Jerine

Anyone Can Be a Great Runner

If there is one thing that I hear many people complain about constantly it would have to be running. I know running can be hard but it is really not that bad.  Once you know the basics you would either be able to run a marathon or even work to run as fast as the Olympic winner for track, Usain Bolt. All it takes is a little technique, self discipline, motivation, and a relaxed mind.  You can be any size or shape to be a great runner all it takes is dedication. You don’t have to run many years of track as I did to be a great runner.

            The tools to the accomplishment of becoming a great runner are simple and inexpensive. All you need is some workout wear, whether they are running shorts, running tights, a t-shirt, or a workout shirt, any brand or any style you desire. Of course you are also going to need some running shoes (Nikes or Adidas are highly recommended) however, any brand of running shoes are okay.) NOTE: Any shoes worn while working out or running that aren’t meant for athletics will cause shin splits and will add an unnecessary obstacle to your journey of becoming a great runner.  Any other athletic attire or accessories like headbands or wristbands are fine as well; just remember that the less weight you have the faster and easier you can run. One of the most important factors of running is to stay hydrated so make sure to grab your water bottle and stay hydrated throughout the whole day. Side effects of dehydration may be: passing out, gasping of air, dry throat/mouth, cotton mouth, exhaustion, or lack of dedication to run. THEREFORE, STAY HYDRATED!

            If you are interested in building your endurance and prefer jogging the steps are easy. First have a good mind set and be ready to run. Second, find a good running location, whether it is a treadmill, a park, a track, or even just around the neighborhood. CAUTION: If you are running around the neighborhood watch out for moving vehicles and any other obstacles that might interrupt your journey of becoming a great runner.

If you are planning to run for a specific amount of time remember to bring a watch or timer to keep track. Now that you have your running attire, water, running location, and a great mind set you are ready to be put into action. Start your timer and get going.

            Whether you want to sprint or jog there are a couple of mechanics that you must know.  When running try to keep your arms at a 90 degree angle and swing your arms from the shoulders. NOTE: Keep in mind the faster your arms move is the faster your legs move.  Try not to extend arms out to far or there is a high possibility you might smack yourself in the face while running.  When running, you do not run on your heels or your toes, but the balls of your feet, which is the portion of your foot in between your toes and your heels.  When running, also remember to step over. You might be asking what step over is, well I have an answer. Stepping over is making sure that as you run, your foot passes right over the opposite knee. (If you were standing still your thigh would be in a flat tabletop position and your foot would be parallel with the ground placed right over the opposite knee.)

If you want to be more of a sprinter (fast runner that runs shorter distances), remember you cannot run a long time at a very fast speed. Therefore, the distances you run are going to be a lot shorter. For example, you might run 100 meters 10 times at a fast speed with a 3 minute rest in between each 100 meter, whereas someone that would rather run at a slower pace and a longer time and or distance. In that case it would be better to run for 30 minutes to an hour at a nice comfortable pace, where you are not huffing and puffing for air. Or you might just want to run a certain distance between 1 to 5 miles.

Another important factor of being a great runner is to make sure you breathe. This may sound irrelevant but you might be surprised at how many people run’ whether it’s fast or slow and forget to breathe.  For the best air circulation through the lungs, try to breathe in through the nose and out through the mouth.

            Now you have every step and tool of what it takes to be a great runner. Whether you want to train to be in the Olympics, stay fit, or just loose weight, just know you can do it.

Photo credits by Google

Alani

Pusher

                  So Cold. Why is it so cold out here? I shouldn’t be cold right now. I should be at home, in my dingy one bedroom apartment, sitting on my torn sofa, eating dinner. Why can’t I feel my hands or my toes or my legs? I don’t understand. Everything should go perfect tonight. This is one of the most important nights of my life. This could make or break me. If this goes as planned, I’ll be saying good bye to my little apartment. It’s a real shit hole, but it’s my shit hole and I’m proud of it; I bought it all by myself with the money I earned. Sure it wasn’t exactly earned the proper way, but I still earned it. Where is this guy? It’s almost 11 o’clock. So cold. My boss is going to be so mad. He said that the guy was going to be here by 10:30 p.m. Why isn’t he here yet? I miss my mum. I should go see her tomorrow. I haven’t seen my mum in ages. She worries about me. “The streets are no place for a lad like you Harry,” she would say. “How am I supposed to help support you and Anastasia if I don’t sacrifice something,” was always my reply. See, I love my family. I would die for them, especially my younger sister. She really is my whole entire world. I was only five years old when she was born. After she was born, my father left. I vowed from that moment on I would do anything to protect and support my sister and mum the way my father wouldn’t. My mum is the strongest person I know. She struggled to raise us and did a great job too.  My sister is 17 now and that worries me. She’s beautiful and I see the way men look at her. I’d die before I let anyone hurt her in anyway. When we were younger we would always go to this pond behind our house and sit there and talk for hours. She would tell me about—Where the hell is this guy? I’ve been standing here freezing for almost an hour. Why can’t I feel my arms anymore? Oh there’s the guy! Wait. Why is walking towards someone else when I’m clearly right here. He knows what I look like. No! He was supposed to give me the bag not that other boy! Oh no. oh no. oh no. He shot him. He shot him. Should I help this kid? Dammit! This wasn’t supposed to happen like this. I hope this kid is okay. “Hey kid are you—“ Oh my god. This isn’t right. This can’t be right. I’m dreaming. That can’t be me on the floor. I feel so cold. So cold.

Alyssa

How to: Throw (Baseball/ Softball 101)

Have you ever been in a very embarrassing situation where you could not throw a ball? Well I am here to help! By the end of this guide, you should be able to throw like Derek Jeter, Alex Rodriguez, Mike Trout, Yasiel Puig etc. This step by step throwing guide is so simple even a cheerleader can do it!

In order for you to achieve the ability to throw a ball, you will need a baseball or softball (whichever you prefer) and a glove. If you wish to play catch with another person, they too will need a glove. If this is not the case, then you can just throw into a fence or net.

Please carefully read each step to make sure of a full success. Below each step are diagrams to help you further understand each step. Now let’s get started!

Step 1: Identifying Your Throwing Arm

            Identifying your throwing arm is quite simple. If you are a left handed person, then the glove will be placed on your right hand leaving your left hand to be the one throwing the ball. For a right handed person, the left hand will be your glove hand and the right hand will be the one throwing the ball. Thou there are some people that are vice versa, it is your own preference to be left handed or right handed when throwing a ball.

(Left handed model)                                                                                      (Right handed model)

Step 2: Foot Work

            Thou many may think that throwing is all about your arms, your legs play a very important role! You will want to have your feet about shoulder width apart, with your glove hand facing the fence or the direction you are throwing the ball in.

(Feet are shoulder width apart)

Step 3: Function of the Arms

            Now with your arms you are going to raise them from your sides into 180° or more so at your shoulder height. With the ball in your bare hand and your glove hand pointing at your target, you are almost ready to throw the ball!

(Arms at 180° and legs shoulder width apart)

Step 4: The Final Throw

            Time for the most important part! While you have your feet shoulder width apart and arms at 180°. You will now take a step toward your target, with the foot that is the same as your glove hand. As you take this step forward, allow your glove hand to come into your body and the hand throwing the ball to come over your shoulder like a sling shot and bring through your back foot so that it now becomes parallel with the foot you stepped forward with.

            Now that you have all four simple steps to throwing a ball, the only possible way to become a master of the art, is to practice every day for at least twenty-thirty minutes. If you enjoyed this guide on How to: Throw try our How to: Throw like a Pro!

Ashley

Coincidences

Since I was little, I have always wanted to have a sister or a brother to play with. My friends would tell me how lucky I was because I did not have an annoying sibling. I’d tell them how lucky they were because they were not so lonely. And then it happened, it was as if someone in heaven had heard me. I was 10 years old when we were in our backyard and my mom confessed to me that the father I had grown up with, whom I love with all my heart, was not my biological father. I was so shocked; I nearly fainted. All I remember was yelling “WHAT?!”, then everything was spinning and I almost hit the ground. I was able to control myself enough, though, only to then be filled with curiosity. I wanted to find my “second” father because that meant that I just might have siblings out there somewhere. However, there was one problem: my mom had lost all contact with this person, Roger. Four more years would pass until this grand mystery was solved.

            It was summer vacation and my mom and I were visiting family in Mexico. When we got off our bus, my mom tripped in one of those potholes and sprained her ankle badly. As a result, she had to use crutches for a few weeks. During that time we visited a plaza (mall) and were enjoying enchiladas and mole when a stranger came up to us. He was trying to sell my mom a walker to replace the tiresome crutches when my mom recognized his accent and his similarity to Roger’s best friend, Ivan, and asked him if he was related. The man, surprised, told her that they were indeed brothers. I was anxious to contact Ivan so that we could reach Roger.

Eventually we met with Ivan and spend the day at the plaza along with his family. I remember bombarding him with questions, asking him what Roger looked like, if he had any children, etc. Unfortunately, Ivan only had his sister’s number, my aunt Martha. After calling her and sharing all the excitement, and realizing that I had just discovered countless new family members, I finally obtained Roger’s number. My mom made the first call; they talked quietly for some time. Even though they talked for only a couple of minutes, it felt like an hour to me. Eventually my mom passed the phone to me and we talked. I remember it feeling awkward; I was talking to a complete stranger and I did not call him dad yet; it just did not feel natural, but what really mattered is that I learned that day that I have a brother and a sister.

Since that day, I knew I was not alone. I had siblings to have fun with, to get annoyed at, to party with, but most importantly, to share a bond that only exists between siblings. I talked to my sister first, then to my brother. I was so overjoyed, yet our talks were paused, short, even awkward. I realized it would take time for us to be comfortable with each other, but I didn’t care; I had finally found them. When I first met them in person, it felt wonderful to just hug them and know that I was not alone; it was a feeling I will never forget. This life-changing experience made me feel like the luckiest girl ever because, through a series of coincidences, I now have two fathers whom I both love, a sister, a brother, and countless other family members, from aunts to uncles to cousins and a grandma. I can give thanks to my mom because if she had not sprained her ankle, we would not have met Ivan, my aunt Martha, my father Roger, or my brother and sister. The puzzle would still be unsolved.

                                                *          *          *

It has now been 3 years since that event. To be honest, good and not so great feelings have sprung from it. For starters, I have not spoken to Roger for well over a year, it does not matter though            because I already have a father: the one who raised me, the one who has been with me in the hospital when I have gotten sick, the one who has always supported me in all schooling, the one who actually cares and loves me. As for my brother, he lives relatively close and surprising I see him only about once, maybe twice, a month. He is also a teenager and likes playing video games and hanging out with his friends. We are not very close, but I guess that is normal since we never grew up together. My sister and grandma live far so I see them even less, only like 4 or 5 times a year. All in all, this experience did not turn out as expected. I wish I could see my siblings more often, but I don’t even know if they feel the same way. Life is life and in the end, I am glad I did find them or else I would still be dying to know the truth.

Nicole

The Accident: A Personal Narrative
We made it. We were no longer the underclassmen or the bottom-of-the-foodchain freshmen;;
we have evolved over the past three years. Finally, the Class of 2014 would be the seniors of Etiwanda High School. The summer before the beginning of your final year of childhood, is supposed to be the most imaginative and life-embracing out of all the summer experiences prior. My closest friends and I had beach trips planned and a list of amusement parks and small adventure-like schemes we wanted to partake on. As the heat of summer was setting in, our plans finally took off and this past summer was everything we had imagined it would be. In a perfect world, that is how the story would go;; and unfortunately this world is far from perfect.
Before our first adventure in mid-June, I received a phone call I wish I never had to have. On that sunny Tuesday in June, I found out my best friend was in a car accident. I had never felt so much pain in a matter of seconds that made it feel as if the ground was crumbling into smaller pieces with every step I took. Instead of having roasting marshmallows while sitting in the cold beach sand, taking pictures, and creating everlasting memories, my closest friends and I spent our summer driving back and forth to different hospitals hoping that the situation at hand would get better. Every day that passed and our peers were having amazing pre-Senior year endeavors, we were hanging onto the smallest bits of good news and felt ten times more joy by it than our classmates having a good time at the beach and Six Flags.
It is nearly impossible to understand the value of life and its precious amenities, until everything begins to fall apart. Visiting a hospital for two months was not part of my summer plans, but it was. After coming home from the hospital on the days that I went, I realized that I am lucky to be healthy, alive, and loved. Although, I felt selfish and undeserving of these treasures. Reflecting on the frivolous manner that I was living, I believed that circumstances should have been different and that I should have been the one hospitalized for two months. No one should wish for these events to happen to them. I could not stop these thoughts that were flooding through my head. I could not help but have those thoughts running through my mind every day that I walked through the cold hospital doors. Being in the face of disaster and death- nearly losing someone- makes the most miniscule objects in your life feel luxurious.
Today, on September 20, 2013, I felt blessed. The missing and broken puzzle pieces were all put together, although they were once scratched and tarnished. Lying down in the grass, listening to music, and releasing balloons into the sky with the rest of the Class of 2014 with my closests friends, everyone back and healthy, was the “perfect” venture my summer never had;; however, it was well worth the wait.

Sydnee

It was finally the day I had been waiting for all summer long.  The first episode of the new highly anticipated anime of the summer, Free! Iwatobi Swim Club, was posted with English subtitles.  The plot line of a few friends starting up a swim club at their school did not really interest a lot of people; but to me, I could not wait to watch it.  Finally! A realistic anime that I can connect to because of being on a swim team myself.  To add more to the realistic feel of the anime, places around Japan can be seen as places the characters in the anime visit.  Over the rest of the summer, the plot developed little by little and sparked an interest in me to think more about my life and what exactly swimming meant to me.  One of the main characters in the anime, Haru, explained how he liked to swim because he liked the way water felt.  As weird as it sounds, I started to think about how I felt in the water as well.  I had been swimming since I was about five years old on a competitive swim team, but I had started so early that I did not really join by choice.  Being a Pisces, water makes me feel comfortable and safe.  Several sets of a few laps of "no-breathers" and underwater dolphin kicking do not cause me to swim faster than normal to make it; I like to take my time to enjoy how quiet and peaceful it is underwater.  I decided that, like Haru, the competition side of swimming was exciting, but it was not the reason I continued to swim for so long. 

            While continuing to question what swimming meant to me, the distraction of k-pop summer comebacks began.  This group of seven boys, known as Bangtan Boys or BTS, began to change my life just as much as Free! did.  Their unique concept, vocal talent, and lyric writing talent caught my eye almost as immediately as they did with their good looks.  Their most recent comeback with their title song "N.O" spoke the most to me.  After I googled the English translation of the lyrics, I started to, again, analyze my life.  The chorus of "N.O" shares that "Adults tell me that hardships are only momentary To endure a little more, to do it later Everybody say NO! It can’t be any later Don’t be trapped in someone else’s dream".  These lyrics in the chorus made me think about what the career my parents had always led me to believe I wanted to pursue.  The more I read these lines, the more I felt I had let my parents down in wanting to make them happy by pursuing the career they chose for me.  For once, I decided it was best to not put others before myself this time and face my fear of what they will say about my own career choice is.  When applying for colleges came up, the more they mentioned "my career," the harder it became to accept my current situation after listening to "N.O".  I came to the conclusion that if I did not tell them now, I would live "[being] trapped in someone else's dream."  I spoke in a shaky voice about my true career choice, afraid of them not accepting what I had began to dream about doing for the rest of my life.  They fully supported my decision and began to search for more information on the career to help me in any way they could.  The past summer of 2014 will always be the most memorable; I found my true self through the help of people who spoke two different languages on the other side of the world.

Thank You

I have had so much fun this past month on our blog!!!  I really can't put my feelings into words.  I hope you did to.  If you haven't done so, just yet, read through the comments, especially our August featured writers.  There are a lot of cool threads and discussions going on.  So check it out!!!  Also our August poll ended in a tie.   Not everyone voted, but for those of you who did, it was between Sierra and Marcus with Chris close behind.  My hat goes off to the first six writers.  Job well done.  You six jumped in, feet first, not really knowing what to expect.  I am so proud of you.  Thank you!!!!!

September writers are right around the corner.  We will also have a new poll.  Keep checking back!!!!!