Written by Martha Perez – Journalism Staff Reporter

Cross Country, an arduous and demanding sport, is well into its season here at Allatoona. Consisting of distance and running on natural terrain, runners must train hard and properly to be prepared. In the summer, runners spend their time training. Now, during the school year, after school practices contain a variety of different training methods. With two quality days, one is spent on a long run with heavy mileage and speed training. Tuesdays and Thursdays are spent in recovery work, working on hip and core strength as well as rolling out. They then have a repeat day consisting of a variation of distances with short rest to work on preparing the runners. Head Coach Parsons works very hard in making sure his runners can perform at their best quality and in celebrating their milestones. Parsons says, “I hope in celebrating with the team and every time someone sets a new pr.” In this season, they are prepared for new challenges. Head Coach Parson says, “The most rewarding thing about coaching is watching every single day the students get better about themselves as far as running goes and watching their confidence grow!”