XC - Sport of the Dedicated
by Peter Licari for DistancePreps.com
(Photo - Barbara Moore)
Only a few runners can tame their passion. It is what sets them on the path to becoming champions.
The intrinsic drive to push boundaries transcends the season between the controlled chaos of track and the primeval thrill of cross-country. In these oppressively hot summer months, the elite train to achieve excellence. As several of their competitors rest and lose themselves in the ethereal charm of summer, they are grounded in a reality of their own construction.
Cross-country is the sport of the dedicated. That dedication comes at a price paid primarily in sweat. The sport rewards those who train harder and ignores those who embrace laziness. We are told of a gratifying equation underneath it all: the harder we work, the better we get. It’s presented just like that, in its barest form and in the simplest words. It’s balanced, perfectly proportional, and expressed as doctrine. It is the cannon of distance running. The summer then, should be the penultimate opportunity. It should be. It’s just that simple.
But it’s much more complicated than that.
Dedication sits at a precarious point to two opposing ideals: indifference and obsession. Unfortunately for many, the innate passion required to pursue this sport often manifests itself within the boundaries of the latter. Runners have to traverse the summer on a tightrope. If they lean too far to either end, they’ll spiral into failure.
If anyone understands this precarious balance, it’s Hagerty High School coach Jay Getty and his athletes.
Getty has spent the last 21 years in the Oviedo area (coaching first at Oviedo High School then transferring to Hagerty in 2005) perfecting a system that conditions athletes to perform at their best when it’s necessary. His system is the epitome of controlled passion and patience. He focuses heavily on maintaining communication, and “speaking with athletes on their runs about how their training is progressing to either re-focus them or bring them away from the ‘way too much, too early’ mindset.”
Photo Credit - Orlando Sentinel
That is something one of his latest pupils - senior and team leader Bryce Seymour - has had a harder time accepting.
“Many of my teammates from my freshman and sophomore year would agree when I say I was obsessed with running,” Seymour admits. “I let running control every aspect of my life. I defined myself as a runner and only a runner."
Seymour can boast numerous accolades and athletic achievements including a 4th place finish at the FHSAA Class 1A state meet last year (she ran for Circle Christian in her junior season so she could pursue a dual enrollment program which isn’t available at Hagerty, but is returning for her final season). On record, she is the fastest female that Getty has ever coached with the exception of the one and only Jenny Simpson. And Simpson, formerly Barringer, developed into an international phenom, becoming the first American woman to win gold in an IAAF World Championship 1500, doing so in 2011 in 4:05.40.
Seymour was known amongst her coaches and teammates as a workhorse, often running more than the boys team. Every day, every run seemed to be at 110 percent effort. She would openly alter the workout plans in favor of extreme alternatives. Even her recovery days were blisteringly fast. Which isn’t exactly congruent with the ideals behind her coach’s training system.
Getty’s summer plan is a controlled version of typical collegiate base-training. The majority of the runs are slow and comfortable. As the year progresses, the mileage drops but the speed increases.
“Summer provides the foundation for the workouts in the regular season” Getty says. “This is a must if you want to extend your success beyond the conference championships…The endurance provided by consistent training allows for the completion of tougher workouts needed for top performances in the post season.”
It’s not just theory; history backs him up.
Over the last three years his Hagerty Huskies have racked up conference wins for both genders as well as a district win for the girls and a regional win for the boys. Not bad for a school that’s been around for less than a decade. Even with this success, Seymour’s ambition would demand excessive effort and often play against Getty’s ideals of patience and restraint.
That being said, however, Seymour has come to recognize the pitfalls of unbridled passion. On numerous occasions, she’s entered big races and fallen just shy of her goals. It’s hard for a true performer to accept anything other than perfection. This intensity, however, is simply exhausting. So at the halfway point of her high school career, she decided to tame her obsession. To take a step back and reevaluate her running.
“I refocused myself my junior year and found balance between my running and my other activities” She says. “I truly love it and want to be the best I can be…But I also have to have other interests and can’t let my running be my only focus. I’ve learned that I need to communicate with my coaches.”
As Seymour focuses to push herself back to the balance, it’s imperative to recognize that she isn’t trying to curtail her love for the sport. She’s merely regulating how much it influences her decisions. She knows that over-training can manifest itself in several ways and she’s determined to find the balance in every pursuit. She attends running camps, performs extra exercises and stretches, all while keeping her head about her. She is learning to seize the opportunity of summer with the controlled dedication of a true champion.
“Summer training can be the key to a successful season,” Seymour says. “If you go into the season without a proper base, you’re not going to be able to do the workouts necessary to excel. Personally, I want to do everything I can to help my team reach a podium spot. This year, I want to run under 17:30.”
The summer is the catalyst of a great season. The only variable is what one decides to do with the opportunity. The different ways the season can progress from there is essentially infinite. One thing’s for certain though: passion and intelligent workouts will demonstrate the potential of the dedicated, such as Seymour, come September and beyond.
Hello. My name is Peter Licari and I’m a distance runner/ freelance writer. I’ve been running since I was in fifth grade and I’ve been writing for even longer. I ran for Hagerty High School under the tutelage of Matt Malkovich and Jay Getty. I was the MVP in Track and Cross Country for four years and currently hold the school record in every distance event and relay (and, incidentally, the school record for the most school records). While I was racing, I was also heavily focusing on my writing. I penned three unpublished, full-length novels and scores of published articles and poems. Running and writing are my two major passions and I pursue both of them with equal zeal. I managed to win four district titles and qualify for four state championships between the two sports. In regards to writing, I received the creative writing superlative at my high school for my stories and articles. I have been fortunate enough to be able to continue my running career on scholarship at the University of Tampa while being extremely humbled with the opportunity to write for Distance Preps.
