Revised Line-Ups for Liberty Bell

New Liberty Bell Line-Up's here.

JV Line-Up Changes

See below:

Boys 4 x 800-Alex to Taylor to Brian to Derek
Boys 1600-Derek, Josh, Trey
Boys 400-Brian, Patrick B, Brendan
Boys 800-Taylor, Patrick B., Brendan
Boys 3200-Trey, Josh

Girls 4 x 800-None
Girls 1600-Evin
Girls 400-None from distance
Girls 800-Evin, Shelby
Girls 3200-None

Wednesday's Work-Out

Wow, no school in Douglas County, the sun is out and the birds are singing up here in the Tech Center. Weird Colorado weather, I will never figure it out.

Weather or no weather, we still need to get some practice in. Some kids did intervals yesterday I heard. If that was you, go for a 45 min run today.

If you did no intervals yesterday, this is your work-out. You need to complete it on your own, no organized practice today.

15 min warm-up jog, then stretch really well. Then do some "4-star specials"

A 4-star special is a 400 m at 5 km race pace, then 400 m jog recovery,
then 300 m at mile race pace, then 300 m jog recovery,
then 200 m at 400 race pace, then 200 m jog recovery,
then 100m all-out, then 100 m recovery. This is a continuous run, no stopping during it!

Rest about 5 minutes, then do another one. JV racers should do two. Varsity racers competing on Friday should do two, plus the next phase. Varsity racers only racing on Saturday should do three, plus the next phase.

If you are competing on Thursday in the JV meet, stop there. Go for a cool down run, stretch and be ready for Thursday's race at CHS.

If you are not competing in the JV meet, go on to the next phase.

Get hydrated, rest for about 8 minutes or so, then we are doing "tolerators"

Pair up with someone, if you can, and then do 200 m a little faster than a 400 pace, then shift gears and do 100 m at all-out pace. It's a 300 m interval, the first 200 are fast, then last 100 is all-out.

Rest about two minutes, then do another one. You should do about five of these total. Make sure you use good form and really work on shifting those gears at the 200 m mark.

When done, cool-down jog, and stretch! See you Thursday!

That's What Friends Are For

A good friend of mine just called me up, worried about my "tired" posting.

I am not taking it down, as I believe that what is said should stay said. I do want to just make it clear that the trip the team went on to Mt. SAC was stupendous, exhilarating and ground-breaking, in my humble opinion. I had a fantastic time, I have memories from it I will never let go of, and it was amazing that we got to expose our athletes to that level of competition. It was an irreplaceable experience for me, and if I insinuated that it was not, then I sincerely apologize.

I do not mean to diminish any of the hard work that went into it, nor any of the spectacular performances that came out of it.

Liberty Bell Line-Ups

This is a two day meet, we are dismissed from school Friday at 2:00. We need to be on the bus Saturday at 7:00. Here are the line-ups for this weekend.

With prom next weekend, and then Regionals, this is a great opportunity to show off everything that we can do before State. Race from your heart, but prepare with your head. Start eating well tonight, start visualizing yourself running well in English class today, and most importantly, banish any negative thought that even tries to creep into your psyche. We are an awesome team, coming together at the right time, so let's let the world know this Friday and Saturday!

Sep

Surfing

I have been using the image of surfing big waves for a few weeks now. What I mean by it is that we are racing very well, we need to keep that positive flow and attitude and keep "riding that wave" as long as we can. Here is the general schedule for the week.

M-Short speed day on grass
T-Long hard speed day on track, wear flats.
W-Recovery run
Th-JV meet at CHS with active rest
F-Race
S-Race
Su-Recovery run

I am excited, our training is working for us at the right time, let's keep working as hard as we can!!

Junior Varsity Freshman/Sophomore Championships

I love this meet, as we always do well in it. This is what I want people running on Thursday for this meet.

Boys 4 x 800-Alex to Taylor to Patrick A. to Derek
Boys 1600-Derek, Patrick A., Josh, Trey
Boys 400-Brian, Patrick B, Brendan
Boys 800-Taylor, Brian, Patrick B., Brendan
Boys 3200-Trey, Josh

Girls 4 x 800-None
Girls 1600-Evin
Girls 400-None from distance
Girls 800-Evin, Shelby
Girls 3200-None

If I missed a freshman or a sophomore, I apologize. Come see me when at practice and I can change it.

Final Mullen Line-Ups

The final Mullen Line-Ups are posted here. I have included the race check-in times and the actual race times. Unfortunately, we did not get all of the athletes in on the distance side that we wanted to, but that is the way these invitational meets work.

One thing we need to work on tomorrow is making sure all of our relay teams stay together before the race. That caused considerable stress in California, so I will address that today at practice and tomorrow on the bus. Extra stress on teammates due to one person wanting to "do their own thing" is unacceptable in the C.H.S. team concept. If you are on a relay team, you do what is best for the relay team, period.

This will be a long day tomorrow. No one will leave the meet to go home for any reason. This is the stretch run of our season, we have to attack it with full vigor, and we will!

Tired

I am tired. Plain and simple. That explains all of my behaviors the past three or four days. Pulling the Mt. SAC trip together was very difficult. More difficult than anyone can imagine. It was a lot of time spent in front of the computer, a lot of time on the phone, a lot of time crunching numbers. It was too much time planning the trip, and not enough time actually coaching, in my opinion. From keeping track of all of the entires and payments, to begging the meet directors to let kids in if they didn’t qualify, to trying to co-ordinate 28 kids and nine other chaperones, and every other little thing that I was in charge of; it drained me more than anything else I have ever attempted. I was tired going into the trip, which is a horrible way to start. It ‘s crazy, I did not procrastinate at all in the preparation, and I was still burning the candle at both ends for weeks right up until the time we actually got into the bus to go to the airport.

The trip was a success. No doubt, the trip was a success in my eyes. There were some bumps in the road, bumps that I will take care of next year, but I really thought we accomplished our goal of representing the team in a positive manner. Remember, we went there to compete and race. And we did that very well. If some kids thought the trip wasn’t “fun” enough, they need to remember that we went to run fast, not to tour Southern California. (Although I don’t understand how kids can think we didn’t have fun, as a day at the beach in lieu of training certainly qualifies as fun to this writer)

I am chalking up the bumps in the road to tiredness and crankiness. I think we were all tired and cranky, especially on Sunday, and that might be where some of the animosity arose. I had to make a great effort to not be tired and cranky on Sunday, as we had a busy travel day in front of us. That "face" I had to put on is why I am tired and cranky this week. It always catches up to me, I am lucky I am not sick in bed, as that is what usually happens to me when I get run-down to this degree.

What did I learn? I learned I am a great distance track coach (see: boys 4 x 1600), but I need some work in trip planning (see: driving directions). However, what I need to do now is put all of that, and all of the drama and conflict that some people think dominated the trip behind me. I am focusing on the Mullen invite. I need to focus on what is ahead, not what is behind. The ol’ saying of “Don’t Look Back” is very applicable in this situation. Maybe when the season is over I can reflect back and see the true pros and cons of doing the Mt. SAC trip, but for now, I gotta keep the throttle on full, as we have worked too hard, both coaches and athletes, to let the season slip away.

It's gonna melt

I just got an email from the Littleton Head Coach. He says he is going to run the Littleton meet Saturday come hell or high water. Be prepared to run in the cold and the snow!! Again, be prepared to run in the cold and the snow!! Here are the line-ups for the Nike/Littleton Meet, if you are not on this list, you will be expected to go to the JV meet on Friday.

Varsity practice for Friday: 3 slingshots per person, then go home
If it snows and the JV meet in canceled on Friday: Everyone go home.

Leaving on a Jet Plane....

Wow! We are finally here! This is exciting, I am really pumped up to head to California! This has been a lot of work for a lort of people, most of all Darren Lake and yours truly. We are here to compete, but we are also here to represent C.H.S with pride and dignity. Just rmemeber, we have every right to put anyone on a plane bound for Denver at any time for behavioral reasons. At your expense.

But enough with the negative stuff, let's have some fun. Here are the line-ups, and here is the baggage reminder.

I would recommend you pack tonight, as I know I am going to have a hard practice on Thursday for the distance kids. You will not have time to pack after practice. Take your spikes out of your shoes, and pack your de-spiked shoes as well as your uniform in your carry-on bag. Take some contact lens solution if you need it and I will be livid if I don't see water bottles in everyone hands on the flight. You can get super dehydrated on a plane ride.

See you tomorrow, woo-hoo!

Excellent Week

My props, shout-outs and general electronic high fives to the entire C.H.S. track team and especially the distance team for their outstanding work this week. Everyone responded exactly how I thought they would after Monday's little talk. Fantastic job, on Monday, Wednesday and especially today in the cold and the snow.

Here is next week's schedule, make sure to try and get some long running in tomorrow!

See you all on Monday, we will have another week of hard, hard work, that's the only real secret to success!