Recovering from a leg injury is a tough task for any runner, but Plant City junior Danny Ramirez has made it work. Ramirez realized he’s finally gotten back to 100% health on Nov. 3 after running a personal record 17:42 at the 4A Regional Championships in Punta Gorda. His time led the team to a school-best ninth overall finish. Ramirez also runs track and plays soccer.
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You had the best run of your high school career and helped PCHS get a top-10 finish the other day. How were you feeling when you went out there?
I knew it was going to be a very fast race. There’s a lot of elite runners out there… we ended up going a 5:26 in the first mile, which was extremely fast, so I felt pretty confident.
Then you have to finish strong after that first mile. How did you not let that early quickness get to your head so you could still end the race with a PR?
I knew not to stay with the person right next to me because if I stay with him, that means I’m slowing down. I had to keep pushing myself to pass somebody and finish off with a kick… I ended up passing three other people.
What’s your proudest moment as a Raider so far?
I feel like it’s just having our team able to run PRs and being able to get close to each other in time. I know Tyler Carter, one of my other teammates, he finished right after me… it’s everybody being able to PR, have a low time and get less points.
How do you prepare for a run?
I think it was Michael Phelps, I heard what he did was imagine himself swimming and all that and believing he was going to win. What I try to do is, every night, I imagine myself racing for a fast time and staying with my team and stuff.
You’ve dealt with some injuries, too. Physical rehab is pretty straightforward but how did you stay positive mentally?
Yeah, I injured my IT band and then it went down to my knees, too. That was almost halfway through my season, which really messed me up. I couldn’t train every day. I had to do cross-training and I feel like that’s not the same as running because you don’t get the most out of it… I wasn’t able to PR at all until this race, when I finally got healthy. My coaches, my teammates all counted on me. Everybody counts on each other. Knowing that my team needed me to be out there and place, to have a fast time, I feel like that’s what pushed me mentally. I have to do it for my team and that was the main goal for me.