Hi, my name is Ty Wolf and I'm the head cross country coach for the Heartland college Hawks.
We have got a new program starting up in fall of 2020. Men's and women's cross country. Welcome to Heartland Community college coach tawaf, you're not new to the area. But a lot of people might know you as an educator, why don't you tell us a little bit about yourself and your background?
Sure. I've been blessed to lead coach and teach for the last 12 years in this area. I've been just for the last few years, I've been coaching school superintendents and school principals on school improvement and district improvement. Before that I was a superintendent for 12 years, one year at the lab school at ISU and five years down in Hayworth. So you've been in our area a little while yet? Yeah, what a great area.
So we have a little interesting side story here. We'll be coworkers at Heartland. But this is not the first time that we're working together. You're actually in my high school cross country coach.
I know. Just a couple years ago, just a few just a few. Yeah, exactly. So so we had some great years back at Quincy High School. 1991, I believe.
Yeah, that sounds about right. yesterday.
You were one of two girls on the team with seven boys. Yeah. So yeah, you are quite the brave lady on that team.
It was always interesting in cross country, especially in our community where the team was fairly small. The boys team, the girls team was traveled together. And so it was like having, like seven brothers annoying and fun and annoying.
Yeah, I'm sure. And you know, and like a brother. And this is the great thing about cross country and running. You develop those great relationships. I mean, when I came to Bloomington Normal the first time and saw you at Fleet feet, I believe it was, I knew instantly it was you but I'm like, Oh my gosh, I mean, I Yeah, exactly. coaching at Quincy High and teaching there. Those are some very fun memories for me. And the squad was about nine kids. Yeah. And then over the next few years, we grew the squad to about 50. I think three years in a row is a lot of growth there for a while. And so fun fact, I still keep in contact with about 15. Wow, the runners and we actually got together last Christmas in Quincy and went all went out to dinner. It was fun at the Abbey there. So
I don't get to Quincy as often as I would like because you know, once we moved away, I don't have any family there. But it's always interesting to kind of go back and see a town with a different set of eyes like after you've been gone a while. So
yeah, in the running. Yeah, it's a little different in Quincy than Bloomington. Yes, yes, it is earlier along. Yes. Well, it was
funny. Just yesterday, I was going out on a bike ride on the mountain bike trail with some friends. And I actually said to my friend, you know, I grew up in a river town, were hills everywhere. I grew up running these hills. I've lived in central Illinois for a number of years now. And all of a sudden, I can't do anything but Flatus can be like I lost all my Hills strength. For sure. Sure. I
know what to say. Yeah, it
doesn't take long at all. Yeah. So you obviously have a coaching background. But now that you're being charged with launching a brand new program, that's quite a different thing. What are you excited about?
Well, you know, I guess I'm excited just about the idea of having a Cross Country Program here at Heartland we have such a great local talent base of runners and great running coaches and dedicated running stores and running clubs. I think this is a great place to run. And for a student that wants to pursue their passion in running. I mean, what a great, affordable and value proposition to do it right here at Heartland college. Yeah,
exactly. And we'll be joining the programs that we already have here, which is baseball, softball, and both men's and women's soccer. And then we're also adding some other programs at the same time we're adding cross country, so we'll be joined by some golf and volleyball. So we're really growing the programs here.
Yeah, it's a great opportunity for kids. And you know, I think for parents as well, you know, because, you know, if you can go to school for a year, and it's going to cost you you know, $4,000 or less or, or even if you're coming in and getting an apartment is $17,000 or less, what a great value proposition.
Yeah, and to be able to continue to do the sport that you love to. Absolutely, absolutely. So starting a new program also is going to come with some challenges. What are you thinking is going to be some of your bigger challenges in the next year?
Yeah, you know, I think the biggest challenge is just going to be getting the word out there that we have a program it's going to be a really viable alternative for kids and that they can come to Heartland and they can experience college and experience again Get quality Cross Country Program and continue to improve my philosophy on coaching and training really hasn't changed. I mean, I've always felt, you know, you run for fun. And so we're looking for runners that love to run, and you run for your personal bests. And then the third thing is, you know, you've learned those life lessons that can help you be successful in life. And, and the things that work with running are going to work in the classroom, and they're going to work in your career when you get out there in the workforce as well.
Yeah, a lot of people when they think, running and cross country, they think of an individual sport, which it is, in a lot of ways, you know, nobody can do that race for you. But it is such a team atmosphere, like you've got kind of a second family when you run with a team sport. Yeah, absolutely.
And you have people encouraging you, and you have people that are helping you when you run into, you know, a rough spot in a race or or in a practice, as you know, I recall
a couple of those. Yeah,
yeah. So that's going to be the challenge, you know, is just to get that word out there that this is going to be a great program. And it's going to be a great alternative. And so, you know, my goal is to get out there this fall and meet with as many high school coaches as I can and get out to the high school cross country races and talk to runners and get them to meet me and see me and we can talk about the program. And we've already started to put some things up on the website about what kind of runner's we're looking for. And when we do those things, I think, hopefully, you know, people are going to see that man, this is a place that I want to be, and I want to continue my passion for running.
So you kind of hit on this a little bit, but one of your big tasks coming up is gonna be recruiting. And this area is really ripe with talent, usually in the running sports. So kind of what are your thoughts on how you're gonna start this recruiting process?
Well, I think, you know, one of the things that we're going to do, I've already started to do is meet with some of the high school coaches, you know, just, again, to get the word out, put some information up on the website, I want the coaches to know that, you know, we're going to have a real balanced program, but there's a lot of things that we can offer kids. And, you know, I mentioned that I was working with school principals and school superintendents. So one of the things that I've been doing with that is working on peak performance type things. So we talk about what is optimal physiology, we talk about the psychology and building.
That's a big part of it to psychology. Yeah, absolutely.
And building a strong culture, you know, within your team and having an environment that people are really out there striving to be their best selves.
Now, some of our listeners might not be familiar with cross country, especially at the collegiate level, can you talk a little bit about what cross country is and how it's maybe different from the sport that people might be more familiar with, which is track and field? Because every four years at the Olympics, and yeah, they kind of know that but cross country doesn't enjoy quite as high of an comfort level. Sure.
Yeah. Yeah, exactly. The big difference is cross country is run completely on grass. And it can be run on terrain that can be either flat or hilly. And the other big difference is the races are a lot longer. So for women, it's a 5000 meter race, which is a little bit more than the three miles that they run in high school. And then for the men, it bumps up to an 8000 or 10,000 meter race, which would be about five miles or 6.2 miles. Okay,
so yeah, that's, that's a bit further than a lot of people are probably used to run it. Just a little bit. Throw in some of those fun hills and just even more fun. Yeah, it's, it's
just more challenging. Again, that's where you know that, like you talked about earlier, the psychology is becomes even more important. And you know, the Mental Toughness comes into play. And so yeah,
speaking of where you run, you're really at the beginning of your process here at Heartland. But any ideas on home course? Are we talking about that yet?
Yeah, you know, we are looking at so first off, one of the things kind of a hidden gem here at Heartland is we have a one mile a mowed grass path around our lake out here, which it's about 10 foot throughout. So that's a very great place, a great place to train. And we're looking at possibly being able to extend that all the way down around the corn crib and back and and if we could do that, we'd have a nice two mile loop, which then would allow us to have a home course right here on campus. But there's races at Maxwell Park, and certainly, you know, we could look at some different options there as well.
Yeah, we're actually I'm in a pretty good area for this kind of thing, because we've got a lot of land out here on our campus. Yeah, absolutely. That'd be great. So we talked a little bit about the athletes that we're looking at coming into our program. Obviously they have a quite a history of running experience. Let's talk a little bit about the weekend warriors for a while, which is kind of what I've become I tell people, I used to be a computer now I'm a Completer. Like, I'll finish the race, I'm not gonna win anymore, but I'll finish the race. How can someone get started on a running program? Even if it's just for fun or fitness or whatever?
Yeah, you know, that's a great question. And I think everybody, you know, running is such a great thing to do just for your health. And so I would say, if you're out there thinking about starting to run, I think probably depending on your age, and your health, probably going to your doctor first, just to get a general checkup, you know, it's always a good idea. But then I would say just start small. Maybe go out there and try to jog for a minute and then walk for a minute and just kind of repeat that 510 times. And then when you feel comfortable doing that, add another minute of running. So you know, just do that slowly. And, and before you know it, you're running, you know, 2030 minutes and starting to feel a lot better out there while you're doing it.
Yeah. It's amazing how quick that happens to people think, Oh, I couldn't do that. But like, you get three or four weeks into it. And you're like, Gee, this was so hard for me two weeks ago. And now just doing like the five minutes, you know, that's not a problem.
Yeah, absolutely. And I'm sure that you've heard this before. But the hardest thing in running is just taking that first step out the door, putting your shoes on and getting out the door. For me,
it's the first step out of the bed in the morning. Like if I can get out of bed like it's golden after that, but yeah, yeah, there you go. Going over and saying, yeah, that alarm went off a little too early this morning. I think I'm gonna put it off. Yeah, it doesn't turn out. Well. Yeah. So same idea, like getting that first step out the door is always the hardest. And a lot of times, a lot people that I talk to will say I just tell myself, I'm just gonna go out and go for five minutes. If I feel like stopping I will. And then usually they go further.
And I think you know, when you look at the at the research on productivity and developing habits, we know that it takes about three weeks of consistently doing something and then it just becomes a habit that you just get in your head that you're going to do it for three weeks, and it may take some mental energy. Yeah. But then once you start doing it, it does become easy. And hopefully, that's what you develop those good habits. Right.
I will say I never regret it after I've done it.
No, that is the funny thing about Yeah, and you know, funny thing, but you know, just kind of a side note, we're not getting into the physiology of how you train cross country runners. But one of the things that cross country runners do at the collegiate level is do morning runs, as you know, I know, you know that. Remember those two, you know, so the morning run is just the same, same deal. And I always tell my runners, okay, I don't care how far you run, I just want you to run a half mile. But to your point, once you get out there and you run a half mile, then you're gonna say like, Well, I'm not going to just turn around and run a mile. I'm gonna go do with 30 minutes
just warmed up now I'm feeling exactly the thing. Yeah, exactly. So let's say you've been running for a little while, maybe you've knocked out a couple of five K's? And now you want to either get faster or tackle some longer distances? How can you get to that next level with your running?
Yeah, I mean, that is a great question. And so you know, I'm still running myself. And one of my running goals, bucket lists, so to speak, was to break three hours in the marathon. So just kind of to your point, I had a goal, I wanted to get faster. So what I did is I went out, and I found a coach. And actually, I think you probably know him, Matt Littleton. He was one of your teammates back in the day. So Matt's coaching at Virginia Wesleyan University now. So Matt's my coach. So he does a program for me and some role reversal there, it really is. But you know, having a coach that's your accountability partner, that's the person you can talk to about workouts. If you're feeling bad, you know, that could be someone that can kind of give you a you know, a motivator, talk and get fired up. So Matt's my coach. So I would recommend for anybody out there to, you know, look into finding a coach.
So it seems like you're doing this long distance with your coach. So if somebody is wanting to get a coach, she can really take them to the next level. They're not completely restrained to a geographic area anymore.
Yeah, absolutely. Yeah. I mean, we talk on the phone and it's great. I mean, it's great. Yeah, share training logs via the internet.
Watch. Have you picked out a race yet that you're gonna make your goal?
So I'm gonna run the Indianapolis marathon this fall. I ran it last fall and 309 Nice qualified for Boston. See, so then I'm gonna run Boston in 2020. Okay. Yeah. I'm really excited. Yeah,
yeah. Big Year. So we're blessed in this area with a lot of resources for runners. Can you talk a little bit about them for maybe those folks who are thinking maybe this is something I want to get into?
Yeah, you know, we have two dedicated running stores, both fleet feet and often running have a lot of very nice knowledgeable folks that work there and can give people some, just some general advice, get them started, hook them up with other runners, maybe people that can help them, you know, to the next level of where they want to go with their training. We have several running clubs in town as well. I mean, certainly the best known is the lake Run Club, who we have just great races in the community. This is truly again, I'm so excited to have the program at Heartland because this is just a great place to run. Yeah.
And we even have our own 5k here. I don't know if you've been told that yet. Vienna, such a new person. Tober.
I have heard, okay,
if we have some folks out there listening thinking I want to get go into running. We have a goal race for them, the heartland Hawk 5k.
That is perfect, because it's about 14 weeks away. Yeah, they could be in great shape by then.
And last year, our president he ran it for the first year because he's a new president. And he set out a little challenge for our students, any student that beat him, he refunded their entry fee. So I don't know if that's gonna happen again this year, but it's some fun things happen at the heartland Hawks. 5k. Wow, that's
what uh, yeah, that's a good insight. Yeah,
he's a pretty fast runner. So I think only for four or five people got their money back. Holy cow. Yeah. So what other information do you have already about how our program is going to take shape in the fall of 2020? Anything that you've kind of already started deciding? I know, it's super early in the process, though.
Yeah, you know, one of the things that we're going to do, I mean, we're going to really focus in on taking our runners where they're at, and helping them improve. And so we don't know how fast our runners are going to be, we're going to recruit runners, and we're really not going to turn anybody away. So we're looking again, for people that love to run, and they're willing to adopt a running lifestyle, we're looking for runners that you know, want to come to school to get a degree and will graduate, we're looking for runners that really want to improve on the four Ps of peak performance. So their physiology, their psychology, their personal productivity, and really personal development. And so those are the kinds of kids we're looking for. I'm just really excited. And I'm just kind of crossing my fingers. And I'm going to do the things that I can do. Go out and contact kids and coaches. And if you're listening to this, and you're interested, please go to our website and email me or call me and I promise that I'll give you a call back. Sounds great. We
got Let's look forward to in the next year.
It's very exciting. Yeah,
a lot of work ahead for you in the next 12 months.
So you know what, this is my life's work. This is my passion. I love working with kids. I love working with runners. And you know, really, just that whole idea of personal self development. That's right in my sweet spot of what I've always done as a teacher, coach or administrator.
So we have some area community colleges not too far from us, are we going to be running against anybody that we would recognize? Oh, sure.
Yeah, probably the best established program in Illinois, in the central Illinois anyway, is Danville Area Community College. And they've had several all Americans and their team has gone to national several times. Right. So our goal will definitely be to be as be competitive with them. There's a whole bunch of other junior colleges, I know Joliet Junior College Spoon River, ICC, they all have programs that will certainly they'll be on our radar as well.
Great. Is there anything else you want to add about our program or are running or getting into running that we haven't talked about yet?
I would just like to thank the administration here at Heartland and the board's you know, for allowing the program to get started here. And I feel so honored that I've been selected to lead this program. And I'm just really excited and looking forward to doing a great job. And hopefully, you know, we can be having another conversation in a couple years about all the success that we're having.
Right? Well, we'll look forward to it. Men's and women's cross country coming to Heartland Community College in the fall of 2020. And what's that athletics website that people can check for more information,
just go to the heartland.edu website and look for the Cross Country Program.
Thanks so much, Ty. We'll be looking forward to watching your team compete and another year so
