2008 Woodie Awards
Patience pays off for long distance runners
Kris Knowlton
Issue date: 2/20/08 Section: Sports
Instant gratification: it seems to be the driving force of society these days. Everybody wants everything right now and wants it that way without having to put much effort into it. However, this year's distance team for Nebraska believes that anything worth doing takes a long time to do.
"Patience, patience, patience," NU distance runner Natalja Zarcenko said. "To be a good distance runner you have to have very good patience. Compared to other running events on the track, distance is something you really have to work long and really hard at, and you're not going to get results right away. You might not even see results until the next year. It can get very, very frustrating. But I think the ability to understand the way your body works and the way your workouts work kind of gives you this patience to know, 'Well, I'm going to do better next year.'
"But many people don't want to wait. They want everything now and think, 'Well, if I'm working out every day really, really hard, I should run very well this weekend.' But it doesn't work that way. I think that is why so many people drop out of distance running."
The hard work Zarcenko and her teammates have put in through the years is certainly paying off this year. NU's distance group has collected 13 first-place finishes and 11 other top-three finishes after just five weeks of competition this season, which has made NU distance Coach Jay Dirksen a happy man.
"I've coached a long time, 38 years at the university level, and this is one of the very best groups I've ever had," Dirksen said. "For some people as they get older, coaching kind of gets old-hat and it's not as much fun, but I think I've had about as much fun as I've ever had coaching this year with this group."
The group is highlighted by senior Peter van der Westhuizen, Zarcenko, junior Jennifer Pancoast and freshman Lara Crofford. Van der Westhuizen has almost dipped below the four-minute mile mark twice this season. Zarcenko was the top Big 12 finisher in the mile last weekend at the Iowa State Classic. Pancoast won the 1000-meter in a deep Frank Sevigne Invitational field in early February. And Crofford, well, her coach describes her as the best.
"Laura Crofford is just an exceptionally talented freshman in the long distances, and it usually takes a while to develop in that area." Dirksen said. "She's pretty exceptional. I don't know that we've ever had a freshman that's run much better than that."
Crofford won the 5000-meter race at her very first meet as a Husker, and she finished second in the event last weekend in Ames, Iowa.
The team's success thus far is especially impressive when considering how many things are against them as distance runners. All of NU's distance runners also run for the school's cross country program, which Dirksen also coaches, making distance running a year-round sport for the unique athletes.
"You get like a week off and that's it," Zarcenko said. "Usually after cross country we are so tired because we compete all the time in like 10 meets or so during the season, and we workout hard all the time. So, I'm just exhausted after cross country, mentally and physically, because you get kind of tired of competing and pushing yourself and thinking about all that."
Zarcenko said that the distance team not only runs for the longest period of time on the track, but it also trains longer and harder without seeing results a typical athlete might. And they have to sustain injuries specifically related to distance running that tend to linger for longer stretches of time than other injuries.
"I think we also get the most injuries than anybody else does," Zarcenko said. "Ours might not be as severe where we'll need surgery or something, but our injuries are the kind of injuries that occur over a long period of time and also take a long time to heal."
So what keeps this group of runners going during their events, which can be hard to simply watch from the stands without feeling tired? What keeps them motivated in their training without instant gratification?
Dirksen thinks the answer is that his group gains strength from each other, even if they can't immediately see the strength they are gaining from the workouts they join together for.
"It's one big family," he said. "We're always together, we have meetings together, we travel together and we're always on the track together. They look out for each other, spend a lot of time with each other and they are really good people. They're trying to do things right. It's really been fun."
Zarcenko also stressed the importance of her teammates' support, but added that it's nice to spend so much time with, and be able to relate to, a group of individuals that are all focused on achieving success in inherently unique distance events.
"Even though we are all a part of the big track team, actually it's like our own little track team here," Zarcenko said. "We all run together and we talk, you know, 'How was your day or your weekend?' And I think that's what makes us closer than other performers on the track team, because we spend a lot of time together."
KrisKnowlton@dailynebraskan.com
"Patience, patience, patience," NU distance runner Natalja Zarcenko said. "To be a good distance runner you have to have very good patience. Compared to other running events on the track, distance is something you really have to work long and really hard at, and you're not going to get results right away. You might not even see results until the next year. It can get very, very frustrating. But I think the ability to understand the way your body works and the way your workouts work kind of gives you this patience to know, 'Well, I'm going to do better next year.'
"But many people don't want to wait. They want everything now and think, 'Well, if I'm working out every day really, really hard, I should run very well this weekend.' But it doesn't work that way. I think that is why so many people drop out of distance running."
The hard work Zarcenko and her teammates have put in through the years is certainly paying off this year. NU's distance group has collected 13 first-place finishes and 11 other top-three finishes after just five weeks of competition this season, which has made NU distance Coach Jay Dirksen a happy man.
"I've coached a long time, 38 years at the university level, and this is one of the very best groups I've ever had," Dirksen said. "For some people as they get older, coaching kind of gets old-hat and it's not as much fun, but I think I've had about as much fun as I've ever had coaching this year with this group."
The group is highlighted by senior Peter van der Westhuizen, Zarcenko, junior Jennifer Pancoast and freshman Lara Crofford. Van der Westhuizen has almost dipped below the four-minute mile mark twice this season. Zarcenko was the top Big 12 finisher in the mile last weekend at the Iowa State Classic. Pancoast won the 1000-meter in a deep Frank Sevigne Invitational field in early February. And Crofford, well, her coach describes her as the best.
"Laura Crofford is just an exceptionally talented freshman in the long distances, and it usually takes a while to develop in that area." Dirksen said. "She's pretty exceptional. I don't know that we've ever had a freshman that's run much better than that."
Crofford won the 5000-meter race at her very first meet as a Husker, and she finished second in the event last weekend in Ames, Iowa.
The team's success thus far is especially impressive when considering how many things are against them as distance runners. All of NU's distance runners also run for the school's cross country program, which Dirksen also coaches, making distance running a year-round sport for the unique athletes.
"You get like a week off and that's it," Zarcenko said. "Usually after cross country we are so tired because we compete all the time in like 10 meets or so during the season, and we workout hard all the time. So, I'm just exhausted after cross country, mentally and physically, because you get kind of tired of competing and pushing yourself and thinking about all that."
Zarcenko said that the distance team not only runs for the longest period of time on the track, but it also trains longer and harder without seeing results a typical athlete might. And they have to sustain injuries specifically related to distance running that tend to linger for longer stretches of time than other injuries.
"I think we also get the most injuries than anybody else does," Zarcenko said. "Ours might not be as severe where we'll need surgery or something, but our injuries are the kind of injuries that occur over a long period of time and also take a long time to heal."
So what keeps this group of runners going during their events, which can be hard to simply watch from the stands without feeling tired? What keeps them motivated in their training without instant gratification?
Dirksen thinks the answer is that his group gains strength from each other, even if they can't immediately see the strength they are gaining from the workouts they join together for.
"It's one big family," he said. "We're always together, we have meetings together, we travel together and we're always on the track together. They look out for each other, spend a lot of time with each other and they are really good people. They're trying to do things right. It's really been fun."
Zarcenko also stressed the importance of her teammates' support, but added that it's nice to spend so much time with, and be able to relate to, a group of individuals that are all focused on achieving success in inherently unique distance events.
"Even though we are all a part of the big track team, actually it's like our own little track team here," Zarcenko said. "We all run together and we talk, you know, 'How was your day or your weekend?' And I think that's what makes us closer than other performers on the track team, because we spend a lot of time together."
KrisKnowlton@dailynebraskan.com
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