It seems kind of weird, but do you realize that the track season begins in just over one month from now. It really looks like the middle of winter out right now. I can't imagine it will ever melt and be warm enough to run track. There is too much snow! It will never leave. We are destined to be eskimos. Maybe Polar bears. I think I've offically reached the level of "stir crazy". I need sun. I need warmth. I need Vegas.

I'm with Bill on this one. Winter is getting old. At one time it was sweet to venture out into the several feet of snow and negative degree temperatures but now...not so sweet anymore. Track will be nice. But I don't know about there being sun during track...for some reason track season brings back many memories of rain, not so much sun. In any case, hopefully it will be warmer. Very jealous about Vegas.

yep... I'm ready for summer right about now. This whole snow thing is getting old.

I'am so excited for the season! I hope I do well! How do we train, on the track or on the roads? Loni

hey bill, any chance you can convince them to shorten the whole stretching routine this year? Other than that, track isn't too bad. It just seems like we could quickly stretch and get going on our workout, and we would be done at least a half hour earlier every day.

I'm afraid that is not likely to happen. The approach to the whole stretching thing is to accept it, figure out a way to get through it without overdoing it, and enjoy the fact that you won't have to do it all summer. Remember why we do it in the first place. It's a team thing. An individual can stretch anywhere, but to do it together with your teammates shows that you are all part of one large group. I realize that there isn't much this group can do for you to help you succeed on the track, but you'll need to look at it as a chance to spend some time with others that you don't run with. There's some great kids out for track that don't run distance. Use this as a chance to get to know others a litte better. It's also a chance to show that the distance runners support the other events enough to be part of the team warmup. That being said, I would caution every distance runner to treat the event as a warm-up loosening period and not a competition. It's not a time to impress coaches or outdo other athletes. It's a chance to shake out the legs and arms, and to thank goodness we don't have to do a lot of that type of exercise to be successful in our sport. At least we can stretch under a roof where it's warm rather than out in the elements. We won't even get yelled at for having our shoes on in the gym. That in itself has got to be worth something. Oh yeah, be careful running on the wood. There's an injury waiting for those looking to overdo it. Especially shin splits. Bill