University of Georgia Athletics
Day In The Life: Cross Country
August 20, 2015 | Cross Country
Aug. 20, 2015
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By John Frierson
UGAAA Staff Writer
Well before sunrise Monday, Georgia's men's and women's cross country runners rose from their beds and grabbed their running shoes. Their day was just beginning and it would be a long one. Of course, their morning workout alone would be enough to put most of us down for a good 10-12 hours.
For the third time this month, the Frierson Files spent the day with some Bulldogs in the preseason. The goal was a detailed accounting of what the Bulldogs did and experienced during a random day as they prepared for their upcoming fall seasons. First it was the women's soccer team (http://www.georgiadogs.com/sports/w-soccer/spec-rel/081015aab.html) and then volleyball (http://www.georgiadogs.com/sports/w-volley/spec-rel/081315aac.html).
Spending the day with those teams was dramatically different from a day with the cross country squads: first, attending practice meant showing up at the Turner Soccer Complex or the Ramsey Center and watching what unfolded right in front of you; second, school hadn't yet started.
Monday was the first day of class and the runners' schedules after the morning run varied, so the afternoon practices and weight room sessions were in shifts. For Georgia distance coach Patrick Cunniff, a former UGA cross country man himself, he had about 40 runners and their schedules to manage.
For an observer, the biggest challenge Monday was actually seeing the runners run, especially in the morning when the guys ran about 10 miles and the women ran about eight. This is cross country season, so they weren't just turning laps at Spec Towns Track.
What follows is a recap of a long, busy day for the Bulldogs:
6:46 a.m. -- It's a gray, muggy morning and . The large, S14 parking lot between Stegeman Coliseum and the Dan Magill Tennis Complex is empty except for the cars of three early risers. It's the first day of fall semester and in a little more than an hour every space will be full.
"I live pretty close so I got up at 6:30. I got some water, brushed my teeth, the regular morning stuff, and then came over here," junior Sid Vaugh said.
Senior Erika Ramsey had a slightly different approach.
"I woke up at 6; I don't live that far, either, but I like to eat breakfast and drink some coffee before practice," she said.
6:58 a.m. -- The runners have gathered near the loading dock at Stegeman. Most have taken a seat as they wait for Cunniff to deliver some announcements and instructions.
One runner, senior Zack Sims, is already covered with sweat. Because of a full day of classes, he had to knock out 2.5 miles before joining his teammates. He'll do about 7.5 with the guys and then head back to get cleaned up before class.
7 a.m. -- One of the first things out of Cunniff's mouth is the importance of establishing a routine for your days. "Start a routine today that will make you great and make our team great," he said.
For the veterans, their routines are, well, routine. Runners of all abilities love routines, which is why you'll often see the same folks running on Milledge Avenue at the same time every day. Ramsey, a fifth-year senior, is actually still figuring out her routine for this fall, her final semester at Georgia.
"I'm only taking one class and it's a research internship, so I do it on my own time this year, which is really different," she said. "So I have a little bit less of a routine going on right now and I do prefer the regular routine with class in between. ... It's definitely a different semester for me and nothing that I'm used to."
7:06 a.m. -- Cunniff delivers the words that kind of define this group: "Go run."
7:07 a.m. -- To observe the runners at Georgia's intramural fields, before they disappear into the trails, you have to hustle to your car and make the short drive across campus. They'll be along soon enough.
7:13 a.m. -- Standing alongside the path that leads to the trails beside Lake Herrick, waiting for what may be only a 20-second visual. It's like the folks that wait for hours along the road at the Tour de France, waiting for the peloton to swoop past in a colorful blur. You see them and they're gone.
7:17 a.m. -- There, approaching quickly, is a speedy, shirtless swarm of runners. They run by you and enter the woods.
One of the striking things about them is how casual they appear. Their pace is about 6:30 minutes per mile, super fast for mortals but easy for them, and yet they're carrying on conversations like it's a stroll through the park. Breathless they are not.
"We're always talking," Vaughn said.
7:20 a.m. -- It's a rush back to the car because across the fields a group of women are running at a brisk pace toward the other entrance to the trails. A quick drive to the back entrance to the trails and after a short wait, here come the women.
Their pace is a little slower than the guys, but they're still moving fast. And like the guys, they're making it look easy. They too enter the trails and disappear.
2:30 p.m. -- Cunniff's second group of the afternoon is at Spec Towns Track, preparing for a fairly light workout. The first group started at 1:45, did their road and track work and is now in the weight room at Stegeman Coliseum.
2:31 p.m. -- The runners in group two take off on a two-mile warmup run through Five Points. Doing miles like this is about like basketball players doing layup drills.
While the runners are away, Cunniff explains the afternoon workout.
"What we do on Mondays and Wednesdays is really gear towards efficiency and athleticism," he said. "With distance running, the acronym is LSD: long, slow, distance; but ultimately we have to be fast. There's so much straight-ahead, repetitive motion and a lot of times with a short, hopefully efficient stride, but not necessarily a powerful stride.
"Today is all about, and Wednesday as well, kind of bringing the other elements in. We'll do some fast strides and make sure that it's a good, up-tempo stride. We'll do five or six drills that are really breaking down the pieces of the sprint mechanics. We'll also do some side shuffles and backwards runs, just to get the opposite muscles awake, so they don't completely atrophy."
2:46 p.m. -- The runners return and quickly begin doing 100-meter striders on the track, going down and back. Then, after a sip of water, they begin stretching.
2:53 p.m. -- More track work follows, with drills focusing on getting knees up and a bounce in your stride. The older runners are basically running the drills, instructing the newcomers on what to do and how to do it. Cunniff is nearby, making comments when needed, but otherwise he's letting his teams' leaders lead.
It's not unlike the morning run, when the Bulldogs go off and do their thing often largely unsupervised. There's a level of trust and freedom involved in letting the runners go put in the work on their own without a coach looking over their shoulders the whole way.
"It's very different from other sports in that way," Cunniff said.
2:55 p.m. -- The runners take off on 90-second tempo runs around the track. They can cover a lot of ground in 90 seconds.
3 p.m. -- The runners take their shoes off and move onto the grass infield of the track for some balance work. They don't run on the grass, though you get the sense they'd love to.
3:16 p.m. -- The runners and Cunniff head over to the weight room, where group one is still working with the strength and conditioning coaches. The work in the weight room for distance runners isn't about adding muscle, but about flexibility and being firm and fit.
Soon after, the day will end for these runners. Of course now there's studying to do when they get home. And they reconvened at Stegeman Coliseum at 6:50 a.m. Tuesday for another long morning run. Just another day in the life.
The Bulldogs begin their season on Sept. 4, at the Strut's Season Opener in Oxford, Ala.
John Frierson is a staff writer for the UGA Athletic Association and curator of the ITA Men's Hall of Fame at the Dan Magill Tennis Complex. You can follow him on Twitter: @FriersonFiles and @ITAHallofFame.