When most students think of summer, they think of relaxing and soaking up the time off school. Others spend their vacation working a summer job to earn some extra money. However, many dedicated athletes use summer as a time to get down to business with their summer workouts.
For some fall sports teams, the end of the academic year marks the beginning of optional summer training.
Junior Joey Rambacher said although practices for the soccer team are not mandatory until August, coming to the optional conditioning is worth the extra effort.
“People should show up [to the summer conditioning] so they can regain their soccer skills and get in shape,” he said. “And summer practicing is a lot of fun.”
The optional practices vary in style and most are different than the mandatory team practices. Freshman football player Eric LePage said the summer conditioning is a different kind of workout than the mandatory two-a-day practices held in August.
“Summer conditioning is all running and lifting but the [mandatory] two-a-days are more like drills and play in pads and stuff – and more running,” LePage said.
Girls cross country runners can also be found hard at work during the summer months, training for the up-coming season. Freshman Linley Hipp, who ran in the 2008 season, said although it is a mental battle to wake up and go to practice, the hard work pays off.
“Running is a mental sport so you have to force yourself to wake up every morning [to go run],” she said. “But once you get into it, you get this feeling where you don’t want to stop – ever.”
Girls cross country coach, Mr. Jason Kirkland, feels the summer training is an important part of the fall running season for reasons known only in the eyes of a coach.
“Summer conditioning is important so that athletes can prevent injured during the season,” Kirkland said. “The strength and conditioning they put in allows the team to focus on anaerobic conditioning, speed training, during the season.”
In his experience, Kirkland has found that if runners do not participate in the pre-season conditioning, generally they are more likely to get injured during the season, which will affect the team’s success as well as the individual runner’s.
“Shin splints, hip flexors, IT band, and plantar fasciitis can directly affect a runner that has not put in the training,” Kirkland said.
Freshman Lizzy Daugherty is looking forward to joining the girls cross country team in their summer conditioning for the 2009 season.
“From what I’ve heard, summer practices are a big part of what make cross country so much fun because you get in shape and have some quality girls bonding at the same time. It just doesn’t get better,” Daugherty said.
Hipp and Daugherty have the same opinion regarding the camaraderie of the team.
“You get to know the team and the coaches so much better [than if you join the conditioning in the fall] because you’re working together all summer long to accomplish the same goals and get ocer the same obstacles,” Hipp said. “we just have a blast with each other.”
One thing that all the teams have in common is overcoming obstacles.
“The toughest part is battling the heat,” Rambacher said. “Because it’s so hot out we can only run for so long and we take a lot more water breaks which interrupts the flow of practice.”
LePage said the same applies to the football team.
“The worst part is that you’re still sore from practice the day before so it makes the running worse and the lifting harder,” LePage said.
As far as cross country goes, Hipp said that the run beating down on a runner makes it difficult for them to push their hardest.
However, Daugherty is more concerned with losing the luxury of sleeping in during her break from school.
“For me, it will be so hard to run in the mornings, especially whe it’s hot,” she said. “I’m really not a morning person in the first place so I’m sure the high temperatures will make it tough.”
An athlete’s desire to be the best they can be is what drives them to work hard even when they don’t have to. Conditioning during the off-season has proven to prepare these determined athletes for their upcoming season.
“I know that running cross [country] in the morning summer heat will probably be hell on earth,” Daugherty said. “But it will, without a doubt, be worth it in the long run.”