The Wolfpacker: An Independent Magazine Covering NC State Sports
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1497827
30 ■ THE WOLFPACKER (Hint: It has more to do with drive than with stride.) Tuohy's training regimen makes her grandparents — and most non- runners — cringe. She and her team- mates run more than 70 training miles a week throughout the three seasons. There is little time off. She is obsessed with her sleep (eight hours on a school night, 10 hours on the weekend), her nutri- tion and her hydration, all of the lit- tle things that refine raw talent into championship material. Here's her description of a typical week: "Monday morning, I'll do a con- tinuous run, and then another run at practice," she said. "I do a shorter run and strides in the afternoon, with a bunch of supplemental work like hurdles, bands and ladders, typ- ical stuff like that. "Tuesdays are our big work- out days. I do a shorter run in the morning, an easy 3 or 4 miles, and a hard workout in the afternoon that consists of a tempo run of any- where from 4 to 8 miles. We can break that up to do a speed work- out in intervals, alternation sprints and rest. "Wednesday we'll do a moderate long run, not quite our longest run of the week, but a little bit longer than a continuous run that we do on Mondays and Thursdays. "Thursdays are usually just one run at practice and some strides afterwards. And Fridays are simi- lar to Tuesdays, where we'll do a shorter run in the morning and then hit a hard workout in the af- ternoon. "Saturdays are our longest run of the week, and we might go somewhere as a team off campus for a change in scenery. "Sunday is a recovery day, so nothing too long or maybe take it completely off or do some cross training." Often, other teammates will go stride-for-stride with Tuohy in train- ing, but she always has an extra set of drills after practice on her weekly re- quirements and another gear if needed. "We have a lot of hard workers in our program, so it's not fair to say she is the hardest worker on the team," Henes said. "She does, however, work super hard to be the best. She's extremely determined. She's as good as anyone that we have ever had at learning things quickly and not making the same mis- take twice. "I think that might be it. You have to fail at times in this sport. You have to make adjustments. I think what she has is the ability to learn from things that have happened." Tuohy also does some weightlifting, an activity she enjoys doing with her older brother, Patrick Jr. With all that running, it doesn't seem like Tuohy and her teammates would have a lot of time for social activities. And they don't, but they do enjoy hanging out with each other, usually over food or coffee, in a place that allows them to be less than serious. "Pretty much all of my friends here at school are on the team," Tuohy said. "Practice is a way for us to all socialize. We really don't do anything special outside of run- ning, except hang out or play some basketball, go for walks and chill. "With all we do for training, it's kind of nice just to veg out and do nothing at all." The Deal Of A Lifetime Fi t t i n g ly, Tu o h y i s s t u dy- ing business at NC State's Poole College of Management, which should help her as she monetizes her extraordinary talents into her own corporation under new NCAA name, image and likeness guidelines that allow scholarship student-athletes to earn outside money while still competing in in- tercollegiate sports. Those contracts quickly became common for football, basketball and other sports, but no track and field or cross country stars were represented until Tuohy signed an exclusive NIL deal with Adidas last fall, just three days after winning the NCAA cross country title in Stillwater. S h e w i l l re p re s e n t A d i d a s, which already provides NC State with shoes and apparel, while still maintaining her collegiate eligibil- ity, but cannot receive the same kind of incentive bonuses that professional runners like former teammate Elly Henes often get by winning or partici- pating in various national and interna- tional events. The terms of the contract were not disclosed. Tuohy is reluctant to discuss her private business life, except for the social media engagement she has with more than 100,000 Instagram follow- ers. She admits, though, that learning about the business world as a student has been beneficial. At cross country nationals in Stillwater, Okla., last November, Tuohy finished in a course-record time of 19:27.7. PHOTO COURTESY NC STATE ATHLETICS