Is it possible to have a social life running at a d1 school?????

runners dont rage wrote: I'm just not one of those girls who can do nothing but study and run..am i screwed?

No, but I'm sure you will be.

asdfsfasdfasfsfasf wrote:

No, but I'm sure you will be.

Yeah, after reading about child soldiers in Sri Lanka somehow I don't empathize too much.

Your time in college is finite. How you spend it is up to you.

And by the way, since you've never *been* to college, how can you have any idea what a "normal" college experience is like? Maybe being on a sports team or club is part of it.

I'm not saying whether you ought to run or not, but I don't have much sympathy for your predicament.

Find a young woman who likes to run, study and make love.

Worked for me!

Now that the jerks have insulted you, let's try a real answer to your question, which by the way is a very letitimate one. I know quite a few college runners, of both genders, who have dealt with the same issue you're concerned about. The bottom line is... no, you're not screwed, but it will take some real effort and work on your part.

The nature of serious D1 programs is that the teams spend a lot of time together. For better or worse, this is not just at practice and meets, but also eating, traveling, and socializing. This is often good for incoming freshmen because it gives you an easier start to making friends, etc., more so if it's a big school. But after awhile it can get old, especially if the people on the team are not the kind you really want to hang out with.

That's the point at which it becomes up to you. And it won't be easy if you're at a school where you have to work really hard academically, in addition to your commitment to the team. But it is possible. You will have to somehow make the time to get involved in something else. You have to figure out what that is, but there are tons of opportunities at any school. But here's the deal. As tight as your time may be, the tough part can often be breaking away from the team's social aspect to branch out on your own. It may be difficult, but if you want to have another side to your life, you just have to make it happen.

Good luck next year!

PICK TWO:

Academics

Athletics (including sleep)

Social life

You will probably end up being "one of those girls" who sleeps 4-6 hours a night on weekdays, maybe improves a little bit, but pretty much plateaus because she doesn't ever recover from workouts. College is the time to make big personal changes, if they are ever going to happen, you you've got to make some decisions. It all comes down to what's important to you (i.e. your priorities).

asdfasfds wrote:

PICK TWO:

Academics

Athletics (including sleep)

Social life

You will probably end up being "one of those girls" who sleeps 4-6 hours a night on weekdays, maybe improves a little bit, but pretty much plateaus because she doesn't ever recover from workouts. College is the time to make big personal changes, if they are ever going to happen, you you've got to make some decisions. It all comes down to what's important to you (i.e. your priorities).

This is very correct. Replace academics with work and social life with family if you have one and the list holds true post collegiate as well. If you try to do all three you won't do any of them well.

It is certainly possible to have a social life, do well academically, and excel athletically.

It is impossible, however, to do these three things if your definition of social life is the "typical" college experience involving 3-4 late night binge drinks a week.

Your running is your social life. It's what you've chosen to do with your free time. If the alternative is not having a scholarship, think of it as whatever job you'd have to get to put yourself through college otherwise. Be glad for that, because the jobs that would otherwise have you out of college debt free are all taken right now, and even if you could get one would be much more than the 15-20 hours per week you'll be doing.

To restate what another poster said, pick two; running, academics, social life.

Your last line, by the way, is bullshit. You can't say you simply are or are not someone who can focus on academics and running at the cost of a social life, it's a choice that you make whether you acknowledge it or not.

You have a rare opportunity for an exceptionally rewarding college experience that could (and should) benefit you for the rest of your personal and professional life. And you are concerned that you will miss something of the average college experience.

Please, have YOUR college experience. Not Harold and Kumar's 3D College Experience.

What are the expecations of your future coach and teammates? If it is full dedication and you are hesitant, thenh ave this conversation with your future coach now. That way he is not blind-sided when you start failing to meet expectations. If not, you shouldn't be blindsided when you don't enjoy they way he ends up treating you (because you won't be treating his program very well.)

Also, you were on a recruiting visit. Team members know that and hang out together. The 48 hours you were there does not define their typical "experience."

No on is forcing you to accept the scholarship, and to do so knowing you won't be dedicated is unethical on your part.

"You will get out what you put in." That rings true for your effort, and it rings true for how the coach feels about his scholarship investment. He expects a return on his investment.

As a college graduate who also ran in college but who is now a 45-year-old married father of 2, let me tell you some things:

1) I thought I was busy in college with school, running, and being the editor of the student newspaper. Ha! At most I only had classes three days a week, and sometimes only two days a week...have to study of course on the non-class days, but damn, a day has a LOT of hours in it.

2) When you actually have to WORK for a living (meaning 40 hours a week or more) PLUS involve yourself in family life, then looking back, college was a piece of cake...it's really utopia...treat it as such.

3) You will have LOTS of free time as a college student unless you are loading up on classes to get done in less than 4 years. So maybe you don't go party late on Friday night...do that on Saturday night...you shouldn't be drinking until you're 21 anyway. There are tons of opportunities on most campuses for socializing, and you should be able to do that with people who aren't on the cross country team.

4) I agree with the poster who said you have no idea what a "real college experience" is. Right now that is an idea in your head, and the reality will surely be different (could be better or worse) than that. College is what you make of it.

If you are more worried about socializing than running, yes you are screwed.

If you have an athletic scholarship offer please, turn it down and save the coach the embarrassment of having to cut you.

You only have 4 years to run vs the best of your peers, you have the rest of your life to be a party animal.

It's up to you. Keep it balanced and learn how to be smart in life, not just in the class room. Be sociable. Don't running be all you have in life. Don't let running control everything you do. I've known plenty of DI, post-collegiate, professional athletes who kept it in check. You can too. Find folks who do this well and ask them questions. I am sure there are folks in high school you know who have it pretty well figured out. See how they do it too.

asdfasdfasdfasdf wrote:

It is certainly possible to have a social life, do well academically, and excel athletically.

It is impossible, however, to do these three things if your definition of social life is the "typical" college experience involving 3-4 late night binge drinks a week.

Yep. Most of the posters in this thread are making running/school sound harder than it is.

There is still plenty of time for socializing. Obviously, if you are training that socializing probably doesn't include getting black-out drunk 3-4 nights a week. But there are also still plenty of opportunities to do that, if you are so inclined.

You'll have weeks where running and academics keep you busy. And you'll have weeks where you'll have more free time than you know what to do with.

Listen man you have to have balance. If you go to college and all you do is run and study, Im sure you will do fine in life. However I know guys that did this and end up resenting the sport, or by their last year they blow up.

It happens ALLL the time. Guys focus so much on improving, looking to get past that next level, and at some point they realize they are not going to the Olympics, they arent going to do anything "special" in running other than hit some arbitrary mark that is only relevant to them and maybe a few other runners and it blows their f'in mind. They leave thinking they didn't do anything but waste their time & effort.

Have some balance. Date, have a girlfriend, study, work a crappy part time job, go to frat parties, travel during the summer...

It goes to show how many people actually read the original post that several people assumed that OP was a guy ("I'm just not one of those girls").

But seriously, you shouldn't have a problem running and having a social life. You'll probably end up socializing with the team a lot, but isn't that sort of one of the benefits of team sports?

I went to a decent D-I school (#17 x-c NCAA frosh year) and I was under some academic pressure as well. It really wasn't that bad. We kept the boozing pretty minimal Sun-Fri, raced Saturday, then completely blew it out on Saturday nights. Some of the sprinters were also on the football team, so we had some pretty crowded parties and I never felt like we missed anything in that regard. Sunday morning 15-milers weren't much fun -- but you're young; after a mile in you don't even feel that bad and sweat it out. Also, you're a chick. You'll be invited to parties; just be friendly to people. Smile a lot and say 'hi' to everyone and once guys figure out you run, you'll get invited a lot of places (and asked to bring your friends).

As for school, I ended up crushing it. 3.5 GPA at graduation. My advice: always, always, always go to class (and pay attention there). I blew off homework assignments -- mostly to run or sleep -- and I walked into a few tests w/out having studied much, but because I went to every class (and paid attention), I always knew most of the material.

I met tons of other kids through classes, work-study jobs, etc., and they were fun, but I don't even really talk to any of them today. The guys on my team are still in contact daily. You will have more in common with your teammates than you think.

"My advice: always, always, always go to class (and pay attention there)"

Yes, and it certainly helps the professor know who you are and believe me, at some point in some class, you will need to ask for extra time, direction, etc.. If you show up, get the syllabus and then only show up on test days you won't get the benefit of the doubt.