I don't know about you guys, er, gals, but for me, it's hard to beat a 59 degree, low humidity morning for a run. There's no pain, no suffering, it's just... easy. What a great day to start!
We had a bunch of you out... I counted 11 current team members, one middle schooler, one fifth grader, and one foreign exchange student (who sadly has spent her last day with us). We also saw another coach in the form of Jo Scott. I like what I saw - a LOT! Everyone seems fit, there was a lot of energy, and we even ran faster than we did last year on the first day.
As we move through this week, our goal is to break in and begin to sort things out. Believe it or not, there are only 9 weeks until season starts officially. This summer will absolutely fly by, trust me. Very quickly we will transition to separating the group as necessary. We have new people and we need to be sure we don't hurt anyone right away, so we'll have a plan for you. We also have the veterans, and for you we will be pushing much more aggressively this summer. What do I mean? Let's break it apart a bit.
For the new girls I want to give your legs time to acclimate. About a week into practice you're probably going to start to feel a bit worn down. This is normal. It will pretty much pass within the next week or so. Tough it out! We will pull the mileage up weekly. So, this week you'll run 3's. Next week, 4's. Following week, 5's. This is a pretty aggressive schedule, but the time is limited. To some extent, the length of our summer dictates what has to happen.
For the veteran girls, the mileage will be more like 4-5's, 5-6's, 6-7's and so on. More importantly though... the pace has to pick up. Whatever number you pick out for yourself by season's end, whether that is 20, 21, 22... it breaks down to pace. So, let's say you want to run 20-22 by season's end. By the numbers:
20:00 - 6:27 per mile
21:00 - 6:46 per mile
22:00 - 7:05 per mile
Here it is, pure and simple... your daily training pace, the pace at which you are reasonably comfortable running, has to be within 1:00-1:30 of your goal 5k race time. That's pretty much an absolute of running, as any running coach will tell you.
This will not be easy to do, at first. But we have something on our side - time. We have plenty of time to work it down. The old conundrum goes "Which came first, the chicken or the egg?" We have a similar issue here, "Mileage or speed". Both. You're athletes. You're great athletes. Your competition is doing it, so it can be done.
We will also be doing weekly tempos. That can be done year-round without risk of injury. These runs, though unpleasant, give a weekly check of progress. Done properly, they are a vital tool. I'll talk more about those later.
Tired and sore is normal. What we want to watch out for is pain. Any sharp, knife-like pain, or throbbing pain in joints, I want to know ASAP. Ignoring this type of stuff won't make it go away - ask any girl from last year! We want you all to be healthy and ready to train hard when season kicks off in August. We can't do that if you are in a cast.
This team has the potential to be a great team. I really believe that based on what I saw today. Be consistent in your practice, show up as often as you can, train as you should, support one another, push one another, and you will be amazed at what you can do.
Sorry I have to be gone the rest of this week. I'm thrilled to be your coach, and I can't wait to get back to it next week. In the meantime, I expect the seniors to step up and help out in practices. I believe Coach Jo will be with you this week, so she can help with supervision, especially with the new girls. As dull as it is, stay with Parkview - the course is safe and easy to monitor, and there is water available if it gets too hot. As a variation you may also do the Armory/Wilson/Park Avenue loop, and that should be relatively safe too.
Can't wait to see you guys next week!
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