 5K at the Gina Relays on the 23rd of April. Outdoor Nationals aren't until May 27-29th so while it's awesome to already be automatically qualified, I still have a lot I want to accomplish before then! Time to re-set a few more school records, help my team to their best finish ever at Outdoor Conference, and qualify for a couple more events at Nationals.

This weekend will be great to relax and rest up and spend time with my family. I always love coming home.

And while some parts of the past couple months have been bumpy, I've learned to take the bad with the good, smile and laugh often, and overall just ENJOY THE RIDE.

:)

Some of my favorite quotes about LIVING EACH DAY TO ITS FULLEST... something I have really learned more than ever these past few months:

"Cherish your yesterdays; dream your tomorrows; but live your todays!"

"We only got 86,400 seconds in a day to
Turn it all around or to throw it all away
We gotta tell them that we love them
While we got the chance to say
Gotta live like we're dying..." (from Kris Allen's "Live Like We're Dying"

"When an opportunity knocks, you have to answer the door..."

"Dream as if you'll live forever. Live as if you'll die today." ~James Dean

And in the end, it's not the years in your life that count. It's the life in your years. ~Abraham Lincoln


and one of my most favorite songs ever... "I Was Here" by Lady Antebellum:

I want to do something that matters,
say something different,
something that sets to whole world on its ear.
I want to do something better,
with the time I've been given.
and I want to try to touch a few hearts in this life.
leave nothing less than something that says,
I was here."

So, what have you done to make a difference in this world? Find your passion and get out there and live each day to its fullest.

I have learned you can't take ANYTHING for granted in this life, so live, laugh, and love and as I said, enjoy the ride.

Till next time...
~Jenny

**For pictures of my amazing race at Stanford, as well as pictures from my vacation in San Diego AND Indoor Nationals, visit http://scherer.smugmug.com OR my Facebook page! http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=59002851

It's TRACK season!

Hello! :) It sure has been a while since I've written on here! But I'm happy to say I'm finally back to being in-season and competing -- track season has officially arrived - my FINAL track season as a Green Knight collegiate athlete!

I came back to start up the indoor track season on the 16th of January, a little later than the rest of my teammates due to a horrible cold I just happened to acquire on our family trip down to FLORIDA! That's right, I got a cold down in Florida. It was between 45 and 55 degrees the whole time we were down there - I think one of the coldest streaks Florida has ever had, and we picked that week to be down there on vacation. Oh well! We still managed to have fun - I was still able to run without any ice and snow which was incredibly nice - and luckily we had all looked at the forecast prior to going down so we packed sweatshirts and jeans instead of shorts and t-shirts!

So anyways, now it's officially indoor track season! I ran my first race - a 5K - this past Friday at Indiana University in Bloomington. While I was looking to run a provisional Nationals qualifying time of 17:42 or lower (really aiming for about a 17:25), I think my lingering cold prevented me from doing so as I had a lot of breathing issues throughout the race. I ended up running a 17:44. It was very disappointing but I know I will have another chance on February 13th when we travel to Iowa State (they have a 300 meter track vs. the normal 200 m!), so with a couple more weeks worth of workouts under my belt in addition to getting more rest, I think my cold will be completely gone and my speed will be improved and that should help me run the time I know I'm capable of running!

The one very positive thing about traveling the 7+ hours to Bloomington, Indiana was that my teammate, sophomore Emily Schudrowitz, qualified individually for Nationals for the first time by running a 2:15.59 in the 800 meters! It was very exciting and I am so proud of her. We hope to get a DMR (Distance Medley Relay) together to try and qualify for Nationals. With her fast 800 and my pretty fast mile, we just need to fill in who's going to run the 400 and the 1200 and we should be able to qualify. I believe we're running that for the first time this weekend when we travel to Stevens Point, so we'll see how it goes!

Our team has fallen under the injury bug a bit in the early part of this season. I think for many non-distance folks no matter how hard you train in the fall it's just simply not the same when you actually start the real season. I think it hits a lot of people, and specifically, people's bodies, by surprise. It's now less than 5 weeks till our Midwest Conference Indoor Track Championship meet so we're hoping to get healed up pretty quickly and be ready to roll come February 26th! The dominant team in our conference, Monmouth College, seems to be a bit down this year so it's definitely an opportunity for us to do BIG things! The Green Knights under Coach Augustine have always performed at our best when it really matters, so I don't have any doubt we can get it done and finally win the MWC! I know with quite a bit of certainty that no other team in our Conference gets up at 6 am for practice twice a week! We work hard and I think our hard work is really going to pay off at the end of February.

Classes have officially started up here so that means I'm busier than ever. I have to admit I was actually pretty happy classes started up because when we were here for track without class there's A LOT of free time - and at times, TOO much free time. Now, I'd be fine to just go to class and not have to study, but that's not exactly how college works ;) It's weird to only have 2 semesters left of undergrad ever here at SNC. I guess time really does fly by when you're having fun! I've found myself thinking about my future a lot lately. I think as of now, though, I just need to see where running takes me. I sure would love to run post-collegiately, but again, I just need to wait and see what opportunities present themselves. Hopefully I can continue to build on the success I've been blessed to have achieved these past 3 years in the next year or so and then everything will work itself out. That's my hope, anyways!

It's time to go get ready for the day. Hill workout this afternoon in 20 degree weather! Gotta love it! Probably the last day we'll get outside for quite a few days as the 4 day weather forecast shows highs of 15, 10, 12, and 15 - and that's without the wind chill! After having about a week of 30+ degree temps, I think Wisconsin winter is truly back! Oh joy!

Till next time, Happy Running!

--Jenny :)

"The only place where success comes before work is the dictionary."

-Vince Lombardi, the great coach of the Green Bay Packers and one of the greatest coaches of all time. Love this quote!