In his first season coaching the Southwestern University Pirates cross country team, Head Coach Steven Cary has focused on building the program up by asking his student-athletes to tear their limits down.

"I talk about resilience a lot, about running tired and training the mental game," Cary said. "There are times in practice where I ask them to give me a little more than they thought they had."

To help track this, Cary has turned to the Rate of Perceived Exertion (RPE) scale. The RPE scale is a simple and subjective measurement of how strenuous an activity is on a scale of 0-10 with 0 being no physical exertion and 10 being an athlete's maximum output.

All season, the Pirates have pushed against the perception of their limits in order to break new ground in their athletic performances.

This weekend, the cross country team will face the most strenuous test of those limits at the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference  (SCAC) Championships in Colorado Springs, Colo. 

On Saturday, the Pirates will run at an altitude of 6,035 feet. And while the oxygen will be thinner, the cold temperatures forecast in the upper 30s means what does reach their lungs will create the familiar burn that comes with running on a winter day.

The conditions at the conference tournament will throw off the RPE scale for every runner not a part of the Colorado College program. It will feel more tiring to reach the same output. 

And in many ways, the Pirates wouldn't have it any other way.

"At the end of the day, the deciding factor is going to be the will to endure more," Cary said. "It's like getting into a boxing ring knowing it's going to be brutal with both sides throwing punches. It's going to hurt, it's going to be tough, it's going to be tiring, but be the last one standing." 

The Pirates have trained all year out of their comfort zone. By the time most people sit down to eat their breakfast, the cross country team has already been up several hours having already completed their workouts and morning routines. 

When not on the trails, the Pirates turn to the pool, where the team can work to exhaustion without pounding their joints. 

"We've had days where I'm barking at them, on a scale of 1 to 10, give me a nine and I'll tell them when to stop," Cary said. "And 99.9 percent of the time, they'll tell me, 'coach, I had another tank I didn't realize I could tap into.'"

The results have been promising. 

"Recently after practice, we circled up and did positives where we just kind of break things down with whatever I'm thinking that week," Cary said. "And I was just telling them to look at the difference between their time trials and where they are now. It's a night and day difference.

"Development-wise, we're where we need to be, maybe even exceeding where I thought we'd be. We just need to put it all together on race day." 

The women have been paced by first year Emma Pertuit, who has had a solid first season with the Pirates, even though Cary believes she still has one breakout race left in her this season.

"She's a competitor who has led our team all season long," Cary said. "She's run well but I think she and I would agree she's got a little left in the tank.

"For her, it's all about giving her best and I think she's ready to take that step. In previous races, she's sort of finished with, 'coach, I feel I almost gave my all but I might've had a little something left." 

For Pertuit, the struggle has been learning how to pace herself on longer 6K runs. 

To that end, she's been working with a late season addition to the roster in senior Emma Cooper; a quality athlete and avid runner who has been working with Pertuit. 

"She's never run on a team but she's very fit and loves running," Cary said. "It's pretty cool to see someone who trains at the level she does on her own suddenly become part of a team. I really think she's going to make some noise." 

Lauren Calzado, another first year, has also come around, picking up the benefits of the Pirates' training and recovery regimen. 

"She's had some of the best workouts of the season in the past two weeks. She's dialed in when it comes to recovery, sleep, and taking care of herself," Cary said. "I'm super proud of her, you love when they have those lightbulb moments where everything clicks." 

The Pirates can also rely on Erica Robuck from the track team, Sydney Grace Hart, and Penelope Pena. 

"Erica and Sydney are both competitors and any time you put competitors out on the course, anything can happen," Cary said. "The keys for them are just being confident on race day, control what we can, and have fun doing it." 

They'll need that confidence in a tough field led by Trinity University with Colorado College hosting in a setting where home course advantage means more than the comforts of sleeping in your own bed. The rest of the field is a cluster full of possibilities. 

"We're just excited it's conference time," Cary said. "Showing up on Saturday knowing it's not going to feel great but through resilience, we're going to endure whatever comes our way." 

For weeks, the Pirates have worked through the upper reaches of the RPE scale so when it matters most, they can do the same up the conference standings.