Wahine learn there's more to running than just running
By Michael Tsai
Advertiser Staff Writer
Now the truth can be told: The secret to a faster 5K is ...
Bruce Asato • The Honolulu Advertiser
Pork chops.
Even before getting into the pool, Wahine cross country runners do some vigorous stretching exercises. “We hammer them hard,” says UH associate coach Andy McInnis.
Not those.
These: crouching over speed-skater style and bounding forward and slightly to the side, one leg at a time. Again and again and again.
"They kill the glutes," said University of Hawai'i cross country runner Diane Kohara. "They're really tough."
For two months, Kohara and her Wahine cross country teammates have choked down a steady diet of pork chops, circuit training, swimming, coordination drills and strength training in an effort to shave precious seconds from their 5-kilometer times. In the process, they've redefined their bodies, their abilities and their expectations.
"We hammer them hard," said associate coach Andy McInnis. "We're trying to mold them into better athletes with a variety of skills."
Under new head coach Carmyn James, McInnis took charge of the cross country team this season and promptly set out to turn promising runners into top-flight athletes.
"They were used to a history of runners running instead of runners building a better body with which to run," McInnis said. "A lot of them couldn't do motor skills of cartwheels, somersaults and movement patterns that are basic to athleticism.
"It's not just about running," he says. "The better the athlete we can put on the start line, the better the results will be."
In the Jungian tradition of change equals pain, McInnis initiated his program with a shock to the systems of his charges: He replaced the old afternoon practice schedule with 5:30 a.m. practices four times a week.
Advertiser library photo • Oct. 21, 2000
"That took a while to get used to," says senior Casey McGuire-Turcotte, a part-time sports clerk for The Advertiser. "Even now, you don't look forward to those first few steps, those first few minutes. It also took a while for us to realize what we needed to do to be able to function for the rest of the day."
University of Hawai‘i seniors Casey McGuire-Turcotte, left, and Cheryl Smith have flourished under a regimen of circuit training, swimming, coordination drills and strength training.
McInnis, a self-professed "hard ass," dispensed with the high-mileage training taught by former coach Johnny Faerber and instituted a program heavy on focused, coordinated drills that developed flexibility, coordination, strength and balance.
The team followed a four-week training cycle involving three weeks of intense workouts and one week of low or moderate exertion.
"The hardest weeks fluctuate with various intensities and volumes of training," McInnis said. "The hardest is Week 3 only because you're already exhausted from the intensity of Week 2."
In addition to drills designed to develop specific muscle groups —like the pork chop exercises for glutes — the runners also did intense circuit training.
"That often leaves the muscles really sore," McInnis said. "In that state of muscle fatigue, we do an intensive amount of volume. We turn up the volume but turn down the intensity so we avoid injury. The whole idea of the program is to go as far up the training regimen as possible and not inflict injuries that they can't recover from."
Recovery takes place during Week 4, when broken-down muscles get a chance to reconstitute in a stronger and more effective form.
In the midst of all of this training, the team still had to compete in meets every weekend.
"We counted racing as part of the insult," McInnis said. "Each race was a stepping stone strategically, and from an energy expenditure point of view. Everyone was given something to work on."
Slowly, the runners started to notice changes in the way they performed in training and in race situations.
Junior Sara Verga said she was able to chop almost a full minute off her 5K times from the previous season.
"Even after the first meet, I could tell that I was improving," she said.
McGuire-Turcotte said she dropped 30-40 seconds from her best times, a significant improvement for someone with nearly a decade of competitive running experience.
"I didn't have to sell them on it," McInnis said. "I was ready to knock heads with anyone who was stubborn or unpredictable. But the girls tolerated me and I didn't have a rebellion. Lo and behold, everything started to make sense to them and now we're seeing the results."
One of the most satisfying results for McInnis is the new set of expectations the runners hold for themselves individually and collectively.
"It's simply a new perspective," he said. "I'm asking the girls to look beyond the WAC championships, and the regionals and the NCAA championships to the last possible length there is to go.
"Everyone here should know where the ultimate expression of greatness lies," he said. "To me the last fixture is the World Championships in Dublin, Ireland. So let's work backwards from there. There's always more. There's never an end to being good."
