Colorado University Athletics
John Dressel is back racing for the Buffs after an injury in 2017
Photo by: Ken Moreland
A Year Can Make All The Difference, Just Ask John Dressel
October 19, 2018 | Cross Country
BOULDER – A year can make a huge difference. Just ask University of Colorado two-time All-American John Dressel.
After missing the 2017 season due to injury, his return has been felt on the team this year. Dressel led the Buffs at the Nuttycombe Wisconsin Invitational, finishing 10th overall, and was 16th overall at the NCAA Pre-National Invitational last Saturday.
The feeling to be back racing competitively was awesome for Dressel. "It made me find my love for running again and made me realize why I do it and appreciate the small little things that you take for granted, like traveling with the team and competing," he said. "The feeling of getting back in it again made me excited and I was really happy to be back out there."
Dressel has been doing well this season, but just one year ago, that was not the case. Prior to the first varsity race of the 2017 season, the Joe Piane Invitational in South Bend, Ind., Dressel's training was interrupted, which took him out for a week. But, he was still open minded going into the race.
The race went out really fast and it was a struggle from the start for Dressel, although he finished a very respectable 20th overall and was CU's third scorer.
"After that race, I could hardly jog because of how bad my plantar hurt," he said. "That race was a good indicator that I should take some time off running to heal."
Someone who has Dressel's work ethic knows just how tough it is not to compete and contribute to your team. With the looming Pac-12 Championships approaching, his low score could have made the difference in CU winning its seventh straight conference championship as he had finished sixth individually in the two previous conference meets.
Head coach Mark Wetmore certainly agrees. "I think that is a fair assessment," he said. "Had we run him a year ago, I don't think we would have lost the conference meet.
"Recently the Colorado men have not been a deep team, so when a runner of John's credentials and capabilities has to sit out, it has a big impact on us."
But after running for months with pain, Dressel finally realized that a break was needed. "I came to terms with it and really wanted to focus on getting myself healthy and not run with pain since I had been running with pain for months leading up to the season," he said. "So I was kind of thankful I could focus on getting healthy and get that season back."
Besides missing the cross country season, Dressel also missed the 2018 indoor and outdoor track seasons.
"I had gotten healthy and was training again; I got back up to max volume," he explained. "The week I got back to Boulder after Christmas break, I experienced some pre-acute IT band pain in my knee. That caused me to basically be out the rest of the year."
Dressel had to take several weeks completely off training, but it worked and he was able to start training again at the beginning of summer.
Now that he is healthy again, he's not going to take anything for granted.
"I only have a limited amount of time left here, so I want to capitalize on it," he said.
With the Pac-12 Championships one week away, one can imagine that Dressel is more than ready after missing last year. He knows the expectations and aspirations are high, but that is why he is at CU.
"I wanted to be somewhere I would be pushed and be with a bunch of guys that are going to be pushed as well," he said. "I like performing under pressure and having that expectation of winning Pac-12s and making podium at NCAAs. The last two years haven't been up to that standard, based on how we ran, so I'm really looking forward to getting us back on the podium again."
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After missing the 2017 season due to injury, his return has been felt on the team this year. Dressel led the Buffs at the Nuttycombe Wisconsin Invitational, finishing 10th overall, and was 16th overall at the NCAA Pre-National Invitational last Saturday.
The feeling to be back racing competitively was awesome for Dressel. "It made me find my love for running again and made me realize why I do it and appreciate the small little things that you take for granted, like traveling with the team and competing," he said. "The feeling of getting back in it again made me excited and I was really happy to be back out there."
Dressel has been doing well this season, but just one year ago, that was not the case. Prior to the first varsity race of the 2017 season, the Joe Piane Invitational in South Bend, Ind., Dressel's training was interrupted, which took him out for a week. But, he was still open minded going into the race.
The race went out really fast and it was a struggle from the start for Dressel, although he finished a very respectable 20th overall and was CU's third scorer.
"After that race, I could hardly jog because of how bad my plantar hurt," he said. "That race was a good indicator that I should take some time off running to heal."
Someone who has Dressel's work ethic knows just how tough it is not to compete and contribute to your team. With the looming Pac-12 Championships approaching, his low score could have made the difference in CU winning its seventh straight conference championship as he had finished sixth individually in the two previous conference meets.
Head coach Mark Wetmore certainly agrees. "I think that is a fair assessment," he said. "Had we run him a year ago, I don't think we would have lost the conference meet.
"Recently the Colorado men have not been a deep team, so when a runner of John's credentials and capabilities has to sit out, it has a big impact on us."
But after running for months with pain, Dressel finally realized that a break was needed. "I came to terms with it and really wanted to focus on getting myself healthy and not run with pain since I had been running with pain for months leading up to the season," he said. "So I was kind of thankful I could focus on getting healthy and get that season back."
Besides missing the cross country season, Dressel also missed the 2018 indoor and outdoor track seasons.
"I had gotten healthy and was training again; I got back up to max volume," he explained. "The week I got back to Boulder after Christmas break, I experienced some pre-acute IT band pain in my knee. That caused me to basically be out the rest of the year."
Dressel had to take several weeks completely off training, but it worked and he was able to start training again at the beginning of summer.
Now that he is healthy again, he's not going to take anything for granted.
"I only have a limited amount of time left here, so I want to capitalize on it," he said.
With the Pac-12 Championships one week away, one can imagine that Dressel is more than ready after missing last year. He knows the expectations and aspirations are high, but that is why he is at CU.
"I wanted to be somewhere I would be pushed and be with a bunch of guys that are going to be pushed as well," he said. "I like performing under pressure and having that expectation of winning Pac-12s and making podium at NCAAs. The last two years haven't been up to that standard, based on how we ran, so I'm really looking forward to getting us back on the podium again."
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Players Mentioned
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