Photos from the home course Time Trial!

On Saturday, 11/7/20 we ran our second XC-style time trial of the fall on the 3mi/1.5mi home XC course. We lucked out with the weather and despite the early chill had an excellent sunny morning for running. A terrific job to all and I really can't wait to get back to regular blog posting for races and the like when XC resumes again this spring :)

The final week of fall XC: 11/9-11/16

Hi all,

A slow start for me to the final week, but hopefully you all took a nice day off today or went for a short little outing in the snow. A little hard to tell what the rest of the week will actually bring on the weather front, but we will start with a plan and play it by ear.

I know that many of your have switched over to basketball or fuller-time ski training. No worries on either front and it was great to have you join us as often as you were able. We look forward to getting everyone back together again for an official XC season in the spring!

FOR THE WEEK AHEAD: A taper week for one last race effort on the weekend. Tues may last closer to 5 depending on seeding duties, but Thurs. we'll be done by 4:15-4:30 or so. 

TUES 11/10 - We will help Hanz with some seeding on the new campus trail, run a little with some strides.
WED 11/12 - Another short easy dist. day 20-30 min. Trying to rest a bit here for one more race effort :)
TH 11/13 - A short (really short!) speed workout and stretching.
FRI 11/14 - A 20 min run and a stride or two.
SAT 11/15 - A final race either on the course or on the track (depending on snow amounts though the week and conditions. Time, TBD, but ideally around 10am.

Thanks to all of your for putting in some work and for making an excellent effort at consistent and regular training this fall. If was fun to gather and to do a little work. We learned some things, had some fun, and are better for it all around!

Have a good week and we'll see you soon!

Erik, Sarah, and Liam

A Sat 10/3 Update and Week #2 of the fall/"summer" XC Season!

Hi all,

SO much fun to gather for our Woodbridge Invite Virtual Effort on the track last night. Even with just 10 participants and 1 min start intervals, the atmosphere and energy put a smile on our faces and it really felt like we should get back on a bus and drive home from some far off locale :)

Today my throat feels like I was screaming at a XC invite for an entire afternoon and its a nostalgic sense of "normalcy" that was great to experience. Good stuff all around!!!

We'll try another one of these nighttime track efforts a few more weeks down the road and we highly encourage you to give it a try -- even if you're a bit skeptical of the track ;)

ON THE UPDATE FRONT:

It's been SUCH a busy first three days of meeting already (Lewis Butte, practice, 3mi track race) that we'd like to postpone the previously planned Buttermilk Butte Climb until the following Sat. 10/10.

For those that would like to run tomorrow. We'll be at Chickadee Trailhead at 9am. A easy distance run will be the plan. 40-60min or whatever you'd like for you. Just another good chance to gather for a run. No major hill to climb or long dirt road to navigate.

**FOR NEXT WEEK 10/5-10/11:
M 10/5 - off or easy long run.
T 10/6 - @ School Workout 3:30pm + Core
W 10/7 - easy d. 20-40min + 6 x 15 sec. s
TH 10/8 - @ School Workout 3:30pm + Core
FR 10/9 - easy d. 25-35min + 6 x 15 sec. strides
S 10/10 - SPRC Buttermilk Butte Climb! Meeting time TBD.
S 10/11 - OFF or easy long run.

** As per usual we will help you modify depending on how much you have run of late. The max end for time/distance of this plan is targeted for those with consistent base miles over the last 6-8 weeks but anyone can participate with thoughtful modifications.

Thanks again for yesterday's truly great event and we look forward to seeing more of you whenever you can come.

Erik, Sarah, and Liam

No Coach Practice Recs: 9/7-9/13

Keep that groove going and do what you can to bridge the gap to coach-led practices again on 9/28!

For this week, some TEMPO and some REP work plus a Saturday TT. Next week we'll have a race opportunity with the Woodbridge "Trample the Virus" Virtual Invite :)

M 9/7 - Easy d. 

T 9/8 - Warmup 10-15, REPS 4 x (300, 200, 100) w/walk back rest @ 800m. pace. 10-15 cool down.

W9/9 - Easy d. 30-40min.

TH 9/10 - Warmup 10-15, skips, strides etc. 2-3 x 3mi or 800m @ TEMPO + 4 x 200 @ 800m pace. 10-15 down.

FR 9/11 - Easy d. 25-30 w/ 4-6 15 sec. strides. 

SAT 9/12 - 2mi TT Be sure to get in a nice "race ready" warm up w/ skips, strides etc.. AND extend your cool down for at least a 15min goal. 

SUN 9/13 - Off or easy shake out hike/bike. 

Please also remember to sign up for the virtual race! The registration deadline is Friday, 9/11/20 @ 8:59pm. You should register in the "White" A Division for the smallest schools. Varsity Boys are in race #21. Girls are in race #17. Our team code is: 3DR8B5SW 

We plan to host the race at 7:30pm on Wednesday evening, Sept. 16th. 

Have a good week!

Erik, Sarah, and Liam

No Coach Practice Recs: 8/31-9/6

Hi all,

We hope that everyone is well and that those of you coming back to school for the hybrid model next week are looking forward to it at least a little bit :)

Classe schedules, like everything else of late, will be different and take some adjustment, but if we think it through, practice patience and perseverance, we can certainly all be better for it. And of course the same is true for those opting fully remote.

On the running front, continue to do the work and to give yourself some grace. Athletes around the world have been trying hard to make the best of it -- but even those that are racing (Diamond League track runners etc.) are doing so with shortened seasons, very few fans (if any) in the stands, and with a pretty good perspective and appreciation for the goals that can be accomplished.

The general sentiment has been "have some fun, race a little because that is a big part of the sport" but also don't go TOO crazy or worry too much. We want to help you work this fall. We want help to push you to get better and to run some fast efforts. We also just don't want to the opportunity to improve and to keep the "team" ideas alive as much as possible. Whatever we can do to help please do let us know!

FOR THE WEEK AHEAD:
M 8/31 - Easy distance 35-60min + 6 strides
T 9/1 - Something quicker/shorter: Warmup 10min. Skips etc. 1 mi at TEMPO** (to get you really warm), 2min R, 3 x (300, 200, 100) at 800m pace - walk back 100m rest, 2min R after first set. 2:30 after the second. Warm down 10min.
W 9/2 - Easy d. 30-45min.
TH 9/3 - Warmup 10+ min, 6-10 HILLS 40-60sec. duration. Cool down 10+ min.
F 9/4 - Easy d. plus strides and strength.
S 9/5 - Longer distance approx. 20% of weekly miles.
S 9/6 - OFF or easy hike/bike

**Reminder, TEMPO is not 5k race pace. It is a "comfortably hard" pace 25-30 sec. slower per mile than your current 5k pace.

ALSO, try to keep up with 2 days of core strength and leg lifts per week :)

WOODBRIDGE INVITE
We've added just a little speed these last two weeks again to hep you feel better when racing the virtual invite on in a couple of weeks :) It's a virtual event, so you can run it anytime between 9/12 and 9/18 but we will propose a gathering time on one of those days and will support with timing assistance in some capacity or another as allowed. Ideally, we will do this later in the day and maybe even under the lights on the track -- totally fun!

You can read more about the event here: https://www.athletic.net/CrossCountry/meet/170240/info

General Coaches Practice Schedule - summer 2020

PLEASE NOTE: In order to better facilitate the flow of runners and to provide for better social distancing, HS and JRH will start 30 minutes apart on TUESDAYS at Chickadee. 

TUESDAYS - 7:30-9am at Chickadee Trailhead. Generally Easy distance in the shade with some strides/strength. 

HIGH SCHOOL starts at 7:30. JRH starts at 8:00am.

THURSDAYS - 8-9:15am at LBHS track. Strength circuits again and easy distance. 

SATURDAYS - 7:30-9am at LBHS track. HIGH SCHOOL ONLY. It's not that we don't LOVE the JRH. but we believe in slowly adding work over time. JRH races 1.5 miles max. HS race 5k. Great for HS to do a little more summer work plus some speed and pacing play one day per week in the summer... but JRH can sleep in on the weekends :) 

See you out there!

GRRR!!!

Summer XC 2020!

Greeting all!

We are excited to have the opportunity to provide summer running practices for our returning and incoming athletes. To ensure that our practices comply with MVSD and State guidelines for safety, we will do the following:

• We intend to host up to 3 practices per week. We will ask athletes to RSVP to us by 8pm the night before a practice to let us know if they plan to attend. We will then split the athletes into groups of 4 and assign a coach or a captain/upperclassman to each group of 4. If our numbers are large, we will have groups of 5, with coaches providing oversight from a distance of at least 30 feet.

• As summer attendance is more sporadic than during the fall, we will make every effort possible to keep athletes in the same groupings throughout the summer, recognizing, however, that some athletes may only attend a few sessions.

• We will host practice at an outdoor location large enough to allow each grouping to maintain 6ft distance within their group and at least 30 feet between groups. As examples, we may meet at the school grounds, the large grassy area of Winthrop Park, and/or Twisp Park.
  
  
• We will remind our athletes that they need to maintain the 6ft of social distance at all times during the practice.
  
  
• We will ask each athlete (and coach) to bring:
  
  - Their own water bottle.
  - A mask, to be worn during stretching + pick-up time and in case we need to help an athlete with an injury or other situation requiring being closer than 6ft.
  - All of their own athletic gear for running – watch, shoes, clothing, etc.
  
  
• At the beginning of each practice we will ask each athlete the health screening questions (cough, fever, etc.) and take their temperature. It is our understanding that the school will provide a forehead/no-touch thermometer for this.
  
  
• We will send home any athlete who answers ‘yes’ to any of the screening questions or presents with a forehead thermometer reading of more than 100 degrees.
  
  
• It is our understanding that the school will be providing the team with hand sanitizer. We will start each practice by asking each athlete to sanitize their hands.
  
  
• We will host summer practices starting on Thursday, June 25th thru the allowed period provided by the WIAA (usually end of July). We will then prepare an updated plan for the fall season.

As always, summer practices are optional. We will be more than happy to provide general guidelines on mileage and training for those athletes who feel more comfortable training on their own. Stay tuned for a general schedule with times/places and potential updates and workout ideas for those that cannot attend. 

Looking forward to it!!!

Alternative Track Workouts

Hey all,

I'm going to tap into this XC blog as an extra spot to post suggested track workouts for the spring. This is not a formal thing. It is not required. We should all assume that there will be no track season but it also still feels right to provide some suggested guidance for what you could choose to do with enough time and space to make it happen. Please click on the ALT TRACK page tab above and I will happily communicate suggested workout ideas for each week starting 3/17.

We want to keep you active. We want to help you establish and achieve some goals. But most of all we want to encourage a smart and pointed participation in keeping you and your community safe in this crazy time. Wash your hands. Please DO practice social distancing with other people and limit your gatherings of groups of any size.

Be safe out there and we'll see you soon!