Day number three of official fall athletic practices begins today and with it improvement is on the forefront of minds from players, to coaches, and even athletic directors.

While a lot of focus on improvement is set on the physical side of things especially early on, there’s an opposite approach taken by ADM cross country coach David Zwank. Stemming from the cross country team camp last week, while physical improvement is a must, in the early goings of the season coach Zwank has a focus set more on the mental side of things.

“For me probably the major focus is what I would consider the educational piece. There’s so many things I want to teach people about not just being a runner but an athlete in general and getting into the season you kind of loose that because you’re focused on the training. So we definitely take the time to help them (the athletes) out, help them understand it’s more than just running and even in terms of running we want to run in certain ways at certain times for certain reasons from the energy zones and the training systems we put together,” stated coach Zwank.

What’s more is that coach Zwank wants his athletes and all athletes for that matter to know there’s so much more that goes into the sport of cross country than simply running from the way you eat to the shoes you wear.

“Even going to get a pair of shoes isn’t just a simple as getting shoes. They need to be designed for the way your feet are and the way you run. That education piece is my biggest goal,” explained coach Zwank.

The start of the competitive season for both ADM cross country teams will begin on Saturday, September 2nd in Urbandale.