No team? No problem.
June 13th, 2010 | 
Author: Q:
Hey Lauren-
Congrats on your third place finish in the 1500! My friend Michael and I came to talk to you after his third place finish in the 1500, and we really appreciated it. I did have a question in mind for you. I love to run, and I love to race. But this year I’ll be graduating and I’m going to a college that doesn’t have a cross country or track program. What can I do to improve and stay competitive without those school teams?
Blake
A:
Hey Blake,
Most largish cities have sizeable running clubs, some of which have been around for decades. I’d check online for one of those first since they have built in coaching and race opportunities. Also, many colleges without varsity teams have club sports, so you might have a team on campus afterall.
Third option would be asking your local specialty running shoe store; a good running shop can be the heart of a town’s running community. You never know who you can get hooked up with there…maybe even a personal coach that takes an interest in your progress. At the very least, you’ll find local race opportunities there. If you are willing to travel to races now and then, you can find all sorts of options by browsing Active.com. Just think, without a varsity program dictating your every move, you will have the freedom to race what, where, and when you want!
Finally, you can get access to really great individualized training programs through several online sites. Two that I recommend are the Run Smart Project and Focus-N-Fly. I know the people involved in those sites on a personal level and they are great coaches. You are going to have to pay for those services, but maybe you can work it out as birthday and Christmas presents while you are in college! It would be well worth it.
Just remember, even in the crappiest places on Earth, all you really need to continue training is your body. All you really need to be competitive is a decent log of how fast you have run up a particular monster hill or around a makeshift rural loop so you can try to beat your personal best next time around. But chances are you’ll have access to more than that for the next four years. If you are willing to dig a little, you can find great race opportunities. Good luck!
-Lauren
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To all the “Blakes” out there…
It’s one thing to keep your *self* training at a high level in a new environment. It’s another to create a new running environment with others. And yes, I admit that sometimes can be good to be alone for a little while. However…
No running club nearby? Maybe this is your opportunity to gain quality training partners, foster friendships and perhaps expand your skills in entrepreneurship. What if you started a running club on campus? What if you opened it to the community? What if the #1 value for the group were friendship? It’s up to you and your cohorts.
Anecdotes…
Here at Arizona State University, we did not have an official running club on campus. 50,000 students here??? KRAZEEE. Some students got their heads and hearts together and this past year (2009/2010) was our first go-round of effort to found the ASU Running Club, mascot the RUNdevils. Things went well. Our men competed as a team 3 times and won all 3. Last race had 20,000 finishers and we had 3 guys in the top 7 overall. One of our guys ran 3:51 in the 1500m at the ASU Sun Angel track meet and we have at least one other who can go sub4:00. We might get some ASU alumni sprinters to join us. Just this past weekend our peops did a road trip down to Tucson to go hiking with the UofA Wildcat Running Club. You never know unless you try. You never know whom you will attract nor how you will network. The greatest reward is to see people benefit from your teamed efforts. Our friend, the hostess of this website, is living the dream – encouraging people through her blog and more
Or, like Lauren mentioned, maybe there is a club nearby you. I can’t tell you how thankful I am for clubs! Blakes, I also felt a bit lost after the college team experience. When I moved to AZ I searched out the local running clubs to find a home. I now coach the ASU Running Club, race with RxRunning and serve as a USA Track & Field certified official for NCAA meets. Coach Dean of RxRunning is my all-time favorite coach and a great friend. He also inspired an incredibly fascinating research study in competitive running (I’m the director) and he does excellent online coaching. Click on my name above to check out Coach Dean’s website. ASU Running Club is on Facebook.
Go for it, people. Who knows, maybe we will meet at a race someday!