(August 28, 2008) - We’re finally here in Mammoth, ready for some intense altitude training. These next four weeks will be hard and strenuous, but worth it because the training and the stress free environment will ultimately help us for this upcoming season. We are now preparing for a championship run at the Big West Conference meet and for a chance to run in the NCAA National Championship race for the first time in school history. We have the talent and ability to do so, but it is going to take a whole team effort. It all starts here in Mammoth.
We have a precise schedule to follow when it comes to our runs. We all usually do two workouts per day, depending on our mileage goals. The upper classmen will typically run anywhere from 100-110 miles per week while the incoming freshman will run anywhere from 85-95 miles per week because they are just getting adjusted to the whole college experience. Nonetheless, we all run many miles, probably more miles than most people drive in a week. That’s what makes us different from all the other teams. We do high quality workouts with a great amount of mileage and by the end of the season all those miles will be well paid off. No one ever said this was going to be easy, but in the end it will be so worth it, especially when we come down to the final races where we make a statement.
Because of the intensity and the mileage we do, we tend to get sore, but that is only to be expected. To recover from all the lactate acid build-up we have in our legs, many of us take the opportunity to go into the nearby creek and ice bath for 10-15 minutes. The first couple of minutes tend to hurt a bit due to the bitter cold, but after a while you get used to the sensational feeling of coldness running through your bones. We also have a pool and spa close by so that we can do an active recovery sometime in the afternoon. Some of us take that privilege and also mess around in the water. The pool tends to be cold after so long, but the spa is blistering hot. While in the spa, we stretch a bit to help with the recovery process. Out here in Mammoth, we have so many commodities provided in a near proximity that will help us recover quickly and therefore run faster than ever before.
Monday’s routine consists of a four mile warm-up, drills, plyometrics, sprints, core workout, balancing, and finally a 30-45 minute cool down. We runners do so much more than mindless running, for anyone can do that. To be a successful division 1 runner, we have to perfect our form, technique, and simple running mechanics. This is what Mondays are all about. Often Coach Browne will video tape our sprints so we can see how our form looks and what we need to work on. Many times we’ll see other teams such as Stanford, UCSB, UCI, etc at Shady Rest Park doing their drills as well. When it comes down to it, we have better form than any other team because we work so hard on our drills.
Typically on Mondays we also have a team meeting in the evening. These meetings are very important because we don’t just talk about running, but we talk about life skills that will be cherished here at UCR and throughout our lives as we pursue our career goals in the near future. Coach Ray stresses the importance that running is comparable to life, with many ups and downs. All we have to do is endure. We have discussions about desire, determination, setting goals, responsibility, accountability, self image, and so much more. We also talk about our season goals as far as the conference meet, the regional meet and nationals. The women have a clear shot at taking top honors and win the whole thing while us men have a bit of a challenge this year. It is going to be a battle between us and Cal Poly. It’s going to take a team effort to beat the Mustangs, but if we are all on and run to the best of our ability, we have a strong chance to defeat the defending champs.
Tuesdays we run a 7.5-10 mile Lactate Threshold which is grueling and takes a lot out of you. It is the first of a couple of hard workouts during the week. Many of our runners run a course down Sherwin Creek Rd, while the other top runners run a more challenging course known as Green Church. While running on that long road leading to nowhere, you build mental toughness and stamina, which will be needed in the big races. Not everyone is ready to take the step and run on Green Church, but to those that are, they find the course challenging yet enjoyable. When you finish that run you know you’ve really worked hard and put in a good effort. It is a big confidence booster knowing that running greats like Ryan Hall and Deena Kastor run on Green Church for there workouts. Of course they are running a bit faster, but knowing that we are training in the same environment and atmosphere as professional athletes gives us a sense of confidence like none other.
Each week we increase the mileage on the threshold and it seems that each week we get faster and faster even though we are adding miles. We are all running pretty well and most of us are actually ahead of last year which is always a great sign. The incoming freshman had a little trouble at the start, but they have adapted quickly. Coach Ray and Coach Browne talk to us after each hard workout and give us paperwork about who are competitors are, how fast they are running, our projections and so forth. By the end of the camp we will know everything about our competitors and how to beat them. We are all very optimistic of the upcoming meets and are ready to make a national run.
On Wednesdays we normally run very easy because it’s our time to recover from Tuesday’s workout and get ready for Thursday’s workout, which is another tough and fast paced run. We run twice like usual, but it’s on our own so we have a chance to explore and enjoy the beautiful scenery of the wildlife in Mammoth. Many of us run up to Mammoth Rock and get a bird’s eye view of the town below. Still, others run through the meadow to bask in the ambiance of Mammoth.
Thursdays make up the second hard workout of the week. We run some combination of mile repeats or even 2 mile repeats. For most of us that is under 5 minute pace. Chad Hall proves to be dominant and we are all amazed at how fast he is running. Because Chad is running so well, we all want to run a little faster and we do just that. Chad really pushes the pace and we are there pushing ourselves as well.
Though we are here in Mammoth to focus on our running, we do need to have some free time just to keep ourselves sane. We have fun and do whatever we can to make the most of our little vacation away from Riverside. Most of the guys find refuge at the nearby Starbucks and spend hours there each day either getting free wi fi or playing chess. We had a chess tournament and many of the guys played well, but Andrew Tachias proved to be victorious. We also had a game night at a local club house and played pool and ping pong. Carlos Sanchez managed to beat Uli to take the ping pong tournament. We also play a lot of poker up here and even Coach Ray gets involved. The list of activities we participate in continues to go on with volley ball, soccer, football, madden on the playstation, etc.
Many times we find ourselves being lazy and spend hours just watching good ole’ tv. Occasionally we have to go out to eat and rent a couple of movies. Some of us even found time to read a couple of books which is pretty unusual considering that many of us don’t like to read, but when there is so much time to waste, why not expand your mind and read a good book.
A big craze among the team is Fantasy Baseball and Fantasy Football. It seems like we are all involved in that and are glued to the computer looking at stat tracker all day. Football is huge amongst us. We all seem to enjoy the sport, but of course we being runners have small framed bodies and don’t play competitively, so the next best thing is watching it on the big screen. Saturdays are always nice because they are jammed packed with college games and we can’t get away from the tv. Sundays are great because the NFL is going on and not to mention Monday night football. So as you can see we do a lot more than just run for fun.
Today we left for Reno to race in the Twilight Classic. We were all pretty excited because it was going to be the first race and we were staying at Circus Circus. For some of us, it was the first time going to a casino and to others it was no big thing. The trip to Reno seemed endless, but we finally arrived in time to nap and prepare for the race the same night. Yes we were tired from the trip and we just had a very tough workout the day before, but this race was just another practice to see where we were at physically.
We were expected to win and we did convincingly having all of our six runners finishing in the top 10. I (Daniel Lindstrom) led with a 3rd place finish followed by Steve Crum (4th), Michael Buell (5th), Jose Sanchez (6th), Carlos Sanchez (8th), and Andrew Tachias (9th). We were tired but glad that we ran so well because it gives us good momentum for the next race which is our home meet, the UCR Invitational.
After the race coach let us hang out for a while and do whatever we wanted. We were staying at Circus Circus so we had much to do. We all watched and cheered Steve Crum dominate Dance Dance Revolution which was pretty amazing. We then looked around the casino and had fun in our various endeavors. All in all it was a fun night. The next day we ran in Reno for a nice recovery run. Slow and steady we made our way around the casinos and into the park where we raced. It was a good run but we were all exhausted. It was time to go back to Mammoth and continue our training.
