Reading Response: Split

I started reading this book called "Split" by Swati Avasthi. Dru read it this summer as her free choice book, so I decided to give it a try myself. When she first told me about it, I thought it would be gross and depressing. I turned out to be really wrong. I'm not very far into it, but I can already tell I'm going to like it.
"Split" is basically about a boy  named Jace that lives in a home of abuse. His father beats both him and his mom. Jace has an older brother that moved out of their house in attempts to start a new life. Jace runs away to go live with his brother, which sounds great and all, but there's one big problem: their mother is still stuck with their father. Alone.
This topic of abusive households honestly just really makes me mad. Seriously, why would you beat your spouse or children? You are their family, and hopefully you love them, so what makes you want to put your hands on them? These people are sick and controlling if you ask me. They are no better than the rest of the their family, so they just need to back off! Ggggggrrrrrrrrrr!!!!! It makes me so mad! I feel so bad for these victims that can't even feel safe in their own homes: Living a life of fear. I hope these families can resolve their many issues.

In Defese of girls lifting weights: An athelete's Manifesto

Alrighty, when the topic of girls lifting weights comes up, a lot of females, athletes or not, have already decided that they aren't going to participate.  "If I lift weights, I'll bulk up and look like a man." That's kind of a ridiculous assumption if you ask me. Yeah, you'll look stronger, but not bulky, just toned.

I lifted weights all summer with the rest of the basketball team, and none of us suddenly became the incredible hulk or anything. Our muscle is more defined, but it doesn't look abnormal. The trick is to lift less weight with higher reps. "Lifting weights basically tears muscle fibers. These fibers then heal back together stronger and larger than before."- Kevin Rail.  Don't get me wrong, you will get bigger muscles, but nothing drastic happens over night.  It takes a long time before you will notice any kind of physical difference. If you are an athlete, lifting weights is very important because you not only need skill for sports, you need strength.

Summer Reading

When I first started reading "In Defense of Food", I thought that it would be terribly boring and repetitive.  I'm not going to lie, in the beginning, it was.  I knew I had to read it, so I decided to make the best out of it and relate it to something I liked.  I tried to pay attention to what the author was saying and think about how it would effect my health in relation to athletics.  I truly have started making an effort to eat better.  I've thrown out some of the processed food and started eating more fruit.  I feel better throughout the day and have more energy.  I feel crazy saying this, but I kind of enjoyed the book, or at least what I took away from it.

I'm Julia

Well, I've never really blogged before, so I guess I'll just tell you a little about me.  So, I'm Julia and I just started my freshman year.  One of the most important things you should know about me is that I spend the majority of my time playing basketball.  I'm usually in the weight room or shooting in the gym, so if you need to find me, you know where to look.  I started playing in 7th grade, and to be honest, i was pretty bad at it.  8th grade season came along, and you could say I had improved a little bit.  I could shoot decently, but could never remember the plays and was constantly confused.  After the season was over, our team was contacted by Coach K and Coach Boo.  There were short of JV players and asked if we were interested in playing.  I decided I might as well give it a try.  After just the first game, I knew basketball was what I wanted to do throughout my four years of high school.  I learned more each practice and got better and better. 
After yet another season came to an end, I knew there was only one thing left to do: play AAU basketball.  I played for a team called The Rockets with Diamond and Alex, two of my best friends in the whole world.  These games sure were different than JV! There wasn't an inexperienced player on a single team.  Everyone had something to offer.  I played alright for  the majority of the season, but I really improved around the end.  I started shooting the ball more and started making a few more shots. Obviously this was a confidence booster, which only made me want to play more.  By then, it was summer and the only thing I could focus on was basketball.  There was hardly a single day that I didn't do training of some sort.  I did a nine week weightlifting program with a few other teammates.  I started running to build my endurance, and, of course, I was constantly working on my shot.  I guess you could say I didn't exactly spend my summer relaxing by the pool.
Our season starts in November, and I'm playing JV and hopefully will get some playing time with the varsity team as well.  I'm so excited to start practices again.  We start weight lifting on Tuesday.  We'll lift every week on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays.  On those days, we'll run in the morning before school and shower in the locker room, go to school, and then lift in the afternoon.  Over the past year, I've made some great new friends, gotten to know my awesome coaches, and learned what it's like to be part of a team.