That's the title of a fun trail race series in Rochester this summer. The next version is this Wednesday, July 16th at Mendon Ponds Park - 6:30pm start. Full details are available at their web site. Kenny, Nate and I ran the last race in the series, and enjoyed it (and Kenny was 9th out of 128 overall). If you are a true XC runner, I'm sure you'll enjoy it, too. $10 gets you the race, plus food afterwards - a real bargain these days.
See you there!
Monday, July 14, 2008
Sunday, July 13, 2008
Less Than 16 weeks
For those of you that don't think Cross Country is a short season, think about this: Sectionals is 16 weeks from yesterday! We don't start official practices for 5 weeks, and many team members will have their last race at the County Meet, making for a 10 week season.
That's why it is imperative that the team comes to Day 1 of practice with a solid base. Many of you are getting out regularly; keep it up! Some of you have been inconsistent; now is the time to get going. Call a friend and make an appointment to get out the door together.
Cross Country camp begins this Tuesday. I hope you are all signed up. It's very difficult to put in a top performance in the fall without a solid summer. XC camp is a great way to get in some good work, with minimal anguish. I hope to see you all there.
That's why it is imperative that the team comes to Day 1 of practice with a solid base. Many of you are getting out regularly; keep it up! Some of you have been inconsistent; now is the time to get going. Call a friend and make an appointment to get out the door together.
Cross Country camp begins this Tuesday. I hope you are all signed up. It's very difficult to put in a top performance in the fall without a solid summer. XC camp is a great way to get in some good work, with minimal anguish. I hope to see you all there.
Saturday, July 12, 2008
Nate Sightings
Nate has shown up, both in results and in photos.
He was at a training camp this past week, and it included 5 days of competition in the evenings, after training in the mornings. The results (of the first 4 days, so far) are available here. The site is in Swedish, so it can be tricky to find the results, but look under Tyr-Nyheter (Tyr News?) and there will be links to the various Etapp (day) results. You might have to click Las mer (more?) and another link to get to the Tyrarrangemang page, which has the results.
His photo has shown up on the Junior Sweden trip blog, so we know he is still in one piece (as of a couple of days ago).
So, Nate is training hard. Are you?
He was at a training camp this past week, and it included 5 days of competition in the evenings, after training in the mornings. The results (of the first 4 days, so far) are available here. The site is in Swedish, so it can be tricky to find the results, but look under Tyr-Nyheter (Tyr News?) and there will be links to the various Etapp (day) results. You might have to click Las mer (more?) and another link to get to the Tyrarrangemang page, which has the results.
His photo has shown up on the Junior Sweden trip blog, so we know he is still in one piece (as of a couple of days ago).
So, Nate is training hard. Are you?
Tuesday, July 8, 2008
Strides
Do them!
Do them often!
I would suggest that strides should be done after your easy runs, at a minimum, 3-4 days a week. Barefoot on a quality soccer/football field is my favorite method. There are dozens of different ways to do strides, so go with your preferences and mix things up. I'll cover some suggestions below. Feel free to comment, to let others gain different perspectives.
100m is a typical distance, but feel free to go slightly longer or shorter, or go by time: 20-25 seconds is a decent range for most of you. 8 to 10 strides is a nice range for most of you to shoot for, but start with 4 to 6 and work up. Some things to think about:
1) Form - shoulders over hips, arms parallel to direction of travel (not crossing the body), legs doing the work and upper body relaxed, along for the ride.
2) Turnover - EVERYONE on the team would benefit from faster turnover during races; use the strides to practice quick turnover: pretend you are running on egg shells (light ground strikes) or hot coals (quickness). You will feel the different leg muscles being stressed as you do this.
3) Speed - these are not sprints; however, you should build your speed during the first third of the stride, have high speed during the middle third, and wind it back down during the final third.
4) Visualize - imagine you're in the middle of a race, or getting ready for the final sprint; imagine the race is Counties or Sectionals or the Olympics! Get positive feelings about the hard effort being very comfortable - you can draw on those feelings later, during a race.
Strides seem unimportant, but they can change your leg strength and quickness, and make you a stronger and more efficient runner.
Do them often!
I would suggest that strides should be done after your easy runs, at a minimum, 3-4 days a week. Barefoot on a quality soccer/football field is my favorite method. There are dozens of different ways to do strides, so go with your preferences and mix things up. I'll cover some suggestions below. Feel free to comment, to let others gain different perspectives.
100m is a typical distance, but feel free to go slightly longer or shorter, or go by time: 20-25 seconds is a decent range for most of you. 8 to 10 strides is a nice range for most of you to shoot for, but start with 4 to 6 and work up. Some things to think about:
1) Form - shoulders over hips, arms parallel to direction of travel (not crossing the body), legs doing the work and upper body relaxed, along for the ride.
2) Turnover - EVERYONE on the team would benefit from faster turnover during races; use the strides to practice quick turnover: pretend you are running on egg shells (light ground strikes) or hot coals (quickness). You will feel the different leg muscles being stressed as you do this.
3) Speed - these are not sprints; however, you should build your speed during the first third of the stride, have high speed during the middle third, and wind it back down during the final third.
4) Visualize - imagine you're in the middle of a race, or getting ready for the final sprint; imagine the race is Counties or Sectionals or the Olympics! Get positive feelings about the hard effort being very comfortable - you can draw on those feelings later, during a race.
Strides seem unimportant, but they can change your leg strength and quickness, and make you a stronger and more efficient runner.
Saturday, July 5, 2008
4th of July
I see that at least three Webster Distance Runners raced on the 4th of July. Here are the age group results of the Firecracker 5 Miler in Perinton. Kenny and Sarah both participated - it looks like Sarah ran with her old man, and Kenny got in a nice workout.
A few hours earlier, Nate competed in his second JWOC spectator race in Sweden, turning in a very fine performance in the H16 category, after having one big error (scroll down to Nate and see leg #4) a day earlier in the open men's (H21) race (he entered open because it was on the same course as the Junior World Middle Distance Champs).
A few hours earlier, Nate competed in his second JWOC spectator race in Sweden, turning in a very fine performance in the H16 category, after having one big error (scroll down to Nate and see leg #4) a day earlier in the open men's (H21) race (he entered open because it was on the same course as the Junior World Middle Distance Champs).
Friday, July 4, 2008
Long Runs
As the weekend approaches, this is a good time to remind everyone that the focus of this segment of our training plan is to get out the door regularly and gradually increase the length of the long run. Here are some thoughts on the long runs.
Distance or Time? Well, in the end it doesn't really matter, but I'd like the varsity contenders to think about distance, and the rookies to think about time. Going by time allows you to worry less about pace, and just focus on increasing the duration of your runs. I think it is also less intimidating to say "I'll just run five minutes longer than last week", than to say "I'll run 10 miles". For the veterans, I think a good goal is to work up to 12-13 miles, however long that may take.
How far? A good rule of thumb is that your long run should be no more than 30% of your weekly mileage, so if you are running a 30 mile week, it is OK to include a 9-miler, max. I think high school runners should be slightly more conservative than that (perhaps 1 mile less than the rule would say). Another very important rule of thumb is to increase the length of the long run by no more than 1 mile per week (and let's make that 5 minutes for rookies).
How fast? SLOW! Your long runs should be done at a pace that is about 1:45 or even 2 minutes per mile slower than your current 5K race pace. This will feel quite slow, especially early in the run, but avoid the urge to run faster. This means that you should run with someone who is at your current 5K speed, not go with Nico and Kenny (et al) for as long as you can.
One last piece of advice: use the long runs to run somewhere you haven't. I like to be able to go even farther away by making it a one way run (e.g. I may run to Zach's soccer game, then catch a ride home). Or, if you're on vacation, a long run allows you to explore more of the vacation area than you would have by walking around, or doing the usual touristy stuff.
Enjoy those long runs!
Distance or Time? Well, in the end it doesn't really matter, but I'd like the varsity contenders to think about distance, and the rookies to think about time. Going by time allows you to worry less about pace, and just focus on increasing the duration of your runs. I think it is also less intimidating to say "I'll just run five minutes longer than last week", than to say "I'll run 10 miles". For the veterans, I think a good goal is to work up to 12-13 miles, however long that may take.
How far? A good rule of thumb is that your long run should be no more than 30% of your weekly mileage, so if you are running a 30 mile week, it is OK to include a 9-miler, max. I think high school runners should be slightly more conservative than that (perhaps 1 mile less than the rule would say). Another very important rule of thumb is to increase the length of the long run by no more than 1 mile per week (and let's make that 5 minutes for rookies).
How fast? SLOW! Your long runs should be done at a pace that is about 1:45 or even 2 minutes per mile slower than your current 5K race pace. This will feel quite slow, especially early in the run, but avoid the urge to run faster. This means that you should run with someone who is at your current 5K speed, not go with Nico and Kenny (et al) for as long as you can.
One last piece of advice: use the long runs to run somewhere you haven't. I like to be able to go even farther away by making it a one way run (e.g. I may run to Zach's soccer game, then catch a ride home). Or, if you're on vacation, a long run allows you to explore more of the vacation area than you would have by walking around, or doing the usual touristy stuff.
Enjoy those long runs!
Wednesday, July 2, 2008
OK, I've Had My Break
And it looks like many of you have had yours. Now it's time to get to work. Most of the big boys were at the Tuesday AM workout at Schroeder, but we want EVERYONE there, boy or girl, big or little! Also, I hear the captain's practices are underway. Contact AB, Kenny, Hannah or Alaina for details.
I'm going to have to institute a "no TV until I've posted" rule for myself (of course I'm saying this just before I leave town for the weekend, with unknown internet connectivity, since I did not make the hotel reservations - rule #1: ensure free internet). Speaking of TV - be sure to check out the Olympic Trial coverage that is underway USA Network is showing some during the week and I believe NBC is taking over for the weekend. There were some awesome races on Monday night - the men's 800 is one of the better races I've seen, including a guy diving for the 3rd and final spot on the Olympic team.
Enough reading - go run!
I'm going to have to institute a "no TV until I've posted" rule for myself (of course I'm saying this just before I leave town for the weekend, with unknown internet connectivity, since I did not make the hotel reservations - rule #1: ensure free internet). Speaking of TV - be sure to check out the Olympic Trial coverage that is underway USA Network is showing some during the week and I believe NBC is taking over for the weekend. There were some awesome races on Monday night - the men's 800 is one of the better races I've seen, including a guy diving for the 3rd and final spot on the Olympic team.
Enough reading - go run!
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