Working Hard

David Oliver, a top 110 meter hurdler, has the chance to make it to the Olympic team this year. He has three of the world’s top five times this season including 12.95, a time second to the world record of 12.87. All Olympic athletes are at the top of their game and must be very fit to get as far as the Olympics and Oliver is no exception. His coach, Brooks Johnson, used to give him very hard workouts which Oliver completed without complain. However, the first time he ran one of the workouts he had to throw up during and after because it was so difficult. Even though he knew it would be a tough path, he didn't give up and all of his hard work paid off as he is a favorite to make it to the Olympic hurdle team.

On my soccer team we all used to dread our Monday practices because we always had to complete a really tough workout on Mondays. We all used to whine and hope that the coach would change his mind, but he never did. Every Monday we would run, jump, and sprint until we were completely wiped out and tired. One time I even threw up after a run with my soccer team. I hate that feeling of being so tired and beat after a workout but I still play sports that require conditioning because I think they are fun and the workouts are worth it. When I race and play in a soccer game I am happy that I did all that conditioning during practice because it helped make me better and made it easier for me to run well when it counted.

Do you like playing sports that require lots of stamina and running? What do you think about the conditioning - is it worth it? Comment below and tell me about any times when you worked really hard in preparation for, or during, a game.