Too much is enough

Track practices are beginning to seem very brutal now a days. During intervals we have our intense practices on Mondays and Wednesday. When I say intense I mean these types of practices really test your determination and train you both mentally and physically. You're running at a constant rate with hardly any rest. Testing both your patience and your ability to sustain your pace. Our coach was once our age and knows all the tricks we try to prevent us from getting better. The tricks and the trades of track aren't that simple now that he's our new coach. He knows we try to save our energy for the last few repetitions. He pushes us harder and harder each step we take, so we can hear his breathing and fear his footsteps. He pressures us by saying if I beat you to the finish we're going to run another one. He doesn't want us holding any bit of energy left for later because you can't be doing that during an 800 meter race. He believes how we practice during intervals is how we're going to look during our meet. He wants us to train in the same mindset every time we begin our intervals treat it as if it were an actual race. Our coach, at the height of our misery, enjoys repeating the phrase, "Dealing with adversity." We're not quite certain what that quote means, but we've inferred that it meant you have to deal with what you're given. That you can't expect to know what life's going to put you up against. Whatever challenged you're faced with you have to take it on headstrong. Life will always take you by surprise whether you want it to or not. It's got a bag full of them and you'll never know when you'll be faced with one, so you can't always be prepared for it, but instead learn to cope with your situation when the time comes. Every interval all I can expect is that I'm going to feel like I'm in the pits of hell. I start with the common symptoms, shortness of breathe, dryness of the mouth, and then it gets even greater to a point I begin to feel nauseated. All that's going through my mind is when was this workout going to be over. My brain was pulsing and all I that was left to motivate me was to push myself a little harder in practice so I could be ready for my meet and qualify for states. The pain I go through each of those two days of the week I can't stand to bare. It's making me a better runner of course, but I always question is the pain ever worth it? Our whole team has faced that time in their workout where quitting seems like the best option, but we refuse to do it. Just like being tempted to throw up when you feel like you've pushed yourself to the limit, but you force yourself to hold it in for just a couple more repetitions. There's no way to judge if we're going our very hardest and there's no way to see if we've pushed ourselves to the point of no return. All I know is that when I'm running I go as fast as my legs will take me. Dedication to the sport plays a big role in reaching your personal best. Our coach even mentions to us after practice about how we should eat right if we want to see maximum performance during our intervals and meets. Every visit I take to the snack bar is a test of my obedience to my coach. When I see my friends eating donuts and drinking soda it tempts me. My obsession to perfect myself and achieve my personal best lacking at the moment.