If you could do college over, what would you do differently?

NO GRITS!!!!

Would have started doing crossfit sooner so I showed up at college as a jacked, meaty, alpha make rather than an emaciated, weak omega. Chicks dig muscles and confidence and I would have gotten so much trim!

The Ivy League was full of partying idiots in my day, I assume it still is!

If I had to do something different, I would have been less of a partying idiot. I ran 4:21.9 for the mile when I was 18, but improved to only a 4:01.0 1500 meter as a 21 year old. Best mark came over 1000 yards indoors at 2:17.5, but no one has run that event for decades. Probably worth a 1:55 high 800.

Another matter is relaxation and confidence. I trained well and was fit. When I stepped to the line with confidence, things went well, victory or placing. Bit, often I lacked the confidence and focus to relax and execute.

I was in college in the 70s. It was a hedonistic time. Lots of drinking. Heavy alcohol use erodes self esteem. Not a good recipe for middle distance racing!

You need a balance. All slow is a poor idea. That doens't mean to do 6x1 mile and 20x400 every week but doing some fast stuff (as little as 20mins at hm pace followed by 6x400 at 1500m and 2 days of strides) all the time gives much better results.For me I would have done more high volumes at slightly lower intensity. Get rig of the 6-8x1000 at 5k pace and do more 5x2k or 3x2 mile at 10k pace. Turns out I responded much better to to high volumes of decent quality work. YMMV.

kmkasca wrote:

Many people would say the opposite. Consistent mileage at a rate you can recover from is preferrable to high intensity overload.

As for me, I would have gone out of state and focused more on academics..sticking through pre-Med instead of dropping out junior year. I focused way too much on running and I wasn't even on a college team. [quote]formerly present wrote:

Run at a variety of speeds throughout the year, with the percentages (at various speeds) shifting, but with no all-slow period ever.

I am an old-timer. If I had anything to do differently, it would have been to be born two years later so that my otherwise wonderful rural college would have turned coed and had lovely female students with whom to take walks in the wind.

should have gone up wrote: What would you have done differently?

I've asked myself this question many, many times. In retrospect, I would not have been a competitive college runner. I was good enough to get a partial scholarship to a mid-major school with average CC/T&F programs, but I was not good enough to be a national qualifier (much less earn any money in the sport). With the latter point in mind, running on the CC and track teams for five years (including redshirt seasons) was a complete waste of my time.

Taking it one step further - had I not been a college runner - I probably would have gone to a bigger school that would have offered a better social experience and more to look back on as an alumnus. (I'm a fan of college sports, so I think I'd have enjoyed attending and being an alumnus of a school that had big time football and/or basketball teams.)

At least I can teach my kids not to make the same mistakes I did when they're choosing a college.

Have you done the math on if training for 2-3 hours a day paid better than working in the cafeteria for 2-3 hours/day. I am guessing it was pretty close.No picking your schools based on running was just stupid.....

Stuck with engineering studies.

STUDY ABROAD! No question.

Sometimes I would answer differently. But when I sit down and think about it I wouldn't change anything.

I chose a school strictly on running. D2 powerhouse in a sheeethole town with shiiiity academics. I rarely studied. Was constantly injured. Did not intern, nor study abroad. Can count the amount of times laid on one hand. One of the coldest places anywhere.

With all that said the friends I made and the ridiculous times we had together trump all evil to the point where I wouldn't trade much - besides being healthy more.

Man you guys dont get it.

If all you can do is reduce your college running down to dollars v time, you missed out. Im glad I didnt have to run with you on my team, you sound like miserable people.

I would do Leah differently. Maybe try a few more positions I learned during my post-college 20s.

Nothing. In fact, I went to highly academic schools. My dream is to be a professional student. No partying? Fine. Non-stop books, learning and academics? Sign me up!

I find myself wondering similar things while I'm still a sophomore...

Not to hijack the thread, but If you guys had the choice between finishing out a fairly well-respected college education where you were somewhat unhappy for half of every academic year or transferring to a less-accomplished school where you would theoretically be happy all year-round, would you stay or leave? Training would also be better at the transfer school(s), but running has been meaning less and less to me the last year or two.

TheDailyDouble wrote:

I find myself wondering similar things while I'm still a sophomore...

Not to hijack the thread, but If you guys had the choice between finishing out a fairly well-respected college education where you were somewhat unhappy for half of every academic year or transferring to a less-accomplished school where you would theoretically be happy all year-round, would you stay or leave? Training would also be better at the transfer school(s), but running has been meaning less and less to me the last year or two.

What makes you unhappy for half the year?

FYI, well respected universities tend to have better alumni networks and might catch attention on a resume, but a lot of other factors affect your career as well.

The grass is always greener. I am sure that now and later in life you will find yourself in an unideal situation and envision yourself happier in a different place. It's best to find ways to enjoy and experience the place that you are now, rather than repeatedly believe you will be happier somewhere else. Fully realizing this idea is harder than writing it. This quote from Bill Watterson comes to mind:

"...You will do well to cultivate the resources in yourself that bring you happiness outside of success or failure. The truth is, most of us discover where we are headed when we arrive. At that time, we turn around and say, yes, this is obviously where I was going all along. It's a good idea to try to enjoy the scenery on the detours, because you'll probably take a few."

Perhaps it might be time for you to take a step away from competitive running. When such an activity is no longer enjoyable, it might not be worth doing. If that means you will lose the scholarship at your current school, that might complicate things.

I would have forgotten about minoring and double majoring, and just taken the classes I wanted to take outside of my primary major. If there is 3 biology classes you want to take don't take 5 just to get a stupid minor, take the 3 and use your spare time to study things you are truly interested in, or think would be useful. I wish I took a couple of graduate level courses I was interested in instead of filling my leftover minor requirements.

I would have studied abroad. Or two.

Focus on running less.

Focus on studying more.

Engage in more opportunities and programs (ie. study abroad, etc.)

I ran for an average D3 school and was the top guy in all of my years there. Big fish, little pond--running was my focus and world while I ran mediocre times and never even qualified for a national championship event. Huge waste of time; could've enjoyed school a lot more, worked harder in class, experienced more life events, and still been the top runner with only slightly slower times. So instead I graduated with some dumb BA degree, with no direction or reason, got an entry level job, and will never have much growth or opportunity beyond it in a Fortune 50 company.

God I wish I could grab some kid by the neck that was as negligent and blind as me, and tell him this to give him direction so he doesn't make the same mistakes. I had no idea what the world required to be successful and I was grossly oblivious to it until I had to face the hard reality as I sat around in my parent's basement internet job hunting because I never networked, utilized my school's career services opportunities, or job fairs.

Honestly, the weather here really got to me for a while last year - we were the snowiest city in the country. Not only was it terrible for running, but walking to classes and such became a pain halfway through the winter (which lasts from mid November-mid March). And there's just not much to do here when it's cold out - small campus, sketchy town.

After reading this thread for most of the day though I think I may be best off staying here but not running for the team anymore - I do have a couple friends that I'd love to go skiing with and such; maybe if I broaden my horizons a bit (like many posters were saying they should have) in the winter. Its not like I was super-depressed last year - more like chronic boredom if anything. Maybe I'll even be eager to put in some serious training in the Spring/Summer and run some good road races.

Oh, and about my athletic scholarship Viva - its fairly small and negligible at this point.