With Ramadan having official started just a couple days ago I thought that it could be something interesting to blog about, specifically some past experiences I’ve had with teammates participating in Ramadan. Throughout my first two years of high school, one of my friends and the captain of the cross country team was a Muslim. Being a captain of the team it was his job to help schedule and lead the early morning summer conditioning sessions before the actual season started in August. However, I remember what I think was my sophomore year, Ramadan happened to fall during June, about a week or so after we had begun summer conditioning. At the time I was pretty unfamiliar with Ramadan so this was a very interesting thing to have happen. Although my friend still ran most practices you could tell that was still pretty rough on him, and you could tell by his pace during runs. Luckily he was still able to stay well hydrated, but high school kids tend to eat a lot, especially when you’re running 60 miles a week. As a kid in high school I really didn’t understand just how important this event was in Muslim faith so I was a bit confused as to why someone would want to put their body through this. However, through this class and through my ICR experience my understanding of the Muslim faith has grown significantly. Although high school kids won’t have to be worried about athletics during Ramadan this year, it’s still interesting to consider just how it effects various aspects of their lives.
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