Some ideas to think about this off season and moving forward

 Hi Team.  I've added the links below to our "Training and Racing Videos" page

We talk a lot about what to do training wise, but if we're not recovering and we're getting injured, all of the training goes out the window.  As we move forward, I want to pay extra emphasis to the recovery aspect of our progression as athletes.  For now, you guys can watch these videos and get a few ideas about how to stay strong and healthy and enjoying the sport

• We, perhaps, have not spent enough time on flexibility.  Check this short video for an easy post run stretch routine. Rope Stretching for Runners
• Here's a great video with a whole bunch of all around recovery and injury prevention ideas
• Pre Workout Mini Band Warm UP

Off Season Base

 Hopefully you've seen the blank spreadsheet for winter mileage and are ready to start filling it up.  

After a LOT of thought about where the season went sideways for us, I've come to the conclusion that we went too hard, too early, with too little volume.  This left us aerobically weak when we needed to be strong.  It's my goal to get you guys to: 1) continue to develop as runners and 2) get ready for a good track season.

Please check the attached template for winter training.  Before you jump right in, let me summarize.

For the month of December

• Build to your peak mileage of your previous peak +5mpw at the very least, try to reach that for the last week of December.  If you can comfortably do it for the last two weeks, even better.
• Run ONLY 1 HARD WORKOUT PER WEEK.  This could be a tempo, or small dose of CV intervals.  Don't let the hard effort be the enemy of building your volume backup.
• Build back up to a 90 minute long run.  You might need to start back at 60-70 min or you might be OK to jump back in at 90 right away, if you keep the pace relaxed
• Run sprints once per week and strides one or two more times on top of that.  
• Keep all of the running at a VERY comfortable level.

For the month of January and February

• The emphasis remains on keeping the volume high
• We'll bring in a second "workout" per week
• Workouts will be kept UNDER CONTROL.  No more racing in races that aren't races!
• We'll try to hit 2 x 3 week blocks of peak volume.  The intensity will need to be kept very reasonable in order to do this 

First race is at the end of February.  I would hope that you come into that race a little better than you were at our 6 minute test last August

End of the Year Award Ceremony

 Dear Cross Country Parents

It has been my privilage and honor to coach your kids this year.  I'd like to celebrate our accomplishments this season with our year end awards night at HHS.  This year, things continue to be different than normal. Once again, we will not be able to meet with all of the other sports in the theater for our all sports awards.  Instead, each team will do their own thing.  

Our thing will be to meet under the covered picnic area at 6:00 PM on Thursday, November 18th.  I'd still like to do a potluck, so that we can enjoy some food as well as fellowship with each other one last time for the year.  Please see the list below for dish assignments

If your last name begins with:

A-G: Bring a main dish (enough for 6-8 people)

H-O: Side dish (pasta salad, green salad, etc...) (enough for 6-8 people)

P-R: Dessert (enough for 12-15 people)

S-Z: Drinks (enough for 12-15 people)

Dear Cross Country Athletes

I've had so much fun coaching you guys this year.  Your energy and enthusiasm is one of the things that makes me look forward to coming to work each day.  Good luck in your winter sports, if you're doing them.  If you're not doing a winter sport, enjoy some time off.  I intend to start more formalized training after Thanksgiving break.  

You must return your uniform, all 6 items, at the awards banquet.  Please do not make me come to your house to drop you for push-ups ;)

Coach B

Sign Ups Needed, Playoff Snack Bar

 Hi Team.

I know a few of you have indicated that you will be able to help in the snack bar for the football playoff game on 11/12.  Please put your names down on the sign up genius list.  

Supercross Volunteer Sign Ups

 Hi Team.

Our main fundraiser of the year is the Hughson Supercross Invitational.  We are in the 15th year of the meet, and it's grown every year thanks to the efforts of scores of volunteers.  This year we have 43 schools signed up to attend and we cannot make this meet happen without your help!

Please see the sign up genius below and slot yourself in where your talents best fit.  If you want to help, but don't know what to help with, don't worry, we've got a spot for that too!

Homecoming Snack Bar Sign Ups

 Hi Team.  It took me a while, but I've figured out how to set up a "sign up genius" account.  Please click the link below to sign up for the snack bar at the homecoming football game on October 8th.  

You can choose to sign up for the first shift (4:30-7:00 PM)  or the second shift (7:00 - 9:30 PM)  or both.  We are looking for 10-12 people for each shift and your help will be greatly appreciated!

Fun Stuff from the Week That Was

 After almost 2 years away, we finally got back to a somewhat normal cross country situation.  We had our league opener on Wednesday 9/1.  Varsity Boys won handily and Varsity girls were second behind defending section champion, Ripon.

We didnt' run at the site of 30+ years of TVL competition, Legion Park.  We instead had decided to move to River Bluff Park, in Ceres, but a fire on the flooplain rendered the park unsuable, so we made a quick move to Hilmar High School

Results

Photo Album

Saturday morning, our varsity crew got together for a 70 minute hard run.  The amount of progress these kids have made over the past 2 years, has been really fun to be a part of and one of the few bright spots during these crazy times.  It's hard work, like you can see in the video below, that has allowed the improvement.  

Picture Day Coming Up (9/15)

Hi Team.  Team picture day is comnig up, Wednesday September 15th.  We will probably end up taking photos around 3:00, but be ready to take them earlier if the opportunity arises.  

This year, we will have the option to Order Tickets Online.  If you would like to save time and stress on picture day, I highly recommend you take this option.  

Woodbridge Invite

 Hey team:  The race assignments are out for Woodbridge.  We've got 69 teams from 11 different states IN OUR RACE! (White Division - A Race)

Archer
Arrowhead Christian
Banning
Basalt
Big Bear (Ryan Hall's Old School)
Bishop Montgomery
Boulder City (NV)
Cal Luteran
Calvary Chapel
Capistrano Christian
Chapel Hill (TX)
Clairmont
Corcoran
Crean Lutheran
Del Lago Academy
Desert
Don Bosco
Edgewood
Enumclaw (WA)
Faith Lutheran (NV)
Filmore
Flintridge Prep
Fountain Hills
Glendale Prep
Hanalei (HI)
Harpeth Hall (TN)
Hawthorne Academy of Math and Science
Head Royce
Hope Christian (NM)
Hughson
Kamehameha (HI)
Liberty
Linfield Christian
Malibu
Marin Catholic
Menlo School
Notre Dame
Ocean View
Ontario Christian
Orcutt Academy
Oxford Academy
Pacific Christian
Pheonix Country Day (AZ)
Pioneer
Pomona Catholic (Girls Only)
Riverside Prep
Sacramento Country Day
Sacred Heart
St. Marys College
Samueli Academy
San Diego Jewish Academy
Sierra Canyon
Skyline (ID)
St Dominic (NJ)
St Francis
St. Joseph (Cooper Teare's Old School)
St. Margaret's
Santa Monica Academy
Santa Monica Catholic
Kings Academy
Nueva School
United Christian
Webb Schools
Westridge (Girls Only)
Wildwood
Windward
Yosemite

To make things even more interesting, the other heat (White Division - B Race) has

St. Mary's (one of our main section rivals)

Christian Brothers (Another section rival)

Placer (D3 from our section, but may move down into D4, also very good)

You better believe I'll be paying attention to what those guys do in the other heat.

Hilmar Course for Tomorrow.

 Check out the Course.  Varsity 5k. 

The JV Course leaves out the left turn onto the canal

2021 Black and Gold Intra Squad Meet

 Solid results from our first "race" effort of the season.  This was our first time trying to compete in hot weather in almost 2 years, and I think it showed a little bit.  I feel that we are in slightly better shape than these results indicate.....but these results are pretty dang good!

Varsity Boys #2 all time team time 53:28
Varsity Girls #7 all time team time 72:26

Add to this the fact that our #1 boys time was run in the cool twilight against another school, and this year's team starts to look pretty good!

Here's a link to the results and splits

View all results and splits going back to 2017 on our results page

New Runners! Welcome to Our Team!

 

Hello and welcome to Hughson Cross Country.  I hope you will have a great time with us, make lifelong friends, and learn how far you can push yourselves.  We work hard, but we have fun and I don't ask anyone to give anything more than they are capable of.

Here's What You Need

1. You need to be cleared.  This means you need a physical and you have to fill some stuff out online.  See this older blog post about how to do that.  
2. Good Running Shoes
3. Loose Fitting, Light Colored Clothing
4. Re-Usable Water Bottle With YOUR NAME ON IT
5. A healthy snack for immediately after (fruit, granola bar, etc...)
6. A GOOD ATTITUDE!

Other Helpful Stuff

• Please visit our page for Newbies and Parents.  Many of your questions can be answered here. 
• Take a look at the Nutrition Page and examine the "Power Back Diet" outlined on the page. 

Week 1 Schedule

Let's Get Ready for Week 1

Hi Team.  

Time to talk about our schedule for the first week of practice.  Since we will not have school this first week, this is a great opportunity for our experienced athletes to DOUBLE.  This will be the last opportunity for a while for our big dogs to put in a solid block of high volume training.  

• If you have been consistently running over 25 miles per week, you should double.  
• If you are experienced but coming off an injury, you should still come to both daily practices but cross train in the afternoon
• If you are a new runner who is not yet comfortable at 25 miles per week, you should come to only afternoon practices.

Practices will be held at 7:00 AM and 3:00 PM.  Please see the practice schedule below.  

Mon - 8/2:  Athletes run on your own.  We will start practice on Tuesday 8/3

Tue - 8/3: AM.  Warm up, 6 minute test, 2-4 miles easy coold down.

Tue - 8/3: PM. Easy shake out run + weights (advanced), intro drills, easy jog as able, core, weights (new)

Wed - 8/4: AM 40-60 minutes easy run, 

Wed - 8/4: PM: Wickets, dots, shake out run (advanced) Wickets, Dots, cone drills (new)

Thu - 8/5: AM: Core, PU, Lunges, 10-12 x 300-400 @ 95% vVO2 max, CD.

Thu - 8/5: PM: Easy Shake out + weights (advanced).  20 min easy jog + weights (new)

Fri -  8/6: AM: 40-60 min run 

Fri - 8/6: PM: Wickets, Dots, Easy shake out run (advanced). Wickets, Dots, 6 minute test (new)

Sat - Sun: Easy mileage as able.  Big dogs go long on Saturday

Mon 8/9: AM: Warm up, 30 minutes tempo, 4 x 200, Cool down, Weights

Mon 8/9: PM: Easy Shake Out (advanced)  6-10 x 200-300 (new)

Here's What You Need

1. You need to be cleared.  This means you need a physical and you have to fill some stuff out online.  See this older blog post about how to do that.  
2. Good Running Shoes
3. Loose Fitting, Light Colored Clothing
4. Re-Usable Water Bottle With YOUR NAME ON IT
5. A healthy snack for immediately after (fruit, granola bar, etc...)
6. A GOOD ATTITUDE!

Camp Stuff

 OK Team.  We're almost ready to go. 

• If you need to take your second Covid Test, make sure you are at the school by 8:00 AM
• We will need a number of coolers to store food in for the journey up the hill..  If you have one, please write your name on it and drop it off at the school at 8:00 AM on Monday.  If I don't end up needing it, I'll give it back on Tuesday.
• Please check the Camp Check List  to ensure that all of your documents are in order.
• If you still need a physical / athletic clearance....Romeo Medical Clinic in Turlock is good about making same day appointments. If you need help with the athleticclearance.com website, please let me know 

Looking forward to a great trip that helps our team become great!  If you are not going to camp....

• These next 2 weeks are important that you continue to build on the fitness gains you've already made this summer.  Continue with a high volume of mostly easy running with one day of tempo, one long day, and one day of speed development
• Call up some of your new homies on the team and make a running date!

First day of official practice is Tuesday,  August 3rd.  Veterans will practice twice daily from the 3rd to the 6th.  Newbies will practice once daily.  Practice times will be 

• 7:00 AM (Veterans Only)
• 2:30 PM (All Athletes)

Let's not forget those physicals

 

Don't Be Like J.R. 

Every Dang Year!

Hey team.  Just thought a little humor might help you remember that we need to get our physicals before the first day of practice on August 2nd.  

If you're going to camp, you need to have your physical on file before we leave.  

Here's a link to our athletic physical form

• Download the form
• Print It.
• Take it to your doctor when you get your physical.  
• Fill out the rest of the info on the form.
• Renew your Athletic Clearance account and upload a picture of the physical 

If you've never created an athletic clearance account, here are the directions.

 

Summer 2021

 

Time to Get Back To Basics

OK team.  Over the past year, we've let a lot of things slip.  The most important thing we've lost is the institutional knowledge of how to be serious about what we're doing and still have fun at the same time.  A number of you have begun to think it's OK to NOT PAY ATTENTION to important instructions or interrupt me or your teammates when we're making legtimate points.

This will stop now.  

The things that have made this team so special over the past 5-6 years are:

1. Our attention to a positive team culture where everyone shows everyone else respect
2. Our ability to find joy in doing the training necessary to reach the level of succes to which we've become accustomed.  

If you cannot do the two things above, or if you think that whatever you have to say is so important that you can ignore me or your teammates to have some sort of lame side conversation during team meetings, you do not need to be on this team.  

Summer Training Makes Fall Champions

We used to have shirts with the above slogan printed on them.  I've gone away from talking about championships in the past.  I'd rather learn to LOVE THE PROCESS than continuously talk about winning titles as if that is the only goal worth having.  

That being said, my teams have won more titles during my time at HHS than all the other sports put together.  If you love the process, love your teammates and treat them with respect, I promise you that you will find success.

Let's take a look at the summer training on this spreadsheet

• The primary stimulus is the main effort of the week.  You will certainly need an easy day after this day.  
• The secondary stimulus is a session that will be challenging, but not as draining as the primary stimulus.
• The speed development day should feel relatively easy and you should be able to go hard the next day. 

Summer Schedule

I understand that not all of you will make all of our practices.  You will travel with your families, work, or potentially have summer school.  The beauty of distance running is that if you are motivated and enjoy the process, you can train effectively on your own.  David McKay spent the summer of 2003 in the Netherlands with his mom's family and came back to win the TVL opener, the TVL Championship, and place 3rd in the Sac Joaquin Section.

That being said.  Summer running is usually easier and more fun when you do it with teammates.  So, here's our schdule

June: 14th, 16th, 17th, 21st, 23rd, 24th, 28th, 30th, 

July: 1st, 5th, 7th, 8th, 12th, 14th, 15th, 

Camp will run from July 19th to July 24th at Twin Bridges, CA  The top 7 boys and top 7 girls from the summer program will be invited to make the trip to camp.  Those who do not make the trip to camp enter the 2 week black out period where we don't have team practices.  

Official day one of practice begins on August 2nd.  School begins August 9th.  

Summer mileage begins June 7th and ends September 14th. 

What do the Best Teams Do? 

It's super easy to find out the answer to that question these days.  The internet is a wonderful tool for learning and sharing information about our sport.  Take a look at the video below to get an idea of how the top 2 teams in the United States prepared for the 2019 season.  

TVL/SAL Meet #1

FINALLY 

After months of on again, off again practice, school and training, we've finally got a REAL CROSS COUNTRY MEET under our belts!

Hughson Boys Lead the JV Pack

The Stanislaus County members of the Southern League and Trans Valley League met up at Diblo Grande for our first of 3 meets this year.  Hughson showed off the fitness we've been slowly developing over the last year by winning every division: JV Boys, JV girls, Varsity Boys, and Varsity Girls.  

Our JV boys were led by Ezra Arambula and Hudson Conners, who both set 2 mile PRs of 12:05.  Ezra and Hudson were pushed early on by Logan Prescott of Denair, but eventually pulled away to win by 46 seconds.  

Conners and Arambula lead Prescott just prior to the 1 mile mark

Our JV girls were led by Maggie Scarioni and Julie Parks, who also both set PRs on the day.  

Julie, Maggie and Jocelyn lead the JV girls

In the Varsity Boys race, Joe Lighthall led 9 Hughson runners into the top 12 overall.  Joe was joined early by Evan Espinoza, a 4:47 miler from Waterford High.  Eventually Lighthall pulled away to win by 40 seconds, while Espinoza was overtaken by Brian Campos of Hughson for second. 

Lighthall and Espinoza approaching the mile mark. 

The varsity girls race was the one competition where we did not have the individual race winner, as 2 tough runners from Waterford, Carmen Figueroa and Monica Gutierrez, led from start to finish.  However, our girls packed well, taking places 3-7 to easily win the team competition. A resurgant Camille Haupt led our girls, in the absensce of normal #1 runner Taylor Scheuber, who was nursing a lower leg injury.

Camille (1205) leads our girls' pack

It was very gratifying to see our kids experience the success that comes from persevering through challenging circumstances.  I'm very proud of this group. GO HUSKIES!

MEET RESULTS

A full recap of all the Stanislaus Country Cross Country action can be found at the StanCo Blog

HHS Team Store

 Hey Guys! Our Team Store is up and running. 

These items are 35% off the list price and a portion of each sale goes back to the team