Riverview senior cross country runner's summer work pays off

This past summer, for the first time, Riverview senior cross country runner Elayna Goodman put in the miles.

Every morning, she would rise and run, sometimes on flat terrain, sometimes up and down hills. It added up to about 40 miles a week. That’s low for senior runners, Goodman admitted, but for her it was a drastic change of pace that led to the results she wanted.

Goodman chopped 50 seconds off her personal best time this season, down to 19:07. She set it Oct. 8 at the Don Bishop Invitational in Brandon and it was one second off the school record.

“I didn’t ever expect to be this close to it,” Goodman said.

Before this summer, Goodman wasn’t sure if she liked running all that mileage. She is also on the Riverview track and field team, and in the past thought of herself as an 800-meter runner. She eased her way into cross country, doing light work to get used to running on different terrains.

It was the endurance that provided her toughest challenge. That takes time to build, a fact of which Riverview cross country coach Paul Opitz is very aware. He didn’t want Goodman pushing herself too much too quickly, especially cross-training with track and field. Goodman said she’s thankful Opitz made her health and safety a top priority.

“He’s really into the sport,” Goodman said. “He really cares for us.”

Goodman decided this summer she wanted to try to earn a collegiate scholarship in either cross country or track and field, where she holds the fifth-best 2-mile time in school history. It was all about establishing a base, Goodman said. Without a base level of miles and the endurance to run them consistently fast, runners will get nowhere. So she ran, and ran more.

“It just takes time,” Goodman said. “I just had to be more patient and get used to it. In time it will come, but you have to put in the work."

Goodman said she has been in contact with a handful of schools about scholarships, but will wait to make a decision until after Riverview’s track and field season is complete.

“Knowing that I’ve been dropping (time) is just really nice,” Goodman said. “Going into college knowing that I’m just now starting this momentum is making me feel really good. I’m peaking and I feel really fresh.”

Her improvements helped the Rams take home their first Class 4A District 8 title in five years on Oct. 20 at Palm Harbor University. Goodman finished second overall in that race at 19.11.

Opitz said Goodman's improvement came from not allowing herself to plateau.

“I’ve been coaching for 20 years,” Opitz said. “I’ve coached a lot of runners. She’s one of the hardest working girls I’ve ever had.

“You have some new runners, they’ll do a little training. They’ll run a 5K in 30 minutes. They’ll do some work for two weeks and drop 3 minutes. But they never take the next step. You can’t just go out and do a 3-mile run (for training). You could, but you just stay there. You’ll never break through. She (Goodman) trained more this summer. She’s smart.”

Goodman does not think about her times too much. She always tries to one-up herself, sure, but she also has other goals, like passing a runner she has never passed before. There is not much a runner can do to significantly enhance their performance once into the season. That is why the work done in the summer is so key, Goodman said. There are no shortcuts in cross country, no way to train to cut “X” amount of seconds off a personal record. It comes down to knowing how to run a course and mentally being ready to win.

Goodman started running at Riverview for the social aspect of the sport, and that’s one of the things she said she’ll miss after graduation. Goodman has a lot of fun with her teammates, like throwing “pasta parties” the night before a meet. In addition to loading up on carbs for the next morning, the team will make ribbons for their hair and play Dance Dance Revolution. Goodman said she prefers penne pasta, but added that “all pasta is good.”

Despite the success in districts, the Rams failed to qualify for the Class 4A state meet as a team for the first time in 20 years. Goodman qualified on her own, and said before the meet that she would use the knowledge of being the lone Riverview representative as extra motivation.

At the state meet Nov. 5 in Tallahassee, Goodman did well, finishing 35th out of 181 participants, but did not set a new school record, instead finishing at 19:35. For comparison’s sake, Goodman ran the same course at last year’s state meet in 20:35.

Her Riverview cross country career is now over, but Goodman has no regrets. She always did the best she could, and the sport provided her with experiences that she’ll hang on to forever.

“I’ve had the best time of my life running,” Goodman said.