Building Lander Distance Running | Coach Colin Lamb, Lander University - Airey Bros.'s Radio

Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:01):
You're listening to Airy Brose Radio, be there or B
Square because it's all killer, no filler. This is Colin
Lamb and you're listening to aery Brose Radio.

Speaker 2 (00:20):
Ladies and gentlemen, howdy and aloha, we are here, you
were there, and you are now rocking with the best.
Thank you for tuning in to another episode of aery
Rose Radio. Before we get rolling, y'all know the drill
hammer that like butd make sure you're subscribed on YouTube.
Drop a comment, every view, review and share helps us
grow and give back to the sports we love. As always,
this episode is fueled by Black Sheep Endurance for all

(00:42):
your ultra marathon and nutrition coaching needs. Let's not forget
while we're here, folks. We're here to shine a light
on the program's coaches and athletes we wish we had
access to coming up and going through the recruiting process.
If you love college running, coaching, culture, and stories about
program building, this one is for you. Tonight, we're lasing
the spikes up and we're chatting with coach Connin Lamb,

(01:04):
the newly minted director of distance Running and associate head
coach for Track and Field at Lander University. A couple
of highlights for Coach Lamb in the new era at Lander.
He was hired in July twenty twenty five. Coach Lamb
brings fresh leadership to the Bearcat cross country and track
and field teams, joining head coach Floyd and powers to

(01:25):
push Landers towards the Peach Belt Conference titles. While he
was at SMU, he spent four seasons with the program
across country in track and Field, where he helped recruit
the twenty twenty five class featuring two NCAAXC Championship qualifiers
and guided an All acc performer in twenty twenty four.

(01:46):
A former standout at the University of Dayton, he was
part of two Atlantic ten Championship teams, earning multiple A
ten Honor roll and Dean's List honors. Now channeling that
same standard into bear the Bearcat Distance squad. Without further ado,
it is an honored the pleasure have you joining us
this evening. We do greatly appreciate your time. Coach Colin Lamb,
Welcome to the show.

Speaker 1 (02:07):
Thanks for having me, guys.

Speaker 2 (02:08):
Yeah's honor to chat with you. Learn a little bit
more about the program. As I mentioned, we know a
little bit about the wrestling team and what coach Lehay
has been doing over the past couple of years. So
we're excited to get into it with you. But before
we get too far along and too far into it,
anything you would like to promote, plug share anywhere, We
can send recruits, anything anywhere. Parents, people have questions for you,

(02:33):
The floor is yours.

Speaker 1 (02:34):
Yeah, as always our Instagram page Lander XCTF and my
personal coaching one coach Colin Lamb on Instagram.

Speaker 2 (02:44):
Awesome. We'll put all that stuff in the show notes
for you as well. And I mentioned that through line
we did have coach RC Lhay on probably about two
years ago. They're doing great things with the wrestling program
down there at Lander. I'm right up the road in Greenville.
I haven't been able to make it down to campus
for a match, but hopefully as things finish up here

(03:04):
with my cross country season at the high school ranks,
I can start making it down there and check out
some matches. But we're excited to have you on and
one of the ways we'd like to kick things off here.
We know we all have our origin stories to the sports,
how we got into coaching, So coach, why don't you
start us off. Let us know what's your origin to
me this story to the sport, and how did that

(03:24):
lead you to coaching.

Speaker 1 (03:26):
Oh well, I think it goes back to probably elementary
school is when I remember it used to have the fundraiser.
I know some schools had it where we used to
run laps around the parking lot and we'd have people
pledge a certain amount of money per lap we ran.
And I remember I would just outrun everybody else in

(03:48):
my class in my grade, and my parents put me
in then a club team in fifth grade. And my
dad will tell the story that one of the first
time I was practices, I was at there, I was
running with I was in fifth grade at the time.
I was running with some middle schoolers or probably two
or three years older than me, and took me out

(04:09):
on a run, and I think I was supposed to
run three or four miles, and the other guys the
other middle schools were running like eight miles, and so
I didn't know any better, and I just kept following
them and kept following them and ended up back at
eight miles somehow, And I guess just kind of kept
developing from there. Had some really good coaches throughout the
high school process. But my coaching journey, I would say

(04:31):
probably again started with my dad. He we started coaching together.
We coached a youth basketball team when I was in
high school, we coached some fifth graders. And even before
I was born, my dad coached AAU basketball in East
Saint Louis area, and so he has always been that passion.

(04:52):
He coached me and all my sports growing up, and
so that's what really got me into it was following
him and seeing how much passion he had for the
sports and then and running. He ran Division III in college,
and so I'd never felt pushed in the direction of running.
That's what I found. But he was so supportive and
had a lot of information and guides in that way
as well. But as I kept going throughout the college process,

(05:15):
I always loved the sport and just the details of
the sport, the science of the sport, everything behind it,
and developing a program and went into that. And I
don't know if I'm gonna, you know, give myself away
as a younger coach, but I loved playing the college
football video games growing up, and I think one of
the best things about that was kind of starting out

(05:35):
a program and developing a program and you know, recruiting
and competing, and so now getting the chance to do
that with my own program is really exciting for me.

Speaker 3 (05:47):
Colin, what did you study in college?

Speaker 1 (05:49):
I was a BA in psychology.

Speaker 3 (05:54):
So where does psychology Well, obviously you know that's a
huge part of coaching, But did you were you doing
a master's degree, were you doing a postgrad How did
that lead into a career and coaching?

Speaker 1 (06:05):
Yeah, So I originally thought I was going to go
into sports psychology after I graduated. I didn't know if
I was geta ended up coaching. I moved down after
I graduated at Dayton, I moved down and took a
job in research at SMU. I was working for a
professor in the psychology department. Again. The plan was to
work for a few years, get some research experience, and

(06:27):
then go get a PhD in sports psychology. And during
that time I ended up volunteer coaching at SMU kind
of fell in love with it and the sport again,
and I ended up getting my master's in sport management
while I was there at SMU as well, and got
brought on as a grad assistant in coaching. So I

(06:47):
was down there for four years, and so after those
first two years, I was given the opportunity to get
into coaching more full time as that grad assistant role
and really just grabbed it. You know, you can always
go back to school and continue getting this degrees, but
you know, it's a difficult opportunity for a lot of
people to get into the collegiate coaching realm, and so
to be given a chance like that, I knew I

(07:08):
really needed to take that opportunity.

Speaker 3 (07:10):
So background in psychology and then you got your masters
in sports management. Now that you're coaching, you see that
that's a huge part of coaching, not so much the
exes and os.

Speaker 1 (07:24):
Yeah, yeah, I think they both play a part as
well because you deal with the individuals, you know, the
psychology of coaching individuals, but then also the team aspect.
And then you know, the sport management teaches you know,
you got to do the paperwork and there's a lot
of stuff, especially without many assistant coaches helping you at
this level and everything you've got to do all the
paperwork and behind the scenes stuff, and the sport management

(07:46):
part teaches you that as well, that you know, it's
not all the glitz and glamour. You got to keep
the budget and recruiting and everything. So you know, they
both play a role in how I got here and
what I'm doing right now.

Speaker 2 (08:00):
And I think I think I saw the Lander job
posted maybe in June, might have been may you know
some of my coach's friends down here we talked about
because I think Southern Wesleyan had had an opening as
well too. I saw that pop up some curious me.
You know, being down here, I know the lay of
the land a little bit and the opportunity. What was

(08:22):
it that drew you to the opportunity at Lander?

Speaker 1 (08:25):
Yeah, so one was the location I always wanted to
be in North Carolina, South Carolina in this area. You know,
I grew up in Franklin, Tennessee, so it's a little
bit closer to home as well than Dallas, Texas. So
that was great as my parents continued to get older,
it's nice to be closer to home. But when they
flew me out here for the interview at Black director

(08:47):
Brian Reese, great guy, he told me on the phone.
He's He's like, I think we have top twenty, you know,
resources and opportunities here at Lander and the vision two
level and I don't know if I believe in that point.
From school, I really knew not a whole lot about
but the athletics facilities out here are amazing, and so
he's been nothing but supportive, and he kind of shared

(09:10):
the vision of some very new program. They reinstated cross
country in twenty seventeen, and this is only a year
four for the track and field program, and so, you know,
some stability for the program is really what they were
looking for because I'm the third coach in four years now,
and so just having some stability and you know, giving

(09:30):
me the resources I need to build a program that
can be competitive at the conference level of the regional level,
and if we're able to do that, then the national level.
And so his vision and kind of sold me on
my goals here, and I just think all that was
a perfect storm for finding this spot.

Speaker 2 (09:49):
Yeah, and I think our friends up up the road
and Wingate have shown the blueprint that, you know, a
team from North Carolina can be success highly successful at
the national level. And I know, being in this area,
there's a lot of quality runners and I'm sure there's
probably a lot of quality training grounds down in Greenwood.
What's your vision what's your let's say, what's your five

(10:10):
year outlook?

Speaker 1 (10:12):
Yeah, I think just every year chipping away at it,
slowly getting there, getting more competitive at the conference level. Obviously,
there's some really great programs in Flag Learn and Augusta
on the men's side, and North Georgia as well on
the women's side that are always up there at the
regional level and competing to make the national championships. So
there's those programs to compete with at the conference level,

(10:32):
but then there's many of them at the regional level too,
you know, Anderson's just up the road North Greenville also
some other programs to look out for. And what I
see here is why not US? I mean, there's tons
of schools around us. We have again plenty of great
places to train. The state is getting more and more
competitive at the high school level and distance running, and
so there's just more and more talent to recruit, and

(10:54):
so I say, why not US? And in three to
five years I see us competing for those talk two
to three spots in the conference level. And if we're
able to do that, we're in the top five or
six at regionals and we hit it right, we can
make nationals. So that's where I want to grow this thing.
And you know, again the athletic department has told me
they want to continue to grow this thing and become

(11:15):
more and more competitive. You know, Lander has so many
athletic programs, and like we talked about with the wrestling program,
that's a national caliber program in itself. Like the blueprints here,
other teams are doing it at the university. So I
don't see a reason why we can't do that as
well in cross country.

Speaker 2 (11:33):
And I think Flagler on the women's side, and Augusta
on the men's side, and maybe Anderson on the men's side.
They all qualified for nationals last year. If memory serves me,
I was at the meet, and yeah, the blueprint is there.
Coach la is doing a great job. How has recruiting
within the state been going for you?

Speaker 1 (11:53):
Yeah, I and I didn't know what to expect, having
not been here and having such a new and young
program I have this year. I have eight of my
fourteen guys a freshmen to begin with this year, so
we're very, very young, but it's been really exciting. Again,
I think South Carolina gets overlooked a lot of times
at the high school runn level, especially when you have,
you know, North Carolina and Florida, Georgia right around you.

(12:15):
There's some really really good talent here that goes unrecognized,
and I think it's a little bit underdeveloped too. So
I've had great conversations with a lot of the men
and women in the state that are you know, high
caliber runners and that are just looking for an opportunity.
And that's what I'm really looking to do, is give
these kids an opportunity to come here and to continue
to develop and grow. And a lot of them, too,

(12:37):
are multi sport athletes who haven't necessarily focused on running
throughout their time in high school, and I think that
they have a large upside and running if we put
all our energy towards it. So I'm recruiting's gone really well.
I've had again, it's been really busy. It's been a
busy fall because you know, it takes a lot of
effort and time to do it well. But no, I'm

(12:58):
excited about how this goss is shaping up.

Speaker 3 (13:01):
So, I know you said that there's eight freshmen, but
obviously there were some upperclassmen there when you got there.
How has the adjustment been for you and the guys
that were on the team already.

Speaker 1 (13:12):
Yeah, it says a lot for them to Again, I've
only got one senior guy and one senior girl on
the team this year, and so they've been through three
coaches in four years, and so it would have been
easy for them to write me off when I got here,
but they've been very welcoming and they're the culture centers
and so they've been great about it. But that's what

(13:33):
this place really needed, is stability and a culture. That's
what they were looking for and that's what I'm hoping
to bring to them and that they've seen. But they've
been great for the younger men and women in the program,
and again, I couldn't have ast for kind of better leaders,
because you never know exactly quite what you're going to
get when you take over a new program. But they've
been fantastic for me.

Speaker 3 (13:53):
What kind of culture are you looking to build and
what kind of student athletes are you looking to bring
into that?

Speaker 1 (14:00):
Yeah, So I'll go back to Dayton and a little
bit of background there. But when I committed to Dayton,
which would have been the fall of twenty sixteen, in October,
they were coming off a year over there at ninth
that conference and just kind of a middle ground Atlantic

(14:21):
ten school and then that November they ended up winning
Atlantic ten championship and cross country for the first time,
which was a big deal. But when I walked in there,
the culture was there, and it was guys who just
grinded and worked hard and didn't make excuses about things.
And so, you know, we're at the Division two level,
so it's easy to make excuses and see the bigger

(14:41):
and brighter lights and that people had more and resources
and opportunities and things like that. But if you put
your head down and just grind, we're going to get there.
And so that's really what we've been stilled is the
hard work and just day in and day out, putting
in the mile age, doing the right things and showing
up on time. And that's what the culture needs to be,

(15:02):
is just being great at doing the little things and
we don't have to get it all on one chance. Again,
with the program being so young and myself being new,
I wasn't able even to talk to the men and
women on the team until July, so we had four
months together. Now I'm really proud of the progress we

(15:22):
made him four months, but I'm you know, I'm looking
for other high school boys and girls come in here
and who want to work hard and get better at running.
That's what it's going to take, is to put in
the miles day in and day out and not make excuses.
And so that's I'm really excited about the group we
have and the culture we're building, and you know, we're
always looking to add more people who want to compete

(15:42):
at this level.

Speaker 2 (15:44):
You mentioned those eight freshmen this year. Are those all
from Are those athletes all from South Carolina?

Speaker 1 (15:53):
No, I have one from Chicago, one guy from Chicago, Illinois,
then I believe, and so it's eight guys and five ladies,
five freshman that's so thirteen total on both sides, and
I believe all the others are from South Carolina. So yes,
a very in state group. But again they have all

(16:17):
come from different schools and different backgrounds, and so it's
been really great to see them come together as a
team and feel like a team. And that's something that
I don't think has happened here in the past where
they haven't felt a part of something and a part
of the team. And so that's again goes back to
creating a culture and something they can believe in.

Speaker 2 (16:35):
And I think I believe coach Lahay said Lander is
a state school, right, Yes, are there any benefits for
in state student athletes in terms of like tuition or
A plus programs or anything like that coming out of
high school that can help benefit the recruiting process?

Speaker 1 (16:53):
For sure? The state lottery program does a fantastic job
here in South Carolina to make college affordable for just
for most boys and girls in high school. And then
Lander does a great job too academically giving out good
financial aid in that part. And already, one special thing
about Lander is that tuition's been frozen for the last

(17:14):
eleven years, So that's really impressive. So tuition hasn't increased
in the last eleven years, and they aren't pointing to
do that either. So we are one of the more
affordable schools within the state. And like I said, with
the state scholarships and Lander's academic scholarships and some of
the athletic money as well, there's a lot of chances
for Lander to be affordable to most people.

Speaker 3 (17:36):
Is there anything we've got to Lander or now that
has surprised you or shocked you the way things are
run the administration or anything like that.

Speaker 1 (17:47):
I don't know if I could have picked a more
different school than SMU in the way just let's go
to tuition. You know, it's ninety thousand a year to
go to SNU, where for here it's twenty five thousand
a year for in state students. So I don't know
if I could have picked a more drastic side to that,
And just it's at the Division two level, there's always

(18:11):
going to be more of a I guess homie feel.
I've been really, I don't know, surprised by how welcoming
and how open everyone is with the process here. To
go in and just be able to talk to athletic director,
be able to talk to administration and more personal connection
with them has been fantastic. Again, at SMU, you wouldn't
see a lot of the administration a lot of time,

(18:32):
or they'd be focused on football more in that way,
and so it's been great for them to kind of
have an open door where I can go in and
talk to them and get questions answered. And they helped
me throughout the process with the recruiting, with the budget,
with you know, fundraising everything like that. So that's been
one thing that's you know, been surprising because a lot
of places, you know, cross country and track and field
don't get all the resources, are all the help, and

(18:54):
so now they've been very welcoming and so that's been fantastic.

Speaker 3 (18:58):
I know we're here to talk about Lander, but at
the beginning in the intro, rich you had a stellar
recruiting class at SMU. How did you have a stellar
recruiting class with a ninety thousand dollars year tuition fee.

Speaker 1 (19:11):
I mean having a fully funded program also helps in
that way. It's a very small program and that's why,
you know, we're looking at getting the right people to
the to the team, and we wanted to get the
right people who could be competitive. In my last year there,
with the move to the ACC, it only got more
intense and arguably going to the best distance running conference

(19:32):
in the country, and so we knew what we had
to do and so we based to kind of head on.
We We were pretty intense and recruiting and we had
a lot of phone calls, spend a lot of time
and you know, to find the right people and the
people that fit there. But you know, it goes a
long way when you're fully funded and have a lot
of resources that you can give to student athletes. But
again it's no matter where you are and where you

(19:54):
recruiting was not finding the right fit. And so it's
not it's never going to be easy. It's going to
take a lot of time and a you know a
lot of time on the phone, a lot of time
reaching out to people, and so there's challenges. There's pluses
and minuses everywhere you go. So but no, it was
definitely a sticking point. The cost is definitely a sticking
point to some people. And you know, again it's finding

(20:15):
the right fit and the right type of student athlete.

Speaker 2 (20:19):
Are kids aware of the benefits of that price tag?
Oh something you've got to talk to the parents more
about for sure.

Speaker 1 (20:29):
Yeah, you definitely got to got to talk to the families.
And the recruiting process is family oriented. You know, the
first you know, talk is to get in touch with
the student athlete. But it's a family process and you know,
a lot of times the students aren't the ones that
are totally going to be paying the price tag, no
matter where you are. But you know, at Lander here
telling them, hey, we are very affordable, and you know,

(20:51):
the kids themselves don't always see that because they just
see you know the names and the resources and everything
that comes with the school. But when you look down
and see this price tag and it's a great education here.
We have some great you know, we have some great
programs here. Our nursing programs one of the best in
the state, our business program or exercise clients program, we
have some great academic programs here, and so, you know,

(21:12):
showing them what we can do on the academic side
with the cost of the university. I think it's again
it's having to explain not only what the school is,
because like myself, I didn't know what Lander was before
I got here. I never heard of the school, and
so explaining where the school is, what it can offer,
and so that's always part of the process. But yes,

(21:33):
getting in touch with the parents is a big deal
as well. And again, as college continues to get more
expensive for everybody, having a place that's affordable is really
really important.

Speaker 2 (21:43):
Yeah, that's one of the things Jimy and I love
about doing this podcast. We've discovered so many college and
you universities that we never knew existed, and there's so
many people out there doing so many great things. So
it's fun to learn about the schools and the areas
and that sort of stuff. I'm curious from a recruiting perspective,
are we are you, i should say, staying focused on

(22:05):
the high school? Are you looking? Are you looking in
the portal at all?

Speaker 1 (22:10):
You know, nowadays there's so many different ways to build
a program, which makes it really unique, and so I
think there's an opportunity to always look anywhere that can
help the program in the right ways, whether that's talent wise,
you know, with the GPA, with the right type of
culture kids, and so you're always looking out and it's
but it's got to be the right fit. I think

(22:31):
one of the biggest things that you can get in
trouble with is not having a plan and so just
trying to go kind of here and there and not
having a plan for what you actually want to create
and build and just trying to piece things together. And
I think that's where you can get in trouble is
not having a long term idea of what you want
to what you want the program to be, and where
you want to be at And so no, I you know,

(22:53):
I'm always going to look, but you know it's at
a place like this. It's never going to be where
I can bring and bid men or women out of
the portal and have a new team next year. It's
always gonna be built on developing. But I think there's
a lot of you know, in state talent that we'll
see in the portal. And you know, with there's changes
all the time now on the INC Double A and

(23:13):
so people are gonna be looking for roster spots and
if they can come here and you know help us
on the track and cross country and in the classroom
as well, you know, there's always an opportunity.

Speaker 2 (23:26):
And you know, we talked to coach Gary up up
here at Furman and you know they've kind of gone
all in on a distance approach to track and field.
Is that something that you're looking at doing or are
you looking to have a well rounded track and field
program with sprinters, throwers, jumpers, hurdlers.

Speaker 1 (23:46):
Yeah. Yeah, we want to have a well rounded rounded
program here. We want to compete three seasons, you know
in the Peach Belt, and I think coach Floyd's done
a fantastic job of getting that started on the sprint
side with having you know some fort underdrunners and two
hundred runners that were winning conference titles last spring, and
so they have something to kind of build on there
and no need to help them out with some distance

(24:07):
points on my side. And that's kind of what we're
really going for, is we want to be competitive all
three seasons and we believe we again the Athletic Department's
going to back us and give us the resources to
be able to do that and compete for Peach Belt Championships.

Speaker 3 (24:23):
How has cross Country been treating you in the team.

Speaker 1 (24:27):
Yeah, again, the team's been fantastic. With so many new
men and women, it was always going to be interesting
how we fit together. And one of the things that
I think was a little unique about my interview process
is I was put on a zoom call with the
men and women that were currently on the team when
I got the job, and so one thing that was
really reiterated to me from them about everyone that I

(24:49):
spoke to is they wanted to feel like they were
a part of a team and be part of a team.
And so that's what we've really been focusing on this
semester is creating the culture a close knit team and
feeling like that and kind of getting behind this idea
that we're working together towards a bigger goal. And so
I've been really excited about how we've come along, you know,

(25:10):
both in the running terms, but then also culture wise,
and the women I think have been farther ahead than
I thought they would be, and so that's fantastic. And
the guys are continuing develop and you know, obviously i'd
love us to be competing at the top of the
conference right now, but it's going to take steps and
it's going to take time, and I'm I'm here for that,
and that's part of the fun of this is creating
something that's my own, you know, and I can look

(25:33):
back on and say, yeah, I'm really excited and proud
of what we've built up over this time. You know,
there's a lot of places that you'll go and you
don't really get a chance to do that because they
have so much history and so much background with it.
But Lander really doesn't have much history and distance running,
and so it's really cool to you know, talk to
the men and women and they're creating the history and
have a chance to create the history. And so that's

(25:55):
again part of the recruiting tactic is hey, you can
come somewhere and be that person who created history here
side school records changed the trajectory of a program, and
there's not many places you'd get a chance to do that.

Speaker 2 (26:09):
Yeah, that's a that's a great experience. I went to
Mammath University in New Jersey and when coach Joe Compagne
came in, that was my it was his second year.
I came in as a transfer, and you know, Mamath
had had some decent athletes, but it never really contended
as a conference team. And then my last two years there,
we were the first two teams to win conference titles

(26:31):
in track and field, and then coach Joe went on
a run and won probably like forty consecutive conference titles.
It was pretty pretty awesome. So that's a good recruiting
tool to get kids to know that they can be
a part of something special and you know, be a
founding member of a program that eventually gets to the
top of the heap in the conference and at regionals,
and as we're working at national finishes as well. I'm

(26:54):
curious who has tougher training conditions in the fall. Smu
or Lander.

Speaker 1 (27:03):
Depends this year. This year, from what I heard in
the past, South Carolina was fairly mild. You know, we
didn't have a big hurricane hit or anything like that
that happened the year before. So this year was great,
and conditions right now are perfect. Yeah, you know, it's
kind of around forty in the morning, and it got
up to sixty five today and so it was absolutely

(27:24):
beautiful here in this week looks fantastic. But Dallas in
the summer and early in the fall could be pretty rough,
especially in the middle of the city. So I'll take
the weather here any day, I think, you know, the
humility is a little tough in the morning, but it
makes you once it breaks and you get into October,
it makes you a better runner. So I've really enjoyed

(27:45):
this fall here.

Speaker 2 (27:46):
Give the most of the practices in the mornings.

Speaker 1 (27:48):
Yeah. Currently that's again with the weather here and how
hot it can get, especially in August and September. Yeah,
I feel like we can get more out of it
in the morning. Yeah.

Speaker 2 (27:56):
I think my kids are going to be upset when
I changed practices to the morning instead of after school,
but they'll thank me when they're a lot cooler conditions
and they can run a little bit faster. I'm curious, coach.
You know, one thing, as I've learned as I've gotten older,
and probably a question I never asked going through the
recruiting process, especially as a distance runners, and how valuable

(28:17):
having soft surfaces to run on can be. How are
the training grounds. I know the facilities are top notch
at Lander, but in terms of from a distance running perspective,
you guys have some some country dirt roads, like you know,
like you can replicate Magnolia Road out and Out and
Boulder or anything like that.

Speaker 1 (28:33):
I try. I try. For the long run, We'll drive
out maybe ten or fifteen minutes, and it's a camping ground,
hunting ground, and so they have loops there and the
loops I believe connect to twenty six point eight miles
and it's just rolling gravel roads and so it's fantastic.
So for long runs and that's fantastic. And then about

(28:55):
three or four miles down the road, there's a farm
that hosts high school cross country meets. Emerald High School
in the area. They host home meets there, and so
we'll get out there and practice on the cross country course.
And they've been very welcoming to me and said they'll
cut whatever I need cut in terms of loops and
for training. And so with a cross country course, with
the gravel roads, and then in the middle of Greenwood

(29:17):
there's a path that goes about three miles out and
so for shorter temp post stuff, there's a flat paved
route if if we need to do anything like that.
So there's plenty of stuff around. And even our athletic
complex here that hosts you know, our training room, our
weight room, football, I mean, baseball, softball, soccer. There's a

(29:37):
track surface just short of a mile that goes all
the way around that and so even doing some easy
running on that, there's plenty of soft surface around here.
That was one of the questions when I came here.
I was like, where are we going to run? But
there's been plenty of hoss and so there's been no problems.

Speaker 3 (29:52):
Nice coach, you had a lady earned your first All
conference honors in sixteen years. What does that mean for
you in the program in your first season.

Speaker 1 (30:02):
Yeah, so she's she's been fantastic and set the school
record by twenty two seconds that hadn't been broken in
over twenty years as well, and so she's been fantastic
and just sets the example for the program and where
we want to be at. And you know it's not
you I'm not gonna be shy about saying she's helping
in recruiting when you know, other girls in high school

(30:24):
see that and like, wow, I can go there and
be able to run that. So it's a big deal
for the program, and I think it's for the men
and women who are currently in the program as well
to see, hey, we can be really really competitive and
be really good. And so it's it's super exciting. And
you know, she's only a junior, so she'll be back
next year as well, and so no, she means a

(30:46):
lot to the program and it's doing great things both
in the classroom running wise, and then helping us in recruiting.

Speaker 3 (30:53):
Y'all have the Southeast regional coming up this weekend. What's
the what's the extation and how's the team looking.

Speaker 1 (31:02):
Yeah, again, it's continued continuing to take steps forward and
being competitive at the regional level. I'd love the ladies
to be keeping competing for a top fifteen performance, which
is a huge step up from them. They were twentieth
last year and three years ago Lander didn't even feel
the team on the men's or women's side, and so
to come this far in three years and be competing

(31:22):
for a top fifteen spot is you know, a big
step forward, and I really think that's something within our
capabilities we have, you know, a good day for ourselves.
We still got to show up and run the race.
But training's been going really well, so I'm excited about that.
And then on the men's side at conference, my two
through five refreshmen and so be their first ten k

(31:42):
and so I'm excited to see that for them as well.
You know, we've been training for them. For a lot
of them, it's just been getting the volume in because
eight k and ten k cross country is so different
to five k cross country for high school, and so
you know, we've been training a lot of volume wise
to be ready for the regional meet. Beyond you know this,
I always knew this was gonna be a building year,

(32:02):
especially with being so young and having such a young team,
but they've been fantastic about just again showing up every day,
putting in the mile wage and putting in the work.
So I'm really excited to see it kind of pay
off this weekend. And again it's always gonna be stepping stones,
but I think, you know, the regional is always a
good good way to measure how far we are, especially
against so many Division two schools in South Carolina and

(32:24):
North Carolina.

Speaker 2 (32:26):
And we know wind Gates the favorite both on the
men's and women's side. Who are so many other teams
that are that are going to be vying for those
national place qualifying spots.

Speaker 1 (32:39):
Yeah. On the women's side, Kataba runs a great program
up there. They're gonna be really competitive. I think the
Flag where women have a great chance to be then
that third spot to get out, you know, Leonora and
Ryan has another good program with the new coach there,
and so yeah, those are kind of the programs. I mean,
wing Gate and Kataba are the two programs that you

(33:01):
look at and you're like, they're kind of the standard.
You know. Anderson on the men's side, they got there
last year. I think they're gonna be really really good
again this year as well. And so the Flag or
men upset the Augusta men at our conference this year
one for the first time in a long time, and
so I think they have a good shot as well.
So I think those are some of the programs that
within the conference that we look up to, and then
also within the region.

Speaker 2 (33:23):
And is it Peach Belt across the board for across
indoor and out there.

Speaker 1 (33:27):
Yes, yes, and those are.

Speaker 2 (33:30):
Georgia, South Carolina, and North Carolina schools.

Speaker 1 (33:34):
So it's South Carolina, Georgia and Florida Flagler down in Florida,
and then every Riddle will join us for track.

Speaker 3 (33:41):
Okay, coach, you know you said you're trying to build
up some of the volume with some of the athletes,
which always like asked this question, but I'm going to
steal a thunder tonight. Do you all dabble and double
threshold or do you see it becoming a thing down
the line?

Speaker 1 (34:01):
So right now we're not kind of touching it. I
just don't think we have enough volume in general to
be at that level. It's the risk of injury versus
the volume are I think it just the cost benefit
is not there for us currently. Possibly down the line.
I think you have to have the right pieces in

(34:22):
place because recovery is so important to be able to
do double threshold, and I think at the collegiate level
it's tough to always get men and women who are
able to recover at a level that high enough with
school going on and the stresses of that and just
you know, living a college life and so it's something
that will continue to explore. And maybe it's only with
certain athletes that I know that can recover from it,

(34:45):
but even what we're doing right now with the volume,
getting enough recovery is a challenge at times, and so
you know, it's always something that's there and I do
think there's a big benefit to it, but I can
also see the downside. If you're not able to recover
from it, you get put in a hole and it's
hard to recover from that. Well, you know, it's something
that I'll continue to explore, but right now it's you know,
just building volume, you know, and we're doubling, but we're

(35:06):
not doing the second workout in the day, and so
right now it's just building the aerobic and the easy
volume for a lot of these guys who you know,
we're running but forty miles in high school and so
getting them up to now running sixty to seventy a
week has been a big step in the process. And
just being consistent at that for a year. I'm excited
to see where everybody can be at in a year,

(35:27):
being consistent and having a little bit more mile wag
under them. So that's that's kind of been The goal
for this fall is just to be consistent with the
mile witch in itself.

Speaker 3 (35:36):
You have any training systems or training philosophies that you
subscribe to.

Speaker 1 (35:42):
There's a little bit, there's a lot of things to
pick and choose from. I think a lot of people,
you know, choose. Daniels was a big deal growing up
and I think still plays a large part. And then
obviously the new double te fad has kind of come
in and taken over, and I do think there is
a lot of benefits to that, but there's nothing that

(36:03):
I think supplements mileage and just being able to handle
easy mileage, aerobic mileage, especially for quoi je cross country,
for AK and ten k, and you know, at this level,
if we can get ninety five percent of the way
there and getting ninety five percent out of the athletes,
we're going to be really really good. You know. I
think it's when you start pushing for that ninety eight
ninety nine percent and feeling around for that that you

(36:24):
risk a lot of the injury and some of you know,
the risks just amplify. And so I'm content at this
point to just be getting in the mileage and being
really consistent with the mileage to get you know, the
ninety five percent out of the athletes, and that's the
goal right now, is to be really consistent with the mileage.
But no, there's no singular philosophy that I think I'm behind.
You know, we're always learning and always changing and always

(36:46):
developing our own training philosophies. And you know, I talk
to other coaches and hear what they're doing and kind
of what's worked and what they're seeing. And you know,
you see a lot of things in the coaching room,
some that sound crazy and some that are working. So
you're always just continuing to learn and develop.

Speaker 2 (37:04):
Coach. You mentioned earlier the some of the recruits, some
of the athletes were multi sport athletes in high school,
and a lot of them are low volume. When you're recruiting,
how do you go about finding that diamond in the
rough or spotting the kid that you know is a
multi sport athlete and has done a little less volume.

(37:24):
But you know, once he gets into the system and
he has that consistency as you talk about that, he's
gonna she's gonna blossom.

Speaker 1 (37:32):
Yeah, and all honesty is probably just a numbers game.
You reach out to enough kids and you put in
the time and the effort and recruiting and that you're
going to find the right ones who are the right fit,
because again, everyone's got a different story, and so it's
taken the time to get on the phone with them
and have a phone call and listen to their story
because everyone gets into the sport in a different way
and has a different background and training, and so it

(37:53):
really is just taking the time and reaching out and
making those connections and finding who is the right fit
and who you think can come into the program and
you know, help you competitively.

Speaker 2 (38:03):
Are kids still getting on the phone for recruiting calls?

Speaker 1 (38:06):
Always? Always? Always? I mean that's a lot of my
time in the evenings is on the phone and talking
weekends and evenings. And but you know, it has changed
a ton since you know, I've been out of school
what five years now, And even my recruiting process was
so different you could only it was only going into
the senior year summer when you could start make contact

(38:27):
and so now we're even earlier. And again social media
has changed a lot of stuff too. For how you
get in contact with kids now, a lot of it
is through Instagram and reaching out through there, and making
those connections there. But yeah, the phone calls are still
super important because you know that's where you made the
first connection and kind of hear who they are, and
you know, by the time you have in a campus,
you do have an idea about who they are, what

(38:48):
they want to study, and if they are going to
be a decent fit for the program. So no, I
still think getting on the phone and taking that time
is really important.

Speaker 3 (38:57):
Goad, do you feel settled in yet?

Speaker 1 (39:03):
Probably not quite yet. You know, it's been three months,
and once I got here, we kind of got rolling
right away. And to be honest, I'll tell you that
for the first week I was here, they I didn't
have a key to my office, so I couldn't really
get into the office, and so I spent the first
week driving around the state going to recruits homes. I
was making home visits. That was kind of what they
spent my first week doing. I didn't get here till

(39:24):
about the first of August, and so when I spent
in July was making phone calls, and then in August
it was recruiting. And so really haven't totally settled yet,
And I'm excited to have a little downtime after the
end of the season, but you know, recruiting is always
going and you know, the weekend after Regional is the
high school state meet here in South Carolina, so I'll
be out there, and so you know, it never stops

(39:46):
when you want to compete and continue getting better. And
so I'm excited to have a little bit of downtime
more during the days and you know, explore the area
a little bit more. That's a really really nice city
and there's a lot of hitting gyms here and not
even far lives to get out some really nice areas.
We have Lake Greenwood, which is a really nice spot
here in the area, and so I'm excited to spend
some more time doing that as well.

Speaker 2 (40:09):
Have you unloaded all your boxes? Are you unpacked?

Speaker 1 (40:11):
At least I am unpacked. I am unpacked. I will
be honest that I moved into a furnished already place,
so it was really just closed. You know, after moving
to Dallas and having done that, moved a couple times
in Dallas and then moving here, I decided at least
for the short term until about the end of the year.
My lease is up. Towards the end of the year,

(40:33):
I'm in a furnish place. So that's also another thing
for after the season is finding a little bit more
of a settled home or apartment I can move into
and kind of make my.

Speaker 2 (40:41):
Own, okay. And in the recruiting within the state, you
know there's talent across the board upstate low Country. Have
you made your way up when you were doing those
home visits to the upstate at all?

Speaker 1 (40:54):
I have been Upstamp into Lexington, been up to the
Greenville area. I've also been out to Charge. I've been
I've been all over. I've been up to rock Hill,
I Aiken, I. I have tried to make it all over,
you know again, to try and find who's the right
fit that can come in and help this program. It's
takes a lot of time and a lot of effort,
and you know, I'm willing. That's one thing I learned

(41:16):
at SMU is it takes a lot of time and
a lot of effort, and to go to kids' houses
means a lot to them. Not a lot of college coaches,
especially at the D two level, or showing up to
kids' houses or kids at this level aren't gtting a
lot of those looks for you know, they're trying to
make that personal connection and spend time with them and
get really get to know them, and so you know,
it's a it's a I spend a lot of my

(41:36):
time and you know, that drive out to Charleston isn't
isn't short, especially with the traffic out there. But you know,
I feel like it's really important and it's going to
pay off in the recruiting process in the long term.

Speaker 2 (41:46):
Yeah. I don't think I ever had a coach do
an in home visit to you.

Speaker 3 (41:49):
Jim Wow, they yeah, the army guy come right, or
the army recruiter. Yeah, coach. You mentioned you guys are
practicing in the morning. You said you're doing your recruiting
calls at night. One thing we like to ask coaches
is being a college coach, you're CEO of a small business.
So what does your CEO role look like as far

(42:12):
as your daily.

Speaker 1 (42:15):
So workout days A couple times a week, we're we
practice at six am. So I'm up at about four
point thirty four forty five in the morning and get
rolling and so then we got practice and a lot
of times we're done by eight, but then kind of
starts the paperwork and everything for the weekend, getting the
itineraries together and you know, managing the budget, fundraising and

(42:37):
doing all the little things behind the scenes. And then
you know, currently in the afternoon right now, I'm also
helping sometimes at the track practices. We're down a coach
and so we're we're hiring, we're in the process of
hiring another coach, and so myself and coach Floud are
kind of helping out at the track practices here and there.
And so it's doing some of that, and then like
you said, I'm kind of on the phone in the

(42:59):
afternoons whenever I can schedule calls, and so there's that.
And then also we monitor our own study hall, so
two once or twice a week, I'm sitting down in
from six thirty to seven thirty with our freshman athletes
and some of our other athletes in study hall with them,
and so that's taking up an hour a time that
in the evenings, and it's you know, it's a lot,
but I love it, and I wouldn't be doing it

(43:21):
if I didn't love it. And it's tough. It would
be a really really tough job if I didn't love
what I was doing. But I you know, I want
to stay busy. It'd be tough for me to just
lay around all day, and so this is a great
spot to stay busy all day and there's always something
to work on.

Speaker 3 (43:36):
Could you sleep well at night?

Speaker 1 (43:39):
Not as well as I'd like to, you know. I
I'm young enough to where I don't think it's totally
caught up to me and I can. I can still
live off of five and six hours to sleep, and
I don't don't have a family yet or anything, and
so I think life totally changes when that happens. But
right now, it's just kind of the grind mindset. And
so you know, like I said, I'm excited in a
week when the early practice is settled down for a

(44:02):
little bit. But no, I you know, I'll sleep when
I feel comfortable with where we're at and that you know,
we're able to compete at a high level. And so
you know, I'm looking in the future, you know, to
get some help. I'm excited next year I'm planning to
add a graduate assistant to help me a little bit
with everything in the background stuff. But right now, I

(44:24):
couldn't be happier with where I'm at and kind of
what I'm doing.

Speaker 2 (44:27):
Might have to apply for grad school there you are, coach.
Is there anything about the program or the school that
we haven't touched on just yet?

Speaker 1 (44:41):
I would just say that again, the facilities and the school,
outside of the athletic facilities, just the school in general
is beautiful and honestly better than I could have seen
online or when I got here. And we are the
fastest growing public school in the state, so that's it's
almost doubled in the last eight years for a little

(45:02):
over forty five hundred and every year is the biggest
freshman class, and so that's really really exciting. But there's
some huge selling points, and so also in recruiting, I
tell people just come to campus and give it a shot.
You know. I think it's a not many plates. Not
many people have been to Greenwood, South Carolina and seen
what it has to offer. There's a ton of small
mom and pop places. The uptown area here is really

(45:24):
pretty and has some nice shops there. And then campus
in itself. I don't know many other schools that I've
been to, especially at the Division two level, that have
a free outdoor swimming pool in the middle of campus.
It's absolutely stunning with its own cabana and people laying
out on it every day, and you know, there's that,
and then our freshman dorms. Do you have a single room?
I know I did never have my own room until

(45:46):
senior year of college, and so having a single room
and everything like that. So this the facilities are fantastic,
and the school's doing a great job in itself recruiting
students here as well, and so it's cool to be
part of a campus that continues to grow and and
used to get bigger because you know, at this at
this time, unfortunately not every school is doing that, and

(46:07):
you know, we've seen one close to us they closed
in the past year, and so it's really nice to
continue to see the school in itself growing and spending
money and continuing to develop.

Speaker 3 (46:19):
Coach Sorry, Rich, you had me at Kabanon single rooms.

Speaker 1 (46:26):
It's beautiful. It's better than I could have. You know,
SMU had a tanning pool outdoor of the Record Wreck
recreation space. But to have a huge outdoor pool here
just in the middle of campus is amazing. And you know,
I haven't seen it yet by here here. In a
few weeks, we're going to do a polar punge right
before winter, the president comes out and does it as well,

(46:48):
and so a bunch of people are just gonna jump
into that freezing cold pool. And so gotta be really
really exciting to see.

Speaker 2 (46:55):
With the population of the student body expanding, is there
a lot of uh developed in on campus and new
new dorms. I would assume new dorms are getting put
up pretty quickly.

Speaker 1 (47:04):
Then, yeah, so yes, space is definitely something that the
school is looking towards. But new academic buildings continue to
get put up, and yeah, there are plans to continue
to expand and you know, the university started doing that.
So again to be be out a place that's continuing
to grow, especially in this time, is really exciting for

(47:25):
me because, you know, one less worry in my head
about where everything's going. And you know, if I'm going
to have a job in a few years, I'm not
concerned about that. If they're continuing to bring in, you know,
new students and grow that they have a plan for
development that is well in the future.

Speaker 2 (47:43):
One other thing from a athlete perspective, training perspective, you know,
we know that more and more endurance athletes distance runners
are doing strength and conditioning training. Is that something that
you're doing with the athletes. Is there a strength conditioning
coach that's working with the athletes.

Speaker 1 (48:02):
Yeah, yeah, So again very very blessed with the resources
we have here. We have a fantastic strength room just
for student athletes, and when we're in there, we're the
only team in there. We have four full time strength
and conditioning coaches at the university, which is again for
the Division two level, I think kind of unheard of.
But I meet with one of our strength coaches every
week and kind of go over what the plan is

(48:24):
and how training has been going, and we do talk
about individual athletes, and you know, again very fortunate to
have those resources. And like I said, we're the only
team while we're in there, and there's two of the
strength coaches as well as myself in there, and so
it's just cohesive group as well as our athletic training staff.
We have six athletic trainers as well. And so again
I'm one of the reasons that I chose this spot

(48:46):
was because of the resources that they are putting into
athletics and that I'm afforded here because I know that
isn't the case everywhere, especially you know here at this level, you.

Speaker 2 (48:54):
Know now, is that something too that you're running in
the morning and then going into the weight room. Were
the athletes coming back in the afternoon to hit their
strength session.

Speaker 1 (49:05):
So it's a little bit abouth So like this morning,
we practiced in the morning and we had strength right after.
On Fridays, we'll work out in the morning and in
the evening we'll go into the rate room. And that's
kind of just how the planning worked out. And we're
still getting some of that worked out with me coming
in a little later and how they class scheduled. But
in the future it'll look more like work out in
the morning and then probably a double in the afternoon

(49:25):
for a lot of them, and then we'll lift after
that double in the afternoon.

Speaker 2 (49:29):
Is that Friday session keep them, keep them tired, so
they're not doing extracurriculars on the Friday.

Speaker 1 (49:35):
Night, that in the eight am Saturday morning long run,
keeping them out of trouble, especially this past weekend. So yeah, no,
it's again, I couldn't have asked for a better group.
And that was again part of the recruiting process to
get me here. Was them on the zoom interview with me,
So I knew, oh I was going to be working

(49:55):
with and such great kids, and so that was part
of the reason I chose this, as well as I
knew the type of student athletes I was going to
be working with.

Speaker 3 (50:04):
Coach. Do you guys have an indoor track?

Speaker 1 (50:08):
Not one that I would use? We have, I think
what a lot of places have with that small one
above intermural basketball gym. I think ours is about ten
laps to the mile. But what's great about being in
South Carolina is a and be outside west the year.
And again, not too I'm not too concerned with forty
degree days. I mean at Dateon we didn't have an

(50:28):
indoor track. We were outside year around at Dayton and
it got pretty cold there sometimes in the snow. I
remember having to shovel off the outdoor track there a
couple of times while I was a student. And so no,
I'm not too concerned about not having an indoor track here,
especially with the lack of snow and hopefully the lack
of snow. I haven't seen it yet, but from what

(50:49):
I've heard, the lack of snow and ice, I think
we should be just fine.

Speaker 2 (50:52):
Yeah, we had two snow days last year at school,
and we didn't get any snow, So I think they yeah,
talk about like folkal or the times that they do
get snow in the Upstates. So I think you're pretty good.
We are. Is there an outdoor track on campus?

Speaker 1 (51:07):
So we use Greenwood High School? Okay, we share some
of our track equipment with them, and so they let
us get on the track there, and they have a
really nice facility there in terms of the turf field
in the middle and then the it's a six lane track,
but it's more than enough for distance.

Speaker 3 (51:22):
Ronnie, Yeah, Binald floor Rich, let's do it, coach. Are
you a coffee drinker?

Speaker 1 (51:31):
Not historically, but you call me at a weird time.
Probably in the last month, I've started picking it up
more and maybe that comes with the early mornings and
getting into this a little bit more.

Speaker 3 (51:42):
So, how do you prefer your coffee? Bruin it or
how'd he take it?

Speaker 1 (51:46):
No, I'm like a I'm like a Mocha frope type
of guy, all right, So yeah, it's it's gotta be.
It's not. I'm not fully on board you. I still
need a lot of chocolate, and so that's that's how
I'm taking a curly. Maybe I'll maybe I'll acquire the taste,
but still has to be a lot of chocolate in there,
all right.

Speaker 2 (52:05):
Yeah, over time, it eventually works its way to like
just straight black after a couple of weeks.

Speaker 1 (52:10):
I was.

Speaker 2 (52:10):
I was a light and sweet guy when I started
back in the day for Dunkin Donuts, and now I
do a little bit of a little bit of heavy cream.
But I've come a long way. I used to do
the the Venti white mochas at Starbucks. That was my
cham for a while too.

Speaker 1 (52:25):
I'll shout out on campus too. We have a Starbucks
and chick Boy on campus, so those are also a
big selling points, so it's easy to go get the
coffee over there.

Speaker 2 (52:33):
So it's good to have a Starbucks on campuses. In
the gym, yes it is.

Speaker 3 (52:36):
Yes, that's to come up, coach.

Speaker 2 (52:39):
Do you have any daily practices or rituals you do
on a regular basis to show up as the strongest
version of Conlin Lamb?

Speaker 1 (52:46):
Taking time to myself, I've always been I'm an only child,
I am an introvert, and so just spending a little
bit of time to myself and getting time to think
and plan and I honestly I write down the to
do list in my notes app on my phone, and
so it's just you know, letting myself relax for a

(53:07):
little bit and realizing that I'm not going to solve
all the problems in one day, not even going to
solve it in a few months. It's gonna take some time,
and I'm in it for the long hold. So it's
just surrounding myself a little bit and realizing that it's okay,
you don't have to do everything all at once, and
so reminding myself that on an almost daily basis, you know,

(53:27):
it eases a lot of the stress and a lot
of the worries that you know, can creep up on
you when you're trying to do too much all at
one time.

Speaker 2 (53:35):
Are you making that list daily or is that like
a Sunday night thing.

Speaker 1 (53:39):
I definitely say it's longer on Sunday night, but it's
it's almost a daily thing. Otherwise, you know, things fall
through the cracks, and so especially when I'm just one person,
it is there are things that are written on there
almost daily.

Speaker 3 (53:53):
Yeah, Coach, I have a it's called the Big Ass Calendar.
It's a book and I write it in it every
day in the day. I don't forget. I don't get
much dumb, but the days I write in all those
tasks get handled.

Speaker 1 (54:06):
Yeah, I would say I'm probably a little bit new
school and again showing my age with doing in the
notes app on my phone. But you know, it's uh,
it just you know, I always have my phone, so
I know it's always there and always around me. So
I have that. I have all the recruiting informations on there,
all the visits are written down, all the phone calls
are logged on there, and so it if I didn't

(54:26):
have my notes app, I think I'd be in a
lot of trouble.

Speaker 3 (54:30):
What are you listening to right now? Music? Podcast, audio books?
Are you reading anything? Yeah?

Speaker 1 (54:36):
Music all the time, not a lot of I say,
the newer stuff I'm listening to, And again, the newer
stuff is probably more pop music. And a lot of
the female pop starts are out right now. I'm again
gonna just put myself out there. Sabrina Carpenters out there
right now, Charlie XCX, the Brad album last year, it

(55:00):
is fantastic. But then I'll also go back to you know,
if I'm sounds weird, but if I'm trying to focus
and want it just something in my head. I'll listen
to DM music, some sort of no early mid two
thousands rap music, even Eminem low Wayne earlier Drake stuff.
It's a little all over the board, but I'd love
to have music and if I'm doing anything alone and

(55:22):
just just helps me focus a little bit.

Speaker 2 (55:25):
Coach once you go to EDM.

Speaker 1 (55:31):
So two friends, I don't know if you've heard of them,
probably newer stuff. They do kind of longer, hour long
mash up music, so it's a lot of it's any
type of genre I kind of mashed up all together
with DM in the background, but also a vich tso
all that kind of stuff as well. And then always
interested and kind of newer as a you know, a

(55:53):
new sound as it continues to come out, because it
continues to evolve all the time. But I'd say again,
and I'm gonna put my age out there, but you
hear stuff on TikTok. I'm on TikTok and I watch TikTok,
and so you hear stuff on there all the time.
That's that's catchy and you get into.

Speaker 2 (56:08):
It all right, Well, two friends, I'm going to check
that out. Yeah, we like to pump our fist over
here at Dery groser So coach last one we have
for you. It's a lighthearted want to close it out.
Maybe it's a unique food restaurant in Greenwood. Maybe it's
a beverage. You mentioned some new pop. Maybe you're a
closet swifty. Do you have a guilty pleasure.

Speaker 1 (56:29):
A guilty pleasure like I said, the female pop music
that's currently out right now, I would say that guilty pleasure.
I have a huge sweet tooth. So you know, maybe
I shouldn't be telling the athletes about this because it's
pretty cost effective. But McDonald's has a cookie tote that

(56:50):
they give you thirteen cookies in a box and it's
very very cheap for what it is, and I would
say the cookies are better than expected, and so, yeah,
underrated McDonald's cookies in the cookie tote.

Speaker 2 (57:04):
Are we talking chocolate chip or is it a variety?

Speaker 1 (57:07):
Yeah, yeah, it's just chocolate chip ones. But they come warm,
and so it's a it's a pretty good It's nice
to have at night when you're trying to settle down
a little bit, to have some chocolate chip cookies. It's
always good. But I have a huge sweet tooth. So
I'm excited for anything anything, you know, desert wise. Right
across the street from athletic facility here, there's a bakery
that's fantastic, and so that's getting me in trouble a

(57:29):
little bit. But need to need to continue running and
get back into running a little bit more myself to
find that off.

Speaker 2 (57:36):
You're getting cookies at the baker's, there's something special on
them on the menu there that you like.

Speaker 1 (57:40):
They have pies and cakes. So that's that's even a
little bit more dangerous because again, you leave me alone
and I could down decent part of a pie or
a cake in one night.

Speaker 2 (57:52):
Lets you go to pie.

Speaker 1 (57:54):
I'm a big pecan pie guy, especially this time of year.
It's the time of year for it, so pecan pie
and apple.

Speaker 2 (58:01):
Okay, being in the in the peach belt, are you
getting to the peach cobbler every once in a while.

Speaker 1 (58:05):
I have had a little bit since I've been here.
I'm excited to try more and again getting to know
the area even more with kind of the local shops
that are around here. It's it's been great. And so yeah,
getting out there and getting to experience the Southeast again.
Having grown up here. I'm really excited to continue to
do that.

Speaker 3 (58:24):
Awesome coach, Lamb, you're a man of my own heart,
which will tell you I can. I can downhold by myself,
so can he. But I have issues. I gotta stay
away from the Swedes because I'll go on a bender.
But I can appreciate that.

Speaker 1 (58:40):
Oh yeah, oh yeah, for sure. I again, I myself
and one of the other assistants aid Smu in the
past year got it got up too. You know, we
would consistently go out and find the best dessert spot
wherever we were traveling. You know, Coldstone was always a
good spot, and so the big gotta habit down one

(59:01):
of those. And we've shared, you know, quite a few
dessert experiences with each other, whether we're in Boston or
out there at Stanford, and so there were always plenty
of good spots, and so yeah, no, it gets you
in trouble, especially when I haven't been running as much
as i'd like to at this point. But no, I
really want to get back. I really enjoy eating the sweets,

(59:21):
and you know, it's it's okay to have a suite
every now and then. You're not gonna You're not gonna
hurt yourself.

Speaker 3 (59:27):
No, Coach, thank you so much for your time tonight.
It was great getting here a little bit more of
your story, diving into the program and can't wait to
watch and see what you and the program do going forward.

Speaker 1 (59:42):
Awesome. Yeah, thank you guys for having me. Been a
great talking to you guys.

Speaker 2 (59:46):
Coach was awesome. We appreciate you. I'll be looking for
you next next Saturday, right, Yeah, got to say championships
on the fourteenth, up and Aken, I'll come up, introduce myself.
I'll chat it up a little bit. But it was
on pleasure to have you on and learn a little
bit more about you and learn a little bit more
about the program. And we will be rooting for the
Bearcats on Saturday.

Speaker 1 (01:00:08):
And thanks you guys, And yeah, I excited to meet
you in person as well.

Speaker 2 (01:00:11):
Nice All right, ladies and gentlemen. That is coach Colin
Lamb from Lander University. Make sure you check all those
links in the show notes. Go give the Bearcats cross
country and track and field programs a little love. Let
them know that the Area Bros sent you. We will
be back on Wednesday evening. We'll be talking to Lyle
Smith about his recent book blood, sweat and spikes the

(01:00:31):
wetmore way. We're excited to chat with him. We're going
back to New Jersey in a way, so stay tuned
and tune in on Wednesday, we'll be back the same time,
seven pm

Speaker 3 (01:01:01):
T

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Building Lander Distance Running | Coach Colin Lamb, Lander University

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.css-14f5ked{margin:0;word-break:break-word;display:-webkit-box;-webkit-box-orient:vertical;box-orient:vertical;-webkit-line-clamp:2;overflow:hidden;}Building Lander Distance Running | Coach Colin Lamb, Lander University