Gauntlet Throw Down

Monday afternoon practice.

9 degrees Fahrenheit.

12 mph winds, from the North.

Wind chill index of -9 F.

Snow covered track.

Nine kilometer repeats.

Minimal rest.

I hope other teams are reading this, I wonder what they did yesterday afternoon??
The gauntlet has been thrown!
C.T.O.Y.S.

Great Meet

Wow, what a great meet we all ran today. As I say every year at this time, for this early in the season, with the amount of speedwork we have done, to run such great times is very re-assuring for me and for all of us. Below are this year's results. (Sorry they are so hard to read, still trying to figure out how to insert tables into my blog. If anyone can help, please let me know!)

Alex Mile 4:43 400 m 54.2
Taylor Mile 5:01 800 m 2:07
Josh Mile 5:03 800m 2:21
Trey Mile 5:04 400 m 60.94
Keagan Mile 5:04 Two Mile 11:03
Nathan Mile 5:11 800m 2:18
Brendan Mile 5:11 800 m 2:28
Cam Mile 5:23 800 m 2:30
Mark Mile 5:32 800m 2:25
Ryan Mile 5:39 800m 2:28
Katelyn Mile 5:49 800 m 2:35
Caroline Mile 5:52 800m 2:37
Bree Mile 6:10 Two Mile 13:17
Kelli Mile 6:13 800 m 2:38
Melanie Mile 6:14 800 m 2:42
Tyler 800 m 2:18 400/200 53.2/24.4
Patrick 800 m 2:25 400 m 57.56
More Results!
Travis 60 m H 9.69 200 m 24.9
Julia 200 m 30.47
Brian 200 m 24.5
Dan 200 m 26.3

Those were the results that I corralled, official meet results can be found here.
Air Force Academy Results

Even though they might not feel it, everyone has improved since we December, and by quite a bit. Or, compare you times against last year at this meet, by scanning down to the "Indoor Meet" post, there was lots of improvement over last year. Everyone who raced yesterday moved up a level in their training, and that new focus of training will start tomorrow. That is the goal of this program, to progress slowly and purposefully, and to be racing fast in May, not necessarily in January. Excellent work everyone!

On the side bar is the updated weekly plan, as well as an important question for you all. Now, this might be a tough one to really answer truthfully, but I am wondering what everyone's opinion is in regards the location of Spenst Hill. Which hill, the Grandview Access Hill we jog to, or the Parking Lot Hill, gives an athlete a better Spenst Hill workout? Which hill better preapres you for running and racing? Is it the longer, but less steep, Grandview Hill a better hill, or is the shorter steeper Parking Lot Hill better to train on? Now, don't answer on which one is easier, or more fun but rather which one is better for you as a runner. Be honest, be reflective, be true to the goals you set at the beginning of the year, and remember, this is ultimately for your benefit. (And no "vote early, vote often". Vote once, make it an intelligent choice, and we will see what comes up by Wednesday at noon.)

SEP

P.S. 40 Days to League Relays!

Last Minute Change of Schedule

Good morning,

Unforeseen circumstances have come up, and I will not be in town on Friday afternoon/Saturday morning. Unfortunately, that means I will not be around for the Kenyan Run on Saturday morning. That is a very important work-out, and I do not want to miss it. In order to keep progressing in the right direction, I want to re-schedule the Kenyan Run from Saturday morning at my hosue to early Friday morning (tomorrow) at the Sierra track. It works out a little bit better, having a speed workout on Friday, long run on Saturday, then racing on Sunday.

I will be at the track at Sierra at 6:40 tomorrow morning with all of the equipment and the times to complete the Kenyan Run. Yes, it will be dark, yes it will be early, but it is the only time I can execute the workout and I encourage all of you to be there ready to run in your trainers. If all the distance kids show up, the workout will be a lot easier for everyone. Plus, you can go home and go back to bed, as you guys have the day off from school! Then, Saturday's workout is what Friday should have been, a long aerobic run on your own. Sunday will will race as scheduled.

To re-cap:
Today, active rest run and strength after school.
Friday, Sierra track, 6:40 am, Kenyan Run.
Saturday, long aerobic run on your own.
Sunday, race at Air Force Academy.

Also, if you do not have an up-to-date USATF number on file with me, you will not be scored in the results. Please check to make sure you USATF numbers are current, if you are unsure, ask me today or tomorrow morning.

SEP

P.S. Only 44 days to League Relays!

Entries for this Week's Meet

Bergen Melanie Mile 800 m
D'Agostino Julia 200m 60m
Fredrickson Kayla HJ TJ
Grimm Alexis HJ 60m 200m
Hanrahan Kelli Mile 800 m
Hine Caroline Mile 800m
Nelson Bree Mile Two Mile
Wojan Katelyn Mile 800 m
Balsiger Alex Mile 400 m
Batt Travis 60 m H 200m
Brost Tyler 400 m 200 m 800m
Bull Ryan Mile 800m
Burt Brendan Mile 200m 800 m
Cottingham Trey Mile 400 m
Eidt Taylor Mile 400 m
Ingram Mark Mile 800m
Lake Josh Mile 800m
O'Connor Josh HJ 60m
Purdue Nathan Mile 800m
Vargo Keagan Mile Two Mile

Please double check these to make sure they are right. If any changes need to be made, please contact me as soon as you can in the comments section.

Only 45 more days to League Relays!

SEP

EDIT:
Barringer Patrick 800m 400m
Miller Dan 60m 200m

Track Packs & Race Choices

Just a reminder, your CHS Track Pack Order Forms are due on Wednesday at the start of practice.  See Coach Hawk if you have any questions.

Also, your choices for racing on Sunday are due by the start of Wednesday's practice as well.  See the Indoor Track posting below for more details.

Only 46 more days to League Relays!

SEP

Nordic Ski Trip

Mackenzie flying up the hill.

The girls returning their equipment.

Katelyn and Mel getting their equipment ready.

Kelli (looking very regal) and Caroline skiing along.

The fab five

Katelyn bombing it downhill.

Katelyn, Mackenzie and Kelli checking out the hill.

The girls trucking it up the long hill.

I must say, I had about 1,000,000 times more fun on this years ski trip compared to last years.  My first true love is cross country skiing, I grew up doing it, I got kind of good at it, and I really do miss it a lot.  The outside, the trails, the fresh air, the laidbackedness, everything about cross country skiing is perfect.  It was my whole existence for about 8 years, and I wouldn't have had it any other way.  Nordic skiing made me some of my best friends in my life, I got to travel all over the country, and I learned so much about the world. It was wonderful.  

Thanks to Mackenzie's dad for coming up with us, and thanks to the ladies for coming along, it was perfect company.  I really hope we can go again soon!

SEP

Weekly Schedule

The new weekly schedule is up to the left, only about 24 hours late.

A reminder, gymnastics starts tonight and I hope to see lots of athletes there.

Men's team, Sink or Swim Thursday night! 6:00, Grandview HS. Should be a blast!

Only 47 more days to League Relays!

Indoor Track Meet

Here is all the relevant info for the meet this Sunday. The meet is at the Air Force Academy, in their fieldhouse, and it starts at nine in the morning. It takes about an hour or so to get there. The coaches will be there early, (8:00-ish) as it gets very crowded and chaotic. Especially at the registration table. So try and get there as early as you can. Bring a book or some homework, as there is a lot of downtime at these meets. And bring clothes to run outside infor your warm-up. The distance kids are all expected to run two events. I would hope you all choose to run the mile, and then either the half mile or the two mile after lunch. Or maybe even the 400 right before lunch. But, it is your decision.

It is a 300 m track, so the times will be very fast, so it is a good opportunity to see your level of fitness. We have been working very hard, and this is an opportunity to see how much faster you are getting.

Below are the times you ran last year (2008) at this meet. I post these to give you an idea of what to shoot for in your racing. Do not use this as a measuring stick to judge your 2009 fitness, as there are millions of other variables that come into play. Use it as a tool to say, "OK, I need to be running 5:40 pace or so in this race." not to say "I ran a 5;40 last year, and now I am running a 5:45! I am so much slower, oh no!!!!!!"

Use this to help your running, not as a punishment!

Mile: Alex-4:51, Cam-5:50, Caroline-5:47, Derek-5:05, Josh-5:21, Taylor-5:07
Half Mile: Alex-2:09, Cam-2:41, Caroline-2:41, Derek-2:10, Josh-2:32,Kelli-2:33, Mel-2:46, Taylor-2:14
Quarter Mile: Kelli-67, Tyler-61

Online registration is due by Thursday the 23rd. That means you need to tell me exactly what events you want to do by Spenst Hill. Coach Hawk and I will then register you for the meet on Wednesday evening. Below is the schedule of events, to help you plan.

2009 Schedule of events:

TRACK 0900 Mile 1015 60 m Hurdles 1100 400 m 1215 60 m 130 LUNCH BREAK 200 800 m 315 200 m 430 2 Mile 500 4X1 LAP

FIELD 0930 PV(ALL) 1030 HJ(HS OPEN) 1330 LJ(HS OPEN) 1330 SP(HS OPEN) 1500 TJ(ALL)

Announcements

Some quick logistic announcements to clear some things up.

Eldora cross country ski trip this weekend. I will talk to the few people that are going specifically to give them details. Not a lot of interest, to be honest, but we will make it work.

Practice on Monday the 19th will be at 9:00 in the morning, as students and teachers have no school.

Alpha Gymnastics starts Monday the 19th as well. 110 bucks for eight sessions, on Mondays and Wednesdays from 8:00-9:30 pm. Excellent opportunity to build core strength, balance and stamina.

WInter indoor track meets, January 25th at the Air Force Academy, Feburary 14th at the Balch Fieldhouse in Boulder. You are more than welcome to go to any other meets on your own, but those two are the ones the WTAFC club will be attending.

SEP

New Weekly Schedule

Over on the left the new weekly schedule is posted. I think it is pretty self-explanatory, basically more the same thing we did last week except a little harder. We might run further, do more hills, or have less rest, but the basic structure is the same. Make sure to be prepared for the weather, be super-hydrated and eat lots of good food! And, we will have a mandatory paperwork meeting in Hawk's room on Tuesday at 2:45. Don't be late!

Saturday I was hoping there would be some interest in heading up to Eldora Ski Area to do some cross-country skiing. The pricing is a lot cheaper than last year's trip to Copper, with the trail pass being about 20 bucks and the rentals (if you need them) about $23. But, I bet if we get enough people to commit by Tuesday or Wednesday, we might be able to snag some kind of group rate. If you have never been cross-country skiing, I must say, you are missing out. It is the most fun you can have, ever! And if you can walk, you can ski. I was thinking the same procedure we have on normal Saturdays. Meet at my place around 8:00, carpool up to Eldora (which is outside of Boulder in Nederland.) and then grab lunch afterwards in B-town. Hopefully some people are up for it, I know I want to go, I haven't been sliding around on the skinny skis all year!

Just got back today from Monarch Ski Area with Beth and Otis, we had a great time. Monarch is a great place to ski fast and hard, I had a blast. It is nothing like those big resorts like Copper, Breck or Steamboat, it is a small little hill, with some really great terrain and a real low-key friendly attitude. We loved it. We stayed at the Monarch Mountain Lodge, nicer and more hospitable people we have never met. And Salida is a cute little town, we had a wonderful time up there, it was a fantastic little vacation! Below is a picture of Beth and I with the high open plains in the background.

SEP

Track World Records

On RunningTimes.com, there was a link to a site that documents all of the world records in track. The write-ups explain all of the splits, detail the other racers, and on some of records, they have video, if it's available. (Which there is most of the time, but it's not always in English)

It is a pretty cool site to click through. Some of the videos load a little slow, and it is amazing how empty some of the stands are for these world records, but they are pretty inspiring nonetheless. And looking at some of the East German women's arms in the 80's, uuhhhhhh, I wish I had arms like that.

So, if you have never seen El G just *flying* down the backstretch on his way to a 3:26 1500, it is an amazing sight. Just incredible.

Waste some time and increase your track knowledge here.

Excellent

We had a *GREAT* work-out today. Just awesome, I was very impressed with everyone's fitness and discipline. Lactate threshold workouts are very important, especially this early in the season. The short story is that these type of workouts teach the body to get rid of the lactate acid that causes the "burn" we all feel in our races. The less we feel the "burn", the faster we can go; and the faster we can go, the lower our times can be. This is true for running a 50 second 400 all they way up to running an eleven minute two mile. Now, you can conquer the lactic acid burn mentally, but systematically training to push it away works as well. So these workouts are very important, and they must be run at precise speeds. All of you did that today, which pleased me to no end. Congratulations!!

SEP

P.S. For all you chemistry geeks, the image above is what lactic acid looks like :)

The Beginning of the New Season

Well,  tomorrow the 2009 CHS Track Season officially begins, and I for one, am VERY excited about it.   

I am excited because we have a great group of leaders on the team.  

I am excited to finally go through a whole year working on spiraling upwards with our training.

I am excited because I  learned a lot of great things working with the WTAFC this fall.

I am excited for the new State Meet format.

I am excited to see some school records come falling down.

I am just excited, I am ready to go, I am ready to dedicate 100% to the cause, and I hope all of you guys are excited as well.

The new schedule is posted on the sidebar, we start right off with intervals on Monday.  Dress appropriately!  Spikes would be good, as we will be on the shoveled track, but warm clothes are a must, it is only going to be in the 20's on Monday and Tuesday.  Hopefully it warms up later in the week for us.

No Saturday run at my house this week.  Beth and I bought some lift tickets and a free night in a hotel up at Monarch at the CHS Silent Auction.  So, we are going to head up this Saturday morning to get a ski day in.  It will be the first time on the sticks for both of us, the only goal os to come home in one piece.  Next Saturday we will be running though, Kenyan style in by the Holly tennis courts.

All right then, let's get packed tonight, the routine begins again!  I hope everyone reading this had a great break, got lots of miles in, and didn't cry too badly when the Patriots missed the play-offs.  We still got KG and the Celtics to root for!

SEP