Pining For Spring

When Stu told me I could write “evergreen content,” admittedly, I had to Google search exactly what that meant (hip marketing terms are lost on this chemistry grad). As I typed each letter into my search engine, “Etsy” turned to “Evite” turned to “Everglades National Park” turned to “Evergreen, CO” turned to “evergreen content.” I quickly realized that Stu didn’t make a typo and this was in fact a real concept. 

In the marketing and media world, evergreen content is content that creators put out that retains its relevance regardless of the season. Duh. In hindsight, this definition makes total sense—an evergreen tree is one that keeps its foliage and functionality even in the non-growing seasons.

Coincidentally, the use of this term also sparked the inspiration for just the type of “evergreen content” I could produce. It all boils down to one, simple fact: track athletes are an evergreen species, too. Though the seasons change from the strength-building fall conditioning or the cross country season to the close-quartered indoor season to the pinnacle outdoor season, the common narrative of what we do remains the same: we find a way to stay relevant. 

Perhaps the athletes who best understand the winter grind are those whose favorite events don’t take place for six months after official track practices start—the steeplechasers, discus throwers, hammer throwers, 10k runners, long hurdlers, and javelin throwers. 

Sophia Slovenski, the 2021 Outdoor NCAA D3 National Champion in the javelin throw representing the University of Southern Maine, is a prime example of the seasonal progression a track athlete may undergo as they build toward the outdoor season. Slovenski is a member of the USM volleyball team in the fall, then she transitions to a pole vaulter in the winter, and finally, the No. 8 all-time farthest women’s javelin thrower in the spring. 

Credit: Birds Eye Media Services

“In the summer, I try to stay active however possible (mostly some form of cross-training) whether that’s swimming or working on a high ropes course,” Slovenski said. “In the fall, I focus all my energy on volleyball.”

When most think of evergreen trees, they think of them covered in snow, a pop of green among their dead, deciduous brethren. It is in the winter that an evergreen’s survival is most impressive, just as I believe it is in the winter that a track athlete like Slovenski has the chance to show their grittiness. 

“In the winter season I like to focus on technique, so that come outdoors I have it stored in my muscle memory,” Slovenski said. “I also like building up my strength and speed in the winter because it helps me become a better athlete overall.”

In addition to the pole vault, Slovenski has also quite literally hopped into the triple jump and some short sprints to help keep her sharp in the winter months. Each event brings an opportunity for Slovenski to hone in on new skills. 

“Pole vault was my main event indoors,” she said. “I believe it's the event that has taught me the most about myself. I've learned many mindfulness tools over the years that have helped me preserve and remain calm under pressure both on and off the track. Triple jump and sprinting events are wicked fun for me because I don’t place the same expectations on myself as I do in the pole vault. I use these events to build up my overall athleticism.”

This winter looks a little different than previous years for Slovenski. She underwent shoulder surgery in the fall, but in true evergreen fashion, she plans to use this season to stay active by cheering on her teammates to a conference title, becoming a student of the sport in regards to throwing mechanics and technique, and most excitingly, learning to throw with her non-dominant hand. 

Perhaps that is what makes the evergreen species so special: no matter the challenges and adversities they are faced with, whether it’s finding a way to maximize an indoor season or readjusting goals due to an injury, they find a way to continue to grow.

There are many unique challenges an athlete faces in track and field, some of which are specific to the winter indoor season. For some, like Slovenski, it’s the difference in available events from indoor to outdoor season (please don’t try to throw a javelin indoors), but for others, it might be navigating the differences in track size and shape.

“The main dislike that I have with indoor season are the turns and running out of room to kick people down,” said Christopher Collet, a steeplechase specialist from Wartburg College. “Kicking before the bell sounds is always weird to get used to again.”

Collet trains as an 8k runner during the cross country season, a miler and 3k runner during the indoor season, and a national-caliber steeplechaser during the outdoor season. He took second in the steeplechase in the 2021 Outdoor National Championship meet last spring. Steeplechasers must have the patience to endure grueling year-round distance training for only two months of competing in what they truly love. Yet somehow, these athletes find a way to make the most of their journeys by finding the beauty in the winter grayness.

“During the indoor season, I focus on whatever coach needs me to, which is typically the 3000m and the mile,” Collet said. “I like racing the mile the most during the indoor season. It is like a call back to a simple and classic distance with a lot of prestige associated with it.” 

Collet raced a mile this past weekend at the University of Iowa’s Larry Wieczorek Invitational, clocking 4:06.73, a six-second PR and the #21 fastest indoor mile in D3 history. He was just 10 seconds behind Wisconsin’s Olin Hacker, who is currently #7 on the D1 qualifying list.

With the stoicism of an evergreen tree, athletes like Slovenski and Collet see the winter season, not as a time to hibernate but as a time to flourish. All-American multi-event athlete Logan Bruce of Ithaca College puts the necessity to prioritize the winter season even more succinctly.

Credit: Peter Raider Media

“The winter is filled with the indoor season, and although I prefer outdoors, I never overlook indoor,” Bruce said. “I definitely use it to help me prepare for outdoor, but it is its own season and deserves attention. There are things I want to accomplish indoors that hold the same weight as outdoors.”

Bruce competes in the pentathlon indoors, which includes the 60m hurdles, shot put, long jump, high jump, and the 800m dash, and then she switches to the heptathlon outdoors, which almost doubles the length of the hurdle race and adds the javelin throw and 200m dash. Although she doesn’t completely change her main event from indoor to outdoor like Collet or Slovenski, Bruce is no stranger to having to shift her focus between seasons.

“The biggest difference is that the pentathlon is a one-day event, and the heptathlon is over two days,” Bruce said. “The hep has two more events, but how spread out the events are is what makes the difference. It affects you both mentally and physically, and each comes with its own challenges.”

Bruce explained that her coach has her start working on some indoor javelin throws and fast 200m work during the indoor season to prepare her for the spring, but the focus is largely on post-season preparation for the pentathlon. 

“My goals for the winter season are to go back to nationals and win a national championship in the pentathlon, win a national championship with my team, and hopefully qualify and be an All-American in the 60m hurdles,” Bruce said.

In order to accomplish these goals, she cites focusing on staying healthy physically and mentally now, so that she can make it through both the winter and spring seasons, both of which are scheduled to have championship meets this year. 

Collet shares similar aspirations. “The focus for the indoor season is to win the team national championship,” he said. Both Bruce and Collet favor the outdoor season a little bit more and share the desire to contribute to their teams to stand taller as a forest than alone. Perhaps this subtle shift in mindset is one of the keys to surviving the winter. 

However, while the road to victory is paved with good intentions, there’s a chance that if you live in Northern Iowa or Upstate New York like Collet and Bruce, it’s also covered in snow and ice. 

It’s no secret to northern teams that training outdoors in the winter can be absolutely brutal. To make matters worse, most go home over winter break and are greeted with weeks of the same conditions and no access to an indoor facility. 

“I live in Upstate New York, so the weather is a huge factor in my winter training,” Bruce said. “If there is a ton of snow or it’s too cold, it's harder to run outside on my high school's outdoor track, or even on the roads. I try to layer up and get outside as much as possible.”

Knowing what winter breaks often bring with them, coaches and athletes make sure to be proactive about sustainable training. Aware of her athletes’ limited resources at home, Bruce’s coach implements workouts that can be done anywhere. For the more technical events that Bruce has to prepare for, like the shot put, high jump, long jump, and hurdles, Bruce does drills and workouts that maintain fitness until she’s back on campus and can work more on technique. She fortunately has a home gym that becomes the setting for many solo winter workouts. 

An additional challenge of winter break is completing workouts solo. With no witnesses, sometimes all athletes have to stay accountable are themselves. In the absence of teammates, Bruce has her family join in on workouts or stand by for encouragement, which usually gives her the extra boost she needs. If she still struggles with motivation to train even then, she has a mantra she repeats to herself. 

“I always tell myself that I've built a great base during fall training, and I can't give that up just because the training conditions are not ideal,” she said. “ I didn't work that hard in the fall to give it up and have to start again in January.”

Though access to equipment isn’t quite as crucial in Collet’s training, he has a similar view on getting out the door at all costs.

“Training in Northern Iowa forces me to see that no matter what is going on around me someone has better conditions to train in,” he said. “Somewhere there are guys putting in miles where it is sunny and 75 and going out for a run is easy and even a pleasant break. For me to have to put on 3 layers and go run in -25 windchill just means that I need to dress warmly enough to get my miles in.” 

Soon enough, the days of lonely below-zero training sessions will be over as athletes chime in the new year with clean mileage slates on Strava and toasts to bigger and better PRs. Athletes will head back to campus, their teammates, and consistent competition conditions indoors.

“The indoor season is great because you never have to worry about the weather,” Bruce said. “There is no wind, rain, snow, etc, which makes the environment pretty controllable and easy to run in.”

Slovenski also shares her favorite attributes about the indoor season. 

“I love how exciting and loud indoor track meets can get,” she said. “I enjoy how events are closer together because it helps me cheer on multiple teammates at once and have a good view of everything happening.”

The green color of the evergreen tree in the dark of winter symbolizes optimism and the promise that spring will be on its way. All there is to do in this season of waiting is find the silver linings. And before you can say “banked track conversion,” the snow has melted off the needles of the pine, the turns on the track are wider and covered with spring worms, and the hard work of the winter season finally sees its chance to shine. For Slovenski and Bruce, the promise of the first breath of fresh, spring air is all that is needed.

“I love outdoor and the heptathlon, so that is usually motivation enough to get me through the winter,” Bruce said. “I think that each season has things that I can look forward to and being able to get outside for good weather in the spring is one of those things that gets me through the harsh New York winters.”

Three athletes—a javelin thrower, a steeplechaser, and a heptathlete—though undergoing very different arcs to their spring destination, will likely all cross paths at the 2022 outdoor championship meet with one thing in common: the evergreen-like perseverance that got them there. 

It is not at the spring championship where champions are made, but the cold mornings spent shoveling snow out of lane one of your high school track, the lonely sessions in the gym that you didn’t feel like doing, the moment of courage to step into a new event in the winter or to take the first throw with your non-dominant hand. A champion is made in the tenacity to show up day after day, week after week, season after season.

After all, whether the indoor season is your favorite or your least favorite season, it’s still a season, and what you choose to do with this time will show up on TFRRS. 

As Collet put it, “No matter what, I love to race and compete so it does not matter what season I am in or what event is my favorite. I just love to race and I am blessed to have the chance to do that every single week.”