Yesterday's Intervals

(That's a picture of us running yesterday.)

I want to make a quick commentary on how well we ran yesterday. The weather was certainly treacherous, 30 mph winds from the North coupled with 27 degrees makes for a sub-zero windchill. Even though I thought we could've dressed better, I thought we ran really well. All groups were consistently hitting their threshold times, and all groups were recovering well during the short rest. The athletes came out, ignored the brutal weather, and DID THEIR JOB. If we keep grinding through the track season one day at a time, doing our job to the best of our abilities every day, we are going to be very very successful come May. Great job yesterday, Wolverines, that was a great deposit into the training bank.

SEP

New Weekly Schedule

The new training schedule for next week has been posted. No school Monday means long run on your own. We got FR/SPH Gymnastics on Tuesday & Thursdays, and we start some tempo repeats on Wednesday. A busy week to be sure, so stay hydrated and stay healthy!

SEP

Not too bad on Math

I want to apologize to Jill, I did the math incorrectly on yours alone. I was extremely impressed with everyone. Those of you that are true distance runners- (Keagan) for instance, you will see a lot of change in mile time with Mileage and LAT work. Those of you that are true mid-distance do not be discouraged, your time changes and speed increase will show up later and in your races. It is not time for speed so we are not looking for dramatic changes in the Mile. Being aware of where you are is the 1st step. You are doing great things, keep it up and we'll see you next Wednesday.
Here is my email for those of you who are interested in emailing me
jeanieboymel@gmail.com
Boymel

FR/SPH Gymnastics UPDATED

(Pretty cool place, huh?)

FR/SPH Gymnastics starts on Thursday, at 8:30, at Alpha Gymnastics. Hopefully we see a great turnout, gymnastics is a really great opportunity that is not afforded to lots of teams around the state. Let's take advantage of it!

If you can be there a little early, around 8:15, with your parents in tow to sign some paperwork, that would be perfect. Otherwise, be there early to get as much of the paperwork done as possible, and we can talk to Coach Tom about the rest. Gymnastics is from 8:30 - 9:30, Tuesdays and Thursdays, for six weeks, and any checks can be made out to "Alpha Gymnastics" for one hundred bucks.

Email me with any more questions, hope to see you all there!

SEP

UPDATE: Gymnastics tonight (1/13) will start at 7:30!

Time Trial Results

The results from the first CHS time trial of 2011 are in, and Coach Boymel and I couldn't be more pleased with the results. We all got a solid base of training in, our foundations are a lot stronger and stouter than they were last year at this time, and we even got some times that were faster than last year at this point. I am very happy with this data, I think we are going to have a great late winter of training. Our goal is to get faster, and faster we will get!

Shoveling the Track

(our track looks much better than this one)

On short notice, the following five boys came to CHS on their day off from school to help shovel the track. I wanted to get it clear as soon as possible so it wouldn't get walked on (making it harder to shovel) and to give the bright Colorado sun as much time to heat up the black track and melt any remaining snow.

Thanks to

Jonny B.

Keagan V.

Zach Y.

Nate P. and

Mark I.

Gentlemen, that was an excellent show of leadership; dedication to your team & your training; and you saved my poor back a hundred times over. The mile time trial on Wednesday will go off much more smoothly thanks to your efforts.

Thanks!

SEP

A Shift in Training

Next week marks the end of our 6th week of training, we have about 18 weeks or so to the State Meet in May. We are going to shift the focus of our workouts. This upcoming week will have a mile time trial (and looking at the weather forecast, probably on Wednesday), FR/SPH gymnastics, and we will begin some tempo repeats. I am pretty sure Coach Marnoey will be around on Monday again to answer any gymnastics questions you might have, and let's hope this storm does not dump huge amounts of snow in Parker, that's just more shoveling for me!

I wish we could have had the time trial today, I did three laps at Wash. Park pushing Chloe in the CHS stroller this morning and it was beautiful. First 2.5 mi. lap in 8:43, 2nd in 7:28, and the third in 9:24. Not bad, even if it was a super flat Wash. Park!

SEP

Coach Boymel and I have created a presentation on Training Theory - Lactic Acid Removal.

We want going to discuss it with the athletes today at practice, but if anyone (athletes, coaches, etc) wants a closer look at it, please click on the header picture above.

Thanks!

SEP

Building Those Miles

Winter break is over, back to the grind of school in less than 24 hours. I hope everyone had a great break, we had some pretty good weather for training up until the past few days, and I hope everyone got lots of miles under their legs.

I know some people have been in touch with me, telling me they have been doing up to seven miles a day, which is fantastic. That type of consistent running is exactly what everyone needs. We have one more week of base building, because next Monday is going to be a mile time trial to see where we are at, and where we have to go.

I don't want anyone sneaking in intervals to prepare for this time trial, that is not neccessary and bad for your training in the long-term. Stick to the plan, be patient, get your miles in now so you have a great aerobic base to build on for later in the season. The time trial is simply to help me and Coach Boymel develop some interval speeds for you to work on. It is not a state qualifying race! :)

See everyone tomorrow in Hawk's room right after school, but I am not sure if I will be running with you. I took a nasty fall on the cross country skis on Wednesday. I had Chloe on my back, and my feet slipped out from under me. I landed full force with her hard rubber boot in between my ribs and the snow. Ouch. It is still pretty sore, but we'll see if I can get out there and get some running in. I still got a bit of toughness in me, I hope.

SEP

Indoor meet discussion

Check out this message thread regarding indoor meets. An interesting read, to say the least.

I share the opinion of Coach Norton from Thompson Valley HS. (a perennial power from up North) that the indoor meets are good to break up winter training, but that they should not be the focus of any HS track athlete. Focus on getting in quality training, not peaking for indoor meets.

I especially like this line:

"We're of the mind that you can't run your best as a highschooler in both February AND May. As such, we'll take May over Feb!"

Very true, Coach, very true!

SEP

Nice Little XC Ski

Finally, back on the training train. A long walk this morning with Chloe, then 5km of nordic skiing on my own this afternoon. I only coughed for about an hour after the ski, but I am getting healthier, I can feel it!

SEP

Finally Feeling Better

Wow,

it's been ten days, but I am finally feeling better. Having a baby who goes to daycare twice a week certainly raises the germ level in the house, and I think it got me. You read stories of how pro football teams fight through the flu, but I have no idea how they do it. That stuff knocked me down for almost two weeks, it was just miserable.

But, now I can get back into it again. Easy runs around the neighborhood, lunge routine after every workout, even going to get in some XC skiing up in the mountains. Pretty excited to be able to get out and train again, being cooped up in the house coughing has not been fun.

See you all in a week, keep getting those miles in, the first meets are about two months away now! Check the "updated" training schedule on the right sidebar for details.

SEP

Cross Training

The weekend is half over, if you took yesterday off, here are some winter cross training ideas. No need to go pound your feet in a right-left-right-left manner over and over on the weekends, it's a little early in the season for that. Instead, do something active that gets your systems going in a different way.

For example:

Swimming
Alpine skiing
Snowshoeing
Super long dog walks
Basketball at the rec. center
Lifting weights
Nordic skiing
Cycling
Rollerblading
Orienteering
Hiking
Rollerskiing
Ice skating
Slacklining
Mountain biking

I'm sure there are more, let me know in the comments section!

SEP

Sick

Ugh. I have been fighting this low-level flu since Monday night, and I am really getting tired of it. Not sleeping at all, hacking up all sorts of slimy stuff. No energy, blowing my nose constantly. At night, alternating between shivering & freezing to lying in a film of sweat. Yuk.

Chloe had a little bit of this over the weekend, and she is still fighting it off, and I am hoping Beth has a strong enough immune system to ward this off. It just sucks. It's not debilitating, but just on that line. Grrrrr...

So, it looks like a week off from training (which will help my strained foot) and winter break couldn't have come soon enough.

I hate being sick.

SEP

Winter Break Plans

I was very pleased to see the six or seven kids at practice today. That showed me a lot about their dedication and commitment to becoming better runners. I hope everyone involved with Wolverine Track and Field shows that same level of dedication and commitment over winter break. Even though we will not be practicing as an official team, every athlete is expected to make themselves better over this time period. Workouts will be posted right here, on this blog, and I expect you to follow them to the best of your abilities. Please check the blog on a regular schedule, to discover what is expected of you on a day-to-day basis. I understand the holidays can be a very stressful time, but sacrifice is necessary to become a champions, and that sacrifice might have to start right now. That might mean getting up before the sun, that might mean sneaking in double workouts, that might mean training when it is below zero out. I can say this about true winners, they all have had to sacrifice at some point in order to become what they were destined to be.

You have all worked hard to get a head start on your competition, don't relax now and turn that head start into a hole that you have to dig out of!

SEP