Getting better means training, and competing

 Regardless of the arena, one of the best ways to motivate yourself to work hard is to prepare for competition.

 Training

Train with intent.
No matter what your events, you need to both lift weights and put in winter mileage. Of course distance runners need more miles, while sprinters, jumpers and throwers need to be lifting more weight.
Make sure you are running quality miles. Vary your intensities. For instance, after warming up, do a 30-minute run where you alternate going hard for two minutes and easy for one minute. Then, the next day, go for another 30-minute run, but this time go at a medium pace. Make running part of your daily schedule, so it's not that big of a deal that you run four to six days each week.
Each week on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, Western's Unified Strength Training program offers athletes of every stripe and shade the opportunity to increase strength and improve agility. The workouts happen in the weight room, which is temporarily in the middle school. They begin fifteen minutes after the end of seventh hour.

Competition

Two types of competitive opportunities exist.
First, the Michigan Indoor Track Series has a full schedule of meets at colleges around the state. Competing in indoor track is a great way to work on technique while checking your progress. But be careful: if you haven't bee practicing, it's easy to get injured. Your purpose is to get ready for the spring season, and an injury now will slow you down then.
The other opportunity to compete comes in the form of power lifting. The Michigan High School Power Lifting Association also offers a winter meet schedule. There are two age divisions and 13 weight classes.



The best way to get in the habit of winning is to develop winning habits. Training and competition are key to this development.