Coach Mikes Blog

in Practice by coach mike on 30 Sep 2008

Thats how i feel today. Some days you wonder why even bother? Why keep trying? It would be better to as some one said ” to just throw in the towel” quit-no mas-sell out-thats how I feel right now. My problem is I care too much. I care how people treat people-when one of my kids (runners) is hurting and i don’t mean physically- then I hurt. Right now I have a senior that things are just not working. His legs won’t go-his mind says do it-run faster but the legs won’t go. I don’t have all the answers-most of the time I have very few answers. The only answer I have for him is keep trying-don’t give up-you have worked hard and things will get better-the legs will start to obey! But its hard for me to say that when my mind says I have had enough-Some days, you feel no one cares. Right now I wonder who cares? Does anyone appreciates  what you  do?  The  extra hours  you put  in, the worries,  the sleepless nights.  If I could just coach and not have to be bothered with the extra behind the scene things that are going on!  But I guess that goes with the territory, thats why I’m paid the big dollars!  So I’ll keep showing up-I’ll keep caring-I’ll get my senior through his problems-I’ll get the girls healthy and make sure to field the best team we can at conference-the other outside forces will take care of them self because I don’t have time for that stuff now I have two teams to get ready and young people to get ready to race-to race on the course and off the course!!!

in meets by coach mike on 28 Sep 2008

Well that was a hilly little 5k. Not sure what to think. The girls had a pack time of 42 seconds 1 through 5. Now in most cases thats good, but when your number 1 is 41st, you have a little problem. Also when your freshman that has been running 6th and mostly 7th for you is number 1 that too is also a little problem. I wonder sometimes how important this is to some of them? Do we focus and prepare mentally? Or do we just show up, thinking that we aren’t going to do well, so why not just go through the motions? Lets not push ourselves, lets just get done with this so we can go home! Do we warm up right? Do we even run any of the course to warm up? Or does the coach need to follow you around like in grade school? I’m looking for someone to step up and race, to lead by example in the race! I know some are trying. Do we not work hard enough in practice? Do we need more miles? Do we need more speed? Or do we need more —–? Positives- the cheerleader, with only three workouts, this past week ran number 2 for us, the freshman ran well. Mollie ran without as much pain. Courtney was sick as a dog, but has she been doing anything to make herself better (sickness)? Kaity ’s problem is showing back up. Alyssa ran a good strong racing starting off and then faded, but you know she was giving all she had. By the way the cheerleader does have a name-Chelsea and the freshman is Tiffany. Right now I predicting a 3rd or 4th place finish at conference and 5th or 6th in the regional, thats not be very positive, but time is running out and the finish line is getting closer each day!

Boys race-split the squad and tried to run two full teams in the varsity and the jv, but that didn’t pan out, we have too many injuries. So we ran 5 in the varsity and 4 in the jv. Nix ran very well, got a very good start and was our number for over half the race, before Jordan caught him. Cory had been getting better each meet. Jordan was under the weather for a couple of days during the week running a slight fever. I like the idea of Nix moving forward. Kubicki had another tough race, he seems to be unable to focus on the task at hand, this is not uncommon with seniors, they have a lot on their plates, all kind of things to worry about, college, ACT scores, girl friends, grades, getting into the college you want. Life is getting ready to be different. Its tough having fun with this sport-you run and you are excepted to run fast. You run over roads, up hills, through creeks, hard dry ground, wet muddy grounds. It hasn’t cooled off yet, so its still hot, of course there is not time outs and no subs-if you are having a bad day, there is no where to hide. Sometimes the fun is the trip home-bus time- time to cut up a little-time to share-time to talk and laugh. We had a very nice trip home-stopped at the food court at Fairview Heights for lunch. That was the bus drivers idea and a good one-NO McDONALD’S! The trip home is a time to bond with your teammates! Back to the race-Thomas also continues to struggle, I know he will come around-he always does. Sam Follett, soccer player, ran his first race of the season, not a good one to start with! But his time was good, 20:23-take almost 30 seconds off for the 3.1 and maybe another 30 or more for the hills, not bad at all. Use Hesser and Clark in the jv race trying to build some confidence for the younger guys, Hesser raced very well, had a bad start but recovered very well to finish 5th overall, would of been 3rd on our varsity-Clark had a good start-faded then came back, finished 21st-they gave 20 medals! Meigs is getting better and will be a solid racer for us in the future years! The day was ok-somewhere different-the drive was easy- the park was very nice, would like to go back and just walk around for a bit sometime and look things over. This week we travel to Peoria for the big invite-hope to put some guys in the top 75 or better-not even sure I’ll have enough girls for a team! May have to have Kirsti Owen run!

in meets by assistant coach on 25 Sep 2008

Here are the directions and a race map for the Hankcock Cross Country Invitational (Jefferson Barracks).

Meet Info and Directions

Race Map

These can also be found on the Meet Directions page. 

in Uncategorized by coach mike on 24 Sep 2008

Just checked out the Illinois Prep Top Times standings for this week, we dropped from 24th to 25th. (Boys ranking)  You like to be acknowledged,  everybody  likes  to  be  noticed!  But you can’t  worry too  much about this stuff.  We  need  to  put  a good race  together  at  Peoria  in  a  couple of  weekends, to get noticed.

in Practice by coach mike on 24 Sep 2008

Changed up today-the girls are struggling with health problems, with colds, sore muscles, broken toes, grade problems, and other such problems. So I gave them a day off. I’m not sure we will have enough bodies left for the conference meet. To be honest I don’t know what to do. I believe they are working harder, trying to throw some tougher workouts at them, ran some hard 300′ s on the track on Tuesday after a good 4 mile run. Coach Jones has been running with them or riding a bike. But Courtney, Kaity, Mollie, and Tiffaney are all sick or hurt. Paige has a broken toe and a lower leg problem. Alyssa and Chelseay are the only healthy ones. So a day off might do them some good, we’ll see on Thursday.

The boys and I met out in the Selmaville area, getting back to the basics, getting back to the roots of some very good runners. We have a nice, hilly section of road they we have ran in the past. Only problem was the heat, very warm and muggy. After 4 miles of hills, I decided that was enough. Good work out for the middle of the week. The conference meet is getting closer, lets make sure we are taking care of ourself, and try to stay healthy. This is the tough part of the season, still lots of time before the big meets and yet tire legs, sore muscles, a general feeling of being worn out is very common. We still need to stay tough both in practice and in the meets, tough mentally, tough physically. Good teams start good and get better!!!!!!

in meets by coach mike on 20 Sep 2008

Today was the Olney Invitational. The meet was bigger this year than it has ever been. Why? Two reasons: The Apollo Conference meet will be hosted this year at the College and also Olney will host a regional or maybe its a sectional for class A later this year. So everybody wants to race on the course. This is a very nice meet with close to 27 teams there today. The Lady Rams won the girls side of the meet, while Mater Dei’s boys won on the boys side. Some very good races with the top runners also. Margo from Mt. Vernon was beaten for the first time by a freshman girl from Freeburg, who has a twin that finished 3rd. The boys race was won by Walters from Mt. Vernon out dueling someone that at this moment, I can’t remember who he was or where he was from, because I don’t have the results. Anyway some very good races today. The team results weren’t real close, our girls were 9th and the boys a very good 2nd. The girls need a front runner, Courtney was like 34th, you just can’t do much when your number one is that far back, unless it was the Peoria Invite then that would be ok. But front runners are hard to come by. Plus the ladies are getting better, and we will just have to keep working to get better, hoping a top three, maybe top two finish at conference would be very good for this group. The boys, the top three raced very well, but can do better. The 4 and 5 were too far back, a 1:53 pack time is not good. Jones had a very good race, and Jacob K raced a lot better, Cory had a good race. Goff is still brothered by shin pain, made up a lot of spots but just had to slow of a start. Hesser was in his first real varsity race and got bounced around and did not handle it very well, hopefully he learned something from the race today. Clark ???????????? I don’t know. Top 3 must continue to get better and then the next group must keep moving up.

in Practice by coach mike on 15 Sep 2008

How important are shoes? How are important are your feet? How important are your legs? We have had three straight races on mostly pavement. Legs are tired, legs are sore. Some are wearing old shoes. Courtney is wearing worn out shoes, and her legs hurt. You have to take care of yourself, for two reasons. First for your team, second for your self. Right now the girls team is in trouble, not with me. I’m talking about with numbers. We didn’t have many to start with, today Paige came to practice with a broken little toe, hurt it at home. Ellie went home sick, Tanya didn’t show up. So that left us with Courtney, Mollie, Alyssa, Kaity, and Tiffany. Good news still enough for a team score, hope we don’t tie! We still have Chelsey the cheerleader, the girls are going to try to find some more bodies but its getting late in the season to get in shape in time for conference. The boys aren’t in much better shape. At least 3 keys runners hurt right now, then a couple with very sore legs. Going to have to do some high level specialize training with some of these guys. Thomas is going to have to stay real light this week and not sure about Clark. Right now only Jordan, Jacob, Cory and little Jacob are healthy for the most part. Hoping to get Hopkins back soon and maybe Hargis, but its getting late.I guess if it was easy everyone would be coaching! Sometimes you just have to be tough and get through it and sometimes you have to be tough and smart! The coach has to be smart and not over work some of the younger kids and still keeping hammering the older more mature runners. Check the shoes! By the way is 15- 400 meters all around 72 seconds very good? I couldn’t believe it, almost everyone was right at 72 seconds, I final made them quit. Great job by Jacob and Jordan. Nix had very good work out also, hit 8×400 all around 72 and that was after 4 plus miles. Jordan and Jacob did probably 5 plus miles  with an am run. The girls did a very good 4 mile run and then ran 2×400 around 80 seconds. Hang in there troops!

in meets by coach mike on 15 Sep 2008

Had a very nice picnic hosted by the Jones last Saturday night after the Mt. Vernon meet. Thanks for the  hospitality. Had a very good turn out. The food was good and  people got to meet each other.  This get together is one of the nicer things we do and I really enjoy the chance to see the parents of the athletes.

in meets by coach mike on 14 Sep 2008

Mt. Vernon Rams  invitational-the flighted races-seven different races, starting with your number 7 runner working your way up to the number 1 race.  Had to use Bryce as our number 7 runner, we have several injuries. He did the best he could, but we put a 6 on the score board and we couldn’t recover from that. Bryce will be a good runner, he just needs time to get better and needs to put in some miles in the summer. Musial ran for the girls in the number 7 girls , she had one of the girls better time. Clark and Knaak ran the next race. Both struggled. Chelsey is doing the best she can, she is a cheerleader and just doesn’t get enough time to train, I hope next year, she might be able to run during the summer and build some base. Clark just didn’t have it, he is only a sophomore, the mental part of the game he still needs to work on. He’ll work at it. Number 5 race featured TG, Mr. Goff and Ms Zimmermann. Thomas was all geared up, ready to go and he took off and never looked back-Zim raced well and she keeps getting better. Next race was Peanut butter cup, super freshman, Jacob and Kaity. Jacob ran a heck of a race, when he and the boy from BE took off from the pack, the race was on, only problem neither one of them knew the course that well, the BE kid got off the course and Jacob got back on quicker than he did and won, so that was 2 wins in a row for us. Kissner ran a solid race for the girls. In the number 3 slot was Nix and Shetley, by this time the heat and humidity had really kicked in. Nix raced very well finished 2nd-looked strong. As strong as someone who is 6′2 and weighs 130 can look.  But he did look good.  Shetley battled, she was under the weather a little bit. Next up number 2 race, Kubicki and Owen. Of late Mollie has looked better in practice and has raced better, she had another race with improvement, which is good. Kubicki started out strong and then faulted. He just doesn’t handle the heat and humidity very well. But he knows he needs to be tougher. Race number 1 pitted Jones and Wiedemer as our runners. Jordan settled in second place after hanging with Champbell for while and finished the race in 2nd. Courtney finished with the best time for the girls. She has had a very good season so far, very proud of her.  This type of meet is all about being mentally tough, being ready to race, we were about 50% on that, we need to be better at that.

in meets by coach mike on 09 Sep 2008

Both squads won! So extra work on the day before the meet didn’t affect the performances of the runners. Best race the girls have ran all year. Courtney continues to lead the way. She looked strong again today, best time on this course for us in several years. Mollie had her best race so far this year, she is starting to show some life toward her running. Shetley was Shetley, she just works hard all the time. Miss Kissner ran strong as did Ellie. I was very please to see this group of young ladies step up. Varsity boys looked good 1 to 3. Jones went out fast, another sub 5:10 first mile, he finished 3rd over all. Kubicki even though he took a bad fall and skinned himself up, raced to a 5th place finish. Nix looked very strong and is getting better each race. The new kid, Jacob H, ran a very good and smart race for a freshman in his first varsity race and brought home 9th. Thomas is having some problems with his shins and struggled to a 17th place finish, followed by Clark and Davis. In the open race Bryce was the number one boy. Brittney ran very well in the open. Gray stone fought through the pain to run well.