Middle Distance Training for College Walk On

Considering I ran a 1:50 in HS with a time in the top 10, I think that's about right for my progress.

It's called "D1", not "Second Chance 1". You had 4 years of HS to get your act together and perform at a respectable level. You failed to do so. OK fair play to you for giving it a go now, but it's going to be freaking hard because you are going to be up against guys like me. Mid-distance is going to be even harder since there are fewer spots.

You want to run with the team, yet you say you don't care about being an official member of the team. Be honest with yourself. Running with people who don't acknowledge you, who don't give you a second of their time, who won't share resources or uniforms or equipment with you, hey if you're down with that, go for it. But unless you are on the roster, you don't even qualify as a "walk-on." You're just there, making things awkward for coaches and your teammates. Heck, if you don't get a roster spot, chances are they won't even let you train with the team (or only certain days like easy days or on weekends).

letsbang wrote:

I will be sure to let you know about my progress

It's easy to see where his values lie, his username is formerD1, on a board full of guys who are...former D1. He must be a permanent basement dweller, otherwise he would've realized a long time ago that no one in the professional world really gives a flying f*ck about running track for a D1 school.[/quote]

Lol, and yet here you are, posting on an internet site dedicated to elite running and D1 athletes. Fool.

ruined really wrote:

Did Title IX ruin it overall, or only for men, or only for women, or what?

It drastically reduced/shrank the roster sizes of the men's teams in both XC and track and field. In the past, coaches would welcome "walk-ons" who showed some talent if lacking in good times. These "walk-ons" would be welcome to train with the team and basically be part of the team.

Now, with roster rules strictly enforced, coaches are forced to turn away the vast majority of "walk-ons" who have no realistic chance of ever earning a roster spot by virtue of their abilities. This has hurt D1 men's athletics in many ways, as coaches are no longer able to give kids the benefit of the doubt and let them train with the team to see how they develop. Even the kids like OP who otherwise would have been able to train with the team, without a roster spot, are being turned away, because if such kids are training with the team, eating with the team, using team facilities, they can be viewed as being part of the team and therefore in violation of Title IX.

Also i may not have much atheltic talent but i know have tremdous work ethic. As a freshmanin high school i couldnt even do a single pushup and now i can doing over 500 a day (in sets of course of 50 within one hour). I was chubby and now i have a 6 pack. I was one of the slowest kids and while i may not be that fast i started from nothing (barely able to run over two miles) to running 6 miles a day within a matter of 3 months. So yea im used to people telling me what i cant do, but as Confucius once said he who says he can and he who says he can't are both usually right, and so far i have been right about everything i said i can do.

Fair enough, I did not run 4 years in HS, just 3 weeks so one could say I didn't get my "act together" until now, but better late than never.

And I don't mind if they don't give me a roster spot or if they only let me train some days but not others. The goal is more of to just see how fast I can be considering I started very late, and if I get on the team as an upperclassman then great, I won't care if I am discriminated against because I am a "walk-on" but I have a feeling that won't happen (certainly a coach might but I don't see how other athletes will have a problem with a walk-on as long as they aren't hindering their workouts, after all the walk on isn't getting the scholarship, they are), and if I don't make it on then I will join a club team and just run for fun. But I will certainly try my hardest

Donavan Brazier went from 2:17 to 1:54 in just a year and a half. Given that I have twice the amount of time and only half as many seconds to cut off (with a slower end goal so plateauing won't happen as fast), nobody can say that it's impossible, it might even be thought of as realistic by some people. I know you will say that he is an exception, he has talent that I don't have, etc, but do you really know how much talent I have when compared to him? No, and neither do I. If you want to use the common definition of 'who ran a faster first race ever' for who is more talented, then I am more talented, but we both know that's not probable at all, so we'll just have to wait and see.

Ram Bound wrote:

Also i may not have much atheltic talent but i know have tremdous work ethic.

You think the kids who managed to run times fast enough to qualify for D1 at the outset didn't have tremendous work ethic? Those kids more than earned their spot on the team.

There are literally dozens of kids like you at every D1 school who try to walk-on to the team at some point. They all think they are tough enough, dedicated enough, to make the team. Keep that in mind.

What will likely happen is by the time you finally get the courage to show up to practice one day to talk to the coach about "walking on", there will be at least 3-4 other kids just like you there to talk to the coach. Coach will have a look of exasperation on his face, since he doesn't have the time to deal with you guys.

"Oh but I trained real hard and am dedicated!" you may say. Sorry, but talk is cheap. Go out and show up with a certificate from a road race proving you ran in the 14s for the 5K. Then you will have earned his attention.

The athletes don't really care about whether or not you're a walk-on or not. They care about people who are not on the roster training with them or trying to use their facilities.

Why? Because it's fine if it's just 1 or 2 guys. But it never is. There's always a horde of kids who aren't fast enough who are trying to get in. Distance teams are a very tight knit group. They do everything together and spend a lot of time together. That's called being part of a team. Having an outsider can have a negative effect on the team.

At first it will be, "oh hey good job." After you show up one too many times, it will turn into "oh, it's you again."

Earn that roster spot, or run on your own.

Yea im going to be running races within that time period. I dont expect them to just give me a shot. I will run the times that they are looking for and prove to them that i am capabale of being a memeber of the team. I wont just walk in and say "hey ive been training really hard for the last 2 years can you give me a chance" instead ill go up to the coach and just show them my personal bests and if they welcome me then great, if not then ill continue racing on my own and doing what i love

Ram Bound wrote:

Yea im going to be running races within that time period. I dont expect them to just give me a shot. I will run the times that they are looking for and prove to them that i am capabale of being a memeber of the team. I wont just walk in and say "hey ive been training really hard for the last 2 years can you give me a chance" instead ill go up to the coach and just show them my personal bests and if they welcome me then great, if not then ill continue racing on my own and doing what i love

It sounds like your head is in the right place. As far as training that I did, nothing special really. I got hurt a few times which set me back, I also did crew (club) for a little while, which was a great team to be a part of and if you are a lightweight the aerobic benefits transfer well.

I got in contact with the coach winter break of my sophomore year after I ran a few open meets in the area and cut about 15sec off of my mile PR. He told me I could start working out with the team that winter but didn't promise anything.

I ended up getting a stress frx like a week later...so that was that. I ran a couple 1500's outdoors and beat a couple of guys on the team in a low key open meet in Mid-May. I got back in contact with him and he sent me a summer training program and info about xc tryouts.

I didn't really do any high mileage, but I got to a point where i was running most of my training runs at about 6:15pace. Mileage was mid-50's. I made the xc team in the fall and then had to make the team for indoor as well. We had a time trial 3k where I PR'd by 30sec and made the indoor team.

Unlike what formerD1 has said, most of the guys were welcoming and I enjoyed the experience. Just wish I had more time to really show my stuff before I graduated.

If you're dead set on going to d1 school that isn't Boston College or Miami, your best bet is finding a school with a strong NIRCA club. I know you see yourself as a middle distance runner, but the big thing for nirca is xc. They're doing more and more spring track events, but guys at a lot of clubs do road races or a half or even marathon in the spring. You'll want to peak twice for xc and then run for your club or unattached at some track meets and peak at some open last chance meet in the spring. This differs from the traditional schedule where a lot of middle distance guys use xc as a sort of base and then are competition mode indoors. You're probably fast enough to walk on at a lot of d3's by the way. Some coaches will take anyone who's willing to put in the work. Its a lot more fun running for a team than running on your own, even if you're at the back. If you're willing to put in the work, you'll get up to the middle of the pack wherever you go. I strongly encourage the d3 route. Besides at conference and nats, d3 runners race the top d1 teams and there have been d1 guys who could probably have been top 5 at d1 (Ricky Flynn, Peter Kosgei, Macharia Yuot, etc. Try D2 and NAIA coaches too. Get your coach to write a recommendation. You may be surprised at who will take someone willing to work hard. Some coaches take almost anyone because they know mentally weak people break down and quit for whatever reason - frustrated with back of the packing, injured due to overtraining, etc.

Its too late to consider the D3 route since i will be attending a D1 university this fall. Thanks for the feedback tho and i will surely look into NIRCA options. As of now im going to try to just build up my mileage and then come indoor season run a few races for a club. My current coach has connections with the program at my university being a graduate and former runner. Hopefully some sort of recommendation accounting my work ethic can also aid me in joining the team. But for now i just gotta grind and let my runninng do the talking

Good luck.

Keep in mind that people will burn out and quit the team so as long as you have the times you can walk-on.