Natalie Beck is a rising senior at Willow Canyon High School, popular with teammate and competitor alike. Recently she returned from the NAU running camp and graciously agreed to write a journal entry about what she learned.
This past week, starting from June 22nd, runners from all over came down to Northern Arizona University to run with none other than one of the best coaches to live, Dean Hebert. In just six days he taught us a range of skills that every great runner needs. This consisted of learning the proper etiquette to running with solid form and ones stride. Since Coach Dean specializes in a persons Mental Game he also taught us to always remain confident and positive no matter what the situation. Personally, this was a vital piece of information for me because I am extremely competitive and would always get down on myself no matter if I had received a PR (personal record) or not. If I had a goal in sight and didn't reach it I'd think I failed. However, Coach Dean taught me to be proud of that time and realize that, that time was better than my last which is why we set goals one day during camp. We set a bronze, silver, and gold goal, so we can take what I call "baby steps" to get to our best time for the season. But this wasn't all just about running and lectures. In our free time we all enjoyed playing volleyball, kick-ball, and capture the flag. Let's just say us distance runners lack in coordination. Along with that we partook on a challenge to see our acting skills when we made a video about running. Some made up a mock life of Dean and his running career while others showed what it's like to be a distance runner such as having bad tan lines or having skinny arms. But overall, this is a camp that any runner would enjoy. It was a challenge to accumulate to the high altitude and hills the first few days but after that it's a process of pushing yourself to see how hard you can run and to have the will to make yourself better.
From all of the hills that I ran, to the long trails, and the mock time trial on the NAU track, I can say I came out of those six days with the right mindset to push myself to aspire to be the best runner I can be. Coach Dean's knowledge and own experiences of running helped every runner that was there this past week along with guiding them in the right direction to there goals. He gave us all the information we needed now it's up to us to actually follow it. Like he always said, "No matter what works for you just remember to always win ugly." All of us came together from different teams, but we're leaving as a family.