The University of Akron Athletics
Guts and Tenacity: A Running Blog with Cross Country Senior Kim Lorentz
October 14 | Cross Country
Kim Lorentz is a senior captain of the cross country team and an
enthusiastic student of biology. She ran track and cross country
for Mayfield High School from 2004-2007. Kim was the MAC champion
and regional qualifier in the 5000 meters in 2007. She has received
the Academic All-MAC and Dean's List honors several times. During
the 2010 Cross Country season, she will provide weekly updates on
the training, the races and everything else in between.INTRO
Guts and Tenacity. That is the adage of the 2010 Akron cross
country team. We were inspired by one of the greatest female
American distance runners of all time, Mary Decker. She
achieved the "Decker Double", winning both the 1,500 meters and
3,000 meters at the World Championships in 1983. Even though she
was pitted as the underdog against the juggernaut of Soviet
runners, she took the lead for the nearly the entire distance of
both races and then edged out the competition with a killer kick.
As the announcer said, she showed us the meaning of guts and
tenacity. This season, before each competition we dedicate
ourselves to racing in that spirit because if we do so then there
is no way we can fail. We've come together as a team to win, defy
the limits we thought we had, learn, grow and laugh. This is one
runner's account of the many miles, trials, and triumphs of our
season. I hope you enjoy the journey as much as we do.
October 14, 2010
It was another solid training week for the zips cross country team despite being assailed by the usual bouts of sickness and schoolwork that traditionally come at the beginning of October. We conquered several tough workouts including the dreaded 80-90 workout. It's a track workout that requires you to shift back and forth from medium pace (90 seconds per 400 meters) to race pace (80 seconds per 400 meters). I usually get pretty anxious about doing this workout so Coach warned me about it a few days in advance so I could mentally prepare myself. One thing that made it a lot easier was having someone there to do it with me. Together Cassie and I took turns setting the pace and we both had a great workout because of it. To the average spectator it may not seem like cross country is a team sport. Outwardly it looks as if it is every runner for themself once the gun goes off, but that is hardly the case. Especially in training, having teammates to run with makes all of the difference in the world. That's why the theme of this week was all about running in groups. It really helped some people elevate themselves to new level of running.
This weekend we're off to Penn State to run in their invitational.
It is our first chance this season to run our championship distance
of 6k. The competition will just keep getting better as the season
goes on, and so will we!
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| A rainy morning practice at Ledges |
September 28, 2010
Remember how last week I said that the new course at Cedarville would change the dynamics of the All-Ohio meet? Well it sure did. This year's meet was marked by faster times than all of the previous years I have run in it. Last year, I finished in 8th place in 18:54. This year's 8th place finish was 17:46, more than a minute faster. Fortunately, the Zips runners took advantage of the fast course and many of us posted new season bests or even lifetime PRs.
...On Friday morning we loaded up three vans and headed down south into the land of corn fields and blue skies. When we stepped out of the vans we quickly discovered that we would have to deal with an irritating element of the flat farm land: wind. Coach Jones jokingly told me, "Kim you are a knife. Cut through that wind. Those other runners are paddles." That's easier said than done. The wind made me uneasy about going out fast in the front of the race and letting others possibly draft behind me, but I knew that it was something that had to be done. Luckily the wind was at our backs for the start of the race as nearly 300 runners stampeded down a long straightaway for the first half mile. When I hit the first mile mark in 5:21 I knew that I was running a fast pace but I still felt pretty good. However, by the second mile mark I was paying the painful price for that fast start. I was passed by a few runners but managed to finish in 5th place in 17:32. That was my best time of the season so far. I'm glad that I got the opportunity to go out fast because its good practice for the Penn State and regional meets where I can promise that the pace is not going to be forgiving.
After the meet, some of the parents put on a cookout for all of
us. There is nothing better than sitting in the sunshine enjoying
lots of good food with your teammates after a meet. The cross
country teams send out a HUGE thank you to all of the parents who
helped! Without parents always cheering us on, driving ridiculous
distances to watch us run, providing for our enormous appetites,
and sometimes washing our muddy running clothes (thanks mom) we
would surely not be where we are today.
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| Andy Knapp and Zach Goulet | The uphill finish with exhausted runners collapsing | Right after the starting gunshot of the women's race | The Zips Women's Cross Country Team |
September 28, 2010
This past week the women's cross country team had a week off from competition, but it was hardly a week off. We got in some solid workouts and I am sore! This year we have established a regular weight lifting schedule and our lifting coach, Dustin, is taking us through some really good exercises. It's interesting to go into the weight room and see how my teammates perform. We have such a wide variety of interests. Some of us like sprint workouts and others like long runs. Then there are some people get pretty excited about pumping iron. Personally, I just grin and bear it because I know it's good for me. Dustin always kids with us saying, "Come on, one more! Push up that last hill! This weight lifting is building those hill running muscles."
Although we did not have a meet this past weekend, we did partake in another tradition for the women's team: the cross country open house. It is when high school seniors can come and meet the team and learn what Akron cross country is all about. It's always fun to give tours around campus and reflect back to when I was going through the process of picking colleges. It's a hard decision to make but I am glad I was swayed by Akron. As Coach Jones was talking to the recruits and their parents, he said something that I definitely agree with. He told them that so many people rag on Ohio, but really northeast Ohio is one of the best places for cross country in the nation. It is definitely true. Northeast Ohio sends more high school runners to the state meet than any other part of the state. The Cleveland-Akron region has produced its share of collegiate and post-collegiate runners who have proved themselves on the national running scene. Also, even though we are in the middle of a concrete jungle there is an amazing abundance of beautiful places to run at nearby. This past week we had practices at Kendall Hills, Ledges, Happy Days, Goodyear Metropark, and Silver Creek Metropark. I can't even decide which place is my favorite. It is especially great in the fall when the trees start to change colors. As an ecology-evolution major I take pride in my ability to identify all of the tree species as we run. My teammates think I'm a bit crazy for it.
Anyways, we are spending this week getting ready for the All-Ohio meet on Friday. It is on a new course at Ceaderville rather than at the usual monster course Ohio Wesleyan. The new setting really changes the dynamics of the meet. For the past three years that I have run it, All-Ohio has been like a rite of passage. It was so hilly that you can be proud to just say that you finished, even though times are usually much slower than any other meet. This year, All-Ohio will be an opportunity to run a fast 5k with some great competitors. Our other meets so far this year have been relatively small but I know we are ready to put ourselves at the front of that stampede. Let's go zips!
September 21, 2010
That's me |
The Akron Pack |
Doing Akron YMCA style. We gotta represent! |
Niagra Falls from the American side |
This weekend I had the pleasure of witnessing two wonders of the world. The first wonder is what I consider to be an admirable feat of athletics and teamwork: a perfect team score in cross country. Fifteen points. The second was Niagara Falls, one of the great wonders of the natural world.
This weekend, both the men's and women's cross country teams hit the road for the first time this season. Its always exciting to travel but this time was especially great because it was the first time for seven freshmen who earned their racing stripes. On Friday we loaded up the vans and headed up towards Buffalo. It was nearly a four hour trip and I attempted to keep girl's the van entertained with the mixed CDs I made. We went straight to the course at Beaver Island State Park so that we could get a feel for the new course and go through our pre-race day routine. The course was absolutely beautiful. It is at an interesting location because the park is on the southern tip of Grand Island and we could actually look south across the Niagara River into Canada.
When I woke up on Saturday morning to do a shakeout run with the team near our hotel, I was glad to see that the sun was shining at it was perfect weather for a cross country race. After breakfast, we headed for the course. Like usual, there were some pre-race jitters and everyone was relatively quiet in the van ride before the meet. The women's race went off first. There were seven other teams on the line and our MAC rival, Kent, was amongst them. When the gun went off I headed for the front of the pack, as my plan had been to start off aggressively. I was somewhat surprised when none of the Kent girls came with me and I knew I was heading for a fast first mile. I heard the guy at the mile marker shout "5:33!". Yep that's fast. I slowed down a bit over the next couple miles but still finished the 5k in 17:52. I was glad that I had accomplished my goal of running faster than I did last week at our home meet. I wasn't the only one who improved. Cassie knocked six seconds off of her time from last week and Sarah Baker, a freshman, took 17 seconds off her previous time. I was thrilled to see Sarah stepping up her game to make it in the top ten. That's free T-shirt territory!
However, the real show came during the men's race. It was the greatest example of teamwork that I have ever seen. They all agreed prior to the race that all nine of them would run together for the first three (out of five) miles of the race at 5:05 pace. They did just that. As I watched from the 2.5 mile mark, I saw a mass of Akron gold at the front of the lead pack. There were a couple of guys from other teams in that mix, but they were eventually dropped by the Akron pack. After that three mile mark, Andy Morgan took off like a bat out of hell. He finished first followed by Andy Knapp, Joe McCoy, Gus Dudek, and Brad Hough for a total team score of 15 points. That is truly something special. A perfect score in cross country is like a no-hitter in baseball, rare and truly worthy of praise. I think I even saw Coach Labadie shed a tear of joy.
We celebrated the good performances by stopping at Niagara Falls for some sightseeing on the way home. Being the nature enthusiast that I am, it always takes my breath away when I look at all that water. I wonder what they might have looked like hundreds of years ago before all the hotels were built. I got some great pictures of the Falls and my teammates. I can't wait to hit the road again for our next meet at Cedarville!
