Abby McAlindon

Name: Abby McAlindon
Grade: 11
Role: Track Captain

1. How do you feel that you won’t be able to be a captain this year?
“I’m really bummed that I don’t get to be a track captain this year. I was looking forward to being able to help motivate all the amazing runners on the team and have fun throughout the season.”

2. Do you have a plan for next year’s captains? Are the non-senior captains staying captains?
“I’m not quite sure what’s going to happen and who’s going to be captain’s next year. We will have to talk to our coach and see what he would like to do.”

3. Are you doing anything over the internet to keep in touch with the team?
“We haven’t really been doing anything to keep in touch. I talk to a few of my teammates about the workouts they are doing, but that’s about it. Before we knew that we wouldn’t be going back to school for the rest of the year, we had a workout plan sent out to us by our coaches that we all were supposed to be doing.”

4. Are any of the captains or coaches giving any workouts?
“Yes, we had a workout plan sent out to us before we knew that we wouldn’t be going back to school. A few weeks ago, though, our coach sent us an email and gave us the unfortunate and sad news that our season was more than likely done before it even started.”

5. Are you still running during the quarantine?
“Yes. I am still keeping up with my running, and I have been following my own workout plan, but sometimes I’ll do the workout plan that they sent for one of the weeks.”

6. How are you passing the time?
“I have been passing the time by keeping up with my school work. I have online classes that I took normally during the school year, so I have been trying to finish those before we start online school for my other classes as well. I also have been consistently doing a daily workout because it helps me to stay focused and not go stir crazy in my house.”

7. Why do you love to run?
“I have a love/hate relationship with running. While I’m doing it, I either am thinking about how I want to be done, or that I never want to stop and how much fun I am having, even though my body is aching. Once you finish, though, you feel amazing, and as you continue to do it and running daily becomes a habit, then it becomes much more enjoyable and you learn to love it.”

8. What advice would you give your past self if you knew this was coming?
“If I knew this pandemic would happen, I wouldn’t have taken going to school and those first few practices for granted. The first week is always one of the toughest because you are trying to get back into shape. I wish I would’ve had more fun and enjoyed just being able to see all my teammates and run with them. I also pole vault, and we had just put together the pit for the season, and I was so excited to start. I just wish I could’ve enjoyed the moment more than I did because I took it for granted.”

9. Is this strengthening you or your team in any way?
“I think this is definitely strengthening me. This is teaching me not to take small moments for granted—to enjoy being with my teammates, coaches, and friends more than ever before. I also think that it’s teaching my team that no matter how hard a workout might be, or no matter how bad you think you placed at a meet, that it is better than not having a track season at all because, after all, you only get four seasons.”