Next-Level Training: Running in the City

One Manhattan Girl's Reflections on Joining a Club Team

May 1, 2009

In high school I was never a scrappy, grassroots type of runner, although I always concealed a secret envy for the one-man team turned state champion, clad only in sneakers and a uniform excavated from a musty box labeled "1973." I, on the other hand, was wearing bun huggers from the age of 13. Immersed in nationally ranked high school and college programs my entire career, I always have had an acute awareness of the fact that my lack of talent was made up for by brilliant coaches and competitive teammates.

Forever the long and steady type, I became an All-American for the first time in my final cross country season at Michigan State. This left me with high hopes for the upcoming track season, but a sudden hamstring injury ended my collegiate career. I took time off from running until the following spring, when I became a volunteer coach at the high school where I was student-teaching. When I wasn't exhausted from teaching freshman English, I jumped into workouts with my athletes, but had no objective or training schedule of my own.

At the end of the school year I moved to New York City and began to pursue a job in publishing. At this point I realized how much I missed training and decided that I wanted running to be part of my new life. Although I didn't have specific goals in mind, I knew I wanted teammates, competition, and coaching again. I researched teams in the city and found that the New York Athletic Club (NYAC) could offer what I was looking for.

Central Park is where my team meets two days a week for hard workouts structured around team events like New York Road Runners points races and Club Cross Country Nationals.

And now for one of the team's biggest secrets: Google. As you might expect, NYAC women are always on the go, which is why we use our own Google message board to communicate. This is where our coach, Spencer Casey, posts workout instructions, and where most informal runs are planned. A thread might look like this:

Sarah Sneaker: "Late meeting at work today, anyone still have to run?" Farah Fartlek: "I can go at 7. Meet at the fountain?"

Sarah Sneaker: "Fountain at 7 works, we will run clockwise around the reservoir to pick up any stragglers."

Additionally, the board announces the latest running news, features a calendar of all upcoming local and national races, and occasionally affords members privy to killer apartment/job listings. Electronic communication, coupled with close proximity – nearly everyone lives within one or two miles of the park meeting spot – makes running convenient for a group of women who also put in 45-to 70-hour workweeks.

Juggling work and a social life in the city is difficult enough, let alone finding the time to maintain a training regimen. But because Spencer holds us accountable, always treating us like professionals, we have no choice but to act accordingly. Each practice begins with a proper warm-up of drills and stretching, followed by a thorough explanation of the workout with individual alterations made as necessary. Strength and speed are incorporated into our training each week, and Spencer is always looking to tweak and invigorate standard workouts, whether it's adding a new drill or taking a team field trip to the Bronx to do repeats at Van Cortlandt Park.

Getting into shape was easier than I anticipated because I was never alone. I had teammates to push me, prescribed and purposeful workouts, and the support of NYAC's athletic department, not to mention generous access to their facilities on Central Park South. After this past summer, I ran my first half marathon in 1:18:36, helped NYAC place fourth at the Club Cross Country Nationals, and only look forward to stepping up to the lines of more races.

So why, when I nearly hung up my spikes for good, am I enjoying some of the best training of my life? How does a team of career-oriented New Yorkers produce five Olympic trials qualifiers and eight sub 3-hour marathoners in one year alone? Using empirical data, I've determined the top reasons a post-collegiate club team works.

01 Teammates. Taking issue with "the loneliness of the long-distance runner," I've found some of the best training happens with other people. As an added bonus, teammates also tend to make good friends. It is difficult not to bond over elusive bathroom hunts and run-ins with the angry park vagrant.

02 Accountability. A dedicated coach, team, and sponsor help you achieve your running goals and hold you accountable for getting there. Without them it is difficult not to sleep, eat, drink, or whatever it is you do instead of run.

03 Material motivation. Many races like the CVS 5K offer team prize money. And, depending on your team's budget or sponsorship, you could earn some snazzy new gear. So long, cotton T-shirts!

04 Less pressure. Some post-collegiate runners may eschew any team with the word "club" attached. These runners will be pleasantly surprised to find that many club teams are not unlike many collegiate teams in terms of caliber, competitive opportunities and financial support. The only difference is that with no scholarship or rigid schedule hanging over your head, there's time for injury recovery, mental breaks, and life.

05 Less overtraining and injury. Because club runners have more autonomous training schedules, they aren't forced to train at someone else's level, so chances of the proverbial burn out and/or injury go down.

06 Credibility. Telling colleagues and friends you can't make it because you have to "go running" sometimes sounds pretty lame. But telling them you have "practice" could potentially make your cause more legit, might even make people less apt to label you as "exercise maniac." Note: "Team obligation" also constitutes reasonable excuse for an exit on bad dates.

07 New distances. If you are like me, and lived in perpetual fear of the moment your coach uttered the words, "You're running the mile," then there's a good chance you haven't reached your potential simply because you haven't raced far enough yet. This means one of the longer races many club teams gear up for, like the marathon, might be your distance.

08 Fresh start. Club running offers a world of possibility: new races, new distances, new competitors, new teammates, new coaching, new fans, and new terrain. These changes are often what you need to ignite your passion once more.