Step by step, mile by mile

Looks like you had another good week mileage wise. Well, my track season officially ended yesterday. Friday I woke up with a fever and was really sick so I didn't even bother going to my 800m race. Yesterday, my fever was gone and I ran my 1500m race. 4:53.46 but was not good enough to move on. So that is it!! I feel kind of relieved though. I am going to start increasing mileage and maybe someday I will be giving you competition on the mileage board. :)

Maybe you should take it easy for a couple of weeks first Eva. It might be better in the long run to give the legs a little rest after a season of racing. Still, 4:53 is an excellent time, great job! Do you have another year of competition left for school, or is this your last year?

This was my last year for track. I still have a season of ekiden left, and then finish school in March of next year. The school year here goes from April to March. I need to start thinking about where I might like to go to college. I probably won't run in college though. I would rather concentrate on my studies.

That's a good mindset to have about school. But, even with the harder majors, you still have a fair amount of free time to do whatever, whether it be running, extracirriculars, etc. Is ekiden like cross country for you guys? Do you take the ACT/SAT's there? Are you thinking of USA colleges or other countries as well?

Next to the marathon, Ekiden is probably the most popular running sport in Japan. It is a long distance relay. In high school the girls cover a distance equal to a half marathon.

Leg 1: 6.0 km

Leg 2: 4.1 km

Leg 3: 3.0 km

Leg 4: 3.0 km

Leg 5: 5.0 km

To make it on our schools top racing team I will have to be able to run 5 km in about 16:00 or less.

Yes, I will have to take the ACT and SAT exam. I can take a digital version at a testing center. I will take it next year. I plan on starting college in the Fall of 2020. Some of the schools I am considering is BYU, University of Washington, University of Illinois. I am hoping to study engineering.

Make sure to give the time and attention to these tests that they need, both before and during! I got a 33 and 1440(I think they changed the SAT scoring method after I graduated), and that can get you in just about anywhere, but your scores are super important for scholarships! I applied for all the scholarships I could and managed to graduate high school with a full-ride, a $20k engineering scholarship, two $10k scholarships, and a lot more. Not to brag or anything :) but really, the SAT and ACT aren't too hard, the important thing to know is they're pretty long tests but they don't require more than maybe 8th or 9th grade knowledge for most questions(maybe a bit higher in english/language), so just keep a cool head. My parents made me start taking the SAT at least once every year starting in 6th grade so I never stressed the tests, and I always thought that gave me an edge over my classmates. But anyway good luck on those! Also, if you can run under 16 for a 5k and have it verified, let me know. The head Alabama XC/track coach loves recruiting outside of the USA, I bet if he saw a sub 16 he'd offer you some kind of scholarship for sure, and that probably goes for most programs in the NCAA, I'm not sure about BYU though, there's probably a couple people on the blog with more accurate information than me :)

Also I bet you could get more scholarships on account of you being from Japan(or out of country in general) too!

Thanks for the advice Eugene. I kind of doubt that I will be able to run under 16 minutes for the 5K, but I am going to set it as a goal. Our team went to the National championship last year and was 22nd out of 58 teams. I wasn't on the varsity team last year, and it will really be a challenge to make it this year. There are so many fast girls on our team.

Thanks for the advice on the ACT and SAT. So you would advise taking it as many times as possible? I didn't even realize that I could take it more than one time.

By the way, I am American. I have only been in Japan a couple of years. We are here because of my step father's work. Our home is in Seattle. That is why I am considering the University of Washington. The reason I am considering the University of Illinois is because my grandparents live there, and UI has a good engineering program. I would also love to go to BYU because I love Utah.

My boyfriend wants me to apply to a couple of universities in Japan, but I don't know if I could handle going to a Japanese university. I think the language would be a big barrier.

Anyway, you have given me a lot to think about and some great advice as always.

Thanks Eugene!

No problem! and you can take both tests around 13 times each, so don't hesitate to try again if you think you can do better! Every time I took the ACT I got one point higher, so even though I hated wasting a day taking a test, in the long run it's super worth it!

Eva- would you consider coming to SUU in Cedar City, Utah? I had two of my high school teammates run for BYU. One was Natalie Shields (Connolly), she ran a 4:51 1600m and 10:22 3200m in high school and received a scholarship. I, personally, am not a fan of BYU but that’s my own opinion haha. I have many friends though who went to BYU and loved it. From what I’ve heard, their coach is a lot more intense and they have so many athletes to spare. Natalie was very stressed out and would talk about it when she came back to run with me and a couple other friends. Personally I’m so glad that I chose to go to SUU. Our coach is a lot more forgiving and cares about each athlete. One of the things our coaches say often is that they’re not like bigger schools like BYU who can afford to have athletes get injured, they want us to be injury free if at all possible. So they are very understanding and want what is best for us. Anyways I know that you could get a scholarship to SUU. Probably a full-ride. Our women’s team went to Nationals for the first time this year and our Men’s have gone for the past 3-4 years. Our fastest 3 girls broke the school records this track season running a 15:46.02 5k, 2:05.82 800m, and 4:17.83 1500m. If that helps haha. Would you be okay with living in a smaller town, attending a smaller University? I have absolutely loved my time at SUU.

And if it helps- I got a full-ride scholarship having run a 5:12 mile and an 11:03 3200m. Angie Nickerson, who ran the 5k record, ran a 5:19 1600m her senior year and was offered a scholarship to SUU, then later ran 5:09 that track season. I’m not sure what your times are like, but if you can run times close to those you could get a scholarship.

Hey I'm just going to jump in and say that if you want to live in Seattle, but don't necessarily want to run at UW there are other options: Seattle University and Seattle Pacific University. I know quite a few people who ran at those schools.

ALSO, if you do decide to run attend UW and don't run with the team, there is a club that you can join out here (Club Northwest). It sounds like you might prefer it as you'll have a lot more control over your training/racing without the pressure of meeting certain standards. There will also be lots of women your age/ability level to run with.

fiddy--The option you mentioned of running with the running club (Club Northwest) sounds like something I would be the most interested in. For me there is a lot of pressure and stress related to running on a team. I have alway enjoyed being in more control of my training, but I would like something where I could do a couple of good structured workouts a week. I will be in Seattle from the end of July through most of August this summer. Could you give me a link to a webpage where I can get more sign up information about the club? You can write me at evangelina.splaine@gmail.com if you want. That way we don't have to clutter up Eugene's blog with this.

Eva, even if you don't run college the fact that you're getting pitches/suggestions for colleges to run for makes me happy. It's been great following your training/getting to hear from you these past couple of years. I'm super proud of you! And I'm sure you'll be excellent in wherever life takes you.

Oh also Eva, here's some of my pro tips I learned in about 10 SAT and 4 ACT attempts:

Bring mints, preferably sugar-free - these always helped me focus when I took a lifesaver or mint right before a section. Sugar can fog you up a little, but be wary of sugar-free mints because too many can cause stomach problems from the fake sugars.

Bring a snack - It's a long test and a clif bar halfway through can be good for refreshing yourself and coming into the next section like it's the first one

Also, if you get hung up on a problem, don't be afraid to skip it and come back! Once I finished 80% of the math section in maybe half the required time, but I got hung up on one problem and couldn't see the obvious solution, so I stayed on it for about ten minutes so I had to rush through the end. I would have been better off if I had come back to it after finishing the others, and solving other problems might make me realize the answer to the original one to stump me.