I
was a walk-on nobody from Toledo, Ohio who had a low grade point average and had
ran mediocre times in high school. I didn’t get accepted into most of the
colleges I applied to, so Shawnee State was kind of a no-other-option school
for me. Like any runner, I’ve had many up’s and down’s in my career. In high
school I was a kid who couldn’t break 4:46 in the open mile, now I can average
faster then that for five thousand meters. Four years have quickly passed, and
I honestly can say I feel extremely blessed to be given the opportunity to
train under Eric Putnam, to have met some of the best teammates that I can call
my friends, and to lead my team into the 2012 Cross Country season to what
could be the highest placing National Championships in school history.
I’m
not going to make this a Wikipedia page about myself, so I will cut to the
chase. This paper is going to be very scattered, and at times it might seem
like I’m crazy. I hope to make this a helpful tool for you, as incoming
freshmen and returning runners, that you can use to help put your running into
prospective and give the incoming freshmen a good understanding of how our team
operates.
We
have a melting pot of runners on our team. People from the north, people from
the south, Indiana, West Virginia, Kentucky and the talent is not lacking what
so ever. Everyone has their own racing style, unique in every way, from what
kind of music they like to what interval repeats work for them as runners. Shawnee
States’ running program is known for their hard work ethic, tough workouts, and
laid back demeanor. We have built
this program up from scratch, and continue to improve every year.
Every
runner that has clocked his or her time at this university understands what it
is like to be the “underdog”. To train on a track, which some people might call
a four-hundred meter parking lot, to live and train in a town that has one of
the worst prescription drug problems in the United States. Over the years I’ve
often daydreamed about what it would be like to run at a top-level Division I
University. To have access to anything I needed or wanted, have a multitude of
trainers and coaches, endless equipment, training as if the Olympics were only
a couple months away. We must realize that our surroundings are nothing more
then the ground we cover and the air we breathe. Personally, I think the lack
of facilities makes us stronger, by eliminating the opportunities to sit out or
take it easy; we build up a callousness and become mentally strong. We’re a
team that consistently day in and day out runs miles, and with the build up of
these miles comes results.
Running
eight miles around Portsmouth on the “Zig-Zag” loop is no different then what
those guys and girls do out west or anywhere else. Sure, there are different
attributes like aerobic benefits of running at altitude, or different
resistance to the legs, when comparing soft compact trails to running on the
road -- But, what it comes down to is this -- a mile is measured five thousand
two hundred and eighty feet in Ohio and five thousand two hundred and eighty feet
in Oklahoma, Oregon or Colorado. Accepting and realizing this has taken me many
years and many miles, and I hope that you too may understand that there is
indeed no secret to our sport.
What
I’m trying to get at is this, training day in and day out, consistently, year
round is what makes the difference between mediocre and elite athletes. All of
those Runners World fanatics, Zen
runners, euphoria seeking joggers, who all believe in the poetry of jogging
around their nice manicured parks have no idea what its like to really embrace
the pain of a long drawn out and taxing interval session. They are nowhere to
be found in the mornings when we are greeted, not with the morning sunshine,
but with a cold and gloomy rainfall on waller street. These people want to be
categorized as endeavors of our sport, but never really truly understand what
its like to be a runner.
I
love to compete, I love breaking records and racing the clock and without
running I wouldn’t be the person I am today. There is a quote from my all time
favorite running book Once a Runner (which
I encourage everyone to read, if you haven’t already) that puts collegiate
running and the balance of training into perspective …
“Training was a rite of purification; from it
came speed, strength. Racing was a
rite of death; from it came knowledge. Such rites demand, if they are to meaningful
at all, a certain amount of time spent precisely on the Red Line, where
you can lean over the manicured putting green at the edge of the precipice
and see exactly nothing”.
Often
times we will be doing the same thing four or five times a week every single
week. This may get extremely boring, but you must remember consistency breeds
results. I challenge you, incoming freshmen and returning athletes, to truly become
endeavors of our sport. Freshmen,
you cannot sit back and rely on talent alone to get you through these next four
to five years. You must put in hard work day in and day out. I’m not saying
it’s going to be a cakewalk. All you need is already inside each of one you. No
matter what kind of technology or scientific methods other teams seem to
embrace, nothing is more important and utilized more in training then your own
personal will and drive.
Being
an exercise science major I feel as if I should mention there are also a
million different things that go into being a top-level runner then just
running mileage. The summer months are emphasized on slowly building up your
aerobic base and preparing your body to, when the time is necessary, run fast
and efficient for the duration of a certain distance. Our season starts in mid
August and ends with the conclusion of Nationals in late November – Roughly fifteen
weeks or 105 days. You are going to be experiencing new workouts, running
longer runs then you have in high school, and overall higher mileage. With this
new work load often times results in major or minor muscle strains, tightness,
and different aches and pains if you are not adequately prepared. A good way to
prepare yourself for the long season is to incorporate a small strength routine
into your training. Two to three times a week do a core routine, and a general
light-weight/high-rep workout in the weight room. This will build up your
posture and ensure good form and a strong efficient cadence so your body can
balance out the continuous pounding you will endure. (If any of you have
questions or would like me to make up a routine for you, don’t hesitate to ask
I have plenty of ideas and programs).
Understand
what you need to do in order to better yourself as a person and as an athlete. Realize
that there is only one thing in this world that can hold you back from
achieving your potential, and that is yourself. We put limitations on ourselves
every day of our life. In track we are painfully and constantly aware of how we
stack up, not just with our contemporaries but with our historical counterparts
as well… it’s all there in black and white. Whether we’re first, third, or a
hundred and ninety seventh at any given point we are reminded of this daily by
the latest results or poles through various rankings.
We
must ignore the politics that come along with being a top-ranked program, and
learn to talk not with our mouths, but with our legs. We have a chance to, once
again, put Shawnee State distance running on the national map. We have an
incredible incoming class, both men’s and women’s teams. As I enter my last
year of eligibility as a Shawnee State Bear, I want to make the best memories
that I can to look back on years from now and smile, knowing I did absolutely
everything I could to achieve my own personal goals, as well as the teams
goals.
This
team has been through a lot especially in these past couple years, but when
times get rough we stick together as a family and look out for one another no
matter how bad the situation gets. As Eric Putnam always says, “The train is
gonna keep on moving. You’re ether on it, or you’re off it”. Trust in him,
dedicate two hours of your day, do what he says, and I promise you are going to
succeed as a runner and grow as a person. It will take time to figure out what
works for each one of you. You’re going to get injured, be extremely sore at
times, have trouble walking after long runs at hangover, but if you train
smart, live a healthy lifestyle, and fully commit to Eric’s training there is
no doubt in my mind you will be a successful runner and become Bears.
I’d like to leave you off with a quote from Bill Bowerman
that seems to fit with what I’m trying to say…
“Running, one might say, is basically an absurd pastime upon
which to be exhausting
ourselves. But if you can find meaning in the type of running you need
to do to stay on this team, chances are you'll be able to find meaning in that
other absurd pastime - LIFE.”
I hope everyone is having a good summer. Keep up those
miles, and enjoy the sunshine.
- Blake Wysocki
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