BAM. The shotgun fires as runners sprint into the winter track season. Since practices are held outdoors due to limited space within the school, athletes struggle to run with setbacks like strong gusts of winds and freezing cold temperatures.
When the team faces weather complications, they tend to visit the weight room for a more relaxed indoor practice.
“The hardest part about track is the weather,” sophomore Elijah McNutt said. “Not once in my experience has the weather ever been good. It’s either crazy hot or crazy cold, and I’m never dressed perfectly for either.”
Another difficulty athletes face throughout the season is avoiding injury in the cold. According to Better Health Channel, blisters, sprains, hypothermia, frostbite and head injury are common injuries which frequently take place in the winter. Athletes muscles, ligaments, and tendons are put under extra demand during the winter causing them to be more prone to injury. Therefore, it is recommended that athletes take precautions during the winter such as wearing appropriate clothing in order relieve the stress off of muscles.
“When practice first starts, it is really hard to breathe because of the cold air, but then you get more comfortable as you keep going,” junior Dan Nguyen said. “Before meets we do an easy run so our muscles have time to relax. We also roll our legs to ensure that we aren’t tight and tense for the next day because of the change in environment and temperature.”
Compared to spring track and fall cross country, winter track has the least number of participants.
“Spring track is usually more popular because it is more convenient and the weather is pleasant to run in,” freshman Lydia Wirtz said. “I also believe there is a larger variety of sports to compete in during the winter season, and many would rather improve in an alternate sport than do track because it seems quite boring, when in fact it is not.”
Winter track has a variety of events such as sprints, long distance, shot put and different combinations of jumps. This means that practice for the track team can look very different for each person depending on the event they participate in. Sprinters have various running exercises, while throwers are often found in the weight room lifting.
“Everyone is required to warm up with a few laps and stretch as a group, then we receive our workout for the day,” Wirtz said. “While many think that track is all about running, I also see it as a chance to catch up with my friends and have time to free my mind.”
The track team geared up for this season at their first meet which took place at Park View High School on Dec. 2. Their second meet was Dec. 9 at Thomas Jefferson Community Center. The team Concorde District Championships is on Feb. 1 and 2 at Prince George’s Sports and Learning Complex.
“Track is so important to me because it is really fun and it is the start of where I meet a lot of new people and create important friendships,” Nguyen said. “To enjoy track to its fullest, I don’t reflect on all the things that went wrong or that I didn’t like. I think that winter track is very underrated because many look at the negatives behind participating in track during the winter, rather than the positives that come with it.”
