Wow, am I ever excited to get back to work with our group for the fall. As I think about it, I can almost smell the crisp fall air of a race day Saturday morning. The 2013 season was a fantastic journey, and our kids laid some groundwork for some really exciting things this 2014 season. The past week was probably a little restless for some...even though this was when many runners were still on their mandatory rest period. :) I can say that this coach has also been a little antsy. Schedules, workout plans, athlete training profiles, prep for our outstanding course/invitational etc. is all starting to come into view, and it has been exciting to see it start to come into focus. During this first week of summer-miles eligible time, please make sure to step back into things gradually. We will have a long season to prepare for, and while a good start is better than a bad start, the focus has to be on the long-term goals. Stay healthy, come back gradually, and put yourselves in a position to begin increasing work over the next three or four weeks, and we will be in good shape. Some team members might be trying to get together for some runs with teammates this upcoming week. Reach out to one another and if it works out, might as well run with some friends, right?! If you are a new runner, try to just focus on getting your body used to running for four or five days a week. Dont worry too much about distance targets. Just run what feels good right now, but log the distance and time for each run. (It helps us later when we want to start building a more individualized program.) For more experienced runners, just do mostly maintenance miles and maybe throw in one LR (5-7) and one slightly uptempo run. All runners could do 6-8 strides after their LR or easy runs and it would not hurt. Just be sure to stretch ! (Flexibility and range of motion is important for running economy and injury prevention.) Lastly...HAVE FUN WITH IT! Remember that this is a sport that has a great deal to offer us. Enjoy the time you get to spend with your teammates. Enjoy the time you get to spend in your own head, when you are out on the road (or trails). Enjoy the feeling you get from finishing a good run. Enjoy the feeling of knowing that you are doing something healthy, and your body and mind will both be glad you did. Get in touch with me if you have any questions about anything related to our preparation. My info is here. (Be forewarned, that I love to talk about this stuff, so you might not get a "short answer") :) 2014 Mustangs XC Physically Strong, Mentally Tough |
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