Guidance from the CIF

Hi team.  Most of you have probably already heard that all fall sports have been pushed back to start in December. 

Some  of you have been working really hard for months now, and I don't want to waste that fitness.  I'm planning some virtual competitions for September and October to help keep your mojo going.

Please see the short explanatory video I have posted to youtube.

These races will be time trials, so I will adjust our training a little bit. Time trialing can often produce faster times than actual races because in a time trial, everyone in the race is pushing for the fastest time possible, whereas in a race, that is not always the case.  In an actual race, some people try to slow the pace down to maximize their kicks. 

I'm really excited to try something new this year.  Please understand that although this is not a normal situation, I'm 100% dedicated to the proposition that your season will be the best it can be!

Happy Running

CoachB

Something to Keep You Motivated.

The year is 2011 and the United States hasn't had a woman win a distance medal at a global championship (Olympic Games or World Championship) in 27 years.  Coming into the race we had a woman who was considered one of the favorites...Morgan Uceny.  Also qualifying for the final that year was Jenny Simpson, who came into the meet ranked #21 in the world and barely squeaked through the qualifying rounds to make the final.  

In the race was the defending World Champion, Maryam Jamal of Bahrain.  

In the end, guess who won?  That's right, Jenny Simpson of the United States, breaking the 27 year drought for Americans.  The win was so unexpected, that she even surprised herself

The win was so unexpected that the commentators from British Television kept calling her by the name of the WRONG American right up until the end of the race.  

It just goes to show, that if you believe in yourself, keep working, and never give up....You can shock the world! 

Guidelines for Continued Pre Season Success

Hi Team.

I am so sorry that we won't be able to continue the progress we've made, in person.  However, each and every one of you can still continue to work to see gains in your running abilities.  I'd like to lay out a brief guideline for how to keep going.

Please watch this video that explains specifically how to do each one of the workouts listed below. 

Gold Group

• 1 workout per week of 5 minute segments with 1 minute recovery jogs.  You're all doing 3-4 x 5 now.  Work toward 5 x 5 minutes for a total of 25 minutes at 85% vVO2 max.  Finish with some strides, short sprints, or ramps (if the stadium is open).  don't run this workout too hard!  You should finish the last 5 minute segment tired but like you could keep going.
• 1 workout per week of 3 minute segments with 1 minute recovery at 90% vVO2 max.  You've all done 4-5 x 3 already.  You should all get comfortable with running 5 of them for a total of 15 minutes at 90% vVO2.  Finish with strides, or short sprints or 200s if the stadium is open.
• 1 long run per week.  Just cover the distance.  As you get stronger, the run should get faster.  No need to make the long run longer than 25% of weekly mileage. As you get very comfortable with the long run, you can add 4-8 x 20 second strides into the last 2-3 miles of the run.  
• Fill in the rest of the week with easy mileage.  Continue to keep your mileage high and even try to bump it up by 3-5 miles per week over the next 4 weeks.  

Black Group

• 1 workout per week of 30-40 minutes "easy tempo".  Some of you guys (cough, cough Owen) ran "hard tempo" today.  Easy tempo should be 75%-80% of vVO2 max depending on who you are. My guess is that 80% is a little to "hot" for almost all of you for this type of workout. 
• 1 workout per week of 3 minute segments with 1 minute recovery at 90% vVO2 max.  You've all done 4-5 x 3 already.  You should all get comfortable with running 5 of them for a total of 15 minutes at 90% vVO2.  Finish with strides, or short sprints or 200s if the stadium is open.
• 1 long run per week.  Just cover the distance.  As you get stronger, the run should get faster.  No need to make the long run longer than 25% of weekly mileage. As you get very comfortable with the long run, you can add a fast finish to the final 2-3 miles of your run OR add 4-8 x 20 second strides into the last 2-3 miles.  If you're doing the other two threshold workouts, then the strides are a better option.   
• Fill in the rest of the week with easy mileage.  Continue to keep your mileage high and even try to bump it up by 3-5 miles per week over the next 4 weeks.  

White Group

• Put yourselves into either black group or gold group, whichever seems to fit you better.  Continue to gradually increase your mileage. 

All Groups

• Once a month, go crazy, throw down, push yourself to the limit.  Sometimes you just gotta run really hard to see where your fitness is. If you feel like the paces on the pace charts are becoming too easy, run a 6 minute TT and get a new baseline distance. 

Use the pace charts by distance or the pace charts by minute to help you determine your training paces.  I know you may have a hard time getting onto our track....and running on the track is very helpful for monitoring your training pace.  Turlock Jr High has a crappy dirt track, but it's never locked....

I'm so sorry that we're in this position, but understand this.....the County Health Comissioner shut us down due to rising cases in the county NOT due to any kind of violations you guys did. 

Covid 19 Positive Test

As you know, one of our athletes tested positive for Covid 19.  I'm sorry it took me a while to get this formally posted, but please read the following and watch the following video for instructions for how we should proceed moving forward.  Some of these protocols were already in place.

 Please watch this video

1. All athletes will have their temperature taken at the beginning of practice.
2. All athlets will show up to practice wearing masks and remain masked up for the time that we are grouped in our meeting area.
3. All athletes are expected to exhibit personal responsibilty and care for their teammates by maintaining an appropriate distance (some of you have had an extremely difficult time refraining from trying to give eachother wedgies or hugs.  Knock that crap off). 
4. Once we are out on the roads, you can run in small groups of equal ability, but should maintain a side by side formation
5. *New*.  When athletes return from runs, they are expected to put their masks back on and keep them on until they are able to once again establish an appropriate physical distance when they leave practice.  (please do not just mask up to keep me happy then get all up in each others personal space as soon as practice ends). 

So, what happens when another one of our athletes tests positive?

1. That athlete should inform me as soon as s/he has test results.  
2. I will contact every athlete that had been in contact with that athlete.
3. I will advise everyone who has been in contact with that athlete to get a Covid Test
4. Athletes should pay attention to whether or not they are feeling any symptoms.  Athletes with symptoms should not come to practice. 

Let me finish by saying that I think that we can SAFELY continue to progress as athletes in Cross Countrty, but only if all of you play by the same rule book. 

Critical Velocity Workout Today and Where We Go From Here.

Hey team.  Great workout today.  Get used to the paces you ran today, you're going to touch on them once a week for the remainder of the summer  (wait for collective groan from the team) 😆

Here's the deal - that pace will never feel as hard as it did today.  As you're reading this, your bodies are adapting to the workout you did and if you were to repeat that same workout a week from now, it would feel a little bit easier.  If you repeat it again a week after that, easier still.

The workout will get easier because your bodies are making 3 general adaptations: 1. They are getting better at running without producing waste.  They're getting better at removing any waste produced. And they're getting better at tolerating the build up of waste.

So, as you get fitter, you can do the same workout, but build up less waste.  The waste you do build up will be removed more quickly. AND you won't really notice the waste you build up as much as you did today. 

As you get fitter, we're not going to increase the pace.  Rather, we're going to increase the amount of time you're spending running at that pace.  Today, the pace you ran was 90% of your vVO2 max pace.  But as you get fitter, the same pace might only be 85%.  That's OK, though, because you still get a tremendous benefit running at 85% and because it's slightly less intense, you can do it for a longer period.

Please watch the following video to help you understand how we're going to progress as we move further along this summer then into the season.