Championship season. Let's talk about it

Championship season, these are two words that any runner or track athlete may know if they have competed competitively within the sport. It’s the moment a lot of runners train for, it’s the time you compete for a trophy. In this week's newsletter, I’m going to discuss my opinions on the topic and why each part has its purpose.

A common term in the running world, even in general, is the term PR. In this context, it doesn’t mean public relations, but it means a personal record. PRs are great for the sport, I feel that track and field is all about running faster, throwing farther, and jumping higher or longer than you have ever done before. Why is that great for the sport? Well, sometimes in track you may feel pressure to perform a certain way in a championship setting, whether that be on the smallest stage or the biggest stage at the Olympics. The mindset to just go out and perform better than you did the day before or earlier that season will allow that pressure to go away. Adding onto that, just the mindset that you should go out and try your best will get you places because your best can always be better. A lot of times during the regular season some meets assemble really fast races that allow you to run fast times. I will get into this a little bit later, but sometimes during postseason/championship season races, people mainly focus on winning, not running fast. If I had to sum up what the regular season is, I would do it like this. The regular season is a time when you can try new things, do better than you have ever done before, and put yourself in a position where you are ready to compete in the championship season.

Before I talk about the championship season more, I would like to take this opportunity and announce that we have launched new Kicking For Home merch. We have t-shirts and fanny packs, the classic t-shirt comes in white, ash, and navy, all of which feature the classic Kicking For Home logo, along with our icon. The fanny pack is inspired by one of my friends, Evan DiBlasi, and also features our icon. If you would like to buy there is a link to buy some down below. 

As I touched on earlier, championship season is the specific portion of the track season where you don't necessarily push to set new PRs but to win hardware. This is shown by historically slower times being run in the championship finals at major and minor championships across the world. Why is that though? Well, to say it simply, people want to win, and one way to do that is to use tactics to your advantage, whenever tactical races happen, slow times are normally run. In some of my other newsletters I have talked about how Track is a sport where no matter what level you are at, a lot of things stay the same. One thing that does not vary between competition levels is how much you have to do to compete for the respective championship title you’re trying to win. What does that mean though, well it means that the championship season is the same in structure for most levels. The most extreme example of this structure is in the Olympics. The Olympics’ structure is a lot like other professional sports’ playoffs. There are multiple rounds you have to run in before qualifying for the final, where you can win hardware. This time of the season is a great time for people to win hardware, and become a champion. 

Both times of the season are incredible opportunities for any athlete because they let you compete against others and your prior self whether that be in the Olympics final, or in a 30-person heat at the Bryan Clay Invitational. My personal favorite will always be the championship season because I love the Olympics, and seeing the world’s best run.