Weekly Schedule - April 1 to April 6

Our first week back to school after spring break is a weird week of training. Here it is, so you can stay organized.

Monday: We will be picking up the 10 km relay teams, and the distance kids will be doing Baby Kenyans w/ a twist. We will also be discussing team pictures. Meet in the team room as normal.

Tuesday: This is team picture day. After team pictures, we will be running the 10 km relay. Distance kids are done after that.

Wednesday: We are hosting a five team mega JV meet. I expect to do well in this meet, and this meet will also tell me who has been training over spring break and who has not. There might be some surprised runners in this JV meet, as the varsity meet on Friday has very high standards to get in. However, I expect everyone competing to do their best, and if you are not competing  we will need tons of athlete help to pull this meet off smoothly. No real workout for those varsity athletes, just helping out with the JV meet.

Thursday: Slingshots, hand-offs and starting blocks for everyone!

Friday: We are competing at ThunderRidge High School in the afternoon in an elite standards based meet. The dismissal time is 11:30 am, so make sure to get ahead of any school work you would miss. I will be posting exact line-ups and time schedules later in the week, but be ready to run fast against some really good competition on Friday. No official practice for JV kids, enjoy your day off!

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Excellent Practice

Fast Shoes

Just a quick note to congratulate everyone on an excellent practice today. The quatros were tough, but you all made it through them, and the 450's and the 200's seemed like a piece of cake. Again, this is a testament to how hard you have trained this year, so now you can enjoy your relatively easy week starting tomorrow! Only one easy week however, then we get back to work!

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Golden Corral Intervals

Friday the 29th is the last workout of a two week hard block for our distance kids. We will meet at 10:00 at Chaparral, and I have posted the workout below. (I never post workouts before we run them, as I am paranoid of other people stealing them. I need to get over that ego, I know.) Hopefully this sneak preview will spur some good positive thoughts in your head about how you will simply skullcrush this workout.

Golden Corral Intervals are intervals where one should get an excellent nights sleep, eat a light and easily digestible breakfast before 7:00 am, and drink plenty of water. Take a look at the splits you will all be running, and if you are not listed on the sheet, that is a simple mistake by me. I am sorry, but by all means please come to practice tomorrow morning and I will find the appropriate group for you!

See you all tomorrow with your trainers, your in-between shoes and your fast shoes!

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Broomfield Shootout Logistics

Parker to Broomfield

This Saturday, some of our distance boys have been lucky enough to be invited to the Broomfield Shootout to run in the elite heat of the 3200 m. In order to qualify, you must be in the low 10:00's or better, and have permission of the Coach Weich, who is running the meet.  (If you don't know who Coach Weich, just check out the record of the Smoky Hill teams in the late 90's early 2000's when he coached there. Unbelievable.)

This elite heat of the 3200 starts at 9:00 am; and Broomfield HS, where the race is being held at, is about an hour away. I would like to get there with an hour to check in, warm up, stretch, etc., so I want to leave the CHS junior lot at 7:00. I will be driving my truck, and if any athletes want to ride up with me, I got four extra seatbelts, plus room for water, gear, and whatnot. If any distance racers want to ride up with their families, that is cool too, but I ask they be in Broomfield at 8:00 am.

Of course, if any other athletes want to come up and cheer their teammates on, I think that would be really awesome.  We could get a caravan heading up from CHS Saturday morning at seven. No one is competing in any other races, as soon as the boys two mile is done, I will be heading back to Parker. The more people that come up to cheer on James, Travis and Dominic the better, as I think we are the best team in the state, and we can really show that this weekend by supporting these guys.

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Three MInute Eggs

Scaling the small hill on the SMS XC course

What a great day for some three minute eggs this morning. The phone app thermometers read in the single digits, but by the time we left, it was 32 F and super sunny. It was a great day to run inthe snow!

We did 20 x 3 minute eggs, with almost all of the twenty or so athletes finishing every single one of them. The course was pretty tough, with a couple of ditch jumps, some pretty muddy corners, a lot of high stepping through the deep stuff, and the above hill that took out more runners than I could count.

I didn't think the athletes were laboring all that much, I think they easily could've done 10-15 more, and that is a very good sign. Rather than think that the workout was too easy, I think the athletes are just that much fitter and stronger and faster at this course of the season as compared to past years, and that bodes well for the rest of our competition season right into championship season.

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No shoveling party

Even though there is a good amount of snow on the track, no distance kid shoveling party tomorrow. I think the sun will work wonders by the time we need the track on Wednesday. Enjoy your long run instead!

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Spring Break Practice Schedule

We do not have a meet coming out of spring break. We have a few guys who are competing in an elite two mile up in Broomfield, but no official meet. That means that these practices are voluntary, but  we all know that the more practices you attend, the better off you are in the long run.

Monday:
Distance Kids - 10:00 - 11:30 at Sierra MS (3 minute eggs, an all out cross country 400 every three minutes, a tradition like no other!)
Throwers - Noon - 2:00 at Chaparral Throw Ring
Sprinters/Hurdlers/Jumpers - 3:00 - 5:00 at Chaparral Track

Tuesday:
Distance Kids - On Your Own 60 minute Creative Run (maybe the captains can organize a group time to go on this run?)
High Jumpers - 11:00-1:00 at Chaparral Track
Pole Vaulters/Horizontal Jumpers - 3:00 - 5:00 at Chaparral Track

Wednesday:
Distance Kids - 3:00-5:00 at Chaparral Track (Flying Sprints out of blocks, bring fast shoes!)
Throwers - Noon - 2:00 at Chaparral Throw Ring
Sprinters/Hurdlers/Jumpers - 3:00 - 5:00 at Chaparral Track

Thursday:
Distance Kids: On Your Own Easy 30 minute Aerobic Run (cruise the neighborhood at Seppala speed)

High Jumpers - 11:00-1:00 at Chaparral Track
Pole Vaulters/Horizontal Jumpers - 3:00 - 5:00 at Chaparral Track

Friday:
Distance Kids - 10:00 at Chaparral Track (VO2 Max intervals, bring in-between shoes or XC flats)
Sprinters/Hurdlers/Jumpers - 3:00 - 5:00 at Chaparral Track

If this is confusing, or if you have any questions, shoot me a text or an email. If you are out of town, try to re-create these workouts as best you can, so you come back to Colorado in better shape than when you left it!

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DCSD Snowbird Reflection

First of all, huge shout out to Ryan Whitenack, for moving an entire meet forward one day. I had no idea how much work that took, but Coach Whitenack pulled it off, in fine fashion. Good thing to, as I am about to head out to shovel seven inches of wet heavy snow.

The results to the meet can be found here, but the field events are not listed. That's a bummer, as I know Isaac Hernandez won the shot-put, and Katrina Bacovin tied the school record in winning the high jump. We also won some hurdles races, a few relays, as well as a couple sprinting events. We swept the boys 800, and capped off the day with wins in each of the 4 x 400 relays. Awesome job Wolverines, especially after the brutal week of training we put you all through.

I had a parent film a couple of races, you can check out the fast heat of the mens 200 and the boys 4 x 400 over at the You-Tube.  Thanks Tim!

More coming up in a few hours on spring break practice schedules.

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DCSD Snowbird Distance Results

Here are my hand timed results and splits from todays meet. While the times might seem slower than normal, remember, we had a brutal week of practice, the wind was whipping, and we are not used to racing on Friday. I was very pleased with the effort and the subsequent number of podium finishers. Kudos to all!

This weekend, one day is a long run (60-90 minutes) and the other day is a walk the dog day. If you don't have a dog, borrow the neighbors dog.

More will be posted tomorrow as to spring break practice schedules.

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DCSD Snowbird Invite

The weather for Saturday has caused the meet to be moved from Saturday to tomorrow, Friday. This is a good thing for us, as it will allow us to still compete and not have to worry about cancellation.

Here are the nitty gritty details for tomorrow. The line-ups are the same as the SaberCat Invite, with a few exceptions, which I have dealt with personally.  The uniform, jewelry, electronics rules are the same. It is going to be rather chilly, so bring plenty of warm dry clothes to potentially put on. Remember, black on bottom, white on top for racing.

We need all athletes at the stadium, regardless of which event they are in, at 9:00 am at the latest. (If you are running in the 4 x 800, I suggest you get there at 8:30).  The meet has no specific start times, it is a rolling schedule, with only six teams, so it will go quick. You must listen to any announcements and be ready to go when your event is up. Refer to the meet schedule on the side of this blog to become familiar with the rolling meet schedule. Field events will be on the same schedule as originally posted for the SaberCat Invite.

This will be a fast meet, we need to be out of there by 3:00 pm at the latest. You need to bing your "A" game, everyone, this is going to be a pretty exciting ride!

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Legend JV Line-Ups

Below are the line-ups for the JV Meet at Legend HS on Thursday afternoon. The meet starts after school, but we are being dismissed at 2:20. Even though we do not have entrants in every event, the normal meet rolling scheduled will be followed. Just like last week, you may not scratch out of any events  but you are more than welcome to jump in more events if you want!

3/21/13 Legend JV Line-Ups

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SaberCat Invite Varsity Line-Ups

Coaches reserve the right to make last minute changes if the situation warrants, but as of 4:20 Wednesday morning, here are the line-ups for Saturday.

Field Event Line Ups

Track Event Line Ups

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Excellent 800 m Race

I alluded to this in my post recapping the Disney meet, but one thing our athletes need to work on is "getting out" in the open 800. The 800 is the toughest race out there, because it is an unlaned sprint. The 400 is really hard on the body and lungs, but there is no jockeying for position. The mile is brutal too, but there is plenty of real estate to sort things out and recover from any tactical mistakes. The 800 is the "worst" of both worlds. It's a short sprint race at the elite levels, but you gotta bump and fight and tangle with others for position the whole time if you are not careful.

Because of these attributes, I feel that running a clean 800 is the best way to achieve that super fast time. If you really get out fast and stay clear of traffic, that is better than having to fight through the traffic to get to the front. It allows you to run your own race, even with that little bit of speed exertion at the start.

Ben Goodman this weekend ran a perfect example of that down at CSU-Pueblo. He went through his first 100 in 13.2 seconds. He covered the next 100 in 13.4 seconds. This is a really fast 26.6 for the 200. At this point, there was no traffic in front of him. He had one other competitor that was there, but not a jumble of elbows, knees and feet. Ben had a clear track in front of him, and he took advantage of it, coming through the 400 in 57.5, and finishing in 1:55.8.

Our guys can totally do a 57.5 quarter mile, and finish strong to go under two. The key is not having to waste energy fighting for a spot. The way to not have to fight for a spot is to get your lead spot right off the bat, by going through in 13 seconds through the 100. Then keeping that high speed and perfect form up through the 200 mark. You have a little bit of a clear lane in that 100, before everyone collapses onto you, so take advantage of it!

Video of Ben's race can be found here, at co.milesplit.com. Check it out if you have a chance, it is well worth the 2:16 of run time!

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SaberCat Invite Schedule

Coaches are working on varsity line-ups right now, but here is the varsity schedule for Saturday, straight form the meet director. Just like last Saturday, we expect athletes to be at the Parker Stadium no less than two hours before their first scheduled event.

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ThunderRidge/Disney Rewind

I'll be honest, I really can't believe I am sitting here on this plane working on this blog post. The "computers went down" this morning at the Southwest Airlines ticket desk. I was the last one on the plane, our team literally was sprinting through the terminal after security to get to the gate. Good thing we are a track team I guess, huh?

That's not really important, however, what's important is how well we competed yesterday. Our mens team came in 8th in Florida, out of well over 40 teams. That was based on no points from the sprints or field events, which does not diminish the efforts of those guys, but shines a spotlight on the efforts of the distance kids. Those sprint//field event points were tough to come by. For example, the long jump was won by a 24.5 ft jump (that's NOT a type-o) and the we were so very close to qualifying in the sprinting events for finals, but those full-ride-to-LSU/FSU/UGA boys were pretty fast.

Before we get to the Disney recap, I want to report out on some really great results from home in Colorado. Through the magic of smartphones, I can deduce that both the men and the women had a really solid day at the ThunderRidge invite. Katrina B. equaled her PR and won the high jump with a jump of 5-2. Ciara D. got her first taste of elite racing, and held her own in the 800, running a new best time of 2:35. Javon S. ran a 11.54 in the 100, and Hanna B. went 1:03 in the 400. The boys 4 x 800 m relay of Austin D., James B., Jack D., and Evan J. went 2:15 (new personal best), 2:27 (new personal best), 2:30 (new personal best, I think) and 2:18 (huge personal best). Matt K. went 10:37 (new personal best) and Steven R. went 11:00 in the two mile. In a race I had wish I had witnessed, the gauntlet was thrown with Devin R. running 1:59.4 in the open 800, running negative splits. Sub two on a balky heel? That is some impressive stuff right there by big Dev. If anyone has video of that, let me know, I would love to see that race. On a chilly drizzly day, marks like that really show how hard we have trained and how much work all the athletes have put in. I am very pleased and very happy with all of those results.

What I did get to see was the Disney meet. (All 13 hours of it.) I think everyone had a really good day in Florida. Spencer B. and Nolan E. competed well in the 100/200 and long jump, with both of them coming away with new personal bests in the 100. (12.11 and 12.85 respectively). Jen C. threw a new personal best in the discus, flinging that disc 109-11 in the heavy air. Mackenzie H. had a new best for the mile in March, getting under 6:00. I have coached Mackenzie for a very long time, and breaking 6:00 in March is a great indicator of future racing for her. Jill H. ran a great open 400, 65.8, and knows she can greatly improve that time. Both Jill and Mackenzie came back later in the day to run tough 200's and 800's. While neither of those races were their best, we learned a lot about what we need to do in training to improve. Sometimes racing is about figuring out how to improve, and improve we will. Olivia P. had a great day at the HJ, easily clearing 4-6 before running a beautiful 200 race in 27.31. Whitney S. came home with a medal and a new personal best in the 800. 2:30.2 was good for 8th overall, and a 5:37.3 in the mile shatters her old record by over 9 seconds. Whit ran a great mile race. The leaders went through the 800 in 2:49, and Whitney was clinging onto the back of that pack. She had an awesome overspeed third lap, then busted out the slingshot to come in second in her heat. That was some excellent tactical racing by Whitney, running negative splits to really get things going for the CHAP team.

Speaking of tactical racing, the boys 800 was a tactical race, as well as a fast race. The lead pack, which all the CHAP guys were in, went through in 60, which was a little slower than I wanted. The second lap was just a series of accelerations, with Ryan K. leading our boys in 2:02, good for 8th and a medal, then Johnny B. in 2:03 and Zach Y. in 2:07. Once we get this running in traffic technique down, we have the fitness to be leading these races. That will come soon enough, I'm not worried. Soon thereafter, Dane G. ran the 300 hurdles in a new personal best, 42.44, and he has not had a ton of work on those things. More hurdle work under his belt in the coming weeks will lead to times in the 40.00's for sure.

My favorite race to watch, when it is run well, is the two mile. Girls or boys, it doesn't matter. A fast two mile, executed by runners who know how to race it, is just awesome to watch. It is because everything seems to happen in slow motion. Compared to the explosiveness of the 800, the process 3200 is like reading Michener. It takes a while, but the journey is amazing. We had one of those races yesterday. Watching Dominic C. and Travis A. just run controlled and mature was awesome. They went through the first mile in 5:05, with Bryce K. and Kaleb R. not far behind in 5:10. However, they were all buried far back in the second pack. After that first mile, the boys started to crank it down a bit. The next lap, Dom and Trav were leading that second pack, then the started bridging the gap to the leaders who were all spaced out. By the last lap, they were firmly ensconced in 4/5 position, and they were gunning for that third guy (who hadn't raced all day, but more on that later). While they didn't get him in the end, they both crossed the line at 10:00 flat. Trav nipped Dom at 10:00.3 to 10:00.7. (Two huge negative split PR's that should qualify both of them for the Broomfield Shootout in a couple weeks.) Bryce finished up at 10:31, and Kaleb ran his first 3200 in 11:00. It was a great race for all of those guys. Dom raced so well, and Trav really established some credentials out there. Plus, it was some more points for the team score, which was huge. Great race to watch, you couldn't pull yourself away from watching it, because you knew something awesome was going to happen. Two more medals was what happened, and Travis and Dominic deserve them.

Earlier in the day, before the 800, there were a couple of mile races. One was in the morning, one was a little bit later in the afternoon. In the morning fast heat of the unseeded mile, we had the blue train of Bryce, Kaleb and Travis coming through the halfway point in 2:23. Those three were totally controlling the race, and the last half of the race, they decided to blow the race up. Third lap, they had gapped the field, and the 4th lap was all about who would get gold/silver/bronze. It was so cool to see those boys running so well, it was like there was no one else in the race. The finishing order was Travis in 4:37.1, Bryce in 4:37.5 and Kaleb in 4:44, 3 enormous personal bests. Anything under 4:38 is high-end top-shelf premium, and Kaleb shaved almost 5 seconds off of his old personal best. It was just so cool to see those three boys just dictating that race, great great stuff.

The other mile race ended up being much later in the day. This mile featured James K. and a fresh Dominic. There were some horses in this race, as the lead pack went through the halfway point in 2:12.. Our guys were just on the back end of that lead pack, byt the third lap changed everything. When they came around again, Dom was in the middle of that lead pack, James was a couple steps behind him. The fourth lap (where both guys ran 63 sec), Dom waited and waited, James waited and waited, then they both slingshotted the leaders in the last turn, coming in for a 1-2 finish in new personal best times. Dom went 4:25.81, James, 4:27.71. Wow! Top two places, in a loaded field. Having two guys under 4:30 hasn't happened for CHAP since State Meet 2009. The best part about it was not the times, not the places, not the medals, but rather that both boys ran *their* races. They didn't have any instruction from me, the other competitors didn't influence them, those were races that they ran with their hearts. Racing is a work of art. (I got that one from Bode Miller.) Time does not matter, place does not matter. Running with your heart and your mind matters. Those two sub 4:30's were works of art. Both the boys and girls mile races in the morning were works of art. They were creative, inspiring and real. They give me goosebumps now just thinking about them. All racing is art, sometimes it is good art, and sometimes it is not-so-good. All those mile races belong in a museum in my opinion.

The last race of the day was the 1600 relay, or the four by four. We lined up in the dark (it was 7:45 at this time, 12.75 hours at the track meet and counting.) against some really athletic looking kids. Our seed time was 3:35, which got us in the fast heat, and we got creamed. Dane ran 52.5 out of the blocks, James ran a 55.2 with a blister the size of a sand dollar on his foot. (I didn't know about that little issue.) Johnny ran a 53.5 in the third leg, and Ryan finished up with a 51.9 as the anchor. We finished in 8th place in our heat, and I thought we ran great. We ran 3:33, and during the race there was literally nothing I though we could have improved upon. Our hand-offs were fine, our tempo was excellent, we ran that oval all out. Just a great race on our part that was overshadowed (literally) by being thrown in the deep end with a lot of Florida sharks. But, that 4x4 solidified 8th place overall as a team for us, which I am extremely happy about. What am I more pleased with than the results, however, is that everyone was the "best version of themselves". This was by far the number one group of athletes I have taken across state lines, and the trip was as fantastic as it was because everyone involved exhibited impeccable behavior, maturity and discipline. There were zero issues, and because of that, we are bringing home a lot of hardware, a lot of good racing experience and a lot of good memories. That's what these trips are all about aren't they?

See everyone Monday with some *forward* Kenyans! Gonna try and compile some pictures from the meet, so send any you have my way!

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P.S. Huge shout outs to the following people for making this blog post (and this trip) possible. Coach Thompson, Cheri Whipple and Jana Moore, without them, we would NOT have gotten on that plane in Denver. If you see them in the hall, please say thank you. They do so much for us, they deserve all the gratitude in the world. Tim and Krisi Ryan, whose behind-the-scenes work of setting up hotel rooms allow us to recover during the day, sleep well at night and have easy transportation logistics the whole trip. They have been doing this for years, and I am so grateful to them. Of course, Coach Maroney and Coach Dianne. They were the best asst. coaches I could've had on this trip, they were the yang to my yin and I think that this trip would've been a disaster without their guidance, experience and flexibility. The relative smoothness of this trip was due in no small part to them. But the real goal of this trip was to run fast, jump far and throw long, and all the work they did made that happen. And finally, my awesome wife Beth. Without her help, this trip never would've even made it out of the planning stages, and without her enormous support at home in everything, none of this could've happened. she does far more than anyone knows and far more than I end up publicly acknowledging.

Final Disney Invite Line-Ups

I have complied the timing sheets I will be using at the Disney meet on Saturday. I have organized them by when the athletes arrive at the meet to compete, when they actually compete, what their milesplit personal bests are, and also a spot for splits and prelim marks. It took me a little while, but I think it will save me a lot of time on Saturday.

There were a couple of surprises  They bumped one girl from the 400 to the 1600. I had a feeling that might happen, but she still gets to compete, and I know she will burn up the track in the mile. Another boy I previously listed in the 800, but that was a mistake by me, he should've been in the 3200 all along.

After a lot of double checking, research, and formatting, I think these are my final timing sheets for Saturday. Please look them over, and if there are any mistakes, perceived or otherwise, let me know and I will do my best to explain/fix them.

A few final notes to the athletes and parents. Bring a lunch for the plane trip to Florida, as we will not be stopping for lunch before we go train. Make sure to wear your wind suit,  de-spike your race shoes, and don't forget your ID to get on the plane. This is going to be a super fun trip, and if everyone is the best version of themselves, we are going to have an unforgettable experience.

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P.S. I will be live tweeting as much as I can during the competition, with pictures, results, jokes. If you cannot make it to the meet in person, follow me @ColoradoSep. It will be just like you are there! 

TR Varsity Line Ups

Here is the Google Doc version of the Varsity Line-Ups for the ThunderRidge Invite this Saturday at Parker Stadium.

I ask that the athletes get to the stadium at least two hours before their first event. I also ask that athletes stay as long as they can, to cheer on the two guys hammering out the two mile.  I will not be there, but I wish the best of luck to all, and I know that we will do an excellent job of representing CHS!

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P.S. Tell me what you think of the live updating Google Docs view for publishing line-ups. Like it, hate it, don't care? Let me know.

Heritage JV Meet Line Ups

Below are the line-ups for the Heritage JV meet. Coach Bowman and Coach Harris will be there, and you will be dismissed at 2:05 on Friday. The meet will start around 3:30 or so. There is no bus home, so make sure you have a ride back to Parker from Heritage HS.

If you are interested in competing in more events than listed, by all means go for it. However, cannot compete in less events, as we have put you in these events to get a better picture of what you can do for this track team.

I wish everyone the best of luck. Lay down a fast time and earn your way onto that varsity squad!

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EDIT: Add Cory O'Neil to the 3200 boys start list. Add Chandler Oaks to the 100 and 200 boys start liost.

Varsity ThunderRidge Invite Schedule

We are still working on finalized line-ups for the varsity meet on Saturday, but here is the time schedule, stolen straight from www.nackfortrack.blogspot.com.  As soon as line-ups are done, they will be posted.

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THUNDERRIDGE INVITATIONAL

SPONSERED BY IMAGES EVERYTHING

3/16/13

RUNNING EVENTS

8:00 Weigh-Ins (Shot/Discus/Pole Vault)

8:30 Scratch Meeting

9:00 Girls 800m Sprint Medley

9:15 Girls 3200m Relay

9:30 Boys 3200m Relay

9:45 Girls 100m Hurdles

10:10 Boys 110m Hurdles

10:35 Girls 100m Dash

11:00 Boys 100m Dash

11:25 Girls 4 X 200m Relay

11:40 Boys 4 X 200m Relay

11:50 Girls 1600m Run

12:15 Boys 1600m Run

12:35 Girls 4 X 100m Relay

12:45 Boys 4 X 100m Relay

12:55 Girls 400m Dash

1:15 Boys 400m Dash

1:40 Girls 300m Hurdles

2:05 Boys 300m Hurdles

2:30 Girls 800m Run

2:50 Boys 800m Run

3:05 Girls 200m Dash

3:30 Boys 200m Dash

3:55 Girls 3200m Run

4:25 Boys 3200m Run

4:50 Girls 4 X 400m Relay

5:05 Boys 4 X 400m Relay

5:20 AWARDS PRESENTATION

FIELD EVENTS

8:30

Boys Long Jump

Boys Pole Vault

Boys Discus

Girls Triple Jump

Girls High Jump

Girls Shot Put

Girls Long Jump

Girls Pole Vault

Girls Discus

Boys Triple Jump

Boys High Jump

Boys Shot Put

Rolling schedule--listen to the announcements for moving ahead

P.S. That was my 1,000th posting on this blog. It's fitting that my 1,000th post was a run-of-the-mill schedule update. :) Wow, I never would've guess I would get one hundred posts, much less one thousand. Here's to another thousand!

Training, Humility & Team

This was an interesting article from Running Times magazine. I really liked it, and I think our team has a little bit of this attitude this year, which is awesome.

An Elite State of Mind

Take ten minutes and read it, it won't be a waste of your time if you are interested in what goes on at the elite level of running.

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Florida/Disney Packing List

I am so pumped to be headed for Florida this weekend. It is the first race of the season for us, and I have a good feeling we are going to really run well down there. I have been thinking about what to pack, and it's going to be pretty light.

This is by no means a complete list, but I do think it is an essential list. You should not need to check any bags, all of this should fit in a carry-on

CHAP uniform (top and bottom)
White undergarments
Racing Spikes (with spikes removed, just to be safe)
Racing Socks
Trainers
Water Bottle
Sunscreen
Toiletries in a clear ziploc baggie all in 2 oz containers
Bathing Suit
Nice clothes for Saturday dinner
Training Shorts
Plenty of extra socks and underwear
Sunglasses
Book/Homework
Cell Phone w/Charger
Wallet w/ID
Spectacles
Extra Cash

You will be issued a CHAP wind-suit tomorrow after practice to wear to the airports. We will be traveling as a team, so we will look like a team.

You get a carry on, so pack wisely. When we use to travel as a ski team, the most important thing to remember was footwear and uniform.  So, don't forget your de-spiked racing shoes and you brand new CHAP uniform!

Remember, the goal of traveling is to make it uneventful and easy. Make sure you do everything you can to make this trip as smooth as possible. .

Be the best version of yourself on this trip.  I heard John Calipari say this, and I love it. Just be the best version of yourself.

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Track Shoveling Party

With over 25 kids showing up for the voluntary track shoveling party, we got the entire track cleared off for tomorrow. I was so happy with everyone showing up and working hard for 75 minutes with the shovels. Some kids showed up early as they had to leave early, some kids showed up late and stayed late. We had snowblowers, we had parents, we had siblings, we had doughnuts & chocolate milk, it was just awesome. We are going to have a great practice tomorrow, and I know we got a leg up on so many of our rivals. Check out the pictures of the day at Susan Young's Shutterfly website.

All Done!

Thank you, from the bottom of my heart, to everyone who came out to help. I am so proud to be the coach of this team today.

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Competition Pictures

Some of you might have noticed Zach's mom Susan at the meet yesterday taking tons of pictures. She has been one of my "go-to" photographers, and this year she has decided to put them up on the ShutterFly web service. The website is http://track2013.shutterfly.com/ but you must be a member to get in.

If you want to gain access to the hundreds, if not thousands of Susan's awesome pictures, just send her your information in an email to track2013@yahoo.com and she can add you as a member to the site. If you want print out the pictures, just email Susan the number of the pic and she can send it to you for free.

I am so grateful to Susan for doing this, she takes great pictures, and we are lucky to have her doing this for us!  SEP

March 8 JV Results

We had a great JV meet with Regis today. Just a dual, we ran it as time trials, no relays; and we had some very competitive racing. Here are the CHS track results from today, all hand-timed by the greatest timing crew money can buy. (Thanks Whit, Ciara, Makenz, Jill, Kat and Hanna!) All of the field results are in the good hands of the field event coaches.

100D
Javon Spencer 11.59
Dane Goldwasser 11.62
Drew Ames 11.72
Elias Parvanta 12.31
Tyler Sheek 12.49
Chandler Davis 12.50
Jackson Longwell 13.13
Sean Lippold 13.38
Bryan McKinstry 13.45
Mark Johnson 13.48
James Perez 13.80
Nathanael Sjim 14.46
Caleb Wilson 16.10

Angie Meggett 13.92
Abby Hood 14.32
Aereon Jennings 14.78
Sterlyng Ellis 14.85
Melissa Valera 14.89
Jayde Piggott 15.13
Kaylee Monegro 15.60
Brittany Bulawa 16.12
Erin Kroetch 16.56
Michlaya Luley 16.66

200D
Javon Spencer 23.51
Chandler Davis 26.11
Elias Parvanta 26.60
Jack Maroney 28.30
Mark Johnson 29.41

Aereon Jennings 30.28
Sterlyng Ellis 31.88

400D
Caleb Long 58.00
Gavin Rawnsley 60.00
Darin Rawnsley 60.38

Jess Nazarenus 74.14

800R
Evan Jenkins 2:27.13
Darin Rawnsley 2:28.26
Jack DeWinter 2:29.03
Alex Hebner 2:27.58 SB
Patrick Durkin 2:32.23 SB

Emily Writebol 3:18.03 SB

1600R
James Byrne 5:37.67
Corey O'Neill 6:06.28
Zack Belter 6:33.45

Erika Castro 6:23.41
Taylor Hunter 6:41.08
Kelly Shultz 7:38.84

Sprint Hurdles
Dane Goldwasser 17.79
Jordan Trembly 18.80
Tyler Sheek 20.17
Drew Ames 20.71
Elias Parvanta 21.16

Kristen Sjobakken 19.40
Corrina Carney 20.08

Distance Hurdles
Corrina Carney 56.75
Kristin Sjobakken ???

Some great times there, so even though tomorrow's meet was cancelled, we are still off to a great start!

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League Relays Cancelled

DCSD just cancelled all activities for tomorrow, that means no League Relays meet at the stadium.

We will have our JV meet as normal today (Friday),  but no organized practice tomorrow (Saturday).

Of course, we will have a Sunday shoveling party at 9:30 am though! :)

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Email Updates

Over on the lefthand sidebar, I put a little gadget that allows you to enter your email address and get emails every day when new content is published on this blog. It's totally free, you just have to enter your email, then activate your account through your email.  I signed up with my burner email account, and it seems to work just fine.

Hopefully this helps people stay on top of what is going in the world of Chaparral Track & Field.

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Weekend Plans

We will be having the JV meet at Chaparral on Friday afternoon. Since we might get a little snow, we might have to cut it back a bit early, but we do expect all athletes out there, dressed appropriately with plenty of water, either helping out or competing.

As of Thursday morning, the League Relay meet on Saturday is still on. If there is any change to these plans, I will publish it on the blog, tweet it out, and try to send everyone a text message.

If the meet is fully cancelled or postponed on Saturday, there is no official practice. Help your neighbors shovel their driveways, get your dog out for a walk, build a two story snow fort, but be active somehow.

Also, if we get so much snow in Parker that the meet is cancelled, we will have a voluntary shoveling party on Sunday morning at 9:30. Bring your own shovels, snowblowers or snowplows. We gotta get that track ready for Monday!

But let's be honest, it's going to be sunny all weekend, and we are going to dominate a couple of meets over the next few days!!!

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League Relays Line Ups 2013

The final track line-ups for the league relays have been posted below. The line-ups for the field events as well as the hurdles are still being figured out, and the field event coaches will let those athletes know if they are competing in those events on Thursday afternoon at the latest.

2013 League Relays Track Line-Ups

If you are not competing on Saturday, you will be competing in the JV meet at Chaparral. We allow the athletes on the first JV meet to choose the events they want to compete in. In subsequent JV meets, the athletes are assigned events.

More specific information will be forthcoming at practice today at tomorrow for these meets.

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Florida News

T-minus 10 days until the Florida trip. Here are some thoughts running around my brain in preparation for the trip.


Here is our flight itinerary:

Leaving DIA Friday morning on SouthWest #647. The flight takes off at 7:40, we need kids at the SW ticket desk at 6:15. We land in Orlando at about one in the afternoon eastern time..
Leaving Orlando Sunday morning on SouthWest #1449. The flight takes off at 8:40, and lands at 10:50 mountain time.
**Athletes are responsible for their own rides to and from DIA.**


Here is a list of the athletes that have paid all of the fees for the trip, gotten in all their paperwork & medical forms, and therefore are eligible for League Relays this Saturday:

Mackenzie Hirsch
Jill Hanrahan
Zach Young
Travis Anderson
Whitney Schultz
Spencer Bills
Dominic Compoz
James Kadolph
Johnny Bacocvin

(Please let me know if you should be on this list. With all of the various checks coming in, there is a good possibility I gave your check to Mrs. Whipple, but did not mark it down on my end.)

Here is a picture explaining what events each athlete is competing in, the time the event is, and also the rooms they are in:

We are staying at the Fairfild Inn & Suite at Lake Buena Vista in The Maarriott Village in Orlando. The phone number there is 407-938-9001.

I do not want to put any cell phone numbers on the web, but if you need cell numbers of the three coaches/chaperones, you can email me and I will send them to you directly.

I am sure that I have missed something, and when I remember it, I will put it up on the blog too!

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Distance Training Groupings

2013 Training Levels

Here at CHS T&F Distance, we train by ability groupings. Being in a group based on how fast you race allows you to train at the appropriate level. Training too fast all the time leads to injury and burn-out. Training too slow all the time leads to stagnation.  The groups below are your training groups for the start of the season. Take a look at them, you will be running in those groups tomorrow.

You can move up or down in levels, simply by racing fast or by racing not fast enough, over the course of the year. We do not judge people by what group they are based in. Everyone is running their asses off, and everyone deserves the ultimate respect for giving it their best. These "feline" groups I have devised allow for you to truly reach their potential, which is really what the goal is.

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Monday News and Notes

The track side of the League Relay Line-ups is ready to go. We will be presenting that at practice on Monday afternoon. The field side is still a little bit up in the air. Those line-ups will be ready on Thursday. All athletes not participating int he meet on Saturday will be participating in our home JV meet on Friday. More specific info on that JV meet will be coming this week.

Remember, your ten km relay packets with envelopes are due Monday at practice. No relay packet, you get a retro uniform. Your goals sheet is due Monday at practice. No goals sheet, no practicing with the team.  If you are going to Florida, the check for the remainder of the trip fees is due no later than Thursday at practice. No check, no entry into League Relays.

The time trials on Friday were a great success. Here are the results. I was so psyched with hoe many kids are running so fast so early in the season. That means we will be that much faster by the end of the season if we keep up the hard work every day.

Hope everyone had a great weekend, I am so pumped for League Relays on Saturday, I think we are going to do some skulldominating out there!

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Benefits of Chocolate Milk!

Nutrition is super important during the Track season! A great recovery drink is chocolate milk! It's cheap and easy to pick up. It's a great idea - especially on Monday and Wednesday!

http://www.utexas.edu/news/2011/06/22/milk_studies/

Coach Able

Chocolate Milk Gives Athletes Leg-up After Exercise, Says University of Texas at Austin Study

June 22, 2011

AUSTIN, Texas — Not only does chocolate milk taste good, but two recent studies from The University of Texas at Austin show that it’s also the ideal post-workout recovery drink.

"Serious and amateur athletes alike enjoyed physical recovery benefits when they drank low-fat chocolate milk after a vigorous workout," said Dr. John Ivy, lead researcher on the studies and chair of The University of Texas at Austin College of Education’s Department of Kinesiology and Health Education. "The advantages for the study participants were better body composition in the form of more muscle and less fat, improved times while working out and overall better physical shape than peers who consumed sports beverages that just contained carbohydrates."

Ivy is a nationally renowned sports nutrition expert who established the importance of post-exercise nutrition to athletes' physical performance and recovery, as well as the timing of nutrition intake, and authored the groundbreaking book "Nutrient Timing."

In his two recent, related studies, Ivy and his research team compared the recovery benefits of drinking low-fat chocolate milk after exercise to the effects of a carbohydrate beverage with the same ingredients and calories as typical sports drinks as well as to a calorie-free beverage.

After riding a bike for 90 minutes at moderate intensity, then for 10 minutes of high intensity intervals, 10 trained cyclists had significantly more power and rode faster (reduced their ride time by an average of six minutes) when they consumed low-fat chocolate milk rather than a carbohydrate sports drink or calorie-free beverage.

Compared to the other recovery drinks, chocolate milk drinkers had twice the improvement in maximal oxygen uptake after four and a half weeks of cycling, which included intense exercise five days a week, with each exercise session followed by one of the three recovery beverages. Maximal oxygen uptake is one indicator of an athlete's aerobic endurance and ability to perform sustained exercise. The study included 32 healthy, amateur male and female cyclists.

Ivy's research also revealed that low-fat chocolate milk drinkers built more muscle and shaved off more fat during training, ending up with a three-pound lean muscle advantage after four and a half weeks of training as compared to study participants who consumed a carbohydrate drink. This study also included 32 healthy, amateur male and female cyclists who rode for one hour, five days a week, and drank one of the three recovery beverages immediately following and one hour after the bout of exercise.

"We don’t yet understand exactly what mechanism is causing low-fat chocolate milk to give athletes these advantages — that will take more research," said Ivy, "but there's something in the naturally-occurring protein and carbohydrate mix that offers significant benefits."

Ivy notes that a 30-minute recovery window after exercise, for people of all fitness levels, is as important as the nutrition supplement that's consumed.