Great 2nd week

Two weeks of nine gone... it will go so fast. Our training is going well. Everyone is improving, and no one is hurt. So far, so good!

I did get to Wal-Mart today, and we are applying for the July 6th date as you guys requested. That is moratorium week, so you girls will be on your own. I had to put my number down as contact, but that has to be for emergencies only.

Next week we up the miles again. Top end this week was 5-6, next week it will be 6-7. Low end will move from 4 miles to 5.

Tuesday will be a harder workout again. That will be our pattern throughout the summer.

Thanks to Madison and her father for the donuts and drinks today!

Arrangements made, and some pending

Ladies,

Just a short note-

Car wash is set for July 13th at the Boys Club, as you requested. I asked for 10-3, but that time can be altered.

Walmart said we can have June 22nd, 29th, or any Saturday in July. Basically all our options are open at the moment. We can't have the bake sale on the same day as the car wash, so that excludes July 13th. So... If you want the earliest possible Saturday, that likely means the 29th (by the time we get corporate okay). Moratorium is the following week, so if we get that date, I have to be hands-off.

Remember, one or more of your parents will have to set up an account for the monies collected. Neither I nor Coach Jo will touch any of the money. That's how I want it, and that's a precondition for having any fund raiser. You guys did a great job with it last year, and I trust you completely.

We're going to stay with Parkview tomorrow because I want a little lead time for all girls and parents before we switch venues. I'm happy to try someplace new next week. Options right now would be the high school or Spring Mill. Based on the conversation this morning, I think Spring Mill is what you prefer. We need some time to work out a ride situation for everyone, thus I thought it better to wait until next week. 

It was a muggy run

Ladies,

This morning summer peeked it's head, and we had a muggy one. The next two days should be cooler, but make no mistake about it, summer is coming soon enough. Get in the habit of drinking more water, and it also wouldn't hurt to take a bit more salt in your diet. You'll run it off, don't worry. Your ability to handle the heat is going to directly correspond to your ability to retain water.

I continue to be happy about our progress. Our mileage is creeping up, and as yet we don't have anyone hurt. I still want to monitor this situation closely. If you have any stabbing or throbbing pain, I want to know.

A question was raised this morning about Varsity vs. JV. Let me clarify this early on for the new people - there is no distinction. If you train with the Varsity every day, you get the Varsity points. I can't run more than 7 people during State series, and that shouldn't be the lone arbiter of who gets the points. Truth is, we need everyone to help us get as far as we can. This means even if you aren't one of the top 7, you may have directly contributed to our success. I guess I'm saying there's more than one way to earn the stripes.

Also I should be clear about other topics. As some of you may recall, last year there was some controversy on the boys' team after a party they attended was raided. Some of the boys were even arrested for drinking. Let me make this simple; don't do it. As much as I love this sport, and as much as I want to do as well as possible, far more important to me is your individual futures. We don't live in a world where such transgressions are easily forgotten or forgiven. A silly choice might be the difference between scholarship monies, entry into universities, or even a complete roadblock to certain careers. For that reason I take alcohol and drug abuse very seriously. It would break my heart to do it, but if you get arrested for either, chances are you'll never run another meet this season.

Clothing! This also came up this morning. Look, in light of recent events at our high school, we cannot risk the bad publicity of you running in sports bras during a practice. I live in the running culture, I totally get it and what a hassle it is, but it's a battle we cannot win. If you're practicing with me, you have to have a shirt on. A sleeveless tech shirt over a sports bra is the best option. I cannot/will not yield on this point.

More information... severe weather! I have no problem running a practice in the rain - sometimes it's even fun! Severe weather is another matter. We cannot run in lightning or hail. Period. I leave this to your discretion on days the weather looks bad at or near the start of practice, just know if it's storming, we aren't running until it stops.

Oh, here's some food for thought. It might shed some light on how important yesterday's test actually was...

If you can't see it, click on the picture for a larger version.

Fund Raising
I have been unable to get in contact with the Boys and Girls Club or Walmart. I have the right numbers, no one is picking up. I will keep trying.

Shirts are a go. I think you need to go with something sleeveless and tech, so it is cool and wicks.

Unless I hear from Dr. Jimmy otherwise, I'm guessing Popsicles are also a go. Don't buy them just yet, but do be thinking about where you'd set up and what you'd charge.

12-minute run breakdown

Okay, so let me break this workout down for you...

12-Minute Run
Athlete		Laps	Yards	Pace
Alli	Guthrie	6.5	2860	7:20:00
Bret	Roberts	6.5	2860	7:20:00
Chloe	Evans	5.6	2464	8:34:00
Carlee	Tackett	5	2200	9:36:00
Danielle	Page	6.4	2816	7:30:00
Lauren	Mitchell	5.4	2376	8:50:00
Diana	Katau
Morgan	Benstin	6.4	2816	7:30:00
Carrie	Flinn	6.3	2772	7:38:00
Keeley	Bobbs
Madison	Ryan	6.3	2772	7:38:00
McKena	Voorhies	4.9	2156	9:46:00
Claudia	Abner
Jo	Scott
Zoe	Zollman	6.3	2772	7:38:00
Chelsey	Schofield
Chelsea	Scott	5.7	2508	8:25:00

The distances are approximate, but good enough for our purposes here. Remember, Parkview is a standard track, meaning it's in yards. That's 440 per lap, or 1760 per mile. If I multiply your number of laps by 440 I get your total yards. Dividing 12 minutes by your total yardage gives me your pace. Get it? Or at least, that's how it should look. I need to work on my Excel skills, because my formulas did not match reality, at first. I finally worked it out, giving me the numbers you see above.

Of course we could look at this from the distance run in time, which is like freezing a race at a specific point in time. It lets you know where you are relative to other runners in the same time frame. That's useful from a training perspective because it tells you what the gap is between you and others in a very palpable way. It can be discouraging if you view it the wrong way, that is, "I'm so far behind!" The proper way to look at it is, "Alright, now I see where I need to work. I'm getting to the next girl!"

That's it. Close that gap to the girl just ahead of you, and when you get her, go to the next one. If every girl does that, we all improve, and at the same time we motivate those around us to run harder.

The body will do whatever the mind accepts. Set short-term goals that are attainable, so your mind is willing to try. Getting to that next girl is an attainable goal. This should be something you strive for every day.

Next I'd like to look at a projected race based on today's run.

Alli	22:44:00
Bret	22:44:00
Chloe	26:33:24
Carlee	29:45:36
Danielle	23:15:00
Lauren	27:23:00
Diana
Morgan	23:15:00
Carrie	23:39:48
Keeley
Madison	23:39:48
McKena	30:16:36
Claudia
Jo
Zoe	23:39:48
Chelsey
Chelsea	26:05:30

Yup, those are your approximate race predictions. Of course this is road, not the BNL course, so bear that in mind. DON'T FREAK OUT! This is very early in the training cycle, so if the numbers aren't where you think they should be based on last year's running, calm down. What you will see is the numbers should improve from week to week. Yeah, if you get to the end of summer and your numbers don't move, we'll be talking. Right now, I don't see anything here that alarms me in the least. In fact, I'd say you guys are ahead of last year, many of you by a wide margin.

It's hard to hit the mark on the first hard day... to push to the appropriate level. It takes practice, just like proper racing pace. We'll be working a great deal on that, so don't worry, we'll dial it in. 

Finally, I am so pumped about what I see. You new girls are really coming through, you veterans are picking up where you left off, and I see nothing but positives here. What a blast!

Glad to be back!

Ladies,

I'm so happy to be back, even if I'm beat. We got in early Monday morning, and it was a short nap before I had to get up and get to practice.

I was glad to see all of you there. We upped the mileage today, as planned, and it seemed everyone took that well. We even got a new runner (hello, McKena!).

Tomorrow's practice will be the first time we push the pace a bit. It won't be a tempo per se, rather it will be a timed run. I'm borrowing the idea from VO2 testing inasmuch as the main component is time. It's simple really - once warmed up, you will all run for 12 minutes on the track. At 12 minutes, you stop, and we record how many laps you got, or rather, how many yards. That will give us a baseline number to work from, as well as pace.

Here's the thing - I don't want this to be flat-out running yet. We aren't ready for that yet. In a couple of weeks I'll feel more comfortable pushing you, but for now, we just need some preliminary numbers. This will help me make targets for each of you later specific to you.

Don't be afraid of the workout, it won't be that bad. Hard - yes. Horrible - no.

First day of summer - and it was pretty much perfect

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!

Summer is upon us!

Ladies,

Hard to believe it, but yes, it's time to start training again for the upcoming fall season. I know, I know, track just ended. I tried to give you as much time as possible to rest and heal, but facts is facts. We have to start hitting it again.

It's very important that we start as early as possible, that we are consistent, and for the love of all that is holy, that we stay healthy! A slow build-up is the best possible recipe, so girls, one this is for certain: you must run, and you must run regularly.

Next, I have a selfish request - let me determine when you should run hard. I know I share you with other sports and activities. I will do my very best to work with these coaches and sponsors so we keep your risk to a minimum. But you must understand... you cannot hammer activity after activity day after day without paying a price. Your body has a rhythm, and you must obey it.

This year I think I'd like to break the group up if possible. By that I mean we will have levels. This is so we get folks training specific to their abilities/conditioning. Last year we did what we had to do. This year I hope to do what we want to do. What will that look like? I rather imagine a fast/intermediate/novice ranking. With a little luck we'll have enough supervision to make this easily manageable. If not, I'll find some way. Bottom line; you experienced ladies will get the opportunity to run faster and focus more on your personal improvement.

That's not to say we don't want to work together as a team. Of course we do. I'll still expect everyone to encourage everyone at every turn. The older girls especially need to be accessible to the younger girls, to offer advice when and where possible/necessary. We need each other to succeed. We just need, each and every one of us, to be the best we can be.

I don't know about the rest of you, but considering how close we came last year, despite being in a very tough Sectional/Regional bracket... I want to go to Semi-State. We have the talent. Do we have the desire? Do we have the work ethic? I think so.

Let's get fired up, and let's get going!