By: Jose Herrera

It’s not always easy staying fit during summer for a sport that demands endurance and a strong mentality, but junior Kimberly Salazar is one hard working runner.

“In 6th grade, my mom took me hiking and eventually it lead to running,” Salazar said.

Salazar is a year-round athlete running for the Birmingham Community Charter High School Cross Country team during  fall and the Track and Field team during spring semester.  She ran on the freshman-sophomore team last year and is currently a junior varsity member.

She had summer practice from 8-10 a.m. everyday. Whatever the circumstances, she went to make the best of it because she loves her sport.  She practiced either on the BCCHS track field or Balboa Park to her run with her fellow Patriot girls.

“Summer practice was fun and a different experience where we would encourage one another and work hard,” Salazar said.

Her summer practices consisted of running for  30 to 45 minutes but varied depending on how fast she ran.  She participated in “killer driller”, where she  sprinted as hard as she could for 50 meters and then jog for the same distance and continue the rotation for about 10 to 15 minutes.

Besides going to summer practices, she took the initiative to practice karate as well.  She was able to get involved with karate at Ijo Ija Academy and practice from five until six in the afternoon on Mondays and Wednesdays.

“My legs would be really tired but it helped in building my endurance to run for a longer period of time,” Salazar said.  “I’m not sure if it helped my speed but nevertheless I’ve been slowly improving my speed.”

Salazar will continue running next year but is unsure if she will run in college.

“I’ve actually grown to love running,” Salazar said.  “I’m still debating about running in college because although I do like running I might continue with karate in college because I enjoyed karate during summer.”