|
 Five
weeks in Mammoth. At first just the thought of this amount
of time seemed almost frightening; with no family, no friends,
no trips to the mall and no jobs to report to, one might struggle
with enduring such limitations for five whole weeks. Then
you come to realize that the experience of training in Mammoth
is very rewarding and offers ideal conditions for the ultimate
level of training. So then the thought of five weeks in Mammoth
becomes exciting. Without distractions one can focus on training,
nutrition and recovery, which are the essential elements to
running: these are exactly what we need to have a promising
season this year.
On Friday, August 24, 2007,
we just finished a full week in Mammoth and changes are already
evident. As a member of the UC Riverside Women’s Cross Country
team, I am able to closely witness events and experiences
that our team goes through. On Friday, all of the women met
outside of our condos at 7:30 a.m. We all ran through the
cozy Mammoth town to the local park, Shady Rest. At the park
we went through the drills and exercises with Assistant Coach
Nate Browne. During the drills I began to realize that the
relationship between each of the girls had changed. There
was a strong bond among the team that was manifested through
words of support and encouragement.
One of the drills that
we do is called “bounding.” And I must say that this is a
difficult drill to master at first. Well, as some of the freshmen
of our team attempted to bound across the grass field and
struggled a bit, all of the girls offered up their cheers
of: “Good job ladies!” “Here, I’ll show you” and “Nice work,
no worries.” Just then I knew that this Mammoth trip has created
a close-knit relationship among the women as an entire team.
The closeness of the team is seen even in the extracurricular
activities. For example, Friday evening, after out routinely
team dinner, we decided to have some fun and test our musical
skills. We divided into two teams and battled for the title
“So You Think You Can Dance?...Prove It!” The living room
of our Condo #9 was filled with so many emotions that night:
nervousness, excitement, humor and finally approval as applauds
and cheers rang throughout the condo. Shortly after the dance
contest it was time for bed, because we had a long run ahead
of us in the morning.
At 7 a.m. sharp on Saturday
morning we loaded into the Suburbans and were off to Horseshoe
Lake, where we would begin our endurance run. As a solid group
of runners we rounded Horseshoe Lake and then the beautiful
Lake Mary and made our way down to Mammoth Rock. After a brief
water break just before Mammoth Rock we were at it again.
We passed the Rock and ran down through the luscious meadow
to Sherwin’s Road. After five miles, we reached the end of
the infamous road and began to run alongside the Highway 395.
Finally, we had completed our 17 mile run and we all felt
like warriors to have conquered such a run. We then returned
to our temporary homes, which welcomed us all with cozy arms.
There we ate and napped so we could begin our recovery from
such a journey. Saturday evening after our pool workouts we
came together once again for a delicious dinner. We then stretched
out to watch a movie and relax before turning in for the night;
we all knew that another week of intense training, excitement
and fun lay before us. With each day of running, whether it
be the thresholds, mile repeats or recovery runs, each athlete
can see improvement and the great benefits that are attained
by training in high altitude. It is a tremendous bonus that
this rewarding place is a true beauty.
At the end of the second week, we began our trip to Reno,
Nevada, for our first race of the season. What we thought
would be a sweet 2-3 hour ride turned completely sour. Since
it was Friday, August 31, we soon found ourselves trapped
in the massive stampede of travelers on their way to Nevada
to enjoy the Labor Day Holiday. With stop-and-go-bumper-to-bumper-traffic,
we thought we would never make it to the race. Finally, just
over five hours later we arrived at a park just around the
corner from University of Nevada, Reno. As each girl stepped
out of the Suburban, she let out a sigh of relief and gazed
around to inspect her new battlefield. It was about 6 p.m.,
a mere hour before the men’s race. Our race was to commence
at 8:30 sharp. During our warm up we made an effort to observe
the course and take note as to where there was rough footing
or dips and holes in the grass. Excitement filled the air
and each girl was ready to take on the adventure of this night
race under the bright stars. Anxious for the race to start,
we each did our personal time of stretching. After a few strides
at the starting line, the gun went off. The race started off
very slow. We rounded the first mile mark in the 6:20’s. Not
worried, our women stayed together as a strong, single unit.
Our teamwork enabled us to maintain a strong pack throughout
the entire race. Just past two miles the two solid lines of
light blue and dark blue jerseys began to blur as UC Riverside
runners intertwined with UCLA runners. The battle began as
elbows clashed and the course made sharp turns back and forth.
At last the final straight away into the Finish chute. With
50 meters to go, Nevada led the race. Then the sprint began.
Cristina Olivas, the first girl from UC Riverside, was in
second place as she turned on the gears and sprinted up the
last stretch, past the Nevada runner and into the finish line
to secure a mighty victory. UC Riverside’s entire pack of
runners finished strong in first, third, fourth, fifth and
eighth. With these finishes UC Riverside won the meet on the
women’s side and went home with great expectations for the
future. It is the very beginning of our season and while our
first race was satisfying, we know that there is lot of work
to be done and many races ahead of us.
The ride back to Mammoth
from Reno took less than half of the time spent to get there.
Early Saturday morning we arrived back in Mammoth and retired
in our cozy condos ready for three more weeks of training
in high altitude. |
