8/31 update

Phoenix,

We had a very strong showing at our first race this year. We are in a great spot to start the year, but have a long ways to go. We need to stay locked in, or increase our locked-in levels. If you've been shirking the small things, like nutrition, recovery, sleep, arriving on time, going to optional practices, or anything else, time to get locked in. Time to walk the walk rather than talking the talk. If we can do those things, then we'll be able to reach our team goals. But it takes all of us.

I want to give one more shoutout to our Freshmen and sophomore team at timpanogos, they finished second by 3 points to american fork, and if we combined both sections they would have been 3rd or 4th out of 35 teams!

Schedule

A few notes on the schedule. First, I had region listed at being at Layton. It is not at Layton. It's at the Weber County Fairgrounds.

Second, on 10/25 we will be helping at the Farmington Howloween Half marathon, by running the aid stations and helping with clean up. This is our yearly fundraiser, and the race director is generously donating to the program, which allows us to get some of the gear (like shirts and bags you're all getting) and post season swag. 

Finally, we are going to Border Wars next week, but we will not be bussing. It's a crazy expensive meet, so I won't be entering anyone until you confirm with me that you are going by filling out this form.

This week

Week 14 - 80-90%			0.8	60	55	50	45	40	35	30	25
Mon	September 1	on own	distance run	8	8	7	7.00	7.00	6.00	5.00	3.00
Tues	September 2	regional park	lumberjack or speed intervals	4/5	3/5	3/5	3/4	3/3	0/5	0/4	0/5
Wed	September 3	FHS	distance run	7	6	6	6.00	6.00	4.00	4.00	3.00
Thurs	September 4	Forbush park	hills	3/6	3/6	3/6	3/6	0/6	0/5	0/5	0/6
Fri	September 5	FHS	Easy run	5.00	5.00	4.00	5.00	3.00	3.00	3.00	3.00
Sat	September 6	on own	long run with stamina	11.00	11.00	11.00	10.00	9.00	8.00	7.00	7.00
Sun	September 7		Off Day
Weekly Volume				49	47	45	42	37	31	28	26

8/24 update

Phoenix,

I hope the first week of school was amazing. I know the first period xc class was, with generous parents taking time and money to provide for our team, for which we are incredibly grateful. Having a chance to do morning runs/cross training as a team, and be able to fuel properly is a huge opportunity for our team. 

Next up in the first period class, we're going to try to bring a few guest speakers and/or runners to run with and talk to the team during breakfast, so stay tuned for that. 

If you would like to provide a breakfast for the team and haven't yet signed up, here is the link to that. If you have any questions about it, or would like to tag team with someone, let me know, or feel free to talk to others about a joint effort. 

This week

This Friday morning we will be going to the Timpanogos invitational at Lake Side Park in Orem! Our first official race is finally upon us. As the play by play announcer in "Angels in the Outfield" eloquently said, "All I can say is, it's about time." We cannot wait to see you get after it and see where we are. That said, we aren't full on "tapering" for the race, because we have a long way to go, so we'll do a moderate workout two days before, but a workout nevertheless. In fact, both of our "workouts" this week will be lighter, with Monday's more with the intent of developing aerobic power for the long haul of the season. 

Push each other this week and in the race. Compete on the course and see how high you and the team can finish. Challenge for those varsity positions. Support your teammates and root for their success. Believe in yourself and be confident. Talk with the coaches about a race plan, visualize that plan, and then execute it on the course. 

But seriously, we're chomping at the bit to get out and race, so stay positive, committed, and run for your teammates. During the week, be sure to arrange your lives so that you are getting enough sleep EVERY night, and getting enough fuel each day. 

Sleep diatribe

If you are constantly seeking  ways to improve, so you want to keep tweaking your workouts or increasing mileage, and you aren't getting enough sleep most days, then you're fooling yourself. The recovery is the other half of the scale from the stimulus. Not sleeping enough is a surefire way to making you feel worn out and plateau. 

If you're the person who every morning thinks, I'll go to bed earlier tonight, then when night rolls around you change your mind, then you need to change your procedure/routine. Mix it up, make a plan and stick to it, but don't keep depriving yourself of your greatest recovery tool. "Conner's super power is how much sleep he gets." - Clayton Young. Farmington High legend, 3200m record holder,  Footlocker National XC Finalist, and soon to be BYU athlete, Spencer Bradshaw, took his recovery as seriously as anyone with all the foam rolling, mobility, etc., but his greatest recovery-strength was his discipline to get to bed "early" and get enough sleep.

Race info

Anyway, back to the race details. The schedule is slightly different from what I had posted on the schedule page, so it's updated now, and I'll share it below. 

The buses will leave at 7 AM from the west side of the school. If you aren't done with register my athlete and eligibility, you won't be competing or coming to the meet. We will hand out uniforms to those who haven't received them yet, likely on Tuesday. 

I don't anticipate being back to the school until nearly 1 PM, or slightly later, so be prepared to miss most of the school day by communicating with your teachers. Also, bring food to last you through the day. 

Girls Frosh/Soph 9:00
Boys Frosh /Soph 9:30
Girls Varsity 10:00
Boys Varsity 10:30
Girls JV JR/SR 11:00
Boys JV JR/SR 11:30
Boys JV JR/SR 11:50 (if necessary)
Awards 12:15

Practices this week

We're lowering the mileage this week on account of the race, and will likely leave it a bit lower than MAX mileage most of the way. If we're going to recover from our hard bouts, and be able to keep the quality high, we're going to hang out slightly lower, like 80-90% of max for high mileage runners, while 30 mpw and below will likely stay at about 100%. 

Week 13 - 80-100%			0.85	60	55	50	45	40	35	30	25
Mon	August 25	FHS then to the regional park (on grass)	800s	8	8	8	7.00	7.00	6.00	6.00	5.00
Tues	August 26	FHS	Distance run	4/8	4/8	3/8	3/8	3/7	3/6	cross train/3	cross train/3
Wed	August 27	FHS then to the regional park (on pavement)	Race-like fartlek	7	7	6	6.00	4.00	4.00	4.00	3.00
Thurs	August 28	FHS	Pre-race	3/4	3/4	3/4	3/4	3/4	cross train/5	cross train/4	cross train/3
Fri	August 29	FHS	Race at Timpanogos, Bus leaves at 7	7.00	7.00	7.00	7.00	6.00	6.00	5.00	5.00
Sat	August 30		Long Run, can pick up at the end if feeling good	12.00	10.00	9.00	9.00	9.00	8.00	8.00	6.00
Sun	August 31		Off Day
Weekly Volume				53	51	48	47	42	34	30	27

8/17 update

Phoenix,

The summer is over in just a few hours. I've been saying this moment would come faster than any of us were ready for, and here we are. The good news is that the new school year coincides with the XC season getting in full swing, and for that, we are totally ready!

The time trial we had was awesome. I loved the effort, the support, the positivity, etc. May that continue throughout the season. 

Our three tenants that each of us need to work to instill in ourselves this season are as follows:

1. Team mentality

2. Positivity

3. Belief

If we can really make these concepts apart of who we are, we will reach our personal and collective potential much more readily. Find ways where you can improve in each area, and I guarantee you will not only have a more fun experience, but you'll become a much better athlete, and you'll see your times come down.

Practice Schedule Review

We will be practicing every day after school at 2:40. Typically we will meet outside the north doors of the building, but exceptions may be made to meet at other locations, so check the groupme after school. If travel is required, like going to forbush park or something, we'd probably start a hair later. 

9th graders and parents/drivers should join the 9th grader groupme so they know if we have run to a different location for practice, and can arrive by 3:15 or 3:20, and just come to the location we are. 

1st period Class

If you're in the 1st period class, and you should be, because it is not only "a vibe", "fun", the best class ever", etc., but we put it first period so that we could have built in morning runs on A-days, which is a pivotal way to improve aerobic fitness. Double runs prove to be one of the most effective ways at increasing mileage with less injury risk. Our morning runs will be 25-35 minutes each day, all at conversational pace. No pace pushing allowed. 

That class will begin at 7:20 AM, outside between the track and the east doors, on the walkway between the school and track. We will take roll at 7:20, and we'll be running by 7:25. Our generous and amazing parents who volunteer to provide breakfast will have that ready for us in the cafeteria by 8:00 AM, we'll eat until 8:20ish, then you'll have time to go get cleaned up. In the event you are ready for class prior to 8:45, you can return to the cafeteria and work on things there, but you are not to be wandering the halls. 

Parents, you can park in visitor parking up front, check in with the main office, then go to the cafeteria. If you need help bringing stuff in, our kids can help you upon return at 8ish. Athletes, please don't allow friends who aren't on the team to try and eat with us. The breakfast is for our class only - and we simply can't be feeding every non-class attender to eat, or you all may not have enough. I make no exceptions for that, otherwise word will spread and tons of people will start pulling up. I won't even allow other teachers to join us, they've asked haha.

This week

Our locations will vary a bit this week, but we haven't decided on where to meet to do the workouts most effectively on Tuesday and Thursday, so those will be sent out tomorrow. 

Day	Date	Location	Type	Total Mileage For Max
Week 12 - 100%			0.85	60	55	50	45	40	35	30	25
Mon	August 18	FHS		4/7	4/6	3/6	3/4	3/4	3/3	3/cross train	3/cross train
Tues	August 20	tbd	workout	8.00	7.00	7.00	7.00	6.00	6.00	6.00	5.00
Wed	August 21	FHS		11.00	10.00	8.00	6.00	7.00	4/cross train	3/cross train	3/cross train
Thurs	August 22	tbd	workout	8.00	8.00	7.00	7.00	6.00	5.00	5.00	5.00
Fri	August 23	FHS		4/6	3/5	3/5	3/5	3/3	3/3	3/3	3/3
Sat	August 24	On own	Long Run	12.00	12.00	11.00	10.00	10.00	9.00	8.00	7.00
Sun	August 25		Off Day
Weekly Volume				60	55	50	45	42	35	34	33