Youth Development Archives - Team Athletic Mentors

The Aftermath of an Injury and Recovery

August 28th, 2024 by JoAnn Cranson

Any athlete that has experienced an injury understands how it can be hard to bounce back. Often, you lose a lot of ability due to the rest and recovery process. It’s normal to feel like things are out of your control and there’s nothing you can do about it, but it’s important to keep calm. The main thing you can focus on is what is in your control; things like staying healthy with nutrition, keeping your physical ability in check with stretches and/or walks (if possible), and most importantly, resting! While recovering, it’s easy to forget the fact that you have to let your body rest and get your health back before pushing yourself again.

My experience with injury:

Summer of 2022 I was racing Ore to Shore in Marquette, MI and dislocated my shoulder in the race. I had to be in a sling for a month and was off the bike for three months. I found myself feeling like I could never get back to what I was capable of. My ability and strength on the bike was diminished greatly while in recovery and I could feel it. After a little while, I got professional help with physical therapy and allowed myself to rest. With this time, I reflected on my biking and created goals for myself when coming back. I made sure I was ready physically and mentally to start from the ground up and had to be willing to put in the work to reach my goals. I reminded myself what I was working for and why I am willing to push through these hard times.

After the injury:

Coming out of an accident/injury can be scary. You may feel unsure of how active your future might be and frantically try to get back to how things were before, but slow down. Take time to reset and take a break from the usual of pushing yourself to your hardest. Your body needs to heal fully before you can excel again, or you’ll do more harm than good to yourself. Make sure you’re prepared to put in work to get back to where you were; one thing that could help is creating a plan to achieve your new goals.

Recovery:

It can be difficult to manage resting and keeping yourself healthy when in recovery. Make sure to ease back into what you were doing before. Training can look like doing yoga one day and intervals another. Allowing your body to settle back into harder workouts is important so you don’t overwork yourself as you try to get back to how things were before the injury; things like easy days and active stretching will help you fully recover. Another thing to keep in mind is listening to your body and how it reacts to these workouts, especially on more intense days. If your body isn’t up to sprints, you probably are rushing into things too fast. Take as much time as you need; patience is how you excel in the long run.

Being able to find your confidence and ability is key to achieving great things. Getting comfortable with what you used to do isn’t easy; it takes time, patience and practice in order to be great. No matter what, you always have to believe you can do something in order for you to be able to do it; so make sure you believe in yourself and your ability to improve so you can be better. Today, I am on the bike again after learning how to be confident with my riding and my training.

Overcoming Injury

June 28th, 2024 by JoAnn Cranson

By: Olivia Perrine

Nearly all athletes will face an injury at some point in their athletic career. Perhaps even multiple injuries. Injuries that keep you from competing at your best are not fun to say the least. At separate times during my junior year, I experienced two stress fractures in my right foot while running track, cross country and playing club soccer. It took me around 4-5 months each to return to my previous level of competition. During this time, I had to adjust my training and lifestyle to recover. Here are 5 tips I found helpful in overcoming injury:

Seek out Professional Medical Help

This may seem like an obvious step, but often people avoid the doctor because they think their injury isn’t serious. However, it is imperative to seek out professional advice if the injury is persistent and prevents you from competing or training at your best. Doctors can help keep you from making the injury worse and can provide insight into the root cause of the injury (if it isn’t obvious already). Doctors can also refer you to specialists or physical therapists to help meet your specific needs. Doctors also have access to equipment such as MRIs or X-Rays that determine the severity of the injury.

Physical Therapy

Personally, I have a love-hate relationship with physical therapy. It is helpful for building your strength back up, however it can be difficult, even frustrating, when you do not see results right away. PT is often a slow process that requires patience, but staying consistent pays off. Also, when you go to PT, you have a Physical Therapist who will monitor your progress to ensure you recover as quickly as possible from your injury. PT is also helpful for the mental side of injuries. When I was dealing with my stress fractures, it was encouraging to be doing something about my injury. For me, PT was one of the most important steps in overcoming injury.

Cross Train

Like PT, cross training was helpful for staying positive during recovery. While PT is more injury specific exercises, cross training can help with general strength. Exercise is shown to improve mood, cognitive function, sleep quality, etc. Even if you cannot do your sport, there are low impact options like swimming, biking, or weight lifting that may allow you to be active during injury. Before starting any cross training however, it is important to talk with your doctor about which exercises you can do without upsetting recovery. If you experience discomfort with your injury even in cross training, it is important to stop. It is not worth prolonging an injury.

Stay Active in Team Events

Even though you might not be able to compete, you can still show up for your teammates! One silver lining with having an injury meant that I could now cheer on my teammates that I normally was racing with. Even though you want to be competing, if you are faced with an injury outside of your control, you should focus on what you can control such as using energy to support the team. Athletic Mentors has countless volunteer events to partake in where you can spend some energy for the team’s sake. This kind of support is important in establishing a positive team environment. Also, if it were the other way around, you would likely want your teammates cheering you on too.

Rest

Rest is not always what we want to do as athletes but when dealing with an injury, it is the most important thing. Your body cannot heal if you continue to break it down by training or competing. You may think that it isn’t a big deal if you just push through the pain, but when making the decision to race or rest, you need to think about the long term impact. Serious athletes need to remember that just because the short term self might be fine if you ignore the pain, your long term self may end up dealing with a worse injury. The only way you can heal is if you give your body the time to heal. Some of the most common injuries that athletes face are caused by overuse. Getting an overuse injury is your body telling you that it needs rest. Listen to it!

It is discouraging when injuries prevent us from taking part in the sport we love, but implementing each of these steps can help you focus on what you can control (getting rest, doing PT, going to team events, etc.). Remember that the injury and pain is temporary. Your body will heal itself, it just needs you to look out for it. Choosing to take care of the long-term athlete by following each of these steps will help you make a full recovery.

Chasing Medals: An In-depth Look at Training for Track and Field

June 20th, 2024 by JoAnn Cranson

By: Kellen Siems

Training for Track and Field is not just about running in circles and jumping over hurdles. It requires dedication, hard work, and a strategic approach to reach your full potential. For high school athletes, the goal is often to qualify for the state meet and compete against the best in the region. In this blog post, we will take an in-depth look at the training methods and techniques that can help you chase those coveted medals on the track.

Some of the most challenging events at a track meet are the 1600 (one mile) and the 3200 (two mile). In order to run these two events you have to have a good balance of speed, endurance, and mental fortitude. In order to place high in these events you need to have the ability to endure discomfort and pain. You also need to have strategic pacing.

One way I kept my endurance up while training for the track season was by running constantly throughout the week. I would have a schedule that would tell me if I had a long run meaning I would run five to ten miles. Some days I would have a workout day meaning that I would head to a track and perform a workout. Some of my workouts include; 2 sets of 4 by 1000, 4 sets of 4 by 800 at mile pace, and ladders up to 800 and down to 100.

A key role in long distance races is being able to pace yourself to the end. In order to pace you need to start fast and conserve the rest of your energy. Every lap on the track you have to run faster and faster in order to maintain your splits. A good way to improve pacing is by practicing running at your goal or target pace. To be good at running longer distances not only do you need endurance but you also need a strong mental toughness. By having the ability to push through your pain and keep your focus is crucial.

In conclusion, no matter what sport you do, training is always important. Being able to train properly is the key to success in any sport you do. By encouraging yourself and not giving up you can reach whatever goal you set for yourself.

Welcoming JD Rider Ozzy Tobiczyk

June 7th, 2024 by JoAnn Cranson

By: Ozzy Tobiczyk

Hello, my name is Ozzy Tobiczyk and this is my first year on the TAMJD team. I am 14 years old and a 9th grader at Milford High School. I have been riding my bike ever since I could walk. Living in Milford, Mi has given me access to so many mountain bike trails, it was only natural to get into mountain biking. I joined the Huron Valley United Racing (HVUR) team in 5th grade and raced my first MiSCA race in 2020. I was hooked from that point on. What I love about cycling is the scenery on the rides, jumps, and having a fun group of people to ride with. This year I will be racing varsity on HVUR.

I joined TAMJD because I wanted to push myself, become a better rider, explore all types of cycling, and have fun while doing it. I have learned a lot about how to properly fuel myself before a race as well as how to mentally prepare for a race this past year. I know I have a lot more to learn and that is another reason why I joined TAMJD.

My goal for this season is to be in the top 10 in Varsity and to get first place in my age group in Iceman and Peak to Peak. I am really looking forward to racing more gravel races. I am also starting to learn road racing techniques and have been racing in the Waterford Hills Summer Road Racing Series on Wednesdays. I had the pleasure of going to TAMJD training camp in Brevard, NC during spring break this year. It was so much fun. We had been training all winter to climb Mt. Mitchell which was about 44 miles up a mountain and 44 miles down. I think my top speed going down was around 49 miles an hour! It was awesome and I loved the views! I also really liked spending time with my teammates and going into town. We rode the mountain bike trails and roads in Pisgah National Forest and DuPont State Forest. It was a great experience and I can’t wait until next year!

I have been to many places in the United States to ride bikes but my favorite place to ride is in Marquette, Mi. My family and I go up there every summer for the Ore to Shore race and to camp for the week at Rippling River. I love the South Trails and the jumps on the Eh Line. My favorite race is Iceman. It’s such a fun venue. I like not knowing what the weather will be like. It’s always a surprise and different.

I like doing non-bike things too. I really love snowboarding and wish it was something I could do year round. I built a mini park in my backyard this last winter which really had the neighbors talking. I joined the boardercross team at Milford High School this year and rode varsity on the team. We won the state championship, which was really cool! I also have started to really like fishing and plan to do a lot of that this summer. I like hanging out with my friends too.

I’m really glad I joined the TAMJD. In the short time that I have been the team I have been introduced to so many things that I wouldn’t have done on my own, like road racing. Next up, I will be traveling with the team to the Tour of America’s Dairyland where we will have 5 days of Crit races in Milwaukee, WI. Wish us luck!

Joanie Crane

April 17th, 2024 by Jennie Schuman

Ozzy Tobiczyk

March 28th, 2024 by Jennie Schuman

Donald Smith

March 28th, 2024 by Jennie Schuman

Nick Thielen

March 28th, 2024 by Jennie Schuman

Parker Crane

March 28th, 2024 by Jennie Schuman

Meet New TAMJD Rider Nick Thielen

March 17th, 2024 by JoAnn Cranson

By: Nick Thielen

Hi, my name is Nick Thielen. I’m 14 years old and in the 8th grade at Warner Middle School in Farmington Hills, Michigan. Outside of cycling I play basketball and run track. I started practicing with Huron Valley United Racing in 2021 and realized I was a pretty good cyclist so I decided to stick with it. This past season I won the MISCA Advanced Middle School state championship winning 4 out of 6 races. After the MISCA season, I raced Iceman for the third time. Iceman is definitely my favorite race. The atmosphere is great and the course is always challenging but super fun.

This upcoming season will be my first year on Team Athletic Mentors Junior Development. I joined the team because I thought it was a great opportunity to improve as a cyclist and also connect with people that had similar goals to me. I’m excited to get more into road racing this year which is something I haven’t done much of in the past. I think expanding into disciplines beyond mountain biking will be great for progressing in my cycling career.

I’ll be participating in the Tour of America’s Dairyland crit series out in Wisconsin as well as other road races which I think will be great opportunities to improve as a rider. I’m going to be doing some racing outside the state of Michigan which is very exciting. I know it’s gonna be a lot harder this year racing against high schoolers instead of middle schoolers, but it’s a challenge that I’m looking forward to. I’m hoping to do a lot of races this season that I haven’t done in the past and overall get a lot stronger.

I find riding a bike a great way to have fun while meeting some great people you wouldn’t have met if you weren’t riding. There is nothing better than the feeling of accomplishment after a good race knowing that all your hard work paid off. If a race doesn’t go your way you can always just look forward to the next one. I really like training for races. There’s something about knowing that someday it’s all gonna pay off just motivates me to train as hard as I can.

I also love riding on dirt roads or in the woods where there is nobody around and you’re all by yourself. It’s really peaceful and helps me clear my mind. One of my favorite trails around where I live is Lakeshore Park. It’s super tight and twisty with some fun features. I ride it all the time which gave me a big advantage at the MISCA race which was very important for me to win so that I could win the series. You can gain a lot of time on it knowing the trail really well.

I love the sport of cycling and its community. I’ve made so many new friends and learned so much from it. I’m super excited for the opportunity I have with Team Athletic Mentors Junior Development this upcoming season to grow as a cyclist.