Name: Aimee Davis
Personal bests: 3200-11:28 1600-5:21 5k-18:15 4k-14:29
Academic interests: Band, science
Hobbies: band, music, art
Favorite quote: Stay hungry Stay humble- Armando Nava
How did you get involved in the sport? My mom would have me ride my bike after school with her while she ran and I looked up to my older sister who ran xc so I wanted to run too. I also read a book around that time called Angels and Antelope by Randy Mijares. It inspired me to see what I could do. I joined the Flying Angels Cross Country team and that's where it started.
Please walk us through any pre-race rituals. Just regular stretching and dynamics. I pray while lining up or on the starting line.
What is your favorite race and why? Probably the 2 mile. I don't have a lot of foot speed so getting to go out at a slower pace than the mile is nice. You don't usually start hurting until after lap 5 and then you just hold on. I also like how it's at the end of track meets and the lights are on.
What is your goal for your upcoming meet and where is it at? The first meet of the season is the Clearwater Participation Meet we are hosting. I hope to have some solid times I can improve on throughout the season.
How do you look at being ranked a top distance runner in Class 4A? I don't really pay much attention to my rank. I try to just do my best. After coming off an injury last year I'm hoping to get back to faster times.
From your success in 2017, what do you hope to do this season coming up? I hope to make it to state this year and place well. Breaking any of my prs would be nice.
Do you have a specific motivation? Getting a scholarship to college is a big motivator.
What has been your biggest challenge in the sport? Definitely coming back from my stress fracture last track season. I had to start from ground zero again. So keeping a positive attitude and having faith in my training was difficult.
What do you hope to achieve in the future? I hope to continue to lower my prs. I'd like to get a scholarship to a university of my choice and contribute to a team.Breaking 18:00 for the 5k and 11:20 for the 3200 would be great. Getting my 800 time down to the 2:20s would be awesome.
Walk us through a race for you (from pre race until post race). I get really nervous or anxious before my races so it's a lot of hyping myself up with pep talks. I'm usually resting before, so while I'm laying down I visualize what's going to happen during the race. I go to the restroom and then out to the infield about 30 minutes before. I jog a lap and then do stretching and dynamics. On the starting line I pray and try to stay calm. After the race, I'm always very relieved and like to cheer on my teammates. Then repeat. Or if I don't have any more I get food.
What goes through your mind? Mostly I blank out and think about race strategy. Nothing matters except what I have to do at that moment.
Do you play other sports? How does track help you with other sports and vice versa? I used to play soccer and I think it really helped me with endurance running around the field.
How and when did you start training for track and field this season? I take a week or two off running after the xc season to rest for a second. Then I just run slow base miles to keep endurance up. Six miles a day pretty much and then I have one long run a week, and depending on how I feel, it's 8+ miles. I'll do one hard workout a week, usually a tempo run or fartlek. I do that until February. Then I add another hard workout a week until the season starts.
What do you enjoy the most about the Clearwater team? We all push each other to be the best we can. Seeing everyone give it their all is really motivating. We have some great coaches pushing us. Our new xc and distance coach really cares about us and I appreciate him a lot.
What team goals does Clearwater have? Place well in as many meets we can and get as many people to state as possible.
What do you feel you have learned from your coaches, teammates and the sport? How to work hard when you don't want to.Discipline and hard work. How a positive attitude in any situation will go a long way. It could be 100 degrees out and windy and we have to do 400s that day and you're dead tired but people still have good attitudes that bring you up. And you get it done.
What would like to see happen in the future in the sport? I'd like to see increased interest and coverage of the sport.
If there is one thing in the world you could do, what would it be and why? I would go to the Olympics to see what it's like. I think it would be an amazing experience.
