Last Thursday was the first day of our new cross country program at Indian River Middle School in Canaan, NH. Ben and I showed up early to 5th grade orientation, met some of our kids, then got a tour of the campus to see what area of the fields we can use for warm-ups etc. when we get things rolling! We started practice teaching all the kids the warm-up routine that we’ll be doing every day before practice starts. It takes a while to get a new routine down, especially for kids who have never done any type of drills or dynamic stretching before, but it will definitely get easier (and faster!) as the season progresses, and will pay off in the long run learning to do a proper warm-up. We have a group with a huge variance in ability, but Ben and I are up to the challenge as coaches and just want to make sure that everyone is having FUN! All of the kids have different reasons for joining the cross country team, but as long as we try to instill a good work ethic, and make sure they enjoy coming to practice, our job is done and the rest will take care of itself. Next practice is Tuesday (their first day of school), then we roll into a M/T/Th practice schedule.
Last week was kind of a big discovery for me in terms of my own running. I’ve been really struggling lately with workouts, experiencing difficulty breathing and tightness in my chest and throat area. I went to see the doc and they did some basic pulmonary function testing and determined that I have allergy/exercise induced asthma. Kind of a bummer to hear, but it seems to be an easy fix as I’ve already tested out running with my shiny new inhaler and I feel like a new person. It’s a pretty incredible feeling being able to breathe again.
So I have been reading up online about how to minimize the effects of asthma and a couple different sources recommend Fish Oil supplements, caffeine, and practicing different breathing techniques/exercises. I am going to test some of these out and see if they make a difference. Also interesting is the long list of famous athletes diagnosed with asthma. My personal favorite, who I remember from watching the Olympics as a youngster, is Tom Dolan, a swimmer from the University of Michigan with 2 Olympic Gold medals and one Silver… from Wikipedia “Dolan was diagnosed with exercise-induced asthma and a narrowed windpipe, which would side-line the normal person. He only trained harder and exhaustion, dizziness and occasional blackouts never stopped him from swimming.” I think that’s pretty neat. Others include Jackie Joyner-Kersee, Jerome “The Bus” Bettis, and “The Worm” aka Dennis Rodman.
-Lex
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