Track Update: Claudia Rodriguez
10/15/2015 9:41:00 AM | Track, Competing With Purpose Blog
Sophomore Claudia Rodriguez is working hard during fall to get ready for the spring track season. That season will begin earlier than ever with the addition of indoortrack meets, which she writes about here:
"Pain is temporary, victory is forever." This is something the women's track team consistently has to remind themselves of during this conditioning period. From weekly hill repeats, to mile time trials, to plyometric circuits that have our legs feeling like Jell-O within three minutes, preseason can really wear us down. Though we go to every practice nervously anticipating what kind of workout our sprint coach, Coach V, has planned for us, we have to remind ourselves that whatever it is will only serve to benefit us. It'll definitely be tough, but it's necessary.
All track aficionados know that preseason is crucial to one's performance on the track. You have to give everything you've got during this time, but that's hard to do when you're not in top shape. It can be discouraging when you have six more 150-meter hills to run and your legs feel that they just can't do anymore.You'll want to give up and quit, but for our team, that's not an option. We have to use this conditioning period to build our strength not only physically,but also mentally.
Track is such a mental sport. Your mentality before and during a race can make or break it. Your mental game is what will either give you the strength to try and sprint the last 100 meters of the 400, or will cause you to succumb to what our team likes to call the "Patrick Star Cramps" (our team makes at least two Spongebob Squarepants references per practice). This preseason, we're working not only to get faster and stronger physically, but we want to be more mentally equipped to handle the mind game that is track. We've got to push ourselves to the limit, regardless of what our body is telling us, remind ourselves that what we're doing is only working to make us better, and continue to grustle daily (grustle is a combination of grind and hustle). It's up to us now to strengthen our minds while simultaneously strengthening our bodies through all of our preseason workouts in order to be ready to take on our newest adventure:indoor track.
Yes,you read it right, Pepperdine is adding indoor track, and no one is more pumped about that than me! I remember exactly where I was and what I was doing when I heard the news: I was back in Nashville training at the gym and doing my core workout. I had my workout listed on my phone and I go to see what's next, but then an email from head coach, Coach Rad, scrolled across my screen. In the email, he told us that indoor track was a go. In that moment, I probably jumped higher than I ever have before. I let out a huge "YES," for the whole gym to hear and I started shaking from excitement. It's a good thing I don't get embarrassed easily, because I definitely made a complete fool of myself. But at that moment, I did not care one bit.
Indoor is going to benefit our team immensely. We'll be traveling to NAU and Fresno to compete in January. The competition is going to be elite, which is exactly what we need. Competing against these other phenomenal D1 teams is going to serve us well, regardless of whether we win or not. They're going to push us like we've never been pushed before, and that's exactly what we need if we're going to take this team to the next level.
In addition to the top competition, those extra meets will be an excellent warmup for outdoor track. By the time we start competing outdoor, we'll hopefully be in mid-season form. That will help us to start cutting our times at our very first outdoor meet, thus allowing us to start meeting times at the end of our outdoor season that will qualify us for postseason meets.
I'm so excited about where this team is going. We've got a great group of freshmen that are ready to work at the D1 level. I may be biased, but I believe our sophomores are going to lead this team on and off the track; I know we're ready to smash some school records. Our juniors are immensely talented and will carry this team for the next two years. Our lone senior, Hannah Turpin, who already holds the 400-meter hurdle school record, is looking phenomenal and I'm excited to see what she brings to the track this coming season.
This team has a good thing going and we're going to do amazing things this coming season. We've got the recipe for success. We'll gain the mental and physical edge during preseason, follow that up with a successful introductory indoor season, and then show the world what Pepperdine women's track has to offer during the outdoor season. As long as we remember that pain is temporary and victory is forever, nothing can stand in our way.
Players Mentioned
