People often ask UCLA cross country runner Ashley Caldwell,
“Why do you run?”
It’s a reasonable question. After all, how can one justify
the physical torture, mental anguish and countless personal
sacrifices that stem from the relentless training regimen of an
under-glorified college distance runner?
Caldwell’s response: “Because I love to do
it.”
To be a distance runner, you have to love to push and challenge
yourself until you reach your end. And then you have to push
yourself a little further.
Caldwell and her UCLA cross country teammates are part of a
truly unique group of NCAA athletes.
Most collegiate athletes spend their time focusing on one sport
and one season. But distance runners’ season never ends.
“They are really the only athletes that I’m aware of
that have the opportunity to progress toward an NCAA championship
in all three seasons,” explained cross country coach Eric
Peterson.
“It’s a lot to ask of an athlete to be competitive
through the fall, winter and spring for four years in a row. A
distance runner really doesn’t have an offseason.”
Cross country practice begins in June, with distance runners
running over 80 miles a week.
After cross country is over, they have just two months to
prepare themselves for the indoor track season, which starts in
January.
As soon as the indoor season ends, there is almost no transition
period into the spring’s outdoor track season.
Once the outdoor season comes to a close, training for cross
country starts again in the early summer.
It’s a never-ending cycle which eventually begins to take
a heavy physical and mental toll on the body.
“Every distance runner goes through those feelings that
their body needs a break,” said Caldwell, who in her four
years at UCLA has suffered a stress fracture and ligament problems
in her leg. “You go through highs and lows.”
Psychologically, the anxiety of running every day of the year
can become hard for athletes to manage, prompting some distance
runners to burn out or lose their intensity.
“I definitely struggled last year with finding a
motivation and finding the same fire I’ve had in years
past,” said senior Jenna Timinsky, who is redshirting this
season even though she is perfectly healthy.
“It’s hard to keep going when you get stuck in a
rut, and your body is just tired,” she said.
In order to keep distance runners fresh, utilizing the redshirt
year is key.
Athletes in most other sports only use redshirt years for two
reasons ““ either to let injuries heal or to let a young
athlete mature without losing a season of play.
But since distance runners are competitive year-round, they
often use a redshirt year to get some much-needed recuperation
time.
“You have to stay focused the whole school year,”
standout junior Austin Ramos said. “Not competing for a
season takes a lot of stress out of your life.”
Ramos himself has missed some time, redshirting his freshman
outdoor season due to a stress fracture.
This season, Peterson has opted to use the redshirt option on
three veteran women runners who are not injured: seniors Timinsky
and Alison Hall as well as junior Alison Costello, who was the
Bruin’s most consistent runner last season.
“We decided that this would be a good time for me to take
a break,” Costello said.
“You run for four straight years in high school and again
in college, so you never get a break,” she said. “I
really just needed time to train but not race, and not have that
pressure.”
Though Peterson does not like to redshirt healthy athletes, he
knows that without time off, his runners will not perform at their
peak abilities.
“Timinsky, Costello and Hall have all been running great
for us since day one,” Peterson said.
“It’s a good time for them to take a break because
it takes its toll emotionally and physically if you never get away
from it,” he said.
In Timinsky’s case, being able to skip a season has
allowed her to rekindle the passion for running that can wear thin
during the course of a collegiate career.
“It takes a lot of pressure off, and I’m enjoying
not having to worry about losing anything,” Timinsky
said.
Knowing she would be redshirting the cross country season this
fall, Timinsky was able use the summer to concentrate on something
other than running.
She studied in Mexico’s Yucatan peninsula, far away from
the two-a-day runs and punishing speed work drills.
“Being able to study abroad was something I wouldn’t
be able to do if I was not redshirting this year,” Timinsky
said. “Just having this summer to focus on doing something
else, I’m really excited about running again. I feel more
charged up than ever.”
But the question still remains: Why do these athletes run?
Though different runners will give different answers, there is a
recurring theme in their responses: Running provides a level of
fulfillment unmatched by any other activity.
“Running is empowering,” Caldwell tells people.
“There is a great feeling knowing that you’ve trained
so hard.”
Caldwell’s teammates echo her words.
“There is a real satisfaction that the more you put into
running, the more you get out of it,” Costello said.
“Running is very self-rewarding.”
Running is more than a sport, it is a way of life that is
foreign to most, but it is what these individuals say they thrive
on.
“It’s hard for people who even exercise on a regular
basis to relate to,” Peterson said. “But this is what
they want to do; it is who they are. It’s the way they want
to live.
“Distance running is painful, it is uncomfortable, but
when it is over, it is also very gratifying and I think that is
what draws these types of personalities to the sport.”