Visualizations key for Bronco cross country
By Joe Doss-Antoun
A typical cross country race is one of the most physically demanding activities in sports, as competitors often race in courses that require nearly thirty minutes of continuous running at a fast pace.
Thus, one of the most important aspects of being a successful long distance runner is possessing supreme mental strength.
"You're on your own for a long time out there, so you have to be unbelievably mentally tough," said women's coach Tom Service.
In order to give their athletes a mental edge before a race starts, Coach Service and Coach Felipe Montoro, who coaches the men's team, guide their runners through detailed visualizations.
After the team meeting and discussions about the following day's race, the coaches have their runners lie prone on their back in a dimly lit room with their eyes shut, essentially ready to meditate.
"It starts with controlled breathing and overall relaxation of every body part to get the tension out," said junior Blossom Marimpietri.
As Service and Montoro walk their runners through race day, they know that every detail adds realism to the visualizations. The more details and activities included, the better their athletes can imagine the course.
"Coach starts off the visualizations of race day and walks us through our morning routine: he tells us that we're getting up in the morning, and maybe talking to our roommate," said junior Chris Gumbs. "After that he goes into us traveling to the race and then the actual race itself."
During the pre-race visualization, the coaches include details ranging from the color of the opposing schools' jersey to the dew on the grass.
By recreating the day of the race through such vivid details, the coaches hope to provide their runners with a strong sense of familiarity, starting from the moment they wake up.
"The objective is to relax them so the next day when they are nervous it's like they have already been there before," said Service.
For most of the runners, the visualizations are a very effective preparation method.
"The visualizations work because they make me more comfortable with the course. When I get to the starting line the day of the race, I will feel like I've run the course several times because I've already been there in my head," said Shannon Bell, a à first-team all-WCC runner .
In a similar revelation, Gumbs said, "It's a good way to get in the zone and get relaxed. Some people get overly pumped up but that's a waste of energy."
On the other hand, there are some who view visualizations simply as an extra opportunity to get some much-needed sleep.
"It's funny because they get worried that I might be upset when they are sleeping," Service said.
"But if I can get them to fall asleep, that means I've done a pretty good job of relaxing them."
Service has used visualizations with all of his teams, dating back to 2001 when he first arrived at Santa Clara.
While the cross country team continues its success under his watch, Service doesn't have any plans to shy away from this unique tactic.
"We have two of our biggest meets this week at Notre Dame and Stanford, so you can bet there will be more visualizations done before those meets," said Service.
In a sport that's so physically demanding, a mental edge can make all the difference in the world.
Contact Joe Doss-Antoun at (408) 551-1918 or jdossantoun@scu.edu