Great job on completing our dual meet season. Special kudos to our girl's team for finishing 3rd in our Division: Terrific job ladies! The boys came out with a solid 5th place finish.
Congratulations are also in order for completing a callousing workout today as we focus on "the big meets" of our schedule. The next meet decides which teams will continue the season by advancing to the next stage. The qualifiers will be decided by a close margin. The teams that want it most and who focus on the prize will be the ones who advance. Let's all do our part to ensure Kentwood is selected for the next round of play. Everyone's effort and dedication is essential. I believe you can and will achieve this goal.
I'm proud of our accomplishments to date. You've worked hard conditioning both your minds and your bodies. Now let's continue our pursuit of the prize by qualifying for the Westside Classic Cross Country Championships at American Lake on October 27th. Believe in yourselves. We can do it!
Friday, October 12, 2007
Tuesday, October 2, 2007
Misplaced Priorities: Training vs. Racing
As aspiring distance runners you have all learned that it takes a great deal of dedication and work to become winners. The volume and quality of the work we must do to reach our potential can sometimes become a challenge in itself. One of the unintended consequences of this hard work is that after awhile we sometimes blur the distinction between training and racing. Our workouts can take on a life of their own and dominate our psyche. We begin to become TRAINERS instead of RACERS. Remember, the goal of a workout -- or a series of workouts -- is to make you a better RACER, not a better trainer.
As you progress through the season (and through your off-season workouts) please remember this key point... I'm here to compete, to win races--- NOT simply to do better workouts. The purpose of these workouts is to improve my chances of winning a RACE and helping my team in a meet.
Now, please don't misinterpret what I'm saying. Please don't think practice isn't important. It's VERY important. But the importance of practice is to bolster your racing abilities. That is why you should be knowledgeable of your various pace times, interval splits, etc., so that your body is familiar with the numbers you should be hitting and can handle the intensity of effort during a RACE.
O.K., coach. I hear you, and I think that I understand where you are coming from, but how do I know if I'm a trainer instead of a racer? Fair question. Here are some hints. Although you run awesome workouts you consistently do not race at the same level. You tend to shy away from competing in favor of running a knock-down workout. Subconsciously you may even let people pass you in races to conserve strength for another day. You may be injured a lot and subconsciously use that as an excuse not to compete well.
Oh, and speaking of injuries, here is some food for thought. All good runners eventually get them. The secret is to reduce the severity and chronicity of the injury. I try to do that for you as best as I can, but the truth of the matter is that most runners are going to incur an overuse injury sometime during their career--sometimes even on a seasonal basis. When that happens I attempt to give you as much rest as needed to aid in the recovery process. It's important that you take care of yourself and recover.
That being said, as competitive runners we hate to lose. Prior to a big race or particularly difficult workout we may think too much about perceived discomfort. We may become fearful, scared, and then dwell too much on every conceivable little twinge we feel in our bodies; sometimes over estimating the importance of minor physical inconveniences and discomforts. Don't let your mind run away with itself and take your courage along with it. And remember, many great athletes have overcome adversity to win. That's what makes them winners--that raw unassailable courage and determination to win despite the obstacles in your path.
Good luck, and train well to win the RACE.
As you progress through the season (and through your off-season workouts) please remember this key point... I'm here to compete, to win races--- NOT simply to do better workouts. The purpose of these workouts is to improve my chances of winning a RACE and helping my team in a meet.
Now, please don't misinterpret what I'm saying. Please don't think practice isn't important. It's VERY important. But the importance of practice is to bolster your racing abilities. That is why you should be knowledgeable of your various pace times, interval splits, etc., so that your body is familiar with the numbers you should be hitting and can handle the intensity of effort during a RACE.
O.K., coach. I hear you, and I think that I understand where you are coming from, but how do I know if I'm a trainer instead of a racer? Fair question. Here are some hints. Although you run awesome workouts you consistently do not race at the same level. You tend to shy away from competing in favor of running a knock-down workout. Subconsciously you may even let people pass you in races to conserve strength for another day. You may be injured a lot and subconsciously use that as an excuse not to compete well.
Oh, and speaking of injuries, here is some food for thought. All good runners eventually get them. The secret is to reduce the severity and chronicity of the injury. I try to do that for you as best as I can, but the truth of the matter is that most runners are going to incur an overuse injury sometime during their career--sometimes even on a seasonal basis. When that happens I attempt to give you as much rest as needed to aid in the recovery process. It's important that you take care of yourself and recover.
That being said, as competitive runners we hate to lose. Prior to a big race or particularly difficult workout we may think too much about perceived discomfort. We may become fearful, scared, and then dwell too much on every conceivable little twinge we feel in our bodies; sometimes over estimating the importance of minor physical inconveniences and discomforts. Don't let your mind run away with itself and take your courage along with it. And remember, many great athletes have overcome adversity to win. That's what makes them winners--that raw unassailable courage and determination to win despite the obstacles in your path.
Good luck, and train well to win the RACE.
Thursday, September 20, 2007
YESTERDAY, TODAY, and TOMORROW
Yesterday. We already discussed the #'s from yesterday's meet along with what those numbers mean and what they may not mean. But what I want to do here is to thank those team members who served as course guides during the race and helped setting-up and tearing down our course markings, moving equipment, shuttling athletes, etc. A meet is difficult to put on and your contributions helped make it a snap. "Many hands make for little work." From the entire coaching staff--thanks!
Today. Awesome job during today's workout. The vast majority of you seemed to be hitting your numbers while not exceeding the allowed rest interval. That takes perseverance, attention to detail, and physical courage. Nice job! Some of you were really hauling--remember that was not the goal of today's workout. Today was not a "repetition session" it was an "interval session." The two workouts tax separate energy sources and have different goals. Today was supposed to be a moderately challenging workout that left you feeling up, NOT wiped-out. The numbers are geared off of your three mile racing ability. If you feel the need to go faster... do it in a race. That's what counts. More on that another time.
We'll be refining your goal times incrementally throughout the season, so move through them with progression. Don't try to do it all at once. Plenty of time for that in future weeks.
Tomorrow. We're going long. Long and fairly comfortably. Many of you will be instructed to go out 30 minutes, turn around, and head back to the start. Several of you will run the entire Lake Young's loop. That's 15 kilometers (about 9.3 miles). I want your first two miles to be your slowest miles. That's right... your slowest miles. Gradually (very gradually) pick it up from there and run each mile successively faster (about 5 to no more than 15 seconds per mile). You should finish your 8th mile about a minute to a minute and a half slower than your three mile race pace. I refer to this as a cut-down session. Use the very last 1/2 mile of the run to taper-off comfortably. Enjoy the run and establish a baseline time for yourself on this course. Those of you who ran this a couple of weeks ago will really appreciate the temperature change!
Lastly-- a special thanks to the Kraft and Selvar families for welcoming us to their homes and feeding us so well that we need to buy larger uniforms :-)
Have a great weekend! Run comfortably on either Saturday or Sunday for about 30 minutes and take the other day completely off.
Today. Awesome job during today's workout. The vast majority of you seemed to be hitting your numbers while not exceeding the allowed rest interval. That takes perseverance, attention to detail, and physical courage. Nice job! Some of you were really hauling--remember that was not the goal of today's workout. Today was not a "repetition session" it was an "interval session." The two workouts tax separate energy sources and have different goals. Today was supposed to be a moderately challenging workout that left you feeling up, NOT wiped-out. The numbers are geared off of your three mile racing ability. If you feel the need to go faster... do it in a race. That's what counts. More on that another time.
We'll be refining your goal times incrementally throughout the season, so move through them with progression. Don't try to do it all at once. Plenty of time for that in future weeks.
Tomorrow. We're going long. Long and fairly comfortably. Many of you will be instructed to go out 30 minutes, turn around, and head back to the start. Several of you will run the entire Lake Young's loop. That's 15 kilometers (about 9.3 miles). I want your first two miles to be your slowest miles. That's right... your slowest miles. Gradually (very gradually) pick it up from there and run each mile successively faster (about 5 to no more than 15 seconds per mile). You should finish your 8th mile about a minute to a minute and a half slower than your three mile race pace. I refer to this as a cut-down session. Use the very last 1/2 mile of the run to taper-off comfortably. Enjoy the run and establish a baseline time for yourself on this course. Those of you who ran this a couple of weeks ago will really appreciate the temperature change!
Lastly-- a special thanks to the Kraft and Selvar families for welcoming us to their homes and feeding us so well that we need to buy larger uniforms :-)
Have a great weekend! Run comfortably on either Saturday or Sunday for about 30 minutes and take the other day completely off.
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