Rice Memories: Claire Shorall
5/26/2020 12:00:00 PM | Women's Cross Country, Women's Track & Field, Blog
Summer training for cross country runners is focused on base building. This phase requires a cumulative effort of early wakeup calls to beat the heat, scheduling mileage around internship hours, and trying— and mostly failing— to remember to stretch. The value of the work isn't made evident until November on championship podiums. A good coaching plan and the honor system gave us a blueprint to follow, but through the thick of humidity and pull of vacation, it was sometimes hard to remember why every mile mattered. I wanted to bring purpose and cohesion to the group so we could run with heart, the way we did when we were together.
Starting in 2006, every summer I would send my teammates and our incoming freshman five exclusive cross country training mixes. Mostly, I imposed my musical will on others, though I occasionally took requests, painstakingly rearranging the playlists for vibe and flow. Each mix took over 30 minutes to burn while my Macbook's fan desperately protested. The CDs were coupled with elaborate collages that I meticulously crafted before heading to a Kinkos to be copied on glossy paper, splurging on the color printing. I'd then fold the collages into a nearly 5" by 5" square, a neat trick that saved me a jewel case, but always meant I needed to use an extra stamp.
At the time, I imagined that the CDs were played in my teammates' cars as they drove with their windows down to practice, or downloaded to iPods and jammed to on long runs through their hometowns or dream cities. I hoped that when they listened, they would have a bit more pep in their step or motivation to finish every last mile of their workout. Our distance limited visibility, but I wanted that flat, shiny disc to be a tangible reminder of our goals and that they were not in it alone.
I've been thinking a lot about our notion of connectedness in the mid-aughts, especially in light of the disruption of seasons and semesters amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Today's world is seemingly smaller: teams participate in TikTok challenges, athletes do account takeovers, and workouts are frequently shared via Stories. I wonder if this connectedness is more performative than how we developed our sense of community when I was in school.
At the time, I never really knew the impact my mixes had, but in writing this piece, I asked my contemporaries on the team if any had kept the mixes or collages. To my surprise, many had both, and those who didn't expressed dismay at having lost them. I'm humbled by their enduring impact. Compared to the literal Olympians, world champions, and national championship qualifiers of my vintage, my contributions may not have been as evident on the scoreboard, but my impact on the team lied in those intangibles, pushing the group to transcend the often individual nature of our sport into a true team. Just like those solo miles, the evidence of this work isn't always clear immediately, but for our team, that's what made the difference.
This is not a normal summer of training. It comes on the heels of a lost season and faces loads of uncertainty. This doesn't mean the work doesn't matter or that the team isn't strong, even if we aren't exactly sure what the future holds. True team is more important than ever. I hope the current crop of Owls reading this use whatever tools they have to manifest their own ways of building the strongest team possible. As for me, I'll be reliving those summers by running to jams that now count as throwbacks, this time with no postage required.
-RiceOwls.com-