Serious question. Can anyone who is or has been part of one give some insight? Has anyone written about this? Curious about team culture, lifestyle, sacrifices made, also the kind of training they do day-in day-out.
Serious question. Can anyone who is or has been part of one give some insight? Has anyone written about this? Curious about team culture, lifestyle, sacrifices made, also the kind of training they do day-in day-out.
I'm more curious about what it is like to near the back of the varsity on a good, but not top program. Say you are 5th man on a team that comes in 15th place in NCAAs. You probably worked as hard as anyone in the race, had loads of talent, but didn't ever snag the top prize.
Any regrets of all the sacrifice? Would it have been more fun to run D3 and be a star?
Running with the Buffaloes captured this very well.
The 15th place team at NCAAs is still the 2nd team in the region. That means you are a scoring runner on a very competitive div. 1 college team and training very consistently and very hard and can run a fast 8k/10k. Most people would find this very satisfying, just like going to a bowl game in football, the NCAA basketball tournament, the college world series, etc.
Ahh, yes. Read that. Great book. Curious for more people's/teams' experiences, as well. Can anyone weigh in? Obviously don't have to be specific about which team.
She Was Once a Runner gives insight into what it's like to be a female running for a top d1 college. Link here:
It's like being on any other serious dI dII or dIII team. Except they train faster, and/or are more naturally talented.
I'll be honest with you - its magical
Imagine that one guy you may have run with in HS who was much more talented than the rest of the team, seemed to get in shape very quickly with a minimum of effort (often taking large stretches of time off for random injuries) and ran ok, but not great workouts before popping big times in races. Now multiply that by 10 or 12 and you have an idea for what you will be competing with. D1 running is largely an individual sport. Coaches will give you a minimum of leadership unless you're top 7 in cross or a potential placer in track. You'll be left on your own to do 50% or more of your mileage. Meanwhile you'll be the least talented dork on a team of guys the rest of the university views as outsiders given that you'll be in bed early on Sat nights and up early on Sun morning. It's a lonely existence unless you are good.
First, all the hardware you won in high school and age group is common place and means NOTHING.
Second, you practice three times a day. Morning, Evening and your own tempo runs.
Third, no one at the school actually cares as the football and basketball teams attract all the attention..
Fourth, They always have recruits and walk on who are after your tender (scholarship money)
Fifth, since Title IX there is no money for male athletics so you have to train like a pro for your amateur money.
Sixth, You travel all the time, especially distance runners, so you are always trying to find time to read and study in transit.
Seventh, you are always sore and the dining hall will close at whatever time despite you being late because you were in a long practice.
It consumes your life, whether or not you are happy depends on how much you truly love running / balance your priorities
I ran at a top D1 program for a year before coming to the conclusion that I didnt give a f*ck anymore regarding how fast I could run 2 laps around a track.
The pain of middle distance training/brutal 800 races where I would just end up getting my azz kicked (1:51 guy) combined with other desires (partying as well as academics) got to me and I quit. Some guys handle it well and some guys dont.
You ever see that "Big Pimpin" video by Jay-Z?
It's funny how few posts this thread has gotten, which really goes to show how few letsrun message boarders have competed on a d1 level. I'm not knocking'em, it's just something I noticed from a totally objective standpoint.
I ran for a team which won NCAAs a few times, as anywhere from as 7th to 4th man from sophomore to fifth year.
It was hard, but boy was it worth it. Only the top 2-3 guys could afford to chill and run the workouts as they were meant to be done by the coach. The rest of us were gunning for the remaining spots and overtrained early in the season (for cross). We drank rarely if ever. In bed early every night. Ate healthy. Most of us did not emphasize school at all and honestly with the amount we traveled and trained you really couldn't.
All of those men are my brothers and I would drop whatever I am doing wherever and fly to help in a heartbeat, and be so happy just to see any of them again. Those friendships were formed over years fighting/competing in practice and then making up again, like the forging of a samurai sword. learning each others personalities and inspiring the best in each other, every day for five years. Best years of my life, best friendships I've ever had. Never again will I have something that meant that much, but you couldn't pay me to do it over.
formerd1 wrote:
It's funny how few posts this thread has gotten, which really goes to show how few letsrun message boarders have competed on a d1 level. I'm not knocking'em, it's just something I noticed from a totally objective standpoint.
That's a far-fetched conclusion
Not really, wejo and rojo talk all the time about how their fan base is made up mostly of male, middle of the road runners.
formerd1 wrote:
Not really, wejo and rojo talk all the time about how their fan base is made up mostly of male, middle of the road runners.
Yes, really. There are lots of possible reasons why this thread doesn't have very many posts besides your conclusion.
ksksk wrote:
formerd1 wrote:Not really, wejo and rojo talk all the time about how their fan base is made up mostly of male, middle of the road runners.
Yes, really. There are lots of possible reasons why this thread doesn't have very many posts besides your conclusion.
You're badly mistaken I'm afraid. To assume that a large number of top DIV I runners post on LR is....well, preposterous.
Feckless wrote:
I'm more curious about what it is like to near the back of the varsity on a good, but not top program. Say you are 5th man on a team that comes in 15th place in NCAAs. You probably worked as hard as anyone in the race, had loads of talent, but didn't ever snag the top prize.
Any regrets of all the sacrifice? Would it have been more fun to run D3 and be a star?
The vast majority of D1 runners, i.e., those not qualifying for nationals in track, would have more fun in D3.
The Undeniable Reality wrote:
You're badly mistaken I'm afraid. To assume that a large number of top DIV I runners post on LR is....well, preposterous.
I'm not mistaken at all. And I didn't assume that there was a large number of them on LR.