in Practice by coach mike on 30 Aug 2007
The next day- There is no time to rest. Some think rest is needed after racing. Depends. Depends on the time of the season. Whats next, stuff like that. Right now we have a lot of meets in a short period of time, there is no time for recovering time. As mentioned before our most important races are later in the season, therefore we have to train through these early meets. With that said, todays practice was not real productive. The boys did get a good longer run in. We then did some down hill runs, I wanted us to work on some leg and arm turnover. I know some think that we need some speed work, its too early for much, our goals dictate us to be peaking later in the year. I see lots of team that are good early in the year, only to peak too soon, and have nothing left at the end of the year. We talked today about the importance of everyone. Without your #4, 5,6,7 doing the job, you don’t have a team. We have to have a pack or we are in trouble, there are no all stater’s
on the team, no yet anyway, right JJ?
Ladies-I had my first talk with the ladies today. They have too much talent to be practicing like they are. Junk miles-you can run a 100 miles and if its at a snail’s pace, its junk! Some of them don’t know, they don’t understand. I talked to my seniors, I’m hoping they take charge. Only “time” will tell!
Added two new boys today!!!!!!! Both freshmen, I think they will stick!
August 30th, 2007 at 5:16 pm
haha….time….funny play on words, Mike. How long did that take you to come up with? =P just kidding. Me and Linds talked. We’re stepping it up.
August 30th, 2007 at 5:36 pm
we will see if an all-stater will be made. none by the looks of yesterdays race but its too early to tell. the runners will come around by the end of the season. maybe not all-staters but state qualifiers. which would also be good to have. we will just have to work on getting mt. vernon for now.
August 30th, 2007 at 5:45 pm
now about the new freshman. i think they both will be big help for the j.v. but the one i see most potential in is alec. i saw his form when he was running down the hill and it looked like we could possibly have varsity material but stride outs are one thing we will see how he runs down the road. running saturday wont tell us to much but it will see where he is at already. not getting the summer mileage will be a big factor and how well he runs.
August 31st, 2007 at 7:48 am
After watching the 1st meet I think heart,desire and work ethic will be huge factors for the girls. They need to not settle for a spot on the team ,but challenge the runner ahead of them. This philosophy applies to practice also. If you are satisfied to be the #4 runner (or whatever # runner on the team) then you are letting your teammates down by not challenging them to be the best they can be. In a tight meet like Wed. every spot is important! Every runner you outsprint to the chute is the difference between victory and defeat. Races are decided by how much heart and desire your 6th and 7th runners have. Coach I’m sure you remember losing an OBC Boys Championship when 3 Selmaville boys were outsprinted at the chute by Raccoon boys and we lost by 1 point! Anyone of those boys could have reached down and made the difference but not one of them realized the value of beating one more runner and were content to just finish and it cost them a championship. The potential for success is there physically but without the desire and heart to drive you to be your best you never will be. It is more satisfying to be the 6th or 7th runner on a contender than the #1 or #2 runner on a pretender! A lot of it is a matter of perception, you think you are performing your best but you won’t push through the pain threshold and challenge yourself to reach a little higher. When I see a coach yelling encouragement or advice to an athlete and I see a change in pace or form then I know that that athlete is more focused and working to improve, but when you continue to match strides with your opponent, not use your arms, increase your stride, etc., and settle in then you are doomed. Don’t cheat yourself or your teammates, be the best you can be!
August 31st, 2007 at 6:46 pm
Good points Coach!!! Thanks!