In order to make her last track season her personal best and most memorable one yet, senior Theresa Howe has devoted almost every day of her off season to extensive training.
“Theresa has such a positive attitude that it helps keep her motivated [during the off season],” track and cross country coach Ryan Banta said. “Self-motivation is not typical in a runner, but Theresa is so self-motivated that it allows her to drastically improve her performance.”
After discovering her dislike of swim practice, Howe began running with her sisters to stay in shape in seventh grade. At first, she struggled to keep up with her sisters during their runs. It was because of this struggle that she joined the track club in seventh grade.
“It was kind of embarrassing that I couldn’t keep up with my sisters. I wanted to get faster,” Howe said.
With the help of Banta and partnering with junior Julia Goldman, Howe has been working to improve her mile and 800 yard run this track season. She trains Monday through Saturday, with a slightly different schedule each day. According to Banta, two days a week are usually devoted to aerobic exercises, three days for intense exercises, and the last day is usually a long aerobic run. Howe adds that each day consists of some type of warm-up, lifting weights, running drills and usually a 30 minute run.
“Working out is a big stress reliever. It’s hard to get back on track [with exercising] once you veer off, so I try to avoid missing exercises. I just always want to be beating myself,” Howe said.
While many runners work to improve their skills this winter, Howe also must work at maintaining her diet. Unlike a lot of other athletes, Howe keeps a vegan diet. She does not eat meat or dairy related products, so she has to be aware of the nutrients she needs. According to science teacher Mr. Adam Bergeron, who gives advice to Howe about her diet, runners need to have certain nutrients in their systems to help their performance. For instance, because Howe does not eat meat, Bergeron recommends eating green, leafy vegetables to increase her iron content. According to Bergeron, Howe is always eager to hear about his suggestions.
“Whenever we talk [about the vegan diet], Theresa is very passionate and excited about it,” Bergeron said.
According to Bergeron, as long as runners are conscientious about what they eat, there shouldn’t be any deficits with their performance. Banta agrees, adding that Howe remains very focused to work at her diet. He says that maintaining a vegan diet is a constant thinking process for runners who need fuel for their workouts, and Howe can attest to that.
“I just have to be hyper-conscious about what I eat. I need to constantly be aware of the amount of energy I’m going to need throughout the day, as well as when I’m running,” Howe said.
Although Howe does not plan to run in college, she plans on running on her own and training for half marathons. Her advice to new runners is to start slow with their distances. She says runners must start with what they can manage and build off of that.
