Race day can be a stressful and nerve-wracking experience for high-school runners. All the hours of training and hard work they put in comes down to those long, tough, and brutal three miles.
Sophomore Taylor Mabry said her favorite thing to do to settle her nerves is “pray and ask God to bless my race and help me do well. I also ask that he go before the race and keep all my teammates healthy and strong.” This helps to calm her down and run a great race, no matter the outcome.
Senior leader River Derby, who has been on the team all four years of high school, said, “As a freshman and sophomore I got nerves really bad, now I just know the outcome is that I will finish even if I don’t win, so what’s the point of worrying?”
A lot of runners like to get in the zone before a race and have a step-by-step pre-race routine. Taylor Mabry has one that she never skips. She said, “I always start off with a mile warm up, then do some band exercises. I always drink some water or have a small snack and then I get my spikes and go to the start and do dynamics.”
Another important part of preparing for races is recovery. To prevent injury, it’s always good to have a strong recovery routine. River Derby said some of the ways he recovers are by “drinking lots of water slowly after a long run, eating a protein bar, and taking an ice bath.” Derby also said, “Stretching is another part of my recovery after a long run.”
The cross country team has a meet coming up in Springfield on Saturday, September 14, as well as a home meet on Tuesday, September 17.
Annie Robinson, Staff Writer
roban27@sages.us
The Sage Informer 
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