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%.
