Creative Run

Another great practice today.  (I hope this gets to sounding like a broken record.)  We ran a creative run, where you stop every ten minutes to do some type of calisthenic.  I started with the whole team, but by the end, I was running with the 8th graders.  The 8th graders and I ran 6.3 miles in just under an hour, which is a pretty good pace.  I was psyched to feel better after yesterdays horrible run, and I was very pleased we had so many fast kids out there dropping me like a sack of potatoes!

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Tempo Ladders Details

For those of you that have a Runkeeper.com account, (and it should be ALL of you), we ran about 7000 meters today.  Probably about 600-800 meters in warm-up/cool-down, and a little over 6400 meters of gold pace intervals.  Sure, it was in a circle over and over again, but running is running, and you should post in your training logs, be proud of it, and build from it.

I really liked how the recovery breathing went.  I like the fact that we are actively recovering, focusing on our bodies, instead of just mindlessly paying attention to the watch.  When you run, you have to be in charge of your body.  Not the watch, not the coach, racing is something you control.

Excellent job everyone, have fun on the captains run tomorrow, and see y'all for an epic creative run on Wednesday!

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Happy Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving everyone! I hope you had a great day spending time with your family and the people who love you. I also hope you got outside and got some fresh air. I got about 20 minutes of trying to mountain bike through the snow. Not very aerobic, mostly just spiking the heart rate, but it got me off the couch for a little bit. Anything to help break up the monotony of eating and watching football has got to be good for me, right?

See you all Monday, tempo ladders! Keep up the good training this weekend. I hope to get some quality Nordic ski time with Beth and Chloe!

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Tying up Loose Ends

47!  Wow, we have 47 athletes signed up for Wolverine Winter Track, that is fantastic!  47 kids all at practice working hard, being dedicated, achieving excellence; that is awesome!  (However, only 41 have paid the appropriate fees.  If you are one of the six, make your checks out to CHS T&F, or you will not practice next time out.)

I am missing USATF membership numbers and Wolverine TC paperwork from Coleman, Corrina, Devin, Emilie, Fred, James, Jaylene, Jess, Kaylee, Kristen, Mariah, Nolan, and Olivia.  I am missing just a USATF membership number from Ryan.  I am mssing just Wolverine TC paperwork from Gracie.

No USATF membership or no Wolverine TC paperwork, no practice, no exceptions.  I gotta have that proof of insurance and emergency numbers before I can let you practice, it is for your safety first!

Please sign up for Runkeeper.com, so I can help with your training over Thanksgiving Break.  The prescribed workouts are on the left sidebar, make sure to find the time to complete not only the running portion of the workout, but the lunges to warm-up with, and the push-ups to finish with.  Running is important, but so is general strength at this stage of our training.  General strength prevents injuries and allows us to train harder in the spring.  Don't neglect general strength!  It's just as crucial as running!

Have a happy Turkey Day everyone.  See you next Monday!

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Online Training Log

Training logs are super important, especially during the off-season.  I still have handwritten training logs from my high school days, are they are a valuable resource to my training and racing.  They were valuable to me to look at, but uber-valuable for my coaches to look at to see how my training was progressing and how it can be made even better!

Nowadays, however, the online training log options are spectacular.  If you have a GPS watch, or you run with a smartphone, you can automatically track and upload all of your training instantly!  You run with your fancy watch or phone, plug it into your computer, get online, and zoooop, up it goes into your training log!

So, your homework for this weekend, other than the running of course, is to get going on runkeeper.com.  Register on that community, send an invite out to me for your street team, and use it to enhance your training and racing!

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Tempo Repeats

Training in the gold zone makes you rich!

Today we did tempo intervals, in groups based upon ability levels.  I was pleased that each group ran about 18 min worth in the "gold zone", which is great for pushing that lactate threshold up.  Running right below the "orange zone" in a controlled comfortable manner will make you a better runner in so many ways, it will take a separate post for me to explain.  So, you'll just have to trust me, today was a great workout for everyone, and you all should be happy with the important deposit of gold running you made in your training bank today.

Excellent work from everyone, but make sure to get me your paperwork and fees and such on Monday!  You cannot have another great practice without all of that turned in.  You need Wolverine Track Club paperwork found here, a USATF membership number found here, and a check for 50 dollars written out to CHS T&F.  Thanks go out to the athletes who have already taken care of that.

Have a great captain's practice, see you all Monday!

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Great First Day!

WOW!  With almost 40 kids showing up to practice today, I was very excited about our first day of practice.

I was pumped to see all the returning faces, and excited to see some news ones as well.  Hopefully everyone gets signed up at Runnkeeper.com and we can all become "street teammates".  As I told one athlete today, we are a team, and the goal is to make you, the athlete, fast.  Open communication between coach and athlete is the only way to achieve that goal. Online training logs are a great way to keep that communication open.  Sign up to Runkeeper.com now, don't wait!

For practice today, we ran a 1600 m time trial today in some chilly blustery conditions, and I though all the runners did extremely well.  This is our baseline data point for now, the one we will build all of our tempo intervals and Kenyan run paces from.  (Yep, we're doing Kenyans, but not for a while.)

Nov. 14th, 2011 - 1600m TT - CHS Track

Remember, BRC shoe night is Tuesday night, hope to see lots of you there!  And one last piece of logistical info.  I got some paperwork from some kids, some checks from some kids, some USATF numbers from some kids.  All of the paperwork and fees need to be in by Monday the 21st, get it down now, so you don't have to worry about it!

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Winter Running Gear

I ran yesterday morning before school started, (12 hill repeats!) and it was pretty chilly outside.  When I left, it was 27 F, when I got back, it was 28 F.  I was very grateful that I had proper running gear, such as gloves, a thin hat, some good synthetic long underwear, and a nice running top.  If it was colder, or if I was planning on not doing hills, I would have worn some long pants and warm socks.

Proper running gear is important, because throughout the winter, we will be training outside no matter what the weather.  As the old Scandinavian saying goes, "there is no bad weather, only bad clothing".

So, if you have all this gear, dust it off, make sure it fits, and put it in your gym bag and leave it there.  Warm clothing is no good if you leave it at your house.  If you don't have this gear, don't fret, you can always get it at the Wolverine Winter Track Club Shoe Night on November 15th, at the Boulder Running Company - DTC.  Shameless plug, I know, but they will have all the equipment you need at great prices.  Early X-mas gift perhaps?

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Winter Track Club Registration Form -- UPDATED

Above is the Winter Track Club registration form.  If you can bring this, filled out completely, on the first day of practice, that would expedite things tremendously for the club.  Any checks should be written out to CHS Track & Field.

Make sure to sign up to become a USATF member, it's only 20 bucks for students, and it lasts until December of 2012!

All athletes, regardless of events, should be there on the 14th.  If you can't make it that specific day due to prior commitments, please see me or Coach Bowman and we can make alternative arrangements.

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Update - Our club name is WOLVERINE TRACK & FIELD  and our club number is 0269.

Winter Track Shoe Night

Boulder Running Company in the Denver Tech Center has graciously allowed our Winter Track Club to have a shoe night on Nov. 15th.  I am pretty excited by this, as it will allow all of our athletes to get in the best shoes for winter training leading spring race season.  Pete, Mike and all the big guns at BRC DTC will be there to help everyone out and get them in the best shoes for you and for running style.

With chili, lemonade and deals galore, if you need new shoes, or you need an early X-mas present, be at the store on Nov. 15th at 7:00 to get that all taken care of.

Directions are easy, I-25 to Arapahoe, then west on Arapahoe about 500 meters.  You can't miss it!

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Finally, a running post...

Coach Whitenack tweeted this link about the history of barefoot running. Not just the history of the famous race in Central America, but the real history, dating all the way back 100 years.  As an aside, if you are on tiwtter, you should follow Coach Whitenack.  He does not tweet a lot, but when he does, it is worth your while.  Follow him @Ryannack

Check it out here:  NY Times Magazine, The Once and Future Way to Run.

Even though it is written by Chris McDougall, who is the most famous proponent of barefoot running, what I got formt he article is about form, not footwear.  How you should land on your forefoot, not your heel, no matter what type of shoe you are wearing. How ankle angle, and keeping your head up contribute to good form.  It references the Pose method, which is related to the Chi method, which is related to the Evolution method.  (See a great write-up of these methods here.)

So, read the article, tell me what you think.  And get ready to try and do the 100-up on the first day of practice on the 14th!!

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Music Post

Sitting in front of the computer on a snow day. wow things have changed since Pearl Jam was the only thing I would listen to.  Back in those early 90's, snow days meant skiing, skiing and more skiing.  Driving crazy-a$$ roads to the trails, trying to get at least three hours in, then a strength session, then tiredly driving home.  Man, those were the days, huh? :)

And all we listened to was Pearl Jam, who is featured here:  (Grantland.com alerted me to this YouTube clip, but I have spent twenty minutes digging though more.)

I think a lot of bands can be instantly recognized by one aspect of their music.  The Police with Stewart Copeland on drums.  Or Primus with Les Clapyool on bass.  But Pearl Jam, to me, is all about Eddie Vedder's voice.  Just watch this song, my favorite one from their first album.



Just awesome, just frickin' awesome!

This has nothing to do with track....

but I bet Jimmy Maroney will get a huge kick out of it!

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