Mediocre D1 runner on a decent D1 team:
The good:
- College life in general. The independence of it all. Go to class? Go for a surf? Sleep in? Your call.
- The amenities associated with being a student athlete. Priority on classes, free tutoring, my own academic assistant. They made it hard for us to mess up academically (although some still did)
- Being on a good cross and track team (you didn't sign with them or choose to walk on because they suck) with athletes who are as good or better than you and actually care about running
- Traveling places I'd never been. Meeting new people.
- Shared experiences with teammates and friendships that I still have today
The bad:
- Getting my a$$ handed to me every week in cross. It is a tough transition to make and very few do it smoothly, myself included. Different distance, different comp and a much higher expectation for performance. I did not expect to get flogged like I did. Expect to get flogged.
- Coaches that don't care enough about the individual athletes and don't understand that 18 year olds need hand-holding and direct, crystal-clear communication and instruction.
- Coaches who play favorites and mean well, but are not willing to put together an individual plan for each athlete that addresses his strengths and weaknesses
- Injuries
Incoming Freshman stories: The good, the bad, the ugly?
College Running
D1
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The Good: Kendra
The Bad: Amanda
The Ugly: Candy (earned nickname, not a stripper) -
When I was a frosh it was Illegal to have sex before a meet, or, to eat McDonalds.
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Presumably okay to have sex with McDonalds right?
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cough cough cough wrote:
Arrived at the university (now a big running powerhouse you are all familiar with) and realized the coach and recruiter were entirely different people from what I had been lead to believe and that they lied to recruits to get them to come there. Was cussed out (along with the rest of the team) almost daily and run into the ground so hard I have to believe the coach got off more on seeing people suffer than getting anyone to run well. Quickly realized the coach was mentally unstable and started making exit plans. Developed chronic fatigue syndrome from my time there being run into the ground and transferred at the end of the school year. Going to that school was the biggest mistake of my life. It ruined my running career, and we've all witnessed other big name runners fade into oblivion after attending that slaughterhouse of a program.
Note to youth: be sure to get runners alone and off to one side on your visits and ask them how things really are there. If things are bad, at least one will usually give you some pretty strong hints. Pay attention to those.
did you try devoting some time and effort to recovery? -
Hobbling wrote:
Presumably okay to have sex with McDonalds right?
We call that a snack wrap. -
rojo wrote:
cough cough cough wrote:
Arrived at the university (now a big running powerhouse you are all familiar with) and realized the coach and recruiter were entirely different people from what I had been lead to believe and that they lied to recruits to get them to come there. Was cussed out (along with the rest of the team) almost daily and run into the ground so hard I have to believe the coach got off more on seeing people suffer than getting anyone to run well. Quickly realized the coach was mentally unstable and started making exit plans. Developed chronic fatigue syndrome from my time there being run into the ground and transferred at the end of the school year. Going to that school was the biggest mistake of my life. It ruined my running career, and we've all witnessed other big name runners fade into oblivion after attending that slaughterhouse of a program.
Note to youth: be sure to get runners alone and off to one side on your visits and ask them how things really are there. If things are bad, at least one will usually give you some pretty strong hints. Pay attention to those.
We want names. If the program is so bad, why don't you have the guts to post it's name, preferably under your name?
Maybe because he doesn't want to be on the business end of a LRC witch hunt.
