Road to Nationals-Mustang Gallop

Gabe Esser
Sep 2, 2018 · 3 min read

Hey y’all! Hope you all had an amazing week. I am writing this before my week starts so I know that my week could have had ups as well as downs! This week I am looking forward to running our first race of the year which is the Mustang Gallop in Cedar Rapids! It will be a good test of our fitness and our Conference rival Grinell, lol, is going to be there. So it will be an awesome chance to show our strength very early in the year. I am hoping to hit 60 miles this week. Hit 53 last week without doing some doubles but this week I will get back on the grind. This first race is all about competing and seeing where I am. I know that I have a long time to get to where I want to be. But I also know that if I consistantly do the right things this week is going to be amazing! One last thing, rambling a bit, I have noticed that more and more people are reading what I write. Which is an amazing thing because I have never thought about myself as a writer. But thanks for keeping up with my on my journey and I appriciate y’alls support a lot. Enjoy the blog!!

MONDAY

6:12 A.M

3 Total Miles (Stopped early due to strained hamstring)

Pissed. I am very upset that I strained my hamstring and now this week looks very different. Hopefully I can be running again by the end of it. I am not sure if I will run or not on Friday but am hoping for amazing treatment sessions and hopefully I am running again by Wednesday or Thursday. We will see however. See you all tomorrow

TUESDAY

6:15 A.M. 16 Miles on Bike in 60 minutes

Leg is not any better than yesterday, I am not very happy about that. I feel as though that I am letting my team down and am losing fitness when I am just spinning on the bike. Granted I am trying to go as hard as I possibly can. But it is not the same thing as running. I am going to be in the training room as much as I possibly can so I can get better faster. See you all tomorrow, hope I have better news.

WEDNESDAY

6:25 A.M. 5 Miles on elliptical in 60 Minutes

Not feeling much better than yesterday. I know that I can be able to be in a better place soon. But my coach said something that struck a cord while I was getting ice and stem. Pre-Regionals is a month away from today. And I feel like every day that I do not run, my chances of helping the team make it to nationals go lower and lower. So I am hoping that I see huge improvements soon because I do not want my last cross-country season to be a non exisitant season. See you all tomorrow.

THURSDAY

6:40 A.M. 1 Mile in 7:37

Ran one mile this morning and my hamstring is feeling okay. Not the best however. I hope that I can continue to make improvements on my health. I know that my ability to run to help our team make it to nationals come November.

FRIDAY

2:35 P.M. 2 Miles in 14:07

Felt pretty good, will try to run a bit more, forgot to blog on friday so wrting it on Saturday night.

SATURDAY

OFF

Feeling bad because I slept through practice. Will run two or three miles tomorrow!

SUNDAY

4:18 P.M. 2 Miles in 14:02

Best my leg has felt since straining my hamstring. Hoping that this continues in an upward trend! Feeling excited because I think the best 8 weeks of training I have ever had are going to put me in a great spot to be top 7 on the team then I have two more weeks to sharpen the base before I get to help the boys get to nationals. The next meet I have my eyes on is pre regionals which is at the end of this month! And that is the only thing I am worried about getting healthy and fit for. Thanks for reading y’all!

-Gabe

Gabe Esser

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