In between

This December time period is an unusual sort of middle ground for our program. We are in season; but not quite. We are training really hard; but not in the full, in-season mode. We have meets; but everyone is equally focused on capping papers, projects and finals.

As a distance-running coach, this time of year can be a bit odd. It’s time to renew and get back to hard work, but with the knowledge that last week (for most) was an off week. As a result, we cannot drill the high volume training just yet. But don’t worry. We will. And we will ramp up there -- very, very soon.

And so it was that we were at, of all places, the Vassar Track on Wednesday. Obviously, Coach Horton and the sprinters were there because, well, that’s what we do on Wednesdays, and there was no snow on the ground, and most of us from that group are racing Saturday at Yale. December is a mini coming out party for our sprint crew, which has been working extremely hard for several months with Coach Horton and also in the Fitness Center with Coach Clancy.

But the distance men? Many of whom were on only their third day back in training? Even Hughes, the dedicated foot soldier who never questions our training methods, was wondering what the heck was going on.

As he (and others) soon found out, most of the non-racing distance men were not really doing a “track workout” per se. As I said out there in the cold and wind, it was like we were “playing track.” There’s no snow on the ground yet (thank God for that); our ability to get on a track has an expiration date (the first major snowfall), so I figured why not?

It was chilly out there, but this we must get used to. As we enter our aforementioned “Brave New World” we will have to learn to adapt along the way.