RUNNERS OUGHT TO BE COMMITTED
By Steve Nesheim
Being committed goes two ways. First, the idea of commitment for a high school Cross Country runner has to do with focus and dedication. Could you imagine an after school life dominated by nothing except running? That means giving Cross Country all your energy. It also means no soccer, no school play, no 4-H, no job, no marching band, no spelling bee. Does that sound nuts? Today’s driven student-athlete might think so, but it made a whole lot of sense to me thirty years ago. Due to desire, and lacking imagination, I devoted all my energy to running. That meant running as hard as I could each day, coming home, eating dinner, doing homework and sleeping. I remember being so tired after one Cross Country workout (5 x 1 mile repeats) I came home, crashed on the couch and slept through the 7th game of the World Series; too exhausted to eat. I gave running my all as did my teammates.
Many of today’s high school runners seem as obsessed about cramming every minute of the day with a variety of activities, as do their over-achieving parents. Kids balance Cross Country practice with piano lessons, karate practice, gymnastics, peer tutoring, etc. When they get run down or behind these runners start begging for days off to catch-up on homework, or rest for that matter. What would you expect from a generation that came up with the phrase “24/7/365?”
Remember that each of us is only one whole person. By dividing yourself between too many activities you may only give a fraction of your whole self to each. The result is a less than committed effort just like those races when after finishing you realize you could have run faster. Well, think how much faster/stronger a runner you could be if you cut down on a few of the other activities in your life. Or perhaps running needs to go away to give you time to excel at something else! Regardless achieving quality is more fun than achieving quantity. It just takes commitment.
There is
a lighter side to being committed, also. I’m talking about being
a little loony about running. Insanity isn’t a prerequisite for a
Cross Country athlete, but it couldn’t hurt. Face it: motivating
yourself to run faster and harder can be a challenge, so sometimes a humorous
distraction can help. Many coaches have successfully incorporated fun
workouts into their routine like Capture the Flag, continuous relays,
orienteering runs, scavenger hunts, ultimate Frisbee, and Frisbee golf
to name a few. As an individual, however, a runner needs to come up with
his/her own crazy gimmicks to motivate his/herself. After all, success
all comes down to what YOU want to do. According to Dan Stoll {CPHS ‘91}
racing was almost completely mental (take off your hat when you say Dan
Stoll!). So what are your personal “mental” gimmicks?
Here are a few I’ve noticed over the years:
1. Running
Streaks. Ever have a long running streak? I’m not talking about
the '70’s craze where people ran naked in public. Running streaks
are consecutive days in which one runs. How many days could you go? Ten?
Twenty? Once you get going the urge to run could become addictive. After
running a solid summer her senior year, Sarah Jeon (CPHS ‘95) wanted
to keep her base going. She set a goal to run 100 consecutive days. In
late November that year she finally took a day off and ran her strongest,
most consistent season of her career. The desire not to break her streak
kept her crazy about running all fall.
2. Superstitions.
Did you know running against twins is bad luck? It’s not really true,
but its something I say to get my runners to check out the field before
a race. Do you have any lucky clothes? Mark Matthews (CPHS ’79) always
raced in the same knee high green socks. Norman Brewer (CPHS ’83)
raced with a simple black comb in his hand. It seems he was caught combing
his hair at a starting line one time when the race began. Rather than
tossing the comb he held it and had a good race. Why change a good thing?
My mother read that holding quartz crystals gave you energy. Not wanting
to hold one during a race, I (CPHS ’78) had her sew a pencil width
quartz crystal into the seam of my racing pants. My teammates accused
me of running with rocks in my shorts. Beth Houghton (CPHS ’88),
the queen of team spirit, decorated the team with purple war paint, purple
sparkle, purple ribbons in pigtails, purple felt writing on arms and legs,
purple tie-die shirts to get the team “sky high” for big races.
A rival Northgate HS runner oncesaid: “I bet their bras are purple
too!” Maybe, but they were all crazy about running!
3. Become a Student of the Sport. If the information available on the internet was available when I was a high school runner, wow what a source of hype! Start exploring www.caltrack.com for fascinating tour of schedules, results, articles, rankings and stories about running. Sometimes I think some of these coaches posting information on the internet are spending way too much time at their computer terminals. They are obviously crazy about running and are committed!
–Steve Nesheim graduated from College Park High School in 1978. After attending the University of Oregon and Cal State Hayward, he returned to coach Falcon Cross Country and Track & Field from 1981 to 1996, winning eight league titles. He now resides near Mt. Shasta where he continues to coach high school athletes. Steve Nesheim is also a member of the Falcon Running Hall of Fame.