Doing what you love

   After a long day of work, what do you do after wards to relax the nerves and everything around you. Everybody has that one hobby or thing that they do to relax all their nerves and be who they are. Luckily, I have two things that I do that get me away from the real world to get rid of all my stresses during the time being. Both of them are something that I love and probably could never get rid of no matter what happens to me in life.
  Running wasn't always a big part of my life especially growing up. Growing up I was one of those really uncoordinated kids who couldn't run more then a hundred feet without tripping over myself, but by my freshmen year in high school that all changed. Coach Shutler took me under his wing after getting cut from the baseball team to run for him and that is where is all began.
  If he would of never took me under his wing to run track for him, I know for a fact that I wouldn't be where I am today for a few reasons. One reason would be that I probably wouldn't of even looked at the schools that I did and would of went south for college. Another reason is that running shaped me to who I am today, so without that who knows where I would honestly be. 
  Another way that I can relax my nerves and always know that it will be there for me is the game of basketball. There are nights after a rough day of classes where I will just go to the gym and shoot for two hours straight just to do what I love. Ever since I was little this was one of my ways to escape the real world. It is pretty nice to thing about how I learned to play basketball cause I had to teach myself. Living out in the country was rough on me, having to learn everything by myself because I didn't have that person around to teach me these kind of things. 
  I think I grew such a passion for the game though because I had to teach myself how to play. If someone else taught me I think I wouldn't care as much how things are, but it ended up helping me in the long run with playing basketball in high school. It gave me memories that I will never forget and will always have. Maybe, depending on what happens in life the next couple years, it might be time to lace of the sneakers again and give it another round.

Choosing what was best for me...

    Leaving high school for me wasn't too hard for a thing to do especially for me because I was ready to move on with life. Don't get me wrong I like high school, but just got bored with it really fast. So, the next decision that I had coming in life was where I was going to be attending in the Fall 2009 school year. This began the process of searching and visiting many schools trying to find the best fit for me academically and both athletically.
   During my senior year, I went on many visits around Ohio. Anywhere from Lake Erie down to Marietta, I was looking at a variety of schools to get the best feeling. During these visits, the coaches usually showed me around the campus, talking about all the pros of the schools never the cons. Finding the cons was my part of the whole visit because this is where I was going to be for the next four years of my life I better enjoy the experience.
   Eventually my decision came down to three schools; Muskingum, Capital, and Defiance. I liked where Capital was and the classes I loved, but I just couldn't picture myself being there at all. Capital is one of those rich schools it seems like and that isn't me at all. Defiance was a decision based on my dad because he had a lot of friends up there that would watch over me. Personally, I didn't like the school at all really, the coach didn't care about the sport, the classes didn't seem to great to me, and it was way to flat. I hated being able to see for miles and miles ahead of me, that would of gotten old fast running on everyday.
   Then came Muskingum, which I loved many things about it. The class sizes were just right, the coach had a passion for running and wanted to do something great, and the campus setting was just amazing. People always said they hate the hills, but its not a bad thing at least you get a workout everyday. Muskingum is where I ended up attending and don't regret it at all, but if I could do things over again I did decide that I would of went south.... Far south!!!

Knowing When To Stop

   This subject that I am writing about might be one of the hardest things to write about, but it is one of the most honest from the heart things to write about. Loving an activity is a good thing for many, being a stress reliever and relaxing thing that gets them away from the real world. But when other factors come into play such as family, health, etc. is there a reaching point to just stop.
   I understand people having passion for what they are doing in life, but when is enough truly enough. A good example is my friend I run with, his knees are about to be gone basically killing him everyday at the age of 21. What does he have forward to look in life if he keeps running his body is going to be destroyed from all the running. The doctor has even told him that if he keeps this routine up he won't be able to get down with his kids and play with them on the carpet when he gets older.
   Personally, I feel that you can't let moments like that go away in one's lifetime. Your children aren't always going to be young, you had your time with running and it was amazing, maybe its time to shut it down? That's easy to say on my point of view because I am not in that situation, but it is something that I feel should honestly be thought about. My friend is really bold headed when it comes to something he loves and doesn't think about the consequences all the time. I love him for who he is especially with his determination to do what he loves, but the question for him to ask himself; Is it really worth it when it is all said and done?

Competition in reality

    When you think of competition, what do you think of? The first idea that comes to mind for most problem involves some kind of sport. The more and more I open my eyes in the real world, the more competition I begin to see in just everyday society. When I was younger, I always thought that competition always involved sports, but I was wrong on that idea.
   In today's society, everything has become a competition especially at work. Ever since you were a young child, all the way to growing up you compete in some form. The job atmosphere though is the one of the best examples of where competition is found. Everyday you are competing against someone to do better than them at what you do. If you don't succeed or not successful at your job chances are the person will take your job.
   The best experience that I have had involving competition is within sports. Any kind of sport using has competition, having that opponent trying to be better than you. Running is one of those sports though that anything can happen from the start of the race to the finish. The truth of it all is who wants it more, everybody is putting themselves through pain, but who wants to win whenever you are coming up to the finish line neck to neck. This is a great way to find out what kind of competitor someone really is.

Finding the perfect running shoe for you

    For those who run, you know that every shoe isn't the same. Some shoes are for stability while others are lightweight and more focused on speed. The style of the shoe all depends on the kind of runner that a person is. Different brands of shoes are better at certain aspects of things, this is why it takes time and trials to find that perfect shoe.
     Nikes is what I have always gone with since I was younger in high school. Nike focuses on the aspect of having cushioning to give the comfortable run, but still be lightweight to go fast. I personally am a netural runner which means I run on the middle of my foot, that is why nike has always worked out for me in my career.
    This year, I decided to try another brand to see what they are about. A teammate of my always told me to give saucony or brooks a try. He loved them and said he feels they are the best for running. I gave sauconys a try and was fairly impressed how they were. The shoe was a lot heavier than the nikes, but I felt like i got more of a workout from them. Another plus factor of these shoes is that they take a longer time to wear down. After testing both of these shoes, I feel that I will always be a nike guy like it or not event though the sauconys were a very nice change.
  
   

Dedication to the sport

    It's that time of year again, when the weather starts to cool off and snow begins to fall. This is the time to see who people really are. During the winter, is when one can see the true dedication and motivation of a person towards being the best. This factor is one of the hardest things that any athletes face not only physically, but mentally as well.
    As a runner, you can't expect to get any better by not doing anything over the winter. Yes, the invention of treadmills are around, but in the long run of things the treadmill takes a beating on a person's body. Think about it, is a person running outside in the awful weather condition better than a person who runs indoor on a treadmill all winter. There are many factors to look at comparing these two people to one another.
   A person outside has to deal with multiple factors that could effect them. The breathing becomes more harder, your body becomes frozen, and all you want to do is quit. This is the most mental pain that anyone can go through especially if they are racing in it. When people talk about pushing the body to the extreme, I feel this fits pretty good to the idea.
   People who run on treadmills put their body's through wear and tear a lot more. There have been studies stating that treadmills destroy people's knees. Yes, its always an advantage to be able to run inside in warmth, but is it worth the beathing. Over time though, I guess the body is going to take a beating especially with running, but nothing you can do if you participate in basically any events involving working out.
  To put things in perspective, if someone wants to be the best they have to put the time and effort in. Without this a person will not be able to reach their max potential. Dedication and motivation is two key words that I feel sum up the whole winter training of sports, but this is where you see find the true athletes.

Difference Between High School Running and College Running

   Over the last year of running in college, I have begun to notice some key differences between high school and college running. The whole experience of college running has gave me a different perspective on running because of the different experiences that take place. College running is more competitive and is focused on winning compared to high school running where whoever wants to run can run and it is more based on fun then winning.
   Some programs in high school though are based on the winning way don't get me wrong, but my high school wasn't. We have had some real good kids come through our school running who were great. They would go out and win some races or place really high which was good thing, but the thing about it was they always had fun with it. If someone doesn't have fun with running do you really think they would stick with it for a long period of time?
   Looking around my conference and fellow runners, everybody takes racing serious not having any fun with it. My team tries to have fun through the meet, but once you step up to the line its time to race. The competitive juices flow when they need to during a race, but no need to take it serious up to the race. Running is suppose to be something you love to do in life, not something to take too serious. Winning is always great, but try to have some fun while doing it.