A new season is fast-approaching for the Utah women’s cross-country team, which will partake in its first meet of the year this weekend. Following team tradition, the Utes took advantage of the little time left before their season opener to take a trip into the nearby mountains for physical and mental training.
This year, the team made the 40-mile drive up to Heber City for their summer training camp, where, surrounded by rugged terrain and sweeping vistas, the team was subjected to comprehensive training routines. Utah senior Andrea Chavez was among the runners who made the trip, and she pointed out that although the physical aspects of the camp were challenging, their time spent training was accomplishing much greater goals than mere team fitness.
“Basically what we do is try to bond as a team, and we bring in the new freshmen,” said Chavez. “We do two-a-days where we run in the morning, get a good run in, then a couple hours later we’ll do a second run. But in between that, we’ll do abs, and rest and recover and learn about ways to fuel your body. We also just get to know the rest of the team.”
Utah head coach Kyle Kepler also emphasized the value of the team’s trip as being an essential step in strengthening the bonds between runners and forming a cohesive unit. This was an especially important undertaking for the Utes, who welcome five true freshmen to this year’s team.
“For us, [summer training camp] is as much about the team culture and the team building aspect as it is about the training part of it,” said Kepler.
Utah has held its training camps in a variety of locations throughout the Wasatch Front over the years. While the Utes trained in Heber City several seasons ago, they opted to stay in a new location this year, and were presented with many new places to train. Kepler said the unfamiliar setting of this year’s camp presented some unique challenges for the team, but they were able to shine despite the adversity.
“Quite honestly it was probably an even tougher week on them than I thought it was going to be just because of where we trained and the terrain,” Kepler said. “At the same time, I thought they handled it well. The gals were very mentally tough and accepting of the new challenges.”
Each year’s camp is different due to changes in scenery and different team dynamics, but usually the structure of the team’s training routine at camp has remained a constant blend of two-a-days and conditioning. Chavez said this year’s training was no exception, except for a new focus on strength exercises and teamwork.
“This year was different because we didn’t do workouts — we focused more on running as a pack and getting stronger,” she said.
Like most of the other fall sports on campus, the cross country team’s ramped-up training schedule and upcoming competitions coincide with the added pressures of the new academic year. While this situation can be remarkably stressful, especially for the team’s newest members, Kepler believes the training camp offers an excellent opportunity for the freshmen to relax and concentrate on running.
“It was certainly nice to just get away and be able to focus on us,” Kepler said. “The gals didn’t have to worry about moving into their dorm rooms and setting them up or going to get their uID cards, they can just focus on each other, focus on the team and focus on figuring out what it is that we’re expecting of them.”
The week was an important transitional period for the entire team, not just the freshmen, because it signaled the team’s departure from light summer runs aimed at maintaining fitness and indicated a renewed focus on strength and conditioning to make the team faster.
As the team heads into the season, it will undoubtedly look to build off of the intensive physical training and relationships forged at camp and to carry them to success this season. The Utes will open their season this Saturday at the Utah State invitational in Logan.
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