Darts -
I hope that you were able to stay consistent through the second week of summer training. As your emails came in last week, I was very excited to see so many of you fired up and determined to have a solid summer of running. We set new records for our first week of summer for both the girls and the boys. The girls ran 1264 miles - beating the record we set last year with 1215; and the boys ran 2228 miles - also beating last year's record of 1900. The important thing now is that we continue to work together and continue to find things that will motivate us and keep us going through the summer. If there are any of you who have not yet come to a TEAM practice - you should come to the Vita Course with us next Monday.
Please send in an email with your mileage sometime between now and Monday. Those of you who are new to this, remember to stay patient with yourselves. Give yourself time to improve and adapt to running. I hope that you will stick with it, and I hope that some of the advice in this email and an upcoming email about summer motivation will help . . .
Running More and Still Feeling Good:
If any of you are feeling pretty tired from the running these first 2 weeks, you need to understand that it is normal to feel some fatigue when you increase your mileage. I like to go through a self-inventory when I feel worn down. Ask yourself the following questions:
1) Am I getting enough calories (fuel) for the amount of training I am doing? Also - am I eating the right things at the right time? You will recover faster and feel better if you are eating about 20 grams of protein and about 40 grams of carbohydrates within 30 minutes after you finish running. If you are going to be at the school lifting weights after we run, it might be good to bring a little bit of food to eat after you finish running. It's also good to eat and drink a little in the mornings before you run - I usually don't eat much - maybe some toast with peanut butter and a banana and some water. It is also important to make sure to get iron in your diet - it is great for recovery. I have attached a nutrition guide that was put together by Coach Timothy. It is also posted at: http://davisxc.blogspot.com/2013/06/the-davis-high-elite-runners-diet.html, please look through it closely.
2) Am I getting enough sleep? Eight hours is recommended for a normal person; I have found that most runners should be getting between 8-10 - especially when you are hitting 40+ miles in a week. I know that it is a challenge in the summer to stay disciplined with your sleep, but you will find that if you get the right amount of sleep that your body will feel better, you will recover faster, and your running will go better.
3) Am I staying hyrdrated? You are going to hear me say it so much over the next 5 months because it really does make a huge difference (especially when it is hot) - STAY HYDRATED. Drink a lot of water! Try to have a water bottle with you through most of the day.
4) Am I stretching after I am done running? A great way to make sure that your muscles recover and that your flexibility increases is to have a good stretching session at the end of your run. Spend 10-15 minutes and you'll feel a lot better.
5) Have there been changes in my training? Most of you have had quite a jump in your mileage as we have started the summer. You need to realize that the increase in mileage will most likely make you feel a little more tired. If you push through the first few weeks, you should start to feel better - but you may need to make it through a few runs where your legs feel heavy and you just feel tired. That's normal. Stay tough and stay motivated and stay consistent and it should get a lot better. Also realize that if you have put together a string of hard days, it is important to have a recovery day where you might run fewer miles at a slower pace or you might even cross train instead of running.
This week:
Monday - 7:00am at the Vita Course. My challenge to you new runners is to try to go farther than you did last Monday - and maybe to walk a little less on the hills. The Vita Course will challenge you each week (it still challenges me after 10 years of running it on Mondays in the summer), but I hope you feel satisfied when you are done with a challenge like that. Congrats to Colton Rimann, Stokton Smith, Josh Ward, and Logan Haviland for joining the sub 50:00 club last week.
Tuesday - 7:00am - meet at Davis. The schedule says we will be running at the Lagoon Trails - but we will actually just be running something from the school.
Thursday - 7:00am - meet at Davis - those of you who are running the Wasatch Back Relay later on Thursday will not need to come to the Thursday morning practice.
You will be on your own on Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday. I encourage you to find teammates to run with who are about your ability level. Get to know each other and start to build friendships.
Great job with the first two weeks. Keep running strong.
Don't be afraid to ask questions in your emails this week - I will do my best to answer them all.
Have a great Father's Day.
Thanks,
Coach Talley
ps. Don't forget to "follow" the Davis High Cross Country Facebook Page. I will try to post some extra running tips and motivation on a weekly basis.
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