Running outside on a sweltering Texas summer day can be brutal. For the cross country team it’s a necessity as the season starts shortly after school resumes. But rather than endure the local heat and humidity, the team is in Taos, N.M. for its annual summer training trip.

“The purpose of Taos is to get the team focused on the year ahead and achieve a sense of synergy among team members,” head cross country coach Greg Christensen said.

The team takes off in a van in groups such as, varsity boys, varsity girls, JV boys, and JV girls, each going a different week in July, with the trip a much different training experience.

“It’s different in Taos just by the fact that you’re with your team every hour of every day rather than just seeing them at practice,” junior team captain Noah Landguth said.

After morning mountain runs, ice baths are a necessity. The team then gets leisure time in the mountains of New Mexico ranging from rafting to soaking in the hot springs, before having dinner and getting to hear a speech from a guest speaker.

“Taos is just really awesome because you have so much team bonding. You can just tell everyone your secrets, go on hikes with each other, play games or just sit in the cabin and chill,” senior Kiersten Lindelof said. “At night we get really close because we make bracelets and give them to our friends, and then especially during ice baths because we all sit there holding on to each other while we’re freezing. We just do everything together.”

While the UIL has rules and regulations on summer training, the cross country team stays within accepted procedures by having team captains and other people do the coaching when the team is in Taos, rather than Christensen. This puts a little extra pressure on the shoulders of the team captains.

“It’s a lot different once you go up there, because most of the kids going have only been there once, if at all, so you have to keep an eye on everyone and make sure they aren’t doing anything stupid or getting lost,” Landguth said. “Here everyone knows their way around pretty well so you don’t have to watch out as much.”

The trip is organized with the help of team captains and parents, and although it costs $550, the money is well worth it for some athletes.

“I usually run better in Taos because it’s cooler and the elevation doesn’t affect me as much,” junior Blair Lang said. “Plus it’s just fun getting to hang with the team and doing cool stuff.”