UIL’s postponement of the track season puts athletes on edge, at home. 

With less time than a typical season, the teams will only have district finals with the top two competitors skipping Area and going straight to regionals. The top two regional athletes will then move on to state.

The UIL track season currently being postponed means at-home workouts for seniors Pablo Alverez and Jahson Ferguson.

“With the track season postponed, I’ve been trying to go out as much as possible,” Alverez said. “It’s kind of hard personally with asthma so I’ve got to avoid people as much as possible and make sure I don’t get sick. For the most part I’ve just been doing stuff at home. I’ve been using my stairs for cardio, running up stairs, using weights, doing a bunch or core and upper body in my room and from time-to-time I’ll be able to go to the track and get a bunch of mileage.”

Being in quarantine hasn’t stopped Ferguson from training.

“I’ve been doing a lot of workouts that focus on individual muscle groups,” Ferguson said. “I’ll do 30 minutes of abs and then I’ll transition to calisthenics and cardio. I’ll do jump ropes, running in place, squats, allsorts of stuff, running up and down the stairs.”

However, at-home remedies are less intense than a full-team practice.

“The intensity is very different, the mindset,” Alvarez said. “You try to keep the same mindset but it’s kinda hard to practice when you’re by yourself rather than other people. Track is just one of those sports where you’ve got to be around the other people to push you because it’s kind of hard to push yourself through it. I guess it makes the workouts easier to go through when you have teammates with you.”

Ferguson misses the team dynamic.

“They’re definitely awful,” Alvarez said. “I miss running with my team. It’s a lot harder to push yourself when you don’t have someone next to you especially when it comes to running.”

The inability to complete a full season, especially for senior runners, leaves some disappointed but hopeful that they will still have the chance to run in some capacity.

“I am hopeful about it coming back but obviously it’s heartbreaking,” Alvarez said. “Actually for all of our athletes it’s heartbreaking. Me being a senior this was my last chance to go as far as I can with it. As of a couple weeks ago it was really hopeful for me to get past districts and go on to Area or Regional and all that. So I’m just going to keep my hopes up and stay in shape so that if we do come back I’ll be ready.”

Ferguson is frustrated that his last high school track season was taken away from him.

“I was a little mad because I was really getting in my groove and doing pretty well but I can’t really control that. All I can do is control my training regime and try to keep a positive outlook.”