Semi-Serious

I have not recently had the chance to post a new blog for a while, mostly because my summer schedule has been pretty hectic and I'm constantly active. I think actually taking the time to record my thoughts and insights on this web-page will be a true challenge, but I will try my best to stay consistent. Before I begin my story on the recent adventure in Warren, PA, the Kinzua Tango, which I will blog about later on this week, I am going to give whatever audience I have at this time a little insight on the book I will hopefully be authoring in the years to come. Right now it is at the very beginning stages, but the title of it is Semi-Serious. I have not yet conjured up the subtitle of the book, but it will be based on exactly what I am typing here on the blog.

Semi-Serious will include not just the joy of running and winning the races, or going the extra mile, but it will also focus on the hardships of running. Hardships such as the injuries, the defeats, the muscle soreness, and the days when running just seems illogical, but also necessary when you're goal-oriented and are not deterred by cramps and fatigue to accomplish what you have sought out from the beginning. What I have learned from running cross country and track in high school to running now after the collegiate level is that if you are true to bettering yourself and have a passion for what you do, your goals will change and reach limits unfathomable compared to earlier stages. For instance, my first two-mile in track of my sophomore year, I ran 12:26. That was the first time I had ever run a race longer than a mile, and I thought it would be rediculous to run anything under 12 minutes. But the other veteran track athletes on the distance squad were running under 11:30, which to me at the time seemed ungodly.

That (sophomore) year of track I ran 11:55 in the last regular season meet, not even coming close to qualifying for the two mile event in the District IX track and field meet. After cross country in the fall of my junior year, I returned to the track and ran a respectable 11-flat in the two mile scrimmage against a rival Bradford team. I would go on that year to qualify for the District meet, placing 2nd in the 2-mile at Districts, running an astonishing 10:23 in the two mile and breaking the 5-minute barrier in the one-mile. I could have never been happier about my performance that junior year of track, but I was just getting a taste of things to come. I wanted the school record, which at the time of my sophomore year, seemed as if it were impossible. A 10:04 two-mile record was held in the two-mile by a distance runner from Brookville back in the early 1980s. I was only 20 seconds away, so that summer I decided to set my goal for a sub-10 two mile, and with a solid cross country season and a little extra cardio-work in the winter, my name is now on the Brookville track record for the two mile with a time of 9:51. However, I missed the state-qualifying time of 9:48 by a meager 3 seconds, and since I was out-kicked at the end by Ben Hahn, who now runs for Edinboro University, I can honestly validate the bitter-sweet story of running. I never could have imagined at the very beginning of my sophomore track season of running a 9:51 in the two-mile, but I also think it is a considerably difficult goal to run a sub-9 two mile. But can it be done? Of course!
So, I decided that I am going to post all of the races that I have done online here at this blog site. Whether the time is respectable or not, I will share with the audience my ups and downs of racing competitively. You can see the races in which I absolutely bombed, and the other races, when comparing times, I faired well. Any race that I happen to find in which I competed and my overall time is posted online, I will share on this site.
Before I leave I will share a favorite quote. "
Perhaps one of my favorite not stated by Steve Prefontaine is one by Tom Fleming:

"Somewhere in the world someone is training when you are not. When you race him, he will win."