Observation One

Wednesday, September 16, 2015

Track and Field Athletes at UNC Charlotte
Relevant Background Information: In observation one, the track teams location for
Wednesday, September 16th, 2015, was on the side of a hill. However, not every workout is
going to be over on hills. Every track workout consist of different locations and/or indoor
activities. It's important to realize that, one day the team may have to work out on the field, other
days they may have track speed work workouts or go to the gym to lift weights.
Figured World: A figured world is a group in society with its own rules and regulations on how
to carry itself meanwhile, knowing their place in society as well.
For the past four years of my life, I strongly believed in the saying track is life!
Therefore, I figured, what better thing for me to observe and choose to base my figured world off
of than what I have devoted four years of my life to. I have decided to observe track and field
athletes. For one, I was a track athlete myself in high school, and I currently have the school
records for four different events.
However, my last two years were not my best years to say in the least. Some coaches
choose to leave, others did not care, and the team I had once thought of as a family was falling
apart. My times were getting worse, and I had no clue how to train myself. I was giving it (track)
my all and receiving nothing in return. I have often wondered if I had lost my passion for track? I
know for a fact that one should not let the actions of others deter them for their passions, goals,
and ambitions. For this reason, I would like to take a step back and look at what being a truly
devoted track athlete in college entails from a different point of view- in hopes of rekindling the
flame I had once had for track.
What attracts people to track is the same thing that tends to lead them astray; its a
challenge. Track is more than physically challenging but mentally challenging as well. Many
people are mentally weak and lack self- motivation and never make it through a whole season. I
know for a fact that any and every track athlete will often question themselves on why they are
torturing their bodies? But once again, track a sport for those who wish to learn how far they can
push themselves in every aspect. Track and field, in my opinion, is one of the best sports in the
world, because it is a place for fun and seriousness. Its is imperative to know the difference
between these two things.
One must know how to enjoy themselves and have fun! Yet, there is a time and place for
such things. On that track, when you are out there, you are conducting business with a set goal in
mind; break records, set times, have fun, and win! A track athlete cannot have a giving- up
attitude, they must have perseverance. They must always be positive, never complain, and learn
how to be an individual team player.
One thing I learned from track is that there is no such thing as a complete loss. In track
you either Win, or you Learn from your loss. Always keep your head up, and figure out what to

Commented [1]: I think this information is interesting.

It really reels me in and lets me know why you picked
this topic. It gives emotion to the paper. - D.F.

do to better yourself and the team for the next time. And there is definitely no such thing as being
too loud at a track meet! You yell and shout in support of your fellow track mate till you cannot
shout anymore! You must always be there for your team mates because the team must be like a
family in order to persevere.
Actors: Actors are people in the given figured world with that play a certain key role in society.
These people help the figure world proceed by leading and setting the stage for success.
Coaches: The coaches serve as the leaders of the whole track team in general. The
coaches come up with the workouts, critique the athletes and helps motivate them as well.
The athletes seem to look up to the coaches for guidance. The coaches always have
control of the team.
Athletes: The athletes are those who make up the team. They do everything they can to
please the coaches and their teammates. They motivate each other and try to succeed as a
whole and yet compete with each other in the process.
Physical trainer: The physical trainer has a small yet very important role on the team.
For whatever injury or mistake the athlete makes or whatever question the coach may
have about the well being of the athlete, the physical trainer is always there to help and
and answer question.
Notice: The team is very much so like a close nit family. The father of the team would be the
coaches; there for leadership and helpful criticism. The athletes are like that siblings, supporting
each other yet, always competing for the approval of their father. And the physical trainer is like
the mother; there to kiss the boo-boos and make the team feel better.
Artifacts: Artifacts are the physical objects and emotions that are valuable and highly significant
to the figured world.
Baton/ Water Bottle: The baton and waterbottle are highly praised artifacts of all track
athletes. One will never thrown or drop a batton on the track, for it is seem as bad luck
for the team. And without water, they athletes would not perform successfully.
Uniform/work out clothes: Everyone wore something similar when they worked out. In
a way, one could tell that this too helped the team feel more unified.
Coaches Timer: The time is their real enemy. They must get a certain amount of sets
done by a certain time or they would have successfully conquered the work out of the
day.
Perseverance: The willingness to keep on fighting and pushing ones self past mental
and physical [Link] positive, and knowing that the rest of the team is there to help
you keep going is all thats needed. Knowing that everything that they are putting in (to
their workout) they will receive in return (at a track meet).

Commented [2]: I thought this was a clever way to

help others understand how these actors work
together. It's also very cute and funny. It also definitely
lets others see that any kind of team is like a family. D.F.

Communities of Practice: Group of people that share a common interest/ ideas/ and goals
within the figured world.
Team Captains: No one was identified as the team captain(s). However, while
observing, it quickly became obvious who were the leaders of the team and who the other
teammates looked up to (besides the coaches). There was always the same three people
that the rest of the team seemed to follow.
Domain/Practices of Community: Domain and the practices of the community are the soul
purpose and/or goals of the figured world. It is the main reason why the community was created.
This is the glue and focus of the group which allows them to come together as one.
Challenging Workouts: These workouts are mentally and physically draining. However,
the team knows why they desire to push themselves and that they carry the name of their
team on their shoulders. Each and every person refuses to let each other down.
Desire to Win: These athletes know that they are a part of a team. Therefore, they win
and/or lose together as one. With this in mind, they continue to motivate one another and
always have some healthy competition within the team themselves.
Literacy: Literacy are the ways in which the members of the said figured world communicate.
Whether the community communicates verbally or through body language.
Simultaneous Group Activities (stretching): The only way these athletes communicate
while they are working out is verbally and/or through body language. No one brings their
phones down to the track with them. Therefore it really is not a distraction. They speak
nonverbally with their body language. They play, tease, and mess around with each other
by squirting water on each other or picking at one another. Most of the communicating
occurs during scratches or water breaks.
Note that the following observations took place over the first 60 minutes of practice. However,
the total practice time is about 80 minutes. The last 20 minutes of practice was not observed
because I had a 3:30 class. Luckily, I was informed by the coach that the last 20 minutes of
practices consisted of basic stretches. Also, note that there is not an exact set time for each
activity due to the fact that people's bodies fatigue at different rates and the coaches want to fit
in the whole workout. Therefore, the time segments that I arranged my observations off of was
whenever the team proceeded to the next activity.
Observation One:
Wednesday, September 16th, 2015

Commented [3]: I think that the track team itself could

be counted as a community. It's a group of people with
the same interest/goal. Also, how about fans of the
track team or the crowd that watches them? - D.F.

Commented [4]: I never thought of the domain as glue

so I thought this was a clever way of expressing it. It
definitely helps me understand the definition more
because I was actually confused on how to describe
the domain. This will help others who may be as
confused as me. - D.F.

2:00pm: People began to show up to practice. Some were already changed and others headed up
to the locker room to get changed. The coaches held regular conversations about a football game
they had seen over the weekend. As the athletes began to file down onto the track, some already
begin to anticipate what the workout consisted of. Some seem to have already known that today
was "hill day". The athletes all gathered around the 100 mark number line, drinking water and
being playful with each other.

Commented [5]: What does this term me? I can only

assume it means that track is taking place on a hill?
What does hill day mean to the runners? Is it an easier
or harder day? - D.F.

2:13pm: Coach Brewer calls the team to attention and they all meet on the track at the 100 line.
Thus, they begin their practice. Since today was "hill's" day, the athletes only ran one warm up
lap and began stretching.
2:17pm: The stretches are as follows:
1. Side leg openers: This is where the athlete lays on their side and lift their leg up 90
degrees into the air and back down. This stretch is to stretch out the interview hamstrings
and buttocks meanwhile warming up the muscle.
2. Note that is air swing jumping jacks are done in between each one of the dynamic
stretches. This is when the athlete runs sideways while opening their arms and legs out
simultaneously looking like a jumping jack in a sideways motion.
3. Back leg twist stretch: This is when the athlete lays flat on their stomach and twist their
legs. Left leg twisting to the right side of their body and the right leg twisting to the left
side of her body.
4. Stand up leg cross side stretch: This is when the athlete stands crosses the right foot over
the love reaches down to touch their toes. They repeat this on the left foot as well.
5. A skips: the athlete skips hard and high with a quick hip motion and repeats this with the
left and right foot while going forward.
6. Toe touches: the athlete stands straight up feet together bends over and touches to their
toes. This stretches the hamstrings, butt and back.
7. Side skip jumping jack again.
8. Low side to side squats: the athlete gets into a squatting position with the right leg out to
the side and pivot the body left to right. The stretches the hamstrings and calves muscles.
9. Mario skips: the athlete skips high into the air with the opposite me versus elbow into the
air at the same time.
10. Leg swings (side and front): each person went to go find themselves on isolated area
against the gate and sung their legs one at a time in front of them and to the side of them.
11. Lunges
12. Knees to chest: the athlete will lay on the ground on their back and bring their knee to
their chest.
13. High knee karaoke's: the athlete twist their bodies with their right foot in front of the left
foot alternating it with the left foot in front of the right foot as the leg swings to the side
you pop it up.
14. Ankle rolls

Commented [6]: I think that all of this information is

very visual. It will help readers understand these
exercises. It's very detailed and I can actually imagine
what these exercises may look like.

15. Calves stretches

2:30pm: The coaches allow for a very short water break. Some get water and others continue to
do individual stretching.
2:32pm: At this time the athletes gathered back together to continue stretching. The stretches
were as the following:
1. Hill toe stretches
2. Tiptoe low bounds: the athlete does a short little down movement circulating on their
tiptoes.
3. "A skips" line by line: as mentioned before the athlete does a skips however they did
them in groups of five.
Note: This was done so that the coaches can critique each athlete individually on their form.
The coaches continue to watch the athletes form and critique them for the rest of the stretches.
4. B skips
5. Low butt kicks: this is when the athlete does a small running circular motion and fix the
heel of their foot to their butt.
6. High knees
7. Single leg fast twitch muscle stretch: this is when the athlete does a quick skip on one
foot and rotates the other foot in a quick upward motion.
8. Backwards run for 75 meters
9. Sprint out 75 meters
2:40pm: At this time the athletes had a water break. There was less talking amongst everyone
and few others continued stretching in the coaches communicated as the they watch the athletes.
2:45pm: The team finished hydrating and walked their way to the hill. People were playing
around with each other, laughing and squirting water on each other.
2:53pm: They reached the hill on the side of the road. The hill had a slight incline.
Several of the athletes commented" this should be easy" as they messed around with each other.
The coaches had them lined up in rows of three . The females had to run 120 meters uphill, to the
finish line where coach Brewer stood in 21 to 27 seconds and the males had to run 120 meters
within 19 and 24 seconds and jog back to the starting line where coach AJ stood. The team did
five sets up hill. They continued to motivate each other, although as time went on there was less
talking amongst the group.
3:01pm: At this time they were given a water break. Most of the team had taken their shirts off
and were drenched in sweat. The coaches seemed to have been talking about the team off in the
distance.

3:04pm: The coaches lined the team back up and the team did eight more sets. The team
communicated mostly through body language now; giving each other high fives and fist bumps.
There was much less talking and a loss of energy.
3:14pm: The workout had ended and the team walked back to the track with very little talking.
They were still giving each other high fives and communicated through body language. A few
teammates would make eye contact, shake their heads and just chuckle as if there was a mutual
or shared understanding of how one another felt.
Observation Two:
Friday, September 18th, 2015
Note: I arrived about 30 minutes late to the workout due to a meeting I had to attend. However,
once again, I was informed by the coach that the athletes had already completed their dynamic
stretches (which were the same as the stretches in observation one from 2:17-2:40). I arrived
just as they began their second set.
2:31pm: As I arrived, the team was on their water break, they had just completed their first set
(run). I noticed that their was a significant difference in the number of people who were there. In
my first observation, it seemed as if the whole team was present; 35-40 people more or less.
However, today there was only five runners; three mid-distance and two distance runners. I
suppose since it was the hottest time of the day, the rest of the team had decided to have their
workouts at an earlier time in order to avoid the heat.
I was informed that today's workout consisted of 5x600s for the mid-distance, 4x800s for the
distance runners and an ab circuit workout. As the team drank their water and stretched,
communication was at a regular level- no one seems to be extremely winded- their recovery time
is fairly quick.
2:42pm: The team lines back up as the coach speaks about how he wants this next set to be ran.
The conversation wanders off onto the topic of a cookout for about two minutes then coach calls
the group back together at attention. The team laughs and relaxes in about three seconds they
become focused and take off again.
As they run, it's becomes obvious who the distances versus the mid- distance runners are. They
all have wonderful form as they run, but the difference in speed is hard to over look. The 600
runners were obviously faster than the 800 runners just as it was obvious that the 800 runners
had much more stamina and a sense of "pacing" themselves out. The coach yells out the time as
each person runs to the end of their mark.

Commented [7]: I think that this note should have

been added earlier in observation one. When I first
read "sets" I was a little confused on what it meant.
Adding this sooner will help readers understand the
term and remember it when they see it again. - D.F.

Commented [8]: What do these numbers mean? I

want to assume they mean the distance but in what
terms? I think you should include this information in a
note. - D.F.

2:47pm: Water break! The 600 runners walk across the field as the 800 runners finish their run.
Once again their breathing is rather leveled and as they compose themselves, the talking
escalates. Some are using the roller ( a long tubular bar with large beads on it) for their hamstring
and others are stretching.
2:52pm, 2:55pm, and 3:01- The same process as before is repeated.
3:03pm: The running portion of the workout is complete. They all relax, drink water, stretch and
talk till it is time to move into the conference room to d abs.
[Link] As we transition from the track to the conference room, the coach speaks to the team about
the new material they hope to purchase for the track. As the team does their ab workout, the
amount of talking shifts drastically- no one really speaks at all. The only time they actually speak
and joke around is during the plank exercise. Maybe they do this to take their minds off of the
strain they are putting on themselves. The core workout is as follows:
1. Crunches x 20
2. Toe touches x 20
3. Leg Raises x 20
4. Alternating knee (a.k.a. bicycles) x 20
5. Russian Twists x 20
6. V- ups x 12
7. Flutter kicks x 20
8. Hyper x 15
9. Planks x 30 seconds
10. Side Planks x 3o seconds each side
3:35pm: Today's workout is now complete. The team spoke to the coach about what tomorrow's
workout is going to be like and then the team broke it down "Charlotte on three!... One... Two...
Three... CHARLOTTE!".
Observation Three:
Saturday, September 19th, 2015
Note: I was informed by a friend of mine and the coach that the team still has to do workouts on
the weekends, however they are "individual workouts". The athlete has to go to the weight room
(varsity athletes weight room) and workout their individually or they may do a workout with a
small group of people from the team.
2:05pm: I arrived at the gym with my friend, Saadiq Sweezer. He is a mid- distance runner on
the team and is highly respected and looked up to by many of the team members. It did not take

me long to realize that the "weights on your own" written out on the 2015-2016 Charlotte Track
and Field Fall Conditioning sheet literally meant- working out on your own.
I think this is a pretty good idea because it allows the athlete to workout whatever muscle group
they believe their weakness in order to better themselves. I saw about seven different track
runners in the gym that I could recognise and each one of them were doing their own work out.
Some athletes were targeting their shoulders and others were working on strengthening their
hamstrings. However, everyone fit at least one of the following workout into their schedule:
Glut/Core Circuit:
25 reps each, 25 abs between each:
1. Knee to Shoulder
2. Ceiling Raisers
3. Fire Hydrant
4. Straight leg lifts
5. Side Straight Leg
Pillar Circuit:
1. Crunches x 25
2. Hip Raisers x 10
3. Pelvic Twist x 10
4. Twisting Crunch x 25
5. Lying Knee Raises x 10
6. Crab Ups x 10
7. Skydivers x 10
8. Side Reaches x 20
2:50pm: This is when Saadiq had completed his workout and everyone else that I had recognized
from the team had already left. I realized that the coaches are fairly lenient when it comes to
Saturday workouts. No one has to "check in" or do a specific work out. As we were leaving,
three more people from the team arrived.
Interview One:
Saadiq Sweezer
Track and Field Interview Questions
1. Discuss how track in high school differs from track in college. (Coaches, Athletes,
Training, etc.)

Here they challenge us more and expect so much more out of us. The
athletes here are already developed so we just have to be "polished". We

don't have to spend the first half of the season just conditioning and trying
to get into shape because we are already there- for the most part. A lot of
people on the team are much more serious about being here on the team
than in high school too. Back in high school, just about any and everyone
could join the team, but here your spot is earned.
2. Give an example of the best and the worst thing you've noticed about the team and your
own performance.

The best thing about this team: we are all just freaking good! And we help
push each other constantly. The only bad thing I'd have to say is that the
little freshmen think that these workouts are hard now... wait 'till season
actually starts. Now for myself, I'm a pretty great motivator, people look
up and depend on me- which could be a good thing or a bad thing. The
only weakness I could think of for myself though, would be- that if the
team messes up, I feel like it is my fault.

3. Why did you decide on continuing your track career? What is it that you love about being
a track athlete?

TRACK IS LIFE! Come on now! You know this Dinora! Just knowing that
I've pushed myself further than what most people would or that I dusted
someone is the greatest feeling in the world. Plus I'm good at it so why
not? But really, track is just my go to. I don't know what I'd be like if i didn't
run.

4. Describe what characteristics you would say the "ideal/perfect" athlete would have.

Honestly- someone like Usain Bolt. He's a sprinter with long legs! He
looks like he needs to be running the 400- I know he does, but who would
have thought that he was a sprinter. He is THE best at what he does and
is 100% dedicated to it (track). Despite his background or the way he
grew up, he knew he had a dream of becoming the best and so that's
what he did- became the best.

5. What concerns do you have so far about the team? How would you want to go about
fixing the problem?

I really don't have any real concerns for the team. We are just doing some
real conditioning stuff now so I haven't had the chance to see everyone to
perform yet. But one way to fix any problem within a track team- remind
that person(s) of why they are in the spot they are in now- they had to
earn it- so prove that you want to keep it.

6. Describe the most efficient type of workout. (The ideal work out)

Well it really all depends on what events you're trying to get better in. But
I think the most improvement could be seen from a runner that does
interval or lateral work outs, you know? Taking of with a good speed till
you reach the 100 then stride, then sprint the last 100. Building up like
that work your muscles and makes you learn how to run then you don't
think you have anything left.

7. Discuss why you enjoy going to track meets?

Track meets are just so hyped! Everyone believes that their team is the
best or that they could dust you- till you're up on that line and teach them
a lesson! But really I just like racing and watching everyone cheer
everyone else.

8. Give an example(s) of what the challenges are?

The main challenge to running is mental toughness and figuring out how
far you're willing to push yourself. Nailing a hand off (passing a baton in a
relay team) isn't as easy as some people may think it is- especially when
you look so good.

9. Describe how important track is to you?

Like I said before- track is life- and I mean that. It's so much more than a
hobby, it's a lifestyle. It'll affect everything you do; eat, sleep, drink and
even think or how you treat people. I've learned so many valuable things
from running track it's ridiculous; relying on others, good sportsmanship,
how to push myself, focus, patients... I just don't know what else to say.