By Carter Melrose
There is a way to lose prematurely in track — before the whistle blows, before the teams arrive at the track, and even before the first meet is announced.
This way is not a false start, not a disqualification of any kind, in fact.
This way of losing you could only foresee from the inside out. This being your diet.
Athletes live by the mindset of working just as hard, if not harder, than the next competitor. But if that competitor’s diet reigns superior, there’s no point in showing up in the starting blocks.
Track and field assistant coach Jason Wakenight knows the immense usable power of a healthy diet.
“If these athletes ever ate the way we tell them they should eat, they all would be Olympic champions,” he said. “I’d be an Olympic coach in Rio, but instead we eat Sour Patch Kids for extra energy.”
This raises the question: Could diet be the difference between a dud and a hero?
Director of Track and Field Joey Woody feels like this could be the case.
“Sleep and nutrition are more important than training,” he said. “If you are not living the lifestyle of an elite athlete, then your body won’t adapt to the elite-level training.”
Mar’yea Harris, one of the most talented athletes on the team, possesses a sweet tooth for candy.
“In college, I cut out fast food, but I still eat a lot of candy.” he said. “I love sour gummy worms; I eat less this year, but I’m using baby steps.”
The coaching staff hopes one day these baby steps can become one-giant leap for track kind.
The belief remains that when the athletes are able to commit to the healthy lifestyle, big changes would come.
“Mar’yea is a good example,” Woody said. “Last year he [admitted] he wasn’t doing as well as this year. For him it’s not Chick-fil-A everyday anymore, it’s more like once or twice a week.”
After cutting down on fast food while also retaining much of his precious candy, Harris saw a peak in performance and also a drop in weight.
“I came in 165, now I am 156, so I’ve lost a lot of weight when I cut out junk food,” he said. “It’s just a lot easier when I don’t have to carry 165 pounds across the track. I’ve started dropping times, and it’s a lot better.”
Harris being more or less classified as the problem-child on the team when it comes to dieting, putting Woody in the mindset to remember when he competed on the collegiate stage.
“I figured it out later in my college career,” he said. “I just wasn’t eating enough throughout the day, and some of our kids might eat well, but they don’t eat enough, so when they come to practice their gas tank is already on E.”
Telling college-age students not to eat pizza and hamburgers and instead eat salmon and kale is a pipe dream at best. Woody and the other staff members will continue their journey to elite-training and elite-nutritional habits from all of their athletes.
Maybe this will result in more Iowa track Olympians.
“I should be an eight-time Olympic coach by now,” Wakenight said.