DXC Summer Update - July 28

Darts - 

The season is getting close - I can feel it. I hope that you can feel it too and that you are getting excited to prove yourselves. I also feel a slight slip in our motivation as a TEAM, and we have to fight through that. There have been a few of you who have slacked on sending in miles the past few weeks, a few of you have had a dip in mileage the past 2 weeks, and I felt like we were not as positive and prepared as we should have been at the TEAM workouts this week. Maybe it is just me - I also had a rough time motivating myself this week. Sometimes it can be tough to get out and do what you know you need to do. It helps me to think about my teammates working their tails off for me. I don't want to let them down. It also helps to think about the TEAM goals and the work that I have committed myself to. Those things motivate me and when it comes to racing this fall - I don't even get to race. With August approaching, re-commit yourself to doing your best, to sacrificing for your TEAM, and to getting the most out of your running. That is one of the best things about running - even for me at 35 - that it pushes me to be my best, it challenges me, and it is not easy. The easy way would have been sleeping in this morning. 

I put a lot of trust in you as individuals. Some coaches at this point in the summer are meeting every day with their teams. I like the way we do things. I expect you to run on your own sometimes. It makes you more self-disciplined, it allows you to run when you want at your own pace, I hope it helps you to enjoy running (some of my favorite runs are on my own), and most of all - it gives you ownership over your running. If you struggle to run on your own when we don't meet as a TEAM, work on overcoming that weakness in your running. Someday you are not going to have a TEAM there to rely on. Someday you are not going to have your parents there to encourage you (or make you) do things that are good for you. Learn to take charge of your own life and your own success. Be self-disciplined. Doing things of your own choice and your own commitment give those things a lot of personal worth and satisfaction. Starting in about 3 weeks, we will be meeting most days as a TEAM, but there will still be some things I will expect you to do on your own. 

Camp - Those who are going to camp should be at the school at 8:00am on Monday morning. I sent out an important camp email earlier this week. Please let me know if you have any questions. I have all the equipment we need except a hatchet - so if any of you have one, please let me know. 

Those of you who are not going to camp, this is one of those times to work on some self-discipline. Here is what I have for you on the schedule, do your best to follow it:

Jul 30      6 - 8 mile Trail Run

Jul 31      10 x 400 @ race pace on a Hill with Gradual

                    Slope. Walk a quick recovery.    

Aug 1     3 - 6 mile Training Run + Strides

Aug 2     3 mile Tempo Run + 4 - 8 x :60 (on grass)

Aug 3     3 - 6 mile Training Run + Strides

Aug 4     6 - 10 mile Training Run

*The next time we will meet as an entire team will be on Monday, August 6th at the Vita Course.

Legacy Midnight Run - I need about 40 volunteers to help with the Legacy Midnight Run on August 3rd. We will be meeting in Farmington at 8:00pm (exact location tba) and helping at aid stations and at the finish line. They will be making a nice donation to our program for our help. You will also receive a t-shirt for helping. This can be Davis athletes, parents, friends, siblings, alumni, anyone really. We probably won't be done until about 12:30am or so (hopefully not much later).

Send in your mileage ASAP. I would like to have most of it updated before we head off to the Uintahs. 

Thanks

Coach Talley

Darts - 

This will be my shortest email update of the summer (I hope you have been reading them so far).

First of all, great job on another solid week of workouts. We had our 2nd biggest group of the year up at Vita on Monday (which is very good for this late in the summer) and we had a very solid tempo run on Thursday (where we had a record number of boys under 25:00 (20) and we had 4 guys go under the course record - Preston 20:50, Brayden 20:53, Andrew 20:59, and Alex 21:08 (the old record was 21:20). We also had a record number of girls under 30:00 (11) and that came with a lot of girls missing for the week. For the most part, we are progressing at a good rate. I would just encourage each of you to stay motivated, to stay excited, and to keep increasing your miles at a healthy rate. If you are finding it hard to increase your mileage, try running 2 times a day a few times this week (if you are not already). 

High Altitude Camp - We have just one more week before camp. We are meeting at the school on Monday, July 30 at 8:00am. If you have any questions about camp, please let me know as soon as possible. If you haven't turned in everything already, please do so on Monday this week. Everything includes: 1 - Parent permission slip, 2 - Waiver, 3 - Physical form, 4 - $120. If you have a question about any one of those things, let me know. I have attached the physical forms to this email in case you didn't pick one up at practice. 

Dart Challenge 5k - will be on Saturday, August 18th at 8:00am at Barnes Park. Everyone is expected to race. Please treat it as our first race of the season. You should also encourage your friends and family to compete - we use it as a fundraiser for the team to help us with meet entry costs, uniform costs, and a few other things throughout the year. Our goal is to have over 200 runners this year, but I will need your help. It is a 5k for everyone, not just high school aged kids. There will be technical tops this year for the first time. 

This Week:

Monday - Vita Course - like normal. 7:00am. Plan on running pretty hard, unless you are doing a road race on the 24th. 

Thursday - Barnes Park. 7:00am. We will be doing some 800m repeats (not too fast) on the grass. 

Keep up the good work. Send in your miles.

Coach Talley

Summer Update - July 14

Darts - 

We are half way. 6 weeks of summer training are behind us. Every year I count 12 weeks of summer training - we are going to count 12 weeks of summer training again. The nice thing this year is that after week 12, you still get another full week of summer before school begins. I will have you email me your training for week 13 - and it will be a bonus week - but we will officially count the first 12 weeks for record keeping. 

As you are half way through the summer training, I hope that you are getting an idea about what you can handle. I challenge each of you to take a close look at how you have done the first 6 weeks, and then to do a self-evaluation. Did you run as many days as you should have? Is your heart in it? Are you training daily with purpose and with focus on what you can become as a runner? Were there days you missed because you were lazy? What can you do better over the next 6 weeks? If you are not motivated - get yourselves motivated! (refer to the June 30th update - http://www.davisxc.blogspot.com/2012/06/dxc-summer-update-june-30.html). Then I want you to set a personal goal for what you are going to end with this summer. Our original goal was to get as many boys over 500 (41 mpw) and girls over 400 (33.33 mpw) as we can. I am really proud of where we are, but I think we can still be even better in the 2nd half of the summer. 

Boys - Our record for boys over 500 is 15 (2011) - right now we have 16 boys right on pace to hit 500 and another 8-13 still within reasonable range of hitting 500. I would love to see 20+ boys get in the 500 mile club. Our TEAM record for mileage in a 12 week period is 18,098 (2010). We are on pace to hit about 23,300. I would love to see us hit 25,000 miles as a TEAM. That would be a big deal, but it will take some work. We usually have a few kids fall off the charts at about this point in the summer - we are going to need everyone to keep working together - and everyone to keep reporting their mileage. 

Girls - Our record for girls over 400 miles is 15 (from 2010) - right now we have 17 girls on pace to hit 400 and another 6-8 who are still within reach of getting to 400. I would love to see 20+ girls get in the 400 mile club. Our TEAM record for total mileage in a 12 week period is 12,821 (2010 - we missed it by 86 miles last year). Right now we are on pace to hit 14,642 this year. I really think we can get to 15,000 if we have a TEAM effort. There are a few girls who have not reported their miles over the past 2-3 weeks. I will still take those, but not for much longer. To hit 15k - you girls are going to have to work together. It is really our first common TEAM goal of the season - and something we can only accomplish with everyone's help. I hope you are all on board with having a killer 2nd half of the summer. 

As you can see, this really could be our greatest summer ever - hopefully kicking off our greatest season in DXC history. I can't stress enough how important it is the rest of the summer for our TEAM to come together, and each individual to work hard and to work smart. The first half is over, and we can't get it back - luckily most of you have done what we needed you to. The second half is even more crucial to our success. There has been a direct correlation between the numbers I am talking about in this email (our summer results) and the success that our runners have had during the cross country season. We are doing this for a reason - to turn you into strong, healthy runners - both mentally and physically - to prepare you for the workouts, the races, and the challenges that you are going to face as a TEAM during this season. Not all teams are doing what we do in the summer, but all of the good teams are. This is going to make us the best we can be. Everyone can be a contributor.

Hope that explanation kicks some of you in the rear. 

Camp - If you have not turned in your initial deposit and BOTH camp papers (the permission slip and the waiver), please have those for me on Monday. I have copies of the physical forms that will also need to be turned in before you can attend camp. 

Final set of workouts - I have attached the workouts for the next 6 weeks to this email. I will also have hard copies on Monday at the trails.

Kaysville 5k/10k (4th of July)

I forgot to point out some great performances at the Kaysville races on the 4th of July - 

5k:

Sam Haws - 16:33, 1st overall

Taylor Goldsberry - 16:56, 2nd overall

Ethan Stuart - 17:36, 5th overall

Austin Allred - 17:44, 7th overall

Josh Martineau - 19:04

Kyle Green - 19:52

Josh Robinson - 20:40

Mikell Wood - 20:32, 5th female

Taylor Barton - 24:23

Phebe Krutsch - 27:30

10k:

Alex Hedquist - 35:27, 2nd overall

Josh Ward - 37:59, 3rd overall

Bryce Ferguson - 41:23

Jacob Luddington - 58:45

Ashley Tyndall - 43:15, 1st female

Chelsey Johnson - 43:26, 2nd female

Sierra Graham - 45:23, 4th

Joanna Boyd - 46:09, 6th

Josey Hedquist - 48:35

Rachel Johnson - 48:36

Sam Hedquist - 49:30

Farmington Days - I know that many on our TEAM ran well in either the 10k, the trail race, or the half marathon at Farmington Days - the results are not yet posted, but eventually will be at http://strideracing.com/race-results-2012.html

Nutrition - Some of you are going to be frustrated with me. I will include some more nutrition information very soon. This email just got too long. 

Nutrition is extremely important when we are working this hard. It is especially important to make sure you are getting enough calories, enough hydration and electrolytes, the right vitamins, and the right recovery foods. I found a web site that you can treat as homework - http://running.about.com/od/nutritionandhydration/a/runnersdiet.htm - please go through the information and let me know if you have any specific questions at this point. Especially if you feel that you don't have energy and that you are not recovering from our hard runs.  

Devin Lang has also proven to be a very valuable resource for our TEAM with regards to nutrition. You can email him questions at devin.lang@aggiemail.usu.edu

This week - 

Monday - Vita Course, 7:00am - only 4 summer vita courses to go, btw.

Thursday - Layton Park, 7:00am - we will be doing a 4 mile tempo run and a few 400 repeats on the grass

Friday - Girls run - meet at the school at 7:00am - girls only.

Be excited to run. Have a nice weekend.

Coach Talley

Summer Update - July 9

Darts - 

Sorry the weekly update was a little late this week - I was out of town all weekend. 

I just wanted to start this week by telling you all that you are doing a great job. We are running as strong as a TEAM in the summer as we ever have. It is good to see you working together and it is good to see so many of you developing and getting stronger because you are willing to put in some hard work. I am really pleased with our progress as a group. If some of you are feeling discouraged - don't give up! Stay patient with your running. It might take some time (and sometimes it takes longer for some people), but you will see the benefits and you will see improvements. Try very hard to only judge yourself against yourself. Don't worry if teammates are faster or slower than you - do your individual best. If you go through weeks or periods where  you don't feel as strong--stay patient. You will start to feel better again. When you are working pretty hard, you are going to have times where you feel tired, you have to push through those times, and you should start to feel better. I am really proud of the way this TEAM has worked through the first 5 weeks of summer. 

There are still some of you who are not giving what you can - I encourage you to be a little tougher and be more committed. I promise that the work we are doing now will pay off in the fall. And there are some of you who have not been involved at all this summer - the invitation is still open to start joining us. But you ought to do it sooner rather than later in the summer. 

Also - great job on the run to Adam's Canyon Waterfall this morning. It was a good reminder that we need to work on being tougher. Although there were about 65 of you there, and there should have been close to 90.

Strides: A few of you have asked what a "stride" is. When I have "strides" on the workout schedule, you are supposed to find a grass field or a stretch of flat road where you can run 5-8 x 20 seconds at a fast pace. It is not quite a sprint, but it is pretty close to that. Focus on having good running form (tall posture, relaxed arm swing, getting your knees slightly higher than normal). Basically be fast and relaxed through your strides. 

Plan your weeks: It is a good idea to go into a week with a plan. I have given you a general workout plan, but you should be making it a little more individual depending on what you are able to do. For example, if I wanted to hit 40 miles this week, I would do the following:

Monday: 8 miles - up to Adam's Canyon Waterfall

Tuesday: 6 miles on a flat surface with 5 x :20 strides in a park somewhere in the run

Wednesday: 5 miles

Thursday: 7 miles with the mile repeats at Lagoon trails.

Friday: 6 miles with strides

Saturday: 8 miles

Total = 40 miles

*Once you get above 40 miles, it is time to start looking at running twice a day a few times a week in order to get your mileage higher. At 60 miles per week, I suggest you run twice a day 3-4 times in the week. 

**Your long run should be about 20-25 percent of your week total. (8-10 miles for 40, 10-12 miles for 50, 12-15 miles for 60).

Nutrition: will have to wait until next update. Sorry if you were excited to read about it. I didn't want to make this email too long (plus I am still doing some research). 

Season Schedule: The season race schedule is posted on the blog. It can be found at http://www.davisxc.blogspot.com/2012/06/2012-cross-country-schedule.html Please do your best to be available those dates. 

Cross Country Camp: Last week I sent out the list of those who are invited to high altitude camp. Once again, if you were not on the list but we like to be considered, let me know ASAP. If you are on the list, but can't go - also let me know ASAP. The parent permission slip and camp waiver and $60 (first half payment) are all due on Thursday (July 12th). I have attached those papers to this email as well as the one I sent last week. 

Dart Challenge 5k: We are in charge of a road race 5k every year. It is a fundraiser for our team, and a great tune-up race before the cross country season begins. This year's Dart Challenge 5k is on August 18th at 8:00am at Barnes Park. More information can be found at www.dartchallenge5k.blogspot.com You can also join the Dart Challenge facebook page. 

This week:

Thursday - meet at Davis High at 7:00am. We are going to the Lagoon Trails for mile repeats. I will bring the popsicles. Don't forget your camp forms and money.

Friday - GIRLS run - meet at Davis at 7:00am (girls only).

Send me your miles if you haven't already. Both the girls and the boys are on pace to shatter the TEAM records. After this week, we are going to set a team goal for the second half of the summer.

Thanks.

Coach Talley