Christmas break = tomorrow

Tomorrow is Christmas Break! Yay! Our detailed outline is due right after we get back Christmas break, so over the break, I am going to be working on my detailed timeline a lot.  My timeline will include all of the practice dates, potential dates for the Oakbrook race, and the dates that everything should be accomplished by.  I will be posting the update on my timeline during the break.  Right now, I am planning for the Oakbrook race to be at the end of March.  Mrs. Howard is going to be my main help and advisor when helping me plan the race.  The week after I get back from Christman break, I am planning to ask Ms. Tewkberry to have major meeting with me.  Im hoping she can help me contact the places were the team can potentially practice.  Then, I'm hoping to have a major meeting with Mr. Tucker and Ms. Tewksberry togeather. That way we can work a lot of details out.  After christmas is when my project really kicks in! Can't wait! :)

The day we've been waiting for..

Tomorrow is the day... the day the Senior class has been anticipating for weeks... the due date of the Research Paper. AHH! So that means this entire week has pretty much completely dedicated to the Research Paper. I've been running around and asking people to read it, including my Dad, Mrs. Tewksberry, and Mrs. Zion.  I’ve been fixing and editing my paper over and over again.  I believe it is now complete, or at least as complete as I can make it. I've read it so many times, I don’t think there is anything else I can do with it.  It's all Mrs. Zion now.  I'm sure she is going to have a wonderful Christmas break reading all thirty of our ten page Research Papers!  Good luck Mrs. Zion! Time to go read my Research Paper one last time... :)

Race Experience

On Thanksgiving Day, I ran in a massive 10k race in Downtown Cincinnati. It was an amazing experience, except for the fact that my 54 year old dad beat me!! (He is a pretty amazing running though, so give me a break!) The race was pretty hard, and it felt extremely long. Long distances runs are just not as fun me as short distance runs are. This is a major reason I want to start a Track Team. Some people, like myself, just are not as good at long distance runs. A track team is going to provide opportunities for quick and shorter distance runners!

During the race, I tried to observe the runners around me. I wanted to see all of the different running styles and techniques being used. The techniques I noticed, lined up perfectly with what my research had been telling me about the barefoot running style vs. the running with shoes running style. I saw that most runners when wearing shoes land on their heels, unlike when running without shoes. It was very interesting to watch. There were only a few runners that I observed that were landing on there mid-foot or front- foot, and they seemed to be running much faster than everyone else. During my run, I tried to focus on landing on the front part of my foot, which is typically what naturally happens when running barefoot. By doing this, my running movement felt a lot more controlled, and I felt like there was not as much stress and pressure being paced on my feet and legs. It felt awesome. Sadly, there was no barefoot runners in the race. (It was raining, which could have been the reason why). From being surrounded by thousands of people who love running just as much as I do, I got excited for Track!

RESEARCH PAPER DUE NEXT FRIDAY! (Pray for us!)

Track Meet

My plans for the Track Team includes the team competing and participating the State Track Meet. The meet is held on May 1. Its going to be a great experience for the new and growing team, and it is going to be a lot of fun. Tons of private schools around the state will be there to competing along side of us, and it will be a good oppurtunity for the team to take. The team and I will need to work very hard to ensure a spot in the State Meet.  For the team to participate, the team must follow and pass the Scisa's official qualifying standards for the track events held. The standards for the boys and girls team are listed below...

Boys Standards

   Event                     Qualifying Standard

High Jump	5’ 4"
Long Jump	18’ 0"
Triple Jump	36’ 0"
Shot	36’ 6"
Discus	100’ 0"
Pole Vault	9’ 0"
100 M Dash	11.8
200 M Dash	24.5
400 M Run	56.5
800 M Run	2:19
1600 M Run	5:20
3200 M Run	11:45
110 Hurdles	18.9
400 Hurdles	1:09
4 x 100 Relay	49.0
4 x 400 Relay	4:00
4 x 800 Relay	9:58

Girl's Standards

Event                     Qualifying Standard

High Jump	4’ 6"
Long Jump	14’ 2"
Triple Jump	29’ 6"
Shot	26’ 0"
Discus	69’ 0"
Pole Vault	6’ 6"
100 M Dash	13.9
200 M Dash	28.7
400 M Run	1:07
800 M Run	2:45
1600 M Run	6:15
3200 M Run	14:20
100 Hurdles	18.6
400 Hurdles	1:17
4 x 100 Relay	56.0
4 x 400 Relay	4:40
4 x 800 Relay	11:50

The team will need to work really hard in order to pass and possibly exceed the qualifying standars. Through the hard work of training, I have full confidence in the track team. I believe we have a great opportunity to have a successful, fun, and great track season!

Scisa Rule, Guidlines and Information

So this week I researched and discovered a lot of guidlines, rules and informantion that are given by Scisa to schools for the Track and Field season. They are listed below...

-First allowed practice date:  January 18
-First allowed Meet date:  March 1
-State Track Meet:  May 1
-Each student can participate in a maximum of 4 events in a meet.
-Varstiy Team: 6-12 grade
-Junior Varstity: 6-10 grade
-Qualify for State Meet: must particpate in atleast 3 track meets

These guidlines will not be much of a problem, and can be easily followed. There is also a State Rules Clinic on Sunday January 17 or on Wednesday 20.  I really want to go to one of these, because I feel like it will be extremely beneficial. It will talk about all the guidlines and information at the meeting. Me and Mr. Tucker plan to go.

I'm starting to get really excited about the season! It getting closer and closer!! :) I think we are gonna have a lot of people on the team, which is making me pumped!

The Rough Draft is over!!!

FINALLY! The research paper rough draft is over! That is a little bit of stress lifted off my shoulders...but only to be replaced with other stress. Now, it is time to fix and perfect the rough draft, and actually make it pleasing to read. My rough draft is extremely rough, and I mostly focused on how much I was writing, not on how well I was writing. Mostly, I am afraid that my grammar was completely incorrect and embarrassing throughout the paper, or that my thoughts we confusing and not being portrayed correctly. I'm glad its only being graded on quantity and not on quality!! I'm so glad that the most stressful part of the paper is over. It is such a relief!

Through writing my paper, it really made me excited to run barefoot. It can really help a runner and it can help me with my track season. It will strengthen my feet and prevent less injuries. Plus, it may even make me a faster runner! I'm also thinking about the possibility of having a few barefoot practices for track season. Then, I can see for myself if running barefoot benefits a runner. I just have to be sure to plan the practice in a save environment where we won't hurt our feet from stepping on glass or rocks.

I talk to Ms. Tewksberry very briefly this week about my project. She came up and said we need to plan a meeting soon. Hopefully, that meeting will be sometime next week, or maybe even sooner! :)

Research Paper Time

And so begins the Research Paper process...

My Topic: To discuss the benefits of running barefoot

My Thesis: Running barefoot is not only exhilarating and fun, but is also beneficial for strengthening the foot, reducing stress on joints and muscles, and increasing running speed.

I really like my topic a lot. I never really thought about the idea of running barefoot, until I started researching more about it. I've discovered that running barefoot has a lot of positive aspects. Running barefoot is a great way to help strengthen the small and important foot muscles. It is also more exhilerating and fun, because the feet are actually making more contact with the ground, which makes a runner feel more connected. The most interesting thing I have discovered is that running barefoot may even increase someone's running speed, because of the lack of weight on the foot and due to the increased smoothness when running barefoot. The foot is able to feel more free. Thats awesome!  The only serious problem with barefoot running is it's inconvenience. (weather conditions/rocks/glass) Somone cant just go barefoot running anywhere. Even with the risks of barefoot running, my research has made me want to rip off my shoes, and go for a barefoot run.

The Research Paper Rough Draft is due Thursday!! AHH! Please pray for us!!!

And So It Begins!

This week I finally talked to Mr. Tucker! I talked to him today, and I am also scheduled to also talk to him tomorrow, hopefully along with Ms. Tewksberry.  So, today during my meeting, Mr. Tucker and I first discussed the budget.  Possible bugets possibilities are listed below...

-Uniforms/t-shirts
-Hurdles
-Pole vault/poles/bars/lanes with divot
-Mats (thick) for pole vault/high jump
-High jump bars
-Shot & Discus (men and womens weights)
-Batons (for relays)
-Starter blocks  (for sprints)
-Long jump and Triple jump lanes/sand

Now, most of these things will not be needed because, the track we will be using for pactices at either West View, Dorman or the Deaf and Blind School will have and provide these things. The only thing that will be necessary is uniforms.  Me and Mr. Tucker plan to search for uniforms soon. Since, the budget may not be that much money, the money raised at the race in March can go towards Oakbrook's sports department, along with kicking off the Track season.

We also discussed when practices will start. They will start in early February. This is not very far away, which means I must start promoting Track soon, to make sure I know students know of the commitment.
A list of possible running races we will participate in is...

-3200m (2 miles)
-1600m (1mile)
-800m (1/2 mile)
-400m (1 lap)
-100m (straightaway)

I need to contact the SCA Track Coach and see how he started a Track team. Mr. Tucker informed me that SCA just started a Track Team last year. By contacting them, they can give me a lot of help and suggestions. 

There are still a lot of things to be done to prepare!!

What to do next!

So, this week someone came up to me and asked said "Hey Natalie! I heard your starting a track team! That awesome! I would love to be apart of it!" It made my day! Plus, it was girl which gave me even more encouragement.

I have a new strategy... start warming up the younger kids first! I realized it is way more likely for someone to run if they have been running since they were young.  If I get the middle school encouraged in running now, they will be more likely to join a team when they are younger and continue throughout their High School years. Its easier to start a team in your early years.  So, my goal is to start with the younger ones first! I plan to do this at Look Up Lodge. I got asked to go on the middle school retreat in a few weeks, and its a boot camp theme. Which means...TONS OF RUNNING!! I'm definitly gonna try to form some relationships with these kids and encourage them to run track!

I talked to my Cross Country team this week about getting participants in the Track Season. I told them I need their help. I asked them to be talking to their friends, to inform and encourage them to join the team. The more participants the better!

Bad news.  I still have not scheduled a meeting with Mr. Tucker.  I must do that ASAP! It will help me figure out where i need to go to next.  At the moment, I am a little unsure what direction I should go in first. Should I talk to Mrs. Tewksberry first? or Mr. Hinds? Do I need to contact the schools now? or should i wait until closer to Track season? Who should I contact first about my community race in March? Should I contact the Deaf and Blind School now about finding a track to use?...any suggestions? 

This weekend was out Senior Retreat!! It was amazing. Got to bond and relax for awhile.  Except, since I was gone, I have not had a lot of time to work on my senior project! For this week,  I plan to talk to Mr. Tucker some more, and go into more depth about my plans for the team. I wanna talk more about the Track Race I am having in March and get his advice. I mentioned the idea to him, and he seemed to really like it.  I got to talk to him a little bit over the retreat about his experiences on his Track Team in highschool.  It was pretty great and interesting. Through talking to him, I discovered the the longest race in Track is only 2 miles! I thought it was 3.1 miles, like in Cross Country, but it is not. That should make all the girls who are particiapating in Track very happy! I also was able to research my paper topic some more. I'm getting pretty excited about my topic. I'm just not very excitied about the writing part. I take a long time to write papers, so I need to get started working on it very soon! Hopefully sometime this weekend! I'll tell you how it goes!

Research Paper

This week, I turned in my thesis statement and resources for research paper, to Mrs. Zion. I didnt do as well on it as I was hoping. I wasnt really sure what we were exactly supposed to do or how to write my thesis.

A few days ago, I changed my research paper topic, before I turned it in. I didnt feel like others liked my original idea, because it was too broad, so i changed it.

My original topic: To discuss the pros and cons of running, specifcally how it effects the joints. Does running really effect the joints that much? Is the elliptical and other workouts better than running? Is runnig really that healthy for you?
My view- Running is the best excercise in the world. The benefits of running outweight the small stress added to the joints through running.

My new topic: To discuss the pros and cons of running barefoot, specifically how it reduces the stress on bones, joints, and muscles.  Is it really better to run barefoot?
My view- Running barefoot is better then running with tennis shoes.

I think I like my new topic much better, because it will be easier to write about...but I feel like I didnt have enough time to research it enough, in order to give a good thesis.  Better continue to research some more!

Week of Proposals

So my proposal was this week! I was super freakout out about it, and was dreading it. Mostly because I was one of the last to present in my grade...but it was actually awesome! I was expecting it to be super nerve racking, but it was super helpful. I found it very easy to tell and talk to the board about my project idea. I got a lot of great feed back and advice. A few of these things are...

• Budget set up- Find the estimated cost of running uniforms and track rental. (Shouldnt be too much)
• Meet with Mrs. Tewksberry, and Coach Tucker again (the track coach)
• Paperwork that must be taken care of in order to have a race at OPS
• Change the Race date to March (Maybe have sprint races instead of 3.1 miles)
• Get the money from the racers upfront in order to guarantee participants
• Norrow down my reasearch paper idea. (Effect running has on joints)

There was a lot of great advice! I'm getting more and more excited about my project now!!

Sickness!

I'm pretty frustrated at the moment! I finally had the oppurtunity on Wednesday to schedule a time with Mr. Hinds to talk to him about my project, but then I had to go and get sick!! I was supposed to talk to him today during 3rd period to get approval and advice, but I was sick all day today, making me incapable of talking to him. I'm really hoping I will not be sick tomorrow too. I'm really excited to hear his advice, and see what  suggestions he has for me.

Another part of my agenda is to find a coach! Thats a very key and important part of my project. I have many people in mind, including the current coach of the Oakbrook Cross Country team, Mr. Tucker.  After I talk to Mr. Hinds (hopefully tomorrow!) I wanna see if I can talk to Mr Tucker. (maybe at running practice after school)  He may or may not be interested in coaching two running teams in one year. If he isn't interested, there are some lower school teachers who may be interested.

So my plan for the Track season is for us to start training in the Winter, so we can be fully prepared by the time the season starts in the Spring. Probably starting off with short practices once or twice a week, growing into more later.  The practices will vary in distance, but most likely ranging between 1-2 miles, and sprint training. My hopes are for us to run against the majority of the same teams we compete again in Cross Country.  Private schools such as SCA, Day School, St. Josephs, Veritas, and maybe even a few public schools, such as Dorman.

2nd Blog

Hello! This is my official second blog! Yay! This week, I have not been able to do much with my project. In class, we practiced our proposals which was pretty intimidating. I do not think I did a very good job, but my teachers and classmates gave me a lot of good suggestions! I think it helped a lot. I cant wait to get started on the suggestions! I know now I need to go and talk to Ms. Tewksberry and Mr. Hinds about my project in order for it to get approval. I also need to be on the look out for a coach! I better get started!

My First Blog!

So here it is...my very first blog about Senior Project! I have to say, I am pretty excited about my project! (and i'm not just saying that because important people at Oakbrook may be reading this.) I love to run, so since my project has to do a lot with running, im pretty sure I am going to enjoy it. So since not many people know about my project idea, I should probably share mine.

Project Idea: To start a track team at Oakbrook in the Spring that will compete against other private schools in the area, and that will continue even after I graduate.

So thats my project idea in like one sentence.

I decided to test out my project idea today. Today I decided to casually mention the idea of having a track team to my Cross Country team today at practive. When I told them they all were super excited about it! It made me excited too! I'm really hoping to get a lot more girls to run track, because not many girls run Cross Country. (only me, Charlotte, and Alex do). It is very sad, because I love running and I want others to have to oppurtunity to run too! Not many girls have the oppurtunity to run Cross Country in the Fall season because of Volleyball and other activities. Plus, I think many girls don't want to run a full 3.1 miles, that you have to in a Cross Country race. Since track consists of shorter running distances, a lot more girls will be interested! All the boys on my team want to run track in the Spring, and im sure a whole lot other boys in the school may be interested too.

Running is not only great excercise, but a great opprtunity for team building, reaching new goals, and just having fun! I want to open of the world of running to Oakbrook, and show them how awesome it can be, even through all the pain and suffering. I want to share the amazing and accomplished feeling I have after I run. I hope my project idea is good and will benefit Oakbrook tremendously!