TEN YEARS OF WATERING THE BAMBOO
Written by Tony Holler and Andy Derks, Plainfield North Track & Field
FLASHBACK 2007
We graduated our first class at Plainfield North in 2008. My first year was 2007. The inaugural XC coach at Plainfield North did not run a year-round program. His numbers were very low. Our cross country culture was not intentional, it was by default. The summer program was poorly attended and seemed invisible.
I had three terrific distance coaches from 2007 to 2012. Kevin Fahey, Eric Ott, and Jason Beer were all excellent college runners and great coaches. But, the year-round distance program never took root.
Coach Derks arrived for our 2012 season. He accepted the position even though I warned him, “The cupboard is bare.”
In 2012, we only had three athletes sub-5:00 in the 1600. (For the past six years we have averaged around 20.)
In 2012, we had no one under 2:02 in the 800, no one under 4:38 in the 1600, no one under 10:00 in the 3200. We scored 92 points in the SPC Conference Meet but only two of those points came from the four distance events. No one from the distance crew won a medal at the Sectional. For a good track school, our D-Crew had hit rock bottom.
FAST FORWARD TO 2021
Coach Derks has magically kept his distance crew thriving throughout the pandemic.
After our first week of track practice, I sent Andy the question, “What did you do to hold the d-crew together, survive the pandemic, and see such amazing improvement?”
The answer from Andy Derks:
My immediate reaction is… absolutely nothing.
In fact, I would reverse that premise. The reality is I didn’t do anything, but the distance crew helped ME survive during the past year.
Having so much forced time away from the team during the summer and winter months, we as coaches have all been forced to come to grips with the fact that we cannot control everything. All we can do is hope our teams are motivated, hope they know the right things to do, and hope they hold each other accountable.
My Distance Crew’s enthusiasm has INSPIRED ME, and I try to tell them this as often as I can. Four years ago when our current seniors were freshmen, I remember catching a group of them stopped during a run to throw apples at a neighborhood sign. I blew my top and read them the riot act. I wondered what had become of our culture. Now, those same guys have completely elevated what it means to be a serious member of our Distance Crew. The attention to detail, the commitment, the friendship, the servant leadership, the joy… I am inspired every time I read training logs and see these guys going above and beyond anything I’ve ever imagined.
Some specifics:
CRAZY CONSISTENCY – Whether we were in cross country season with meets to train for, or training throughout a time where we didn’t know what we were training for, the level of consistency with our core group never wavered.
RESPECT RECOVERY – I am a horrible example of this, but our guys seem to have really bought into the idea of championship sleep. 9 to 9 1/2 hours is the standard, and guys have embraced that as part of their training just as much as running workouts.
COMMUNICATE REALLY REALLY WELL – Whether it is a freshman texting me to find out what pace he should be running a workout, or older guys asking about cross training or ideas for workouts, these guys have done way more than just follow a schedule, they have taken ownership of their running and communicated with me every step of the way.
SUPER DRIVEN – Throughout the summer, guys never lost sight of their goal of being a state qualifying cross country team. Throughout the winter, the drive I have seen in pursuit of their goals for the track season has grown stronger. We’ve not had any goal-setting meetings or anything, these guys have decided they want to take their running to the next level and backed it up with the work they’ve put in.
FIND A WAY TO MAKE IT HAPPEN – How do you do speed development throughout the winter when we can’t use the field house? I would read logs about how guys were out shoveling the turf field at Commissioners Park so they could do speed sessions on the turf. Guys have found ways to cross train, get to a pool, do you speed development sessions, and get in the variety of workouts they needed. And they didn’t wait for formal practices to do it.
BE WILLING TO TRY NEW THINGS – Once we were allowed to start meeting in small groups, we started weight lifting. This has added a new element to our training. We looked a little bit like fish out of water the first day in the weight room, but now I’m seeing guys help each other with form, putting on real weight during lifts, and I’ve seen their confidence and strength grow.
LOGGING – While it’s always been an expectation and our team does pretty good at it, what’s really kept me going as a coach during the last year is reading the logs of so many guys. I get to just sit back and enjoy watching them take their training to new levels while on their own.
It’s not been perfect, and I know there are several other distance crews throughout the state doing all of these things as well. We are not special and we are not unique. We are part of a culture of running in Illinois that makes us all strive to be better. I’m sure other coaches have noticed the same things, when motivated guys & girls are left on their own, they figure out a way to get things done, and sometimes it’s better than we could’ve planned.
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RUNNING UNATTACHED, INDOORS
At PNHS, we have always had a policy that school records can’t be broken in preseason or post season track meets. If you are not wearing the PN uniform, you can’t break our school record. We had to defend this policy to a certain Milesplit guy when Marcellus Moore ran 6.65 (60m) and 21.09 (200m) running unattached in 2019. The pandemic changed that policy for 2021. With just two indoor meets last winter and none this winter, we are accepting the performances of two of our guys as new school indoor records. Ryan Maseman broke both the 800 and 1600 record (1:55.46 and 4:20.76). Oliver Burns broke Andrew Sandoval’s FS 3200 record running 9:38.85.
Maseman and Burns were not the only guys from the distance crew who benefited from pandemic training.
Josh Furnish (So) ran 5:21 last year in his final 1600m time trial on the last day of practice before the quarantine. In March 2021, Josh ran the indoor 1600 in 4:50.25.
Josh Bedford (Jr) ran two indoor 4×800 splits last year: 2:17 and 2:10. In March 2021, Josh ran the open 800m indoors in 2:03.67.
Cooper Shelton (Jr) ran 10:26.77 last year in the 3200 at the U of I indoor meet. In March 2021, Cooper ran the indoor 3200m in 9:50.49.
Suchir Sumant (Jr) ran two 4×8 splits last year: 2:17 and 2:16. In March 2021, Sumir ran the indoor 800m in 2:08.40.
Ryan Tracey (So) split 2:18.4 indoor last year. In March 2021, Ryan ran the indoor open 800m in 2:10.83 and the indoor 1600m in 4:48.79.
Nick Simpson split 2:07 and 2:05 last year. In March 2021, Nick ran the indoor 800m in 2:04.63.
Easton Miller (Fr) last year as an 8th grader, ran a 5:36 in the 1600m. In March 2021, Easton ran the indoor 1600m in 5:03.61.
WATER THE BAMBOO
(excerpt from “Chop Wood, Carry Water” by Joshua Medcalf)
“You see, many people love bamboo. They love the bamboo trees, and they love the bamboo wood, but very few people understand the process of growing bamboo. You dig up the soil and make sure it is good soil, and then you plant the bamboo seed. You then must faithfully water it every day.
After three months, guess what starts to happen?”
John said excitedly, “The bamboo tree starts to sprout up out of the ground?”
“Nothing! You see absolutely nothing happening. You keep watering it and watering it, but you continue to see nothing happening for one year, then two years, then three years.
Do you know what happens after three years, John?” John replied, more tentatively this time, “The bamboo tree starts to sprout up out of the ground?”
“Nothing! You see absolutely nothing.”
John shook his head, “I don’t understand.”
“What you don’t see happening is what is taking place beneath the surface. Beneath the surface, a massive, dense foundation of roots is spreading out all throughout the ground to prepare for the rapid growth that the bamboo will experience. So, you keep watering it and watering it, and eventually, after five years of seeing nothing at all happen above the surface, the bamboo tree shoots up to over ninety feet tall in just six weeks!
You see John, most people want the ninety-foot-tall bamboo tree without the five years of the process. They want the bamboo to grow to ninety feet tall in six weeks, but without the five years of invisible growth, the bamboo wouldn’t have a solid foundation, and it could never sustain the massive and rapid growth that occurs.
#WaterTheBamboo
