<p>my life seems so full right now, babysitting 9 hour a week, school/studying/hw, staying after to work on my ceramics piece, staying after school for clubs, trying to prep for track season in spring… Not that that compares to some of you guys.</p>
<p>Man it’s gonna be a struggle, I enjoy the runs I do and run a couple of miles everyday, and I can run for a long time without stopping (I’ve gone up to just under an hour) but I really just have got to get my times down… I know there are no cuts but I mean I don’t want to be the slowest person there… It’s so frustrating…</p>
<p>Just realised, I’ve never been on CC after midnight before, everything’s just started showing up as yesterday :)</p>
<p>I too am completely swamped at the moment. Prep for 2 upcoming debate comps, a public speaking comp and the next round of another debating comp. Also making up for missed school time because of entrance exams and interviews for other schools means I’m staying for 3 hours after school tomorrow, another two next week and I’m spending all lunch times this week catching up on English controlled assesment (which is the most ridiculous exam system ever). Then I’m also trying to keep up my swimming and cycling to a reasonable level, and I’m babysitting about 4 hours a week (not as much as Teaspoons!). Can’t wait for christmas break!</p>
<p>@Teaspoons…when you run, to get your time down, try and add in little 5-10 second sprints every couple minutes. Then add in longer ones, and keep getting longer. Your time will drop. No worries, just keep working hard, running is a sport where everyone is supportive of everyone else.</p>
<p>@UKgirl…keep working! Christmas is here soon enough!</p>
<p>I have a B in honors English, because I turned in one big project one day late - not because I did it late, just that day I forgot to take it to school. But my score now is 88.6. Hopefully by the end of the semester I’ll get an A. </p>
<p>My first sixth form school acceptance came today! Getting another letter on saturday for a boarding school, another for a day school on monday and another boarding school on wednesday. All the waiting is so stressful!</p>
<p>We don’t get ongoing grades, but I have mock GCSEs in January then the real things in May and June, and so far I’m predicted 11 A*s :)</p>
<p>@CEM, thanks for the tip. a friend of mine told me to try for the 400 or mile since those are easiest (least competitive and easier practices in comparison to the other other running base events)… So that’s what I’m aiming for… I now meets start in march so I have 2 or 3 months to prepare. I hope I stick through it</p>
<p>I never really worry to much about grades… Yes I may not have straight a’s right now but I always manage to pull through. I find that just showing teachers you really want to up your grade and showing the work you’ll do always comes out on top… At least or me… Maybe that makes my grades a bit inflated :\ . The only class I’m worried about with the teacher is my physics teacher… He’s a super nice guy and really passionate about his work but he doesn’t really care if you don’t have an A…</p>
<p>Yeah, just keep running, you’ll be fine. At my school, practices usually go like this for those doing the 400 or less:</p>
<p>-Warm up (one lap, stretching)
-Real work starts (Sometimes will do hills, stadiums, etc.)
-Run something else (Indian Run, ladders (100-200-400-400-300-200-100), etc.)
-Sprinters and long distance meet up and go to weight room for 30 minutes and lift and do push ups, sit ups, planks, lunges, etc.</p>
<p>Mile is considered long distance at our school, and long distance usually does 1 and 4 the same, but as far as their core work out, they go run like 10 laps or go for a long run.</p>
<p>@Teaspoons: You’re lucky that the mile isn’t that competitive at your school, where I live, all long distance events are extremely competitive. Basically if you don’t do xc, you don’t stand a chance against everyone else for track(long-distance), which really is unfair. (I did xc last year and this year as well as indoor last year, but I think I’m not doing track this year since I keep on getting injured lol - various stress fractures) But yes I agree with CE527M, and I think that you should choose one specific event you want to do or maybe 2 to focus on. Oh and you should definitely choose between short or long distance. They practice differently and gradually, if you do long distance, it tears apart your white muscles (which are what sprinters need and have). Also, one last thing, consistency is extremely important. If you run everyday, you’ll see yourself shedding minutes slowly. There was this girl at our school who was ok-ish during xc, but she really put a lot of work and effort in indoor and outdoor track. She then proceeded to do a whole lot of work over the summer and now she’s one of the top runners in the entire state. Anything is possible if you want it and you are willing to put in the work. Good luck and don’t give up!</p>
<p>I really wanted to get into all state band. Last year I got in, made amazing friends. Most of them got in this year. They’re from different part of the state. I really hoped I’d get in so I could be with them again for a weekend. But… :(</p>
<p>Oh well, this is my last year in band. Next year I won’t do band, so I have time to do other things without conflicts. This year I won’t be able to do mocktrial because of band. But I’m hoping to do Model UN.</p>
<p>Anybody did model UN last year? How was it?</p>
<p>Got my class ring today…looks pretty awesome, if I do say so myself. I’m lucky I have a good birthstone, some (IMPO) are really ugly, no offense to those people who have that birthstone.</p>
<p>@RoseOak…yeah, I know, it seems like juniors and seniors usually get them, but nope, my school does sophomores, who knows what goes into that decision. Ahh school color, cool. I wouldn’t mind that, that’d make us a Garnet, that wouldn’t be bad.</p>
<p>@goodnoodle…you haven’t seen one class ring for your school?</p>
<p>I know I’m surprised I haven’t seen one. I had a lot of senior friends that I hung out with last year. Do people even wear them before graduating?</p>