Many students at Carlmont find it stressful enough just dealing with academics, but Mark Vingralek has a lot more on his plate than just school.

Sporting a 4:28 mile, sophomore runner Mark Vingralek has proven himself to be one of the quickest long distance runners at Carlmont.

However, this accomplishment doesn’t come easily for the running star. To maintain his incredibly fast speed for many laps, Vingralek has to train hard day in and day out.
Vingralek’s track teammate Sami Makaafi said, “Mark Vingralek loves to train and eat nutritiously, which is why he’s so fast.”

When the season rolls around, Vingralek trains very hard to stay in shape for competitions.

“In the afternoon, I run a workout of some kind depending on the day of the week. I run at six in the morning on the weekends too,” Vingralek said.

On Mondays, Vingralek usually does a tempo run, but for the rest of the week, the workouts are randomly scheduled.

“In a tempo run, you run 3 or 4 miles starting out at an easy pace and pick it up and go really fast at the end,” Vingralek said.

On the other hand, “a track workout is where we do mile repeats at five minutes a mile with a couple minutes rest,” according to Vingralek.

Running a five-minute mile is extremely difficult for many high schoolers, but Mark is able to run at that speed repeatedly. This, in part, is also due to weight-lifting.

Mark often goes to the gym after his workout. “After running I usually do weights at my gym for a couple hours to work on strength to help running faster,” Vingralek said.

By lifting weights, Vingralek works out his leg and core muscles among others, which help him maintain his speed.

During the offseason, which consists of the summer and December to the end of January, Vingralek still trains with his cross country teammates.

“In the offseason, I also run twice a day to build strength for the upcoming season,” Vingralek said.

In addition to the track workouts and tempo runs he does in the afternoon, Vingralek also runs at six in the morning for “an easy five miles or so during the offseason,” according to Vingralek.

Another major reason for Vingralek’s running prowess is due to nutrition.

Vingralek said, “I try to eat a lot of lean protein and complex carbohydrates, because sugars and fats and make you feel tired.”

According to Fitday, a website that covers the topic of nutrition, lean proteins are key to muscle recovery, while carbohydrates provide energy for workouts, which are two essential nutrients for devoted long distance runners.

The combination of dedication, training, and nutrition has made Vingralek into a very fast runner. However, all this training has a downside, too.

“Some days I might not get home until like 8 or 8:30 when I run and do gym work,” Vingralek said.

After a five-hour workout, Vingralek has to come home, late at night, to a load of homework, which is a huge problem for many dedicated student-athletes such as Vingralek.

However, Vingralek says the homework isn’t always a problem, because on days he doesn’t lift weights he could get home by 6:30. Then, he has ample time to finish his schoolwork.

Vingralek plans to continue running after high school and beyond. “My main goal is to get a scholarship my senior year from running,” the sophomore runner said.

When asked about Vingralek, cross country teammate James Schulte, junior, said, “Mark is anexceptional athlete due to his intense dedication towards the sport of running and  only accepts the best from himself. He is extremely passionate about running and has worked hard to be at the level he is at.”