End of Season Honors

Maddy Mays, Daniel Yanez, and the Varsity Boys' team all earned "All County" Honors from the Stanislaus County Distance Website

Great job once again to these athletes who've worked so hard.  Earning county wide recognition compared to all schools, large and small, is a very nice accomplishment.  Keep up the good work.

 The Boys Pack runs relaxed early in the section meet












Maddy, hanging on to a tough pace late in the Section Final

Daniel, running strong at sections and earning a state meet berth.

Huge Upset @ TVL #2!

Zehr, Williams, Mitchell, Edwards run as a pack

The big story is that our Varsity Boys upset Riverbank 40-43 after they had beaten us by almost 40 points 3 weeks ago.  But, the bigger picture is that almost every runner on the team had a great race and is now taking a well deserved mini break from organized training.

Here are the Summaries.

JV Girls Race

We were a little depleted in this race.  Normal top JV girl, Evelyn Gonzales was feeling sick and was not able to give a 100% effort but ran a brave effort to finish as our second runner.  Also missing from the group were 2 of our normal top 5 JV girls, Diana Brown and Karla Vega, both out with minor injuries.  Melissa Alcazar stepped up and took the top spot for us, beating her previous best time for that course by over a minutes.  As a matter of fact.  All of the girls who ran in the JV race set personal best times.

JV Boys Race

Our JV boys once again showed that they are far and away the best young group in the Trans Valley League.  Once again, our boys: Carson Boice, Jaymie Jackson, Logan Seagle, and Dalton Santiesteban placed 1-4 in the JV race.  The difference is that all of them ran faster than the winning time from last season’s TVL championship meet.  But, the JV team has more than just those 4 good runners.  We had a huge second pack, finishing between 12:41 for 2 miles and 13:06.  Jeffery Jackson, who finished as our 11^th runner on the day, would have been in the top 5 for each of the last 5 years’ teams.  Corbin Eccles was our 5^th runner on the day, and his time would have been good enough to place him as our 2^nd or 3^rd runner on the JV teams in each of the last 5 years.  Clearly we are chocked full with good runners at the FS level.  Hopefully we can translate the depth of our talent in the younger group into future success with the varsity group.

Varsity Girls Race

Once again, a race day scratch kind of sabotaged our chances for team success.  Heavyn Herroz has been battling calf issues since track season in the spring.  She has been running well lately, having good workouts, but tightness in her troublesome calf led me to scratch her from the race.  Once again, though, the girls who did run performed very well.  Maddy Mays beat her best time on the TVL course by a second, moving her up to #6 on our all time list of runners on that course.  Behind her, Taylor Gray and Sarah Daugherty significantly improved their times from the first TVL meet of the season, while newcomer Stephanie Garcia (formerly of Grace Davis HS) helped fill in our varsity pack.   Gaby Mays was our 5^th runner on the day, also improving her time from the first TVL meet by almost a minute. Our girls were 4^th on the day, but should be much more competitive at TVL finals at the end of October.

Varsity Boys Race

This race was a huge surprise for not only us and Riverbank, but for Scott Durham, who runs the Stanislaus County Distance website (the link I’ve sent takes you to the site.  Photos of the meet are linked at the bottom of the article.).  At the TVL opener meet, we were without two of our Varsity top 5, Austin Zehr and Jared Williams.  Both runners were back and eager to race at TVL meet #2.  To help us even more, one of Riverbanks twin stars, Emanuel Chavez, had injured his hamstring at a meet in Orange County over the weekend.  With us being stronger and them being weaker, I knew it would be a close meet between the two of us.  We got solid contributions from all of our top 5 runners.  When the score is as close as it was, 1 runner outkicking another will provide the deciding point that either results in victory or defeat.  We managed to win the most critical of those individual battles and come away with a victory.

Daniel Yanez ran the best race of his life, finishing the 3.1 mile course in 17:16 (a time that ties him with 2003 TVL champion David McKay for 6^th on our all time list for the TVL course).  He hung tough with the other Chavez Twin (Adan) and Alec Norling of Ripon for 2 miles before losing contact in the last mile. Still, his 3^rd place finish got the ball rolling for us in the team scoring.  More importantly, Daniel finished 26 seconds ahead of Ruben Paredez of Riverbank who had beaten him the last time the two raced (9/6 in Folsom).  Zehr finished 1 spot behind Paredez and 2 spots ahead of long time nemesis Kenzye Spears of Hilmar.  Tristan Edwards had a massive PR on the day to finish as our 3^rd runner in 9^th place overall (1 place behind Riverbank’s 3^rd runner Carlos Martinez).  Edwards improved his time over 1:20 from the first TVL meet and placed significantly higher in the field than at at the TVL opener.  If there is one performance that I can credit for our win, it is his.

We lost the individual battles for positions 1-3, but the depth that we have with our 4^th and 5^th runners was the deciding factor on the day.  Wyatt Mitchell and Jared Williams both beat Riverbank’s #4 runner Diego Ruiz.  At the end of the race, Diego was kicking hard and closing in on Jared and Wyatt, but our two guys found an extra gear and held him off.  That position battle sealed the win for us.  If Ruiz had outkicked our guys, Riverbank would have prevailed.

Our team is now enjoying a break from organized training.  I told them to take 4 days and just run how they feel.  If they have any small injuries, fatigue or soreness, they are just going to run easy, or even rest a bit.  Some of our kids are feeling great and have decided to use these 4 days to increase their training mileage.  All of our top 5 varsity boys were out bright and early Saturday morning for a relaxed 9 mile run.  We know that Riverbank will be better when we get to TVL finals and that we need to be better too!

Long Time, No Update

The season is well underway.  Plenty of good results so far.  I am updating our results page and posting a photo album of our most recent meet.....a very Loooooooong trip to San Francisco.

The meet went great, the picnic on the beach went great, then the bus broke down.  In a way that was great also.  We had some quality team time building campfires, singing songs, playing charades, and acting like savages.  We also had a bunch of tired kids who were awake from 4 AM to midnight.  Long, fun, day.

Pictures From the Meet

Older Team Videos

We'll try to get a camp video made up for 2014.  The 2013 camp video was eaten by my 'puter.

Camp 2012 Video
Hill Repeats Workout
Supercross Invitational Hughson's Signature Event.  We draw over 600 athletes!
2011 Subs and Section The story of our team's most recent journey to the State Championship meet.

August Varsity Training

I'm posting a Link to our Varsity Training Schedule for the month of August.

Please read and understand what we are trying to accomplish.  What you need to understand is that our only really "hard workouts" during the month will come from our two time trials and the one low key meet.  All other training is done in support of those 3 days.

Groups below the varsity level will follow the same basic pattern, but the AM runs will not be required, nor will the Saturday runs.

Beginners will follow a different schedule

New Nutrition Page

I don't know why this isn't showing up in the "pages bar" but here is a bunch of stuff about nutrition, perhaps our most overlooked part of this sport.

Nutrition Page

Camp Photos

We had a great camp up at the Brooks' cabin near Lake Tahoe.  Everybody ran really strong.  Enjoy the photos

The Start of Practice Approaches

OK.  Camp is done and was great!....Special thanks to Dawson and Marina for all the help.  Now, down to business.

1. Get your physicals taken care of! You cannot practice with the team until you have your physical complete and the paperwork from the office complete.
2. Continue running.  We have 2 weeks, actually 16 days from the end of camp to the start of practice.  If you sit on your butt during that time, you will lose much of what you have gained during the summer. 
3. This should be your highest volume reached for the entire summer, or even the season.  If you are doing the program right, you may touch this mileage once or twice during the season, but you won't sustain anything at that level.

For the next two weeks, your mileage should look like this 

• 50-65 mpw: Austin, Daniel
• 45-55 mpw: Tristan, Michael, Jared, Wyatt
• 40-50 mpw: Maddy, Dalton, Garrett, Jesus, Corbin, Jackson
• 25-35 mpw: Mason, Nick, Timmy, Mark B, Mark H, Greg
• 15-25 mpw: Gaby, Priscilla, Heavyn

If you follow through with this, your summer will have peaked with your 3 biggest weeks ever. We will then take a cut back week where mileage decreases to about 65-70% of the previous 3 weeks.  You guys will need it.  You'll be adjusting to afternoon training and getting back into the swing of school.

I plan to post an outline of the training schedule for our top group of athletes.  Most of you will follow this general format, but do less volume and less intensity.  I should have this up in a couple of days.

Thursday Practice Very Good

We had one of our better practices of the summer last night.  This is what made it good:

1. We had a good number of people there.  We didn't have everybody....fair, family trips, and what not took their normal summer toll, but we had a good group yesterday.  Keep this up.  Hold Each Other Accountable!
2. The intensity level and volume of training were good.  I don't think anyone left yesterday's workout thinking that they were totally wasted, yet at the same time, we all had a good training session and achieved the goal of the workout, which was to get a fair amount of volume and to have our legs do some easy turnover work.

We have to remember one thing all summer and most of the fall. Steady volume of miles is the most important factor in our training.  However, the training should be as low stress as possible while still achieving the training goal. Let me offer some suggestions on how yesterday's workout could have been improved. I will use the varsity boys workout as an example.

• VB squad did 5 miles easy followed by 16x200 @ 2 mile race pace with full recovery between reps. The weather was pretty warm, but the heat wasn't that bad.  None the less, you still spent well over 1 hour training in temps in the 90 degree range.  The workout totaled 7 miles

1. A better scenario would have seen the whole varsity team do what Daniel did....run an easy 4 miles in the morning, so that he could do a little less volume in the heat of the evening.  Daniel totaled 9 miles for the day
2. The best scenario would have been for the whole varsity squad to meet and run 5-6 miles easy in the morning then have the evening workout be dedicated totally to the 16x200 workout.  6 miles in the morning with an evening workout of 1 mile warm up, 16x200, 1 mile cool down would have given 10 miles for the day, but probably felt less stressful than the workout that the team actually completed.  A scenario such as that would have accomplished the goals of 1. Get good volume and 2. Have the legs turn over at race pace in a non stressful situation.
3. Let me continue to stress that fact that you guys should be doubling as much as possible.  The best days to double are the days we have practice.  If you double on the days we have practice, then the practices out in the heat of the evening will be shorter and more focused.  If you don't double, then the evening practices have to be longer. 

Don't get me wrong.  I was very pleased with the workout yesterday.  I think that all levels got benefit from the session, from our newest beginners to our top varsity athletes.  Let us continue to work to improve.

I'd like to link you to This Interview With Former State Champion, Paul Thomas of Jesuit High. Paul offers some very good advice for up and coming runners.  One of the best pieces of advice he gives is to "live like a clock". That means be precise.  Wake up on time, do your running, sleep plenty, eat well, be consistent....live like a clock.

Summer Mileage Update

Ok, we are 5 weeks into the summer.

Some of you have been running and submitting mileage and coming to practice and showing good progress
Some of you have been doing combinations of the above three things
Some of you have been doing none of the above 3 things.

We are moving into July. This is perhaps the most important month of the summer. We can really have a big month now, then go a bit easier in August when we begin running after school in the hot hot afternoons. This means that our legs will be feeling pretty good when it is time to race at the end of August and the beginning of September.

Remember a big July is the stepping stone to a great season.

Summer Mileage Through Week 5

If you have not gotten your mileage to me recently, please do so ASAP.

Atwater "Run For Independence" July 4th, 2014

Austin and Daniel traveled down to Atwater for the annual "Run For Independence" 5 mile race.  Both came away with good results.  Despite doing a fairly hard workout only 12 hours prior, the 2 boys put up our best times ever at this race.

Austin was 2nd in his age group and 6th overall with a time of 30:33
Daniel was 3rd in the age group and 7th overall with at time of 30:35.

Usually, a good result for us on the 4th of July is a time somewhere in the 32-33 minute range, considering the heat and the fact that at this point of the summer, we really haven't gotten back to any serious training.  Daniel and Austin are our mileage leaders for the summer and the fact that they have been hitting the roads showed up in their good performance.

Good Job Guys!  Don't get too excited, we still have a long way to go, but keep up the good work.

Upcoming Runs and Races and What Not.

Each Summer, we have taken kids to Atwater for their annual July 4th "Run for Independance" Here is the Link to the Website for the race.  If you are interested in going, let me know.

Also, we will be heading out to the hills at Warnerville Road on Tuesday, 6/24 at 7:00 AM

Here is a link to the Map of the Run

The best way to get there for most people that might be interested would be as follows

1. Travel North on Geer Road from Hughson.  
2. Turn right on Claribel Road
3. Follow Claribel for 6-7 miles until it intersects with Tim Bell road.
4. Park at the corner of Claribel and Tim Bell.

Remember, if you want to do this run, you need to be there by 7:00 AM

Map of the run for 6/17

Start at Cressey Fire Dept.

To get there from Hughson, head south on Santa Fe until you cross the Merced River.  Take your first left after the river.

Map of Run

Summer Training Well Underway

We are at the end our second week of summer training.  Our first week went exceedingly well, with one major exception.

1. What Went Well:  Most of our projected varsity boys team is out running, running together, and running consistently.  Guys like Austin, Jared, Daniel, Wyatt, and Michael all put in over 40 miles in the first week of the summer.  If those numbers keep increasing from those guys, then our VB squad will once again be a contender at the league and section levels.
2. What Didn't Go So Well: We only had 11 kids submit mileage in the first week.  I don't know if more kids are running and not submitting, but the proof I have of our WHOLE TEAM striving to be good is non-existent.  I got no submissions from any girls.  Girls, summer mileage will work for you, just like it works for the boys.

Summer Practice

Summer practice starts Monday at 6:00 PM.  We will work out M,T,Th at 6 PM for the remainder of the summer.  We will also have a hill run on Tuesdays at 7 AM.  For those runners wishing to make a double day, you can attend both sessions.

Our first summer hill run session will be on Meadow Road, out of Cressey.  Meet at the Cressey fire station at 7 AM for the run.  Here is a Map of the Route. I will bring snacks for afterward.  For the hill runs, you are responsible for getting yourself there.

Summer Training

OK, guys.  It is wednesday, June 4th.  Your summer running should be underway for the past 3 days now.  If you have not started running yet, start now!  If you are only running a little bit, run more!  If you can't find motivation, find a running partner.

Practice starts on Monday, June 16th.  We will practice on Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday at 6:00 PM and on Tuesdays at 7:00 AM.

Tuesday's runs will actually be earlier, because the plan is to be out to the hills BY 7:00 AM and begin running then.

Please check the following page for a partial list of hill runs

http://valleyeliteathletic.blogspot.com/p/hill-runs-and-directions.html

Ian and Zach moving on to Masters!

Our two stud seniors are winding down their high school careers.  Before they do so, they have at least one more meet to attack....The CIF Sac Joaquin Section Masters Meet.  They will be joining a school record sized group of 10 athletes making the trip to Elk Grove for this meet, which is more elite than many state meets.

 Ian is qualified in the 800m.  He will go in as the 5th seed, with his time of 1:56.87 from the divisional meet.

Zach will go in with a lower seed.  His time of 9:42 will put him perhaps 10-12.  However, Zach's 2 mile at divisionals was run while it was still fairly warm, whereas the other divisions (where kids posted faster times) ran later in the evening when the weather was cooler.

Both of our boys should represent HHS very well at the Masters meet.  Let's give them our best wishes that they come out with PRs and maybe even more!

Cross Country and Track

We're getting down to the end of the track and field season here in central California.  As I start to think about the championship meets coming up on the track, I also am thinking about the upcoming cross country season.  Specifically, I'm thinking about how the two sports compliment each other.

There aren't any two sports that benefit each other like cross country does for track and like track does for cross.  The two sports are nearly inseparable for athletes striving to reach their full potential in either.  To be sure, some people prefer to race on the track and some prefer the trail.....but almost without exception, every runner who is good at one sport also competes in the other (my apologies to guys like Coly Candel and ladies like Tiffany McWilliams, who don't fit the general mold).

So, I've posted two videos to our Training and Racing Page.  The first features the Butler University Women's Cross Country Team, who surprised the big name schools at last fall's NCAA championship meet to take 3rd place.  The second video is a track workout by Alexa Efraimson who last fall broke Sarah Baxter's lifetime unbeaten streak in cross country to win Nike Cross Nationals in Portland, Oregon.

It is highly unlikely that the Butler women or Efraimson would be as good as they are if they decided not to run either cross or track.

Butler on the Podium last fall in Indiana

Efraimson crossing the line first at Nike Cross Nationals

Pitman Distance Wars

Congrats to the Hughson Husky runners who took to the track Friday night for the Pitman Distance Wars.  Our night was highlighted by Zach Morrett's impressive front running win in the Boys 3200.  Zach's time of 9:42.8 set the stadium record at Turlock's venerable Joe Delby Stadium.

Also running well and setting PRs were

Anthony Arce dropped his 1600m PR from 5:17 to 5:54
Garrett Hartman dropped his 1600m PR from 5:57 to 5:53
Ilina Gonzales, running in her first track race ever, won her heat of the 800 in a time of 2:49.
Michael Sanders Set a PR in the 3200m dropping his best time from 11:35 to 11:21

The clock shows the results of Zach's dedication and perseverance.

Rock River Run

Austin, Daniel, Zach, and Anthony got together for a little jaunt up into the foothills. 8.1 miles, mostly uphill. Here is a Map of the Run Where the boys ran.  To see the elevation profile, make sure you click Elevation, Small (large works too!).

The crew starting out in the flatland

Austin, about half way up the main climb of the run

Daniel and Austin on a little downhill after the top of the main climb

Zach and Anthony on the final uphill before the finish

They did it!!!

Hard Runs Make Hard Runners!!!