Darts -
It is hard to believe that we are down to the final 2 weeks of summer training. For the most part, I am pleased with the first 10 weeks. We have had our ups and downs, but I have seen a lot of improvement and commitment, and we are accomplishing our goal of building a solid base for our TEAM and I think many of you are going to be ready for the season. The final 2 weeks of the summer means it is time to get more intense with our training. For those of you who have been running higher mileage (50+ for the boys and 40+ for the girls) these last 2 weeks might even be slightly lower as we add in some more intervals and the Dart Challenge 5k (August 20th). I know that at times during the summer it is a challenge to stay motivated and to run on your own - but these last 2 weeks you have got to find some motivation to be consistently running. It will really prepare you for the first week of school when we begin to meet every day after school as a TEAM.
High Altitude Camp was a HUGE success. We were worried about the weather going into the camp, but we got lucky and were able to have a solid week of training and a fun week of playing. I want to thank all of the parents who helped with the driving and especially the parents who were able to camp with us through part or all of the week. Thanks to Brad and his kids, and Janae and Kenneth for all of their help in making the camp memorable. Thanks to the alumni who were able to come - you will all be greatly missed. And thanks to the athletes who earned the opportunity to attend the camp and made it so much fun. I was proud of the work we put in this past week, I was proud of your attitudes and your excitement for what we are doing, and I was proud of our TEAM for being unified and well-behaved. I didn't get to announce our "camper of the week" - but that was Brooke Gutzwiller. Thanks, Brooke, for always being so helpful and for working so hard and setting an example to us all. We are going to be doing things like cross country camp throughout the year (Bob Firman in Boise, Nike Regionals in Arizona, Simplot in Pocatello, and other fun things). The way to be involved in those things is to work hard, be committed and dedicated, and show me that you want to be part of the group that gets to do the extra things we do as a TEAM. I put some camp pictures on facebook - I don't think you need to be a "friend" of mine to see them - feel free to check them out. Good Times.
At cross country camp, we talked a lot about setting goals and doing the work it takes to accomplish your goals. I hope that you all have some type of purpose with your running. It does not matter what level of runner you are, you can all make contributions to our TEAM, and you can all learn to push yourselves and accomplish your own goals. We definitely like to win and be successful, but more importantly, we like to see you learning and growing and improving as runners and as individuals. As we begin racing in the next few weeks, do your best to analyze how your running is going and what kinds of things you can do to improve. Janae stresses the "little things" with running (abs, lifting, stretching, hydrating, diet, icing, etc) - all of those things combined can really make a big difference - and can really help you to see some progress. I would like to add PATIENCE to that list. Be positive through your challenges and setbacks. Realize that it takes time to see the improvements and the progress. It doesn't always happen overnight - or even over one season. Just because you might not be where you want to be right away, doesn't mean you should get discouraged or quit. One of the things that makes running so rewarding is that it takes time - and that it is NOT easy. The toughness of it, the challenges you will face, and the ups and downs are what will help you to feel satisfaction and pride for what you are able to do.
I hope that each of you will put a lot of heart and a lot of passion into the next few weeks of training and racing. I want to see people doing their best and learning from their mistakes. We are not going to see perfection right away, but we can give our best efforts from the start. I will never ask you to be a state champion - but I will ask you to do your best. The pre-season cross country polls have our boys ranked 6th in the U.S. (http://rise.espn.go.com/track-and-xc/rankings/harrier-xc/2011/Preseason.aspx) It is a little higher than I thought we would start - but it is totally within our reach. The girls' TEAM is going to have a lot of new faces on our varsity, and some people are probably not expecting us to be that tough - but I am seeing a TEAM that is filled with excitement, teamwork, and toughness. And I think our girls are going to surprise a lot of people - and even have a shot at another state championship. On both sides we can accomplish some remarkable things this fall as a TEAM. We are going to need to stay humble, passionate, and tough. And we are going to have to be a TEAM the whole way through.
*Make sure to send in your mileage for last week and any other weeks you haven't sent in. If you are not sure how much you ran at camp - just tell me camp + what you did on Saturday.
This week's workouts:
Tuesday, August 9th (tomorrow) - Meet at Barnes Park at 7:00am - we are going to do a 3 mile tempo run and a few strides on the grass. (This was not on the original schedule).
Thursday, Auguts 11th - Meet at Davis at 7:00am - we are running up to Nichols Park for some intervals.
Dart Challenge 5k: I will have registration fliers at all of the practices from now until the race. I will also send out an email. I hope that all of you are planning on running (even if you are not "ready" for it). It is how we start the season, and it is expected that you be there. It will be on August 20th at 8:00am at Barnes Park. Try to recruit some friends, family, or neighbors to join us.
Season Schedule:
August 20 Dart Challenge 5k
August 27 Grass Relays, American Fork
August 31 Pre-Region, Layton Park
September 10 BYU Invite, BYU
September 14 Davis County Championships, Layton Park
September 16 Murray Invitational, Murray Park
September 21 Open Meet @ Fremont
September 24 Bob Firman Invite, Boise, ID
September 28 Open Meet @ Syracuse
September 30 Orem Invitational, UVU Campus
October 5 Open Meet @ Davis (Barnes Park)
October 12 Region Championships, Layton Park
October 19 State Championships, Sugarhouse Park
November 19 Nike Southwest Regional, AZ
December 3 Nike Cross Nationals, Portland, OR
Shoes: Make sure that you are training in good running shoes. Striders in Layton is a great place to go - because they get you in the right pair of shoes. For cross country racing, it is good to get a pair of cross country spikes. Look for ones with rubber soles that have places for spikes (even if you don't end up racing with the spikes in) plus you can wear them when we get to indoor and outdoor track. eastbay.com is a good place to order shoes - and they sometimes have some great deals. Although cross country racing shoes are not necessary, I definitely encourage you to pick up a pair - because they will help you race faster. Here are some links to some good shoes from eastbay -
Mens - Saucony Kilkenny - http://www.eastbay.com/product/model:159999/sku:3201251/saucony-grid-kilkenny-xc4-flat-mens/?cm=GLOBAL%20SEARCH%3A%20KEYWORD%20SEARCH#sku=3201251
Mens - Saucony Shay - http://www.eastbay.com/product/model:146471/sku:3200834/saucony-shay-xc2-flat-mens/?cm=GLOBAL%20SEARCH%3A%20KEYWORD%20SEARCH
Mens - Nike Zoom Waffle Racer - http://www.eastbay.com/product/model:159767/sku:53972075/nike-zoom-waffle-racer-8-mens/?cm=GLOBAL%20SEARCH%3A%20KEYWORD%20SEARCH
Womens - Saucony Shay - http://www.eastbay.com/product/model:146469/sku:3100824/saucony-shay-xc2-spike-womens/?cm=GLOBAL%20SEARCH%3A%20KEYWORD%20SEARCH
Womens Saucony Kilkenny - http://www.eastbay.com/product/model:106836/sku:100474/saucony-grid-kilkenny-xc3-spike-womens/?cm=GLOBAL%20SEARCH%3A%20KEYWORD%20SEARCH
Womens Nike Jana Star - http://www.eastbay.com/product/model:144005/sku:07061001/nike-jana-star-xc-iv-womens/?cm=GLOBAL%20SEARCH%3A%20KEYWORD%20SEARCH
Bair Gutsman - Congrats to graduates Logan Petty, Adam Mathias, and Matt Swanson for their top 10 finishes at the Bair Gutsman last Saturday - definitely one of the toughest races you can run. All 3 of them got lost, but they were all able to finish strong.
Keep up the good running -
Coach Talley
No comments:
Post a Comment