Sara Hall: Sled Dog Racing
(Elite Athlete Blog Entry 12)
Posted June 28th, 2008 at 3:00 PM by Sara Hall
Section: News & Results, Track & Field, Elite Athlete Blogs, Sara Hall
Welcome to the official blog of U.S. middle-distance runner Sara Hall. Sara’s list of running accolades include being a former NCAA All- American at Stanford, the 2006 USA 5K road champion, and the 2006 champion at the Continental Fifth Avenue Mile. Check back every other Friday for her latest entry at http://sarahall.thefinalsprint.com/
One night at pre-season camp in Mammoth the summer before my freshman year at Stanford, we had a guest speaker come talk to us as a team. The one thing I remember from his talk was his story of going for a ride on a dog sled in Alaska. The morning of the ride, he came out with the sled driver, and as soon as the dogs saw them, they just started going nuts, pulling at their chains and working themselves into a frenzy. One of the dogs was so excited he actually pulled on his chain so hard that he pulled the stake out of the ground! “You see that?” asked the driver, “They all want to be one of the ones that is picked to pull the sled. They were created to run, it’s what they love to do best”.
I love that story then, the image of those dogs who delighted in the pure essence of running as hard as they could. And now that I have a husky of my own, I see firsthand what he was talking about. When Kai sees us putting on our running shoes, she gets so excited, she starts making a weird noise and doing every trick she knows how to impress us. When we’re out on the run, I look at her sprinting along and figure she’s not thinking, “How much further am I running? This hurts, I think I’ll slow down”, she’s just enjoying the moment, caught up in doing what she was created to do.
These last few weeks, I have felt like a sled dog. I have reconnected with my love for running, an act I believe I was created to do. I wake up so excited to go down to the track and workout, and am disappointed if I realize today is just an easy training run day. If I watch my teammates working out on the track on a night I’m not, I have to restrain myself from hopping in the workout in my jeans and sandals. It’s been a great last few weeks of hard training before the Trials, I have enjoyed every minute and am very thankful for the opportunity to do what I love. Roger Bannister once said, “In the joy of going all out, I forgot my pain”, and I have definitely experienced that in my recent track sessions.
One thing that has made my workouts even more enjoyable is having my coach Terrence running them with me. It’s always fun to compete with him, though he usually beats up on me pretty easily! Seeing my teammates nail workouts makes me excited too, realizing that we are collectively coming around together when it matters most. It’s an exciting atmosphere here at the Olympic Training Center, but I have a feeling it’s going to be a whole new level of excitement once I get to Eugene! It’s a great feeling to go into a race feeling excited and prepared. In these last few weeks of preparation, God has restored my hope for the season and my excitement to go out each day and give my very best. I am looking forward to getting in the race with my “sled dog” mentality and enjoying every minute of running all out!
- Sara
Check back on Friday, July 11, 2008 for Sara’s latest entry at: http://sarahall.thefinalsprint.com/
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Related Stories:
- Sara Hall: Getting Back Up
(Elite Athlete Blog - Entry 10) - Sara Hall: Music
(Elite Athlete Blog - Entry #9) - Sara Hall: In Definition
(Elite Athlete Blog - Entry #8) - Sara Hall: Patience
(Elite Athlete Blog - Entry #3) - Sara Hall: Hello from Philly!
(Elite Athlete Blog - Entry #1)
Tags: dogs, elite athlete, elite athlete blog, elite athlete blog series, elite runner, faith, glorifying god, goal setting, god, kai, Ryan Hall, sara hall, sara hall blog, stanford, team running usa, Terrence Mahon, tfs elite athlete blog series, the final sprint elite athlete blog series, thefinalsprint.com elite athlete blog serie
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The Final Sprint
Sara,
I came across your blog on comparing running to sled dogs. Since you haven’t had the opportunity to personally witness these amazing canine athletes, my husband and I would like to extend and invitation for you and Ryan to visit our Iditarod racing kennel in Michigan. We’d love you to be our complimentary guests for an awesome sled dog adventure! Good luck in your amazing adventures! Tasha and Ed Stielstra (info@natureskennel.com)
July 18th, 2008 at 1:12 am