Phoenix,
NXR recap
Our trip to NXR has concluded, and I want to thank everyone involved. First, athletes, you were very well behaved and great about being on time, generally quiet at the hotel, and supportive of your teammates. I was a bit worried about having 2 buses, with 79 kids, 89 people total on the trip, but there were pretty much no issues, and I can't thank you enough. Well done on the races, there were a lot of PRs, and, in spite of illness, some really great races. I know many of you felt like you didn't have your best day, some because of illness, others for perhaps unknown reasons. The best thing I can say right now, is to keep your head up and look forward to what is next. For some of you, that is life outside of high school, for others, it's next year. Regardless, you aren't defined by one race, even if it is your last xc race, but rather you are defined by how you approached it day after day. The journey is always more valuable than the destination.
Chaperones, thank you for taking time off to come help on the trip. Just by being there and being available, you were a huge help. The kids felt better about being there having many parents there willing to assist and support. In all sincerity, thank you for coming and sacrificing time and whatever else to come support.
Parents of athletes, thank you for allowing your kids to join us, everyone who attended made the trip better for others, each person added to the quality of the trip. For those that needed to, thank you for picking your kids up in the middle of the night, or waiting up many hours for their return. If your kids haven't told you, allow me to speak on their behalf: thank you for allowing them to go on the trip, and for paying their way (if applicable).
Speaking of paying, all the money that was left over after the buses and hotel rooms was used on the Jimmy John's. We had about $60 remaining, so we used that as a tip for JJs (after ordering 89 sandwiches, it seemed appropriate). In future years I'm hoping we can bring the cost down by completely filling the buses (we were about 15 kids short) and by getting the hotels earlier and securing a better rate. We could lower the cost by just filling the one bus, but I don't want to leave anyone out who has been on the team and training consistently. I've actually already spoken with a hotel (the one they went to last year) about rooms for next year, so I'll be ahead of the game. This year was somewhat difficult because I had never done a trip like this before. I just didn't know how much interest we'd have, so once I knew, there were basically no hotels that could accommodate 27 rooms that we needed. It was a long process with a lot of planning, and I learned a lot about how to make it better/smoother for next year.
If you have pictures or videos that you'd like to share with the group, I'm sure your teammates would be super appreciative. Here is the link to that album.
What's next?
We are going to take two weeks off of running, except for rare exceptions (if you are one of those exceptions, please talk to me). Therefore, for today in class, and next week, we won't be running. Today in class we will be setting goals and reviewing this season, so I encourage you to come. I will scan you in at the room we are meeting at (which is tbd, but will be sent out through the group chat). Freshman should come directly to that classroom. Next week in class we will do something similar but we won't be running and we won't hold after school practices. There may be days where you might want to take an "absence" to go home and do homework or something, but today we will meet as a group to do the aforementioned activities, and then there will be time to do homework you may have missed during the trip.
In early December we will meet for indoor track. The exact date is still tbd, as are the details, so stay tuned for that.
Shirts
Some of you ordered black long sleeve shirts, and some ordered the teal shirt and never picked it up. Both are available so please come by to get them from me.
Coach Jacobson
