Lodi’s Hernandez gaining speed
Accomplishments: As workouts continue, Ruth Hernandez’s confidence continues to build within her.
At the Tri-City Athletic League No. 1 race at Lodi Lake on Sept. 13, the junior on the Lodi High girls crosscountry team took first place in the 3.1-mile, mostly flat course at 20 minutes, 8 seconds. Hernandez raced neckand-neck with West’s Jasmine Cochiaosue, who was second at 20:19. Hernandez shaved off two minutes from last year’s first league meet at 22:32 for a sixth place finish.
“It’s the course that I really liked the most,” Hernandez said. “I felt like I was running against myself because she (Cochiaosue) would not give up. She was breathing so hard. I thought she was going to drop out, but she never did.”
Hernandez distanced herself from Cochiaosue over the last 800 meters of the race on the northeast part of Lodi Lake.
“I told myself ‘You know what? You have to go for it now,’” recalled Hernandez. “I started speeding up after the downhill, and that gave me an extra start (toward the finish line). That really helped.”
Throughout the first part of this season, Hernandez and the Flames have conducted most of their workouts on flat grounds.
“The flatlands have been very helpful,” Hernandez
said. “Over the summer, we went out and did core workouts.”
In addition to her summer workouts with teammates, Hernandez took part in cross-fit training.
“It helped built my muscles,” Hernandez said.
One of the workouts Hernandez liked in cross-fit training was step-up with boxes and weights.
“In my mindset, I can do a lot better,” Hernandez said. “I have more confidence in myself in my ability to run.”
Last spring, Hernandez was a sophomore who was on the Lodi High varsity girls track and field squad. She competed against girls on the higher and lower levels that continued to build her confidence in her running abilities.
“It’s all about the mind,” Hernandez said. “Whether or not you think you can do it. That’s what really makes the difference. What helps me the most is getting into a better mindset, thinking ‘I can do it’ and not telling myself that I can’t.”
At the end of the track and field season last spring, Hernandez said she spent most of her summer running to prepare for this season.
“After track, my cross-country times got faster,” Hernandez said. “In track, we do a lot of speed work.”
Last spring, track and field was underway. That’s when Hernandez started working out harder in practices. Competing on the varsity level last spring gave Hernandez an insight of higher competition from within the Flames’ program, plus girls in the TCAL and the Sac-Joaquin Section Division I trials and finals.
“There were better runners that were running like Paige Sefried and Rachel Maddox (Sefried and Maddox reached the section’s Masters meet five months ago). I never tried to compete with them because I felt I couldn’t be any faster than them, because they were already at the top.”
Her approach toward cross-country wasn’t fully set on the outline of courses last year, Hernandez noted.
“My mindset wasn’t really was that I wouldn’t be first,” Hernandez said.
But that’s in the past, as Hernandez is focused on the future. That includes helping keep Lodi’s record of 15 consecutive league titles in tact.
“We’re pretty solid,” said Hernandez of this year’s squad. “We like running with each other. We have a lot of fun. It’s really nice to be surrounded by people who want to work hard to keep our streak going.”
She feels the Lodi girls and Lodi boys, who barely lost to St. Mary’s in the No. 1 race, can win TCAL titles this season.
“That’s a huge thing for us,” said Hernandez of the Lodi girls’ and boys’ varsity teams wanting to win a share or outright league titles. “We are both really are really working hard for that. It’s possible with our teams.”