MWC Alum News

I love hearing about all this alumni news, it gives me great joy to see Chap alums running so well in college!

This weekend was the Mountain West Championships, and Alex Balsiger competed for Colorado State.  He ran a 26:34, good for 6th on the team (he is usually 7th or 8th) and 32nd overall.  He went through the 5 km mark in 16:02, which beats his HS 5 k PR by one or two seconds!  Not bad, for an 8 km race!

Percentage wise, it was a tight race, as Alex was only 5.5% back of the leaders, who were in the low 25's.

Great job Alex, that's an awesome performance!

SEP

WTC Random Thoughts

Some random thoughts, musings and ideas while we get ready for winter track.

8th graders:  I am issuing a challenge to all 8th graders, do you think you have what it takes to hang with elite HS athletes?  Are you ready to run, run, lift weights, and then run some more? If so, come on out for winter track at Chaparral.  So far, over 15 8th graders have expressed interest in participating in the club, which is awesome!  The more 8th graders, the better the program will become now and in the future.

USATF membership:  The main reason we need you signed up for USATF is for insurance purposes.  If you roll an ankle and shred your tendons while training with us, USATF has insurance that covers that.  I did some more digging in the USATF membership website, and it is only 20 bucks for a youth, and if you sign up after Nov. 1, but before Nov. 14th, you get a free month of membership.  In other words, instead of expiring on 12/31/11, it would be good for the rest of 2011 and all of 2012.

All HS XC athletes:  Take these next two weeks off.  Rest, heal, catch up (or get ahead) on schoolwork.  The potential to get run down and injured by not taking two weeks off between seasons is for outweighed by the potential benefits and gains you can make by being rested and ready to go.  Trust me, relax, get rested, you won't lose a ton of fitness, and be ready to go on the 14th, physically and mentally.

Nov. 14th:  Bring clothes to run in.  Bring in any fees (payable to CHS T&F) or proof of membership.  Bring water.  Bring good running shoes. Bring a positive attitude.  Bring a willingness to work.

Schedule:  It is looking like the distance kids will be training Monday and Wednesday.  It looks like the sprinter kids will be training Tuesday and Thursday.  Athletes can also create custom schedules with their coach on the days that they can come.  All fees and membership information will be due on the 21st or the 22nd, depending on the athlete's schedule.

Any questions, feel free to email me.  I am really excited for the first practice, I think we have a group of athletes that are going to be super fast in the spring!

SEP

Winter Track Club

Over the hills and through the woods......

Even with the falls sports gearing up for their championship meets, the track coaches have been hard at work getting the winter track club ready for the 2011-2012 season.

You should see signs popping up around the high school with more info, but it will be a similar set-up as last year.

We plan on starting Nov. 14th, meeting two-three days a week, having "captains practices" on the days where we don't meet officially, and offering not just running instruction, but all sorts of cool stuff that will make you a more complete athlete.

The club fee is 50 bucks, all of which goes back into the track account, and you will need to be a USATF member, simply for insurance purposes.

And we will be meeting outside, at the track, no matter what the weather is, for daily practice.  (Would you expect anything else from me?)

So, start getting psyched for winter track!

SEP

P.S.  I assume most of you who read this blog are distance kids.  So, please, tell ALL athletes that they are welcome at the club.  Sprinters, jumpers, throwers.  Freshman, sophomores, juniors, seniors (We are even opening up the club to 8th graders this year!)  I found out at League Championships last year that we need a complete team to compete at the highest levels.  So, if any of your friends have a desire to become better athletes, have them come to that first meeting in the 14th!  They are more than welcome!

More Alumni Racing

After some more digging, I found out that Ryan Bull, who is an Oredigger, ran a PR of 28:03 for an 8k at altitude.  (His PR for an 8k at lower elevations is 26:46.) This was in the open race at the RMAC championships, won by Western State Univ. on both the men's and women's sides.  This time would've put Ryan in 52nd place in the varsity race, which is pretty awesome!


Fantastic job Ryan, a 28:03 around Willis Case GC is not easy at all.  i've golfed there and there are some hills there to be sure!


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Western Kansas Alumni News

Just heard that our old friend, Nate Purdue, went 26:17 in an 8km regional championship race today.  That works out to a low 16:00 5k, which is quite fast, especially for 8k pace!

Congrats Nate, way to run fast when it counts!

Any other alum news out there?

SEP

15 Foods

Here is a list of 15 foods every runner should be eating.  I think I eat about ten of them regularly, which is pretty good.  The only one I can't stomach, yogurt. Blech!

Via: Runnersworld

Enjoy, this is good reading, and a good list to take to the grocery store.  But of course, if you buy it, you gotta eat it!