Glenn Randall '09 plans to spend most mornings of his upcoming sophomore summer running on Colorado's Grand Mesa at an elevation of about 10,000 feet. As a cross country runner, Randall will log upwards of 70 miles per week during his summer training, thousands of miles away from most of his classmates in Hanover. However, Randall won't be completely without company during his grueling training.
"My dad drives next to me in his truck sometimes, partially to make sure I don't get eaten by mountain lions," Randall said. But mountain lions aren't the only challenge for the Big Green's distance runners during the summer months.
"When it's 90 degrees, and you've been at work all day, and you know you've still got to go running ... Well it's rough," Harry Norton '08 said. Norton will be working in New York City this summer at a marketing internship for Nike. He made sure his housing was near Central Park, of course, for his training.
Summer may conjure images of lemonade and slow afternoons for many, but for distance runners the summer is the time to lay the foundation for an entire year of racing. That means high mileage training that is designed to build endurance.
Caitlin Cunningham '09 will remain at Dartmouth for her sophomore summer, but she won't be taking classes. Cunningham is looking for a 9-to-5 job, so that she can run both before and after work on most days.
"I wouldn't be doing it if I didn't love it," Cunningham said. "I'm looking forward to spending the summer in Hanover where I'll have plenty of training partners, because at home I have very few."
Harry Norton will be living and training with two members of the Columbia University cross country squad, who he has befriended through years of racing. Unfortunately for Randall though, the mountain lions don't make very good training partners.
"Every couple weeks, I'll have a day when I just don't want to do it. The hardest thing is getting out the door on those days, just getting out the door," he said. "It gives me a lot to look forward to though, getting back to Hanover and the team."
On top of training for the cross country season, Randall must also keep the ski season in mind. Randall is one of the Big Green's top nordic skiers. This past season he earned a berth on the United States national Under-23 team and helped the Big Green win the NCAA championship.
"It helps actually," Randall said. "When I run too much, my knees start to hurt. I can back off and do more rollerskiing, or focus more on my ski training."
Ben True '08, like Randall, is both an excellent runner and nordic skier. In the winter he was named All-American, made the U-23 team, and led the Dartmouth Nordic team at the NCAA championship. This spring he has already defended his Heptagonal title in the 1,500m and added the 5,000m crown to his collection.
In past summers, True has worked full-time at home in Maine teaching sailing and at a sporting goods store -- in addition to his training.
But this summer, True will move to Sun Valley, Idaho. Although nothing has been nailed down for sure, True is planning to take the fall and winter terms off from Dartmouth to focus on nordic racing.
"For skiing, you want to be bulking up in the summer," he said. "But that's just extra [weight] you have to lug around in running. I've never been able to train seriously for skiing because of that. Cross country has always been in the front of my mind."
This summer True will work part time at a sporting goods store and train with the Sun Valley Ski Association. Depending on how the summer training pans out, True hopes to compete in SuperTour races around America and on the Europa Cup circuit. True plans to traverse Europe with Mike Sinnott '07, another stellar Big Green Nordic skier.
If all goes according to plan, True will then be back in the States for the spring to race in the Olympic trials on the track, in the 1500m. Thus far in his career, True has shown an uncommon capacity to excel in both sports. True cited his Nordic coach Ruff Patterson as encouraging him to keep up both sports as long as he can.
"But for me as a person, I know I could never be satisfied not putting all my eggs in one basket, so to speak. I want to take one sport as far as I can," True said. He's just not sure which it will be--running or skiing.
"At the end of every season I'm like, 'This is the sport for me,'" True said. "But then..." The next season comes around.
For True, with a professional career as an athlete realistically in reach, summer training is even more important.
"In the summer all it is--is volume. You have to be careful not to get bored--I always use the summer to mix things up," True said.
After sitting out last summer with a stress fracture, True is particularly careful.
"It's easy to fall into the trap of 'Oh, if I just train harder, I'll get faster,'" said Harry Norton. "It's not that easy. You have to know when to cut back, when to listen to your body."
Whether they're in Manhattan, Sun Valley, atop the Grand Mesa, or even in Hanover, Dartmouth's distance runners will be logging mile after mile, day after day, throughout the summer.
"Distance running is a solitary sport," True said. "The long miles, the time by yourself--the training definitely builds mental toughness as well."
