Tips for Newbies and Parents

 For the Athletes

1. When running on the road either stay on the sidewalk or run facing traffic.  Your mommy may have told you that you're special, but the person looking at his phone doesn't know how special you are.  If you don't see him coming, he might hit you. Remember, the car always wins, even if you have the right of way
2. Spend time stretching and doing core exercises after you run.  Watch the SAM videos for core training ideas.
3. Eat a healthy, high carbohydrate snack directly after your workouts (even before you stretch).  Fruit, PB&J sandwiches, protein bars....all of these work.  After you workout, your cells are the most ready to absorb nutrients.  If you wait to refuel, you will not get the maximum benefit from your training session. 
4. Eat healthy in general.  I will be updating our "Nutrition Page" periodically.  You don't have to be a puritan, but aim to add more fruits and vegetables to your diet and to subtract fatty and sugary snacks.  If you're hungry, grab an apple or some nuts instead of a candy bar or bag of chips. 
5. Maintain a healthy body weight.  Lean and strong are good. Skinny for the sake of being skinny is bad.  This is especially important for girls.  You SHOULD NOT lose your period due to this sport.  Loss of the menstrual cycle is a sign that your body fat has dropped too low. 
6. Drink at least 8 ounces of water 5 minutes before your run.  Drink small amounts of water throughout the day.
7. Live like a clock!  Set a bedtime for yourself and stick to it.  During the summer, you probably want to run in the mornings before it gets hot.  That's hard to do if you stay up until 2 A.M. every night. My coach used to say, "you can't soar with the eagles if you're hooting with the owls"!
8. Set priorities in your life.  There are 24 hours in a day.  That is plenty of time to do the stuff you like to do AND to get homework done AND to get your workouts in.  Most people don't realize how much time they waste on things like social media and gaming.  
9. Prioritize your running.  There really are no shortcuts to anyplace worth going.  You don't need to be a zealot, but make sure to carve out time to run.  If you are on vacation, bring your shoes!  Some of my best runs have been exploring new places in new towns.  David McKay spent the summer in Holland in 2003 and came back to win the TVL title.  Even a 1 hour run only consumes 4% of a 24 hour day

For Parents

1. Help your kids stick to the guidelines you see above ^
2. I view excellence in this sport as a vehicle to teach the habits that will lead to excellence in life.
3. Be encouraging without being pushy.  Your kids have their own free will and can choose to be good at this sport or they can choose not to.  Thinking of my experiences with my own son, Sean, for the first 2 years of high school water polo, he didn't really pay attention to the things I was suggesting to him regarding what it takes to be good at sport (like nutrition, lifting weights in the off season, etc....).  Finding the maturity and self discipline to train yourself can take years.  Your kids will find that maturity. Sean was up this morning at 6:30 on the second day of summer break lifting weights, preparing for his senior year of polo.  
4. Celebrate the little victories with your kids.  Check off Training Goals with your kids, encourage them to strive for goals that are within reach or even ones that seem a little out of reach.  Words like, "good job" and "I'm proud of you" go a long way.  
5. Keep plenty of healthy food around the house.  You don't need to be a food Nazi.  After all, there are ice cream bars in the Bernard freezer as I write this.  Just try and make sure that there are more healthy options to snack on than unhealthy ones.  
6. School and Family come before sport.  However, please try to avoid putting your kids in the position where they have to choose between the two.  If you're planning a family weekend getaway, please check our team's schedule first.  I already know that some of our seniors will have to choose between taking an SAT test and attending a meet.  Please make sure that they don't have to choose between racing at sub section and taking the SAT (there are many other SAT dates aside from the first weekend in November)
7. Most importantly, remind your kids that they should be having FUN with their sport.  Fun doesn't mean that all we do is goof around.  Fun means that we enjoy the camaraderie and fellowship that we develop with our teammates.  Fun means we take satisfaction in a job well done and fun is sometimes, just plain ol' fun!