January 3, 2007
Link to Story
It's been a while since I wrote my last blog. A lot of that has to do with the fact that it was the end of the year and Christmas break. I have been very busy—I spent the two weeks before the break wrapping up the semester and studying for finals. Pretty stressful if you ask me! I'm glad that's over with. Christmas break is one of my favorite times of the year, mostly because I get two and a half weeks off from school.
In
previous years, my Christmas break usually consisted of sleeping till
noon every day, sitting on the couch for countless hours and watching
TV, eating whatever I wanted whenever I wanted and spending time with
my friends and family as much as possible.
This break, however, was very different.
I still hung out with my friends and family when I could, and I did occasionally sleep in, but for the most part, this break was not really a break at all. I worked out almost every day, either lifting weights or running bleachers. With the high school softball season right around the corner, I have to be in shape.
On lifting days, I will meet with my strength coach at my high school weight room at 6 a.m. or 7 a.m. and work out for about an hour. On conditioning days I don't go quite as early. I will usually wake up around 9 a.m. or 10 a.m. I run 2 or 3 sets of bleachers, and after that I do 2 or 3 sets of abs and push-ups. Some days I run sprints instead of bleachers. The whole work out only takes about 30 minutes, but it's not easy.
In addition to a strict workout program, I have also been watching what I eat.
I won't even consider eating fast food, and if I go to a restaurant I will usually eat a salad. Working out will do me no good if I don't have a healthy diet to go along with it. I'm not saying I don't ever eat anything sweet or fattening, but I try to keep it to a minimum.
As far as drinks go, I only drink water, tea, milk, and V8. My mom never let me or my sister drink cokes when we were young, so now we don't like them. I know a lot of people who are addicted to Cokes and I'm glad I don't have that problem. It's one less thing to worry about.
I know some of this sounds crazy to some people because a few years ago, that's exactly how it would have sounded to me, but there is a reason I do all of this: to get better.
When some athletes commit to or sign with a college, they immediately think that they don't have to work hard anymore. I see this a lot, even with some of my friends, and it's the total wrong attitude to have.
When I committed to Texas A&M last year, I knew I wasn't anywhere close to the level of play I could be at. I knew I had to step it up. There is always room for improvement. It took me a while to figure that out, but once I did, I started working harder and harder.
During school, I lift 3 mornings a week, condition 3 days a week, hit 2 or 3 days a week, and pitch 2 or 3 days a week. I am always trying to make myself better, not only for the high school season, but also for college.
After one more semester and a summer, I'll be in a new world. I hear about a lot of athletes that go into their first semester of college softball completely unprepared. I don't want that to be me, so I'm working hard now so that I won't be behind when I go to college.
Everyone has their own method of preparing for college. I just thought I would share mine with you.
My biggest advice to any athlete who has just made a commitment to play at the collegiate level is DON'T SLACK OFF. Keep trying to make yourself better.
You want your college coach to KNOW they made the right decision when they chose you. Don't give them any room for doubt. Continue working hard and it will pay off when you get there.
Well I guess that's all I have for now. Hope this helped. Bye!
-Rhiannon
Link to Story
Rhiannon Kliesing
Special to StudentSportsSoftball.com
It's been a while since I wrote my last blog. A lot of that has to do with the fact that it was the end of the year and Christmas break. I have been very busy—I spent the two weeks before the break wrapping up the semester and studying for finals. Pretty stressful if you ask me! I'm glad that's over with. Christmas break is one of my favorite times of the year, mostly because I get two and a half weeks off from school.
 |  |
This break, however, was very different.
I still hung out with my friends and family when I could, and I did occasionally sleep in, but for the most part, this break was not really a break at all. I worked out almost every day, either lifting weights or running bleachers. With the high school softball season right around the corner, I have to be in shape.
On lifting days, I will meet with my strength coach at my high school weight room at 6 a.m. or 7 a.m. and work out for about an hour. On conditioning days I don't go quite as early. I will usually wake up around 9 a.m. or 10 a.m. I run 2 or 3 sets of bleachers, and after that I do 2 or 3 sets of abs and push-ups. Some days I run sprints instead of bleachers. The whole work out only takes about 30 minutes, but it's not easy.
In addition to a strict workout program, I have also been watching what I eat.
I won't even consider eating fast food, and if I go to a restaurant I will usually eat a salad. Working out will do me no good if I don't have a healthy diet to go along with it. I'm not saying I don't ever eat anything sweet or fattening, but I try to keep it to a minimum.
As far as drinks go, I only drink water, tea, milk, and V8. My mom never let me or my sister drink cokes when we were young, so now we don't like them. I know a lot of people who are addicted to Cokes and I'm glad I don't have that problem. It's one less thing to worry about.
I know some of this sounds crazy to some people because a few years ago, that's exactly how it would have sounded to me, but there is a reason I do all of this: to get better.
When some athletes commit to or sign with a college, they immediately think that they don't have to work hard anymore. I see this a lot, even with some of my friends, and it's the total wrong attitude to have.
When I committed to Texas A&M last year, I knew I wasn't anywhere close to the level of play I could be at. I knew I had to step it up. There is always room for improvement. It took me a while to figure that out, but once I did, I started working harder and harder.
During school, I lift 3 mornings a week, condition 3 days a week, hit 2 or 3 days a week, and pitch 2 or 3 days a week. I am always trying to make myself better, not only for the high school season, but also for college.
After one more semester and a summer, I'll be in a new world. I hear about a lot of athletes that go into their first semester of college softball completely unprepared. I don't want that to be me, so I'm working hard now so that I won't be behind when I go to college.
Everyone has their own method of preparing for college. I just thought I would share mine with you.
My biggest advice to any athlete who has just made a commitment to play at the collegiate level is DON'T SLACK OFF. Keep trying to make yourself better.
You want your college coach to KNOW they made the right decision when they chose you. Don't give them any room for doubt. Continue working hard and it will pay off when you get there.
Well I guess that's all I have for now. Hope this helped. Bye!
-Rhiannon
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