{"id":25742,"date":"2015-10-23T14:58:06","date_gmt":"2015-10-23T18:58:06","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/?p=25742"},"modified":"2015-10-30T08:52:22","modified_gmt":"2015-10-30T12:52:22","slug":"alec-thibodeaux-2015-odac-800-meter-champion-stretches-himself-to-new-distances-in-cross-country","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2015\/alec-thibodeaux-2015-odac-800-meter-champion-stretches-himself-to-new-distances-in-cross-country\/","title":{"rendered":"Alec Thibodeaux, 2015 ODAC 800-meter champion, stretches himself to new distances in cross country"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u201cThere’s just something magnificent about being the endurance machine that humans were created to be.\u00a0 I just love everything about running.\u201d<\/p>\n

Royals Athlete of the Week Alec Thibodeaux<\/span><\/a><\/strong> (Mount Sidney, Va.\/Fort Defiance) of the men\u2019s cross country team<\/a> has a rigorous workout schedule and strong support system, and now these factors have gained him the success he has always dreamed of.<\/p>\n

In May\u00a02015, Thibodeaux won the 800m run at the Old Dominion Athletic Conference\u00a0(ODAC) Track and Field Championships.\u00a0Now in cross country season, the junior has taken to new heights and proved himself capable of running against D-I athletes.\u00a0 Yet he is determined on accomplishing more.<\/p>\n

\u201cI want to be an Academic All-American and cross country All-American (top 35 at nationals),\u201d he revealed.<\/p>\n

Unlike many athletes who have played their sport since they were little, Thibodeaux started running competitively his sophomore year of high school.\u00a0 Now in his sixth season of cross country, he accepts that running is an innate talent he must craft and perfect.<\/p>\n

\u201cNowadays, most of my race paces in high school are now my workout paces in college,\u201d Thibodeaux noted. \u00a0\u201cSometimes I am a little bewildered by my improvements this year, but it would be foolish of me to say I don’t know how it happened.\u00a0 I am ecstatic with how my mentality and fitness has progressed, but I’m not where I want to be yet.\u201d<\/p>\n

At\u00a0the CNU Invitational, Thibodeaux finished in third place of the 8k run behind two runners from William and Mary, a respected D-I school.\u00a0 He set a new personal record with a time of 25:28, finishing 19 seconds before the nearest D-III runner, CNU\u2019s Grayson Reid.<\/p>\n

Many may wonder what a runner like Thibodeaux thinks as he\u2019s running such a strenuous race.<\/p>\n

\"Alec_inset\"<\/a>
Thibodeaux, the reigning ODAC 800m champion, set a new personal best at the Oct. 17 meet. (Photo by Scott Eyre)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cThe typical things you would think someone running as fast as they can for five miles would be thinking,\u201d he answered. \u00a0\u201c\u2018Is it over yet? \u00a0Where’s the fourth mile at?\u00a0 Why do my feet hurt so badly?\u00a0 Where’s coach?\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

Before taking over as the men\u2019s No. 1 this year, Thibodeaux was the No. 3 runner and had the privilege of training with and running behind former All-Region runners Ryan Gehman and Jacob Landis.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was phenomenal,\u201d Thibodeaux said. \u201cThe opportunity to have people on your team that are currently training and racing at a place you’re trying to get to is something that can’t be taken for granted; especially those two guys. They were terrific role models for me, showing me what putting in the work actually meant and looked like day in and day out.\u201d<\/p>\n

Thibodeaux\u2019s experience of running with Gehman and Landis heightened his discipline. He explained that in order to be a great runner you must work on a daily basis and days off are unacceptable.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you want to be a serious runner, or athlete in general, your work ethic cannot be questioned,\u201d he explained. \u00a0\u201cThis summer I put in 12 weeks of continuous work.\u00a0 That includes runs every day and specific lifting workouts two or three times a week.\u00a0 That is the ideal summer for a runner as it takes 24 weeks to fully develop.\u00a0 Right now, I am in week 21 of training so over half of my season was completed in the summer.\u00a0 If runners do not put in work during the summer, they cannot expect to fulfill their full potential or be in racing shape until the last couple of weeks of the season.\u00a0 A lot of runners that don’t get enough training in during the summer can also struggle tremendously with nagging injuries throughout the year.\u201d<\/p>\n

Teammates who are \u201cwilled to win\u201d like Thibodeaux have made his experience at EMU even greater; he acknowledged that without them the season would not be as fulfilling.\u00a0 In the spring Thibodeaux and his teammate Hannah Chappell-Dick<\/span><\/a><\/strong> (Bluffton, Ohio\/Bluffton) coach a Harrisonburg area\u00a0youth track club. \u00a0Last year they coached nine middle school girls twice a week and they\u2019re hoping to expand and develop their program further this year.<\/p>\n

Thibodeaux’s advice to other athletes is very simple: if you\u2019re consistent and hardworking you\u2019ll gain the success you want.\u00a0 One, two or three weeks of training will not excel your game; it has to be a daily effort.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe biggest piece of advice I can give other runners is that no one workout will make you great, but a lot of good workouts over time can make you great,\u201d Thibodeaux explained. \u00a0\u201cAs for athletes in other sports, it’s the same concept.\u00a0 One or two weeks of fantastic training and effort does not make you a great athlete.\u00a0 It has to be day in and day out. \u00a0I’ve only taken one day completely off from training since August 1<\/span><\/span>. \u00a0It’s all about consistency.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u201cThere’s just something magnificent about being the endurance machine that humans were created to be.\u00a0 I just love everything about running.\u201d Royals Athlete of the Week Alec Thibodeaux (Mount Sidney, ... read more about Alec Thibodeaux, 2015 ODAC 800-meter champion, stretches himself to new distances in cross country<\/span><\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":25750,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5731],"tags":[15182,14210,15181,15180],"feature":[],"class_list":["post-25742","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-cross-country","tag-alec-thibodeaux","tag-hannah-chappell-dick","tag-jacob-landis","tag-ryan-gehman"],"yoast_head":"\nAlec Thibodeaux, 2015 ODAC 800-meter champion, stretches himself to new distances in cross country - EMU News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2015\/alec-thibodeaux-2015-odac-800-meter-champion-stretches-himself-to-new-distances-in-cross-country\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Alec Thibodeaux, 2015 ODAC 800-meter champion, stretches himself to new distances in cross country - EMU News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"\u201cThere’s just something magnificent about being the endurance machine that humans were created to be.\u00a0 I just love everything about running.\u201d Royals Athlete of the Week Alec Thibodeaux (Mount Sidney,\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2015\/alec-thibodeaux-2015-odac-800-meter-champion-stretches-himself-to-new-distances-in-cross-country\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"EMU News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/EasternMennonite\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2015-10-23T18:58:06+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2015-10-30T12:52:22+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/43\/2015\/10\/Alec-close_web.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"683\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"420\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@EMU_News\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@EMU_News\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2015\/alec-thibodeaux-2015-odac-800-meter-champion-stretches-himself-to-new-distances-in-cross-country\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2015\/alec-thibodeaux-2015-odac-800-meter-champion-stretches-himself-to-new-distances-in-cross-country\/\",\"name\":\"Alec Thibodeaux, 2015 ODAC 800-meter champion, stretches himself to new distances in cross country - EMU News\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2015\/alec-thibodeaux-2015-odac-800-meter-champion-stretches-himself-to-new-distances-in-cross-country\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2015\/alec-thibodeaux-2015-odac-800-meter-champion-stretches-himself-to-new-distances-in-cross-country\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/43\/2015\/10\/Alec-close_web.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2015-10-23T18:58:06+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2015-10-30T12:52:22+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/d6737034219398924e6bd5dedcfa1245\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2015\/alec-thibodeaux-2015-odac-800-meter-champion-stretches-himself-to-new-distances-in-cross-country\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2015\/alec-thibodeaux-2015-odac-800-meter-champion-stretches-himself-to-new-distances-in-cross-country\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2015\/alec-thibodeaux-2015-odac-800-meter-champion-stretches-himself-to-new-distances-in-cross-country\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/43\/2015\/10\/Alec-close_web.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/43\/2015\/10\/Alec-close_web.jpg\",\"width\":683,\"height\":420},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2015\/alec-thibodeaux-2015-odac-800-meter-champion-stretches-himself-to-new-distances-in-cross-country\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Alec Thibodeaux, 2015 ODAC 800-meter champion, stretches himself to new distances in cross country\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/\",\"name\":\"EMU News\",\"description\":\"News from the Eastern Mennonite University community.\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/d6737034219398924e6bd5dedcfa1245\",\"name\":\"admin\",\"sameAs\":[\"http:\/\/\"]}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Alec Thibodeaux, 2015 ODAC 800-meter champion, stretches himself to new distances in cross country - EMU News","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2015\/alec-thibodeaux-2015-odac-800-meter-champion-stretches-himself-to-new-distances-in-cross-country\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Alec Thibodeaux, 2015 ODAC 800-meter champion, stretches himself to new distances in cross country - EMU News","og_description":"\u201cThere’s just something magnificent about being the endurance machine that humans were created to be.\u00a0 I just love everything about running.\u201d Royals Athlete of the Week Alec Thibodeaux (Mount Sidney,","og_url":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2015\/alec-thibodeaux-2015-odac-800-meter-champion-stretches-himself-to-new-distances-in-cross-country\/","og_site_name":"EMU News","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/EasternMennonite","article_published_time":"2015-10-23T18:58:06+00:00","article_modified_time":"2015-10-30T12:52:22+00:00","og_image":[{"width":683,"height":420,"url":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/43\/2015\/10\/Alec-close_web.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"admin","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@EMU_News","twitter_site":"@EMU_News","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"admin","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2015\/alec-thibodeaux-2015-odac-800-meter-champion-stretches-himself-to-new-distances-in-cross-country\/","url":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2015\/alec-thibodeaux-2015-odac-800-meter-champion-stretches-himself-to-new-distances-in-cross-country\/","name":"Alec Thibodeaux, 2015 ODAC 800-meter champion, stretches himself to new distances in cross country - EMU News","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2015\/alec-thibodeaux-2015-odac-800-meter-champion-stretches-himself-to-new-distances-in-cross-country\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2015\/alec-thibodeaux-2015-odac-800-meter-champion-stretches-himself-to-new-distances-in-cross-country\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/43\/2015\/10\/Alec-close_web.jpg","datePublished":"2015-10-23T18:58:06+00:00","dateModified":"2015-10-30T12:52:22+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/d6737034219398924e6bd5dedcfa1245"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2015\/alec-thibodeaux-2015-odac-800-meter-champion-stretches-himself-to-new-distances-in-cross-country\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2015\/alec-thibodeaux-2015-odac-800-meter-champion-stretches-himself-to-new-distances-in-cross-country\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2015\/alec-thibodeaux-2015-odac-800-meter-champion-stretches-himself-to-new-distances-in-cross-country\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/43\/2015\/10\/Alec-close_web.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/43\/2015\/10\/Alec-close_web.jpg","width":683,"height":420},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2015\/alec-thibodeaux-2015-odac-800-meter-champion-stretches-himself-to-new-distances-in-cross-country\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Alec Thibodeaux, 2015 ODAC 800-meter champion, stretches himself to new distances in cross country"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/#website","url":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/","name":"EMU News","description":"News from the Eastern Mennonite University community.","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/d6737034219398924e6bd5dedcfa1245","name":"admin","sameAs":["http:\/\/"]}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25742","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=25742"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25742\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":25751,"href":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25742\/revisions\/25751"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/25750"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=25742"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=25742"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=25742"},{"taxonomy":"feature","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/feature?post=25742"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}