Celtics suck

Oh Jeesh...

What ever happened to the supposed "luck of the Irish?" 5th, we got the 5th draft pick last night. We will get Joakim Noah, or Mike Conley Jr., or Jeff Green. That sucks. The Celtics are miserable, and getting this pick just solidifies that. Here are the top ten sports followings in New England (not just Boston) right now.

1. Red Sox Season
2. Patriots Season
3. Red Sox Off-season
4. NFL Draft
5. Boston Beanpot (College Hockey)
6. Snowmobiling Season
7. Ice-fishing Season
8. Celtics Season
9. Bruins Season
10. PawSox Season

Oy ve....

Summer Training

In lieu of giving out training logs for the summer, I plan on keeping this blog updated with weekly schedules for summer training. However, there is one caveat.

Technically, I am no longer your coach. Coach Ferguson is now your coach if you are still attending C.H.S. and your college coach is now your coach if you are about to graduate. You are under their tutelage now. So, any work-outs I post are SUGGESTIONS ONLY! You are not obligated to follow them, use them, or even read them. If your coach does not want you doing them, but you want to do them, you are doing them "at your own risk."

If you have any questions or anything that you need cleared up about the work-outs, please communicate with me through the comments section, as I will be out-of-town for quite a bit this summer, but still near an Internet connection.

Having said all that, my suggested work-out for all distance runners is:

TAKE THE NEXT TWO WEEKS OFF FROM RUNNING!!!

Don't run at all. Play basketball, go swimming, go for a bike ride, but give your running muscles some much needed time off to recover and recuperate from the long season we just completed. Your body and mind need some time off from the grind of running, this is your oppurtunity. Take advantage of it. Even you Steven! :)

I just want to say....

I want to say "Thank You" to all of the distance kids. I might not see you personally, but hopefully this is the next best thing:

Thanks Zach.
Thanks Steven.
Thanks Taylor.
Thanks Andrew.
Thanks Will.
Thanks Alex.
Thanks Beau.
Thanks Derek.
Thanks Taylor.
Thanks Josh.
Thanks Brian.
Thanks Chase.
Thanks Jack.
Thanks Patrick.
Thanks Jacob.
Thanks Brendan.
Thanks Patrick.
Thanks Socks.
Thanks Trey.
Thanks Ethan.
Thanks Kelsey
Thanks Katelyn.
Thanks Evin.
Thanks Kelli.
Thanks Kelsey.
Thanks Hedvilli.
Thanks Quincy.
Thanks Shelby.
Thanks Lexi.
Thanks Kirsten.
Thanks Caroline.

I don't think I forgot anyone, and if I did, I want to thank them too.

I want to thank everyone for their dedication and commitment to track. I know I run a tough program, I know that I can be hard-assed and unreasonable at times. Thank you all for listening to me, for trying your best for me, and for teaching me so much about running and coaching. I am very proud of all of you, not because of your times, but because you proved that you can do anything you set your mind too. All of you are truly wonderful.

Again, thanks everyone, it was a great ride.

Coach Sep

One Day To Go!!

Tomorrow at this time, our 4 x 800 teams will be warming up in anticipation of the biggest race of the year. Bigger than Mt. SAC, bigger than Regional Championships, bigger even that Cross Country State meet. In fact, all of you, especially the senior boys, will be getting ready for the biggest race of their high school careers. We can talk about scoring points for Chaparral, about bettering your personal bests, about setting school records, but there really is only one thing you have to do.

You have to race with your heart, race with passion, and not be afraid of anything. It's that simple.

I am nervous, I admit it. I will probably sleep like shit tonight. If you feel the same way, that's normal. Every study shows that one missed night of sleep does not affect athletic performance at all. (It better not affect "coaching" perfromance either!) But, you should be nervous, nervousness shows that you care about racing, that you want to race your heart out. Some butterflies in the stomach is a good thing, it shows you are alive.

Stay hydrated, eat well, and make sure to play a movie of you running like a champion in your mind every chance you get. Use self-affirmations, tap, tap, and do some more tapping. Smile, and prepare yourself for a great performance. If we all race like we are capable of, we can achieve fantastic things. I believe in every single one of you.

Sep

Correction

29 kids in 17 events, not 28.

(I am a science teacher, not a math teacher.)

Weekend Plan

We are bringing 28 athletes competing in 17 events this weekend to States this weekend! I am still shocked by the numbers.

Here is the tentative schedule:

The bus leaves CHS Friday morning at 6:20.
We will head to Panera for breakfast, then head up to JeffCo stadium.

The boys pole vaulters start at 9:30.
The girls and boys 4 x 800 teams race at 10:00/10:15.
The boys 4 x 200 prelims are at 12:25.
The boys discus starts at 12:30.
The girls triple jump starts at 12:30.
The girls and boys mile is at 12:45/1:00.
The girls pole vault starts at 1:00.
The girls and boys 4 x 100 prelims are at 1:15/1:40.
The boys 4 x 400 prelims are at 6:05.

Saturday we will meet at CHS again early in the morning. We will bring bagels and juice to "tailgate" in the parking lot. Then we will caravan up to JeffCo stadium.

The boys high jump starts at 9:30.
The boys 4 x 200 final is at 11:55.
The girls and boys 4 x 100 finals are at 12:35/12:55.
The girls and boys 800 is at 2:00/2:15.
The girls and boys 3200 is a t 3:05/3:20.
The boys 4 x 400 final is at 3:50.

NO EVENT WILL START BEFORE ITS POSTED TIME.

Practice this week will be very important. Everyone must be there, ready to do exactly what their coach wants them to do. Skip a practice, skip State meet. Alternates will train just as hard as the starters on the relay teams, as the alternates must be ready to go at the drop of a hat on race day. Lots of consistent sleep is important. Eating lots of carbohydrates, to fill your muscles with glycogen is important. Keeping as hydrated as you can stand is very important. (Clear pee, clear pee, clear pee!) Friday and Saturday are going to be very long exhausting days. We have come very far, but we are not done yet. The D.C. coach emailed me pointing out that with all of our States qualifiers, we should have a pretty good chance at placing at States. I think he is right, but we can't rest on our laurels, we have to stay focused and keep working hard for one more week. I will do my best to keep on top of everything, but you need to take in upon yourselves to stay in peak condition. The goal has changed, it was just to get to State, now it is to PR at States. I am pumped for a great week of practice and some great performances at States.

Logistics

Good morning,

A friendly reminder, if you are not competing at State, you need to turn in your uniforms, your wind-suit and your sweats to Coach Haubert of Coach Pfeiffer as soon as possible. They need to be washed and folded and labeled with your name. If you decide to keep them, you will be charged for them, and they are not cheap. Bring them to their classrooms during the day.

Also, the track banquet is this Saturday night, at 6:30, at the high school. Everyone, varsity and junior varsity is invited. There is no charge for athletes to attend, but I think that your parents might have to pay something, I am not sure. I am sure that everyone is welcome and it is going to be a fantastic time!

Sep

Predictions Re-visited

Well,

I predicted we would get a state qualifier in all of our events, and we came pretty damn close to doing that. By my shaky calculations, CHS track is sending 28 kids in 17 events. I am actually going to have to "coach" at JeffCo stadium this year. It's going to be like a normal track meet, not just an outing with one or two entrants. It is a far cry from my first year, where I showed up halfway through the meet, as I had zero distance kids competing. Wow, I am so proud and so happy for everyone. We are going to have a blast this week and this weekend, I simply can't wait.

"One more week of Practice!!"

Sep

Sleep

Hopefully everyone got a good night's sleep last night. I will talk about this more at practice, but consistent sleep is key to fast racing. You might be a little nervous the night before your race and get only a few hours of fitful sleep. That is OK, as long as you have been sleeping well for a few weeks before your competition. So, start now, budget your time, and make sure to recharge those cells as well as you can!

Just out of the Medals

Two fourth places for our teams at League this weekend. Not bad, but I really think we can get onto the medals stand this Friday-Saturday at Regionals. We are going to need some great performances from the entire squad!

Full Bus

I am still really excited about this past weekend, it's carrying over to this weekend.

I think we have a really good chance to get some kids to State in the following events:

Boys and girls mile
Girls two mile
Boys and girls half mile
Boys and girls 1600 m relay

Essentially, we have a shot to bring an athlete to State in all of our events!! Wow!!

I mean, we could really have a full bus next week, which would be awesome!!

Start getting good consistent sleep now, cause you might be nervous later in the week and you will need to have built up a good reservoir of rest.

The line-ups and race times are posted here.
We will be scratching both 4 x 800 teams and Steven in the 3200.

Been a While

Wow,

What a weekend! I am still on cloud nine after what could be considered the best regular season performance I have seen from the C.H.S. distance track team. Both JV and varsity perfromed so very well, I am so proud of everyone.

The JV races Friday night were awesome. We really stepped it up and came togeher as a team, tons of PR's, a few wins, it was a fantastic night.

State Qualifiers in both 4 x 800 relay teams. That really opens us up to get even more kids into State in even more events this weekend at Regionals.

New school records in both 3200 m races. I love scraping names off that board in the summer!

League Champs in the girls 4 x 800 and the boys 800. Fantastic, awesome, spectacular!

I am so proud of the second place finisher in the boys 3200. I know that he has been working so hard for 5 years now towards this goal, and he finally achieved it, I still can't stop smiling!

The workouts this week are designed to peak at Regionals and carry it over to State. One hard day on Tuesday, then some people will race for State on the weekend, while others will use it as training for State. Either way, we are in fantastic shape heading into the post-season of track.

I have the line-up 90% finalized, I just need to talk to Coach Pfeiffer about a few spots in the 400. I stayed up very late burning lots of state qualifier CD's thta I am very excited to give those away.

Everyone needs to understand that we aren't done yet, though. Making it to State is fabulous, but we are going to compete at a very high level. The season is not over yet!!! We are still going to work very hard and very smart the next two weeks. Don't lose focus, you have come way to far to lose focus!

The Track team banquet is Saturday night the 19th. I really hope everyone from distance and the entire team can make it. I have a hunch we will be in a very celebratory mood!!!

New Link

I've got a new link on the side of the page, a fantastic Red Sox blog page. I am very excited to follow the Sox this season, I really think they have assembled a great team!