last week of summer break

Summer break comes to an end. Some freshmen move in early in the week to attend the last two FASET sessions. Other freshmen and a number of returnees will move in Thursday, and everyone should be back by Friday. Our first team function will be a compliance meeting at 4pm in the Technology Center on the ground floor of the AA. We'll conduct our team meeting after compliance is done, then we'll all convene for a team dinner. Everyone was emailed a list of important dates and times, so make sure you check your email.

Along with the mandatory meetings and functions, on an voluntary basis people will be getting together for the 80% run on Friday morning and then carpooling out to the river on Saturday morning for an easy recovery run.

We're excited about seeing all of you! The first day of practice can't get here quick enough :)

commitment

I came across a quote by author and management expert, Ken Blanchard, that I really liked and wanted to share...."There is a difference between interest and commitment. When you're interested in something, you do it only when it's convenient. When you're committed to something, you accept no excuses, only results." That quote meshes well with a chapter in John Maxwell's book, The 17 Essential Qualities OF A Team Player, titled "Committed: There Are No Halfhearted Champions". As coaches, we approach a new school year that is filled with promise, and with a great team mix of improving upperclassmen and talented youngsters. We're excited about the continued development of all, old and new!

As you begin to fill your bags and boxes and containers for your return to school, we encourage you to bring more commitment than ever. More commitment than to just the big things, like aerobic development, sleep, and nutrition. Be committed to all the small things that ultimately play vital roles in the success of your and our season. Be committed to core work, hip strength and mobility, iron supplementation, technique work, teamwork, and our Sunday long run practices.

Be committed to excellence in everything. That's what it takes.

dog days of summer

The dog days of summer are certainly upon us. High heat and high humidity offer a challenging environment to prepare for the fall season. The Sept '11 issue of Runner's World has a good article discussing the topic, pick it up and read it if you can. Obviously we know it's smart to avoid running in the heat of the day and to stay well-hydrated at all times. But the article also mentions some other points to keep in mind, such as an approximate 20% difference in volume compared to training in cooler and dryer environments. For example, running 50 miles for a week in high heat and humidity is equivalent to 60 miles a week in a cooler and dryer environment. Also, keep in mind you will need to adjust the pace of your runs - you will be slower for easy runs, threshold runs, and long runs. Don't worry, you will see the positive result on some early morning practice when a cool front comes through in mid-to late-September. So, just focus on making sure the runs feel the right effort, and don't stress about what the watch says.

In less than three weeks we will be gathering as a team - I hope you are excited!

fall schedule

Just a quick post for this week...a solid jump in volume is ahead, looking forward to seeing how everyone handles it. Don't worry about pace on your easy days, just make sure you recover well. For the most part our fall racing schedule is set, please see below...

Saturday, Sep 3
UGA Invitational - Athens, GA

Friday, Sep 16
Clemson Invitational - Clemson, SC

Friday, Sep 30
Charlotte Invitational - Charlotte, NC

Saturday, Oct 15
Crimson Classic - Tuscaloosa, AL
OR
Sunday, Oct 16
Pre-National Inv - Terre Haute, IN

Saturday, Oct 29
ACC Championships - Clemson, SC

Saturday, Nov 12
NCAA South Regional - Tuscaloosa, AL

Monday, Nov 21
NCAA National Championships - Terre Haute, IN

biology vs chemistry

In the comments section last week I referenced a talk by a coach of recent championship teams. To me, the talk could be broken down into two parts - the biology of championship teams and the chemistry of championship teams.

Regarding biology, he spoke of the importance of the long run, calling it the most important run of the week. The tempo/threshold run was the next most important workout of each week, followed by a weekly fartlek, and finally finishing one easy run each week with strides. These were the summer ingredients that led to success in the following season. Any of that sound familiar?

Far more important though was the attitude of the team, the team culture. He identified several factors that needed to be present. They included a blue-collar mentality, a willingness to sacrifice, patience and persistance, being a student of the sport, and having a real passion for the sport - you have to live for it. Basically, each team member needs to invest, seriously invest.

I think we have the biology right. And I challenge you to think about where our team chemistry is. Do we have the right formula, and what is your part in the equation?

your breathing don't lie

Ok, the first week of higher end aerobic efforts should be in the books...er, logs. As you evaluate your runs, how do you know the efforts were in the right aerobic range? The answer is in your breathing, and your breathing don't lie (I know that is grammactically incorrect, just roll with it).

As you focus on learning or executing the 80-85% efforts, your breathing will guide you if let it. At the highest aerobic end, you should just barely be able to keep your breathing under control. When you feel you have gotten to a point where your breathing is too labored, where your breathing is unable to keep up with the running, you are just crossing over into the anaerobic range. While all of that is not exactly correct on a scientific basis, it is a good 'layman's description and a great rule of thumb.

So, focus on your breathing, stay relaxed, and have some great runs!

aerobic conditioning in earnest

The foundation for a successful year begins in earnest this week with the XC Aerobic Conditioning schedule listed in the Summer'11 Notes section of your training plans. Make sure you familiarize yourself with the definitions for the different efforts. But keep in mind that ALL efforts are AEROBIC, none are anaerobic. That means your efforts should fall in the 85% range or below on the pace chart. Only when you are doing the fast striding once a week should you exceed 85% speed.

The pace chart is where you should start. Locate a conservative estimate of your current 5k shape. One way to do that is to locate the general pace at which you have been running for that last couple of weeks on the pace chart in the 70% column and use the corresponding 5k time.

For Tuesday's fartlek you should alternate between 85% and 65% efforts. So for example, using our standard 5-4-3-2-1 fartlek, you would run 5 minutes at 85%, 5 minutes at 65%, 4 minutes at 85%, 4 minutes at 65%, 3 minutes at 85%, etc. You can use that standard fartlek or you can structure something on your own, just alternate between 85% and 65%.

Friday's effort approaching 80% is just that - start out a little slower and progress towards the 80% effort corresponding to the 5k time that is right for you.

For your Sunday long run, try to keep the pace in the 70-75% range.

Make sure Monday and Saturday's are light, recovery days.

The pace chart is an excellent guide and has shown itself to be very reliable and accurate. But ultimately, these efforts are about 'feel'. Begin to understand what each effort feels like, then try to execute the runs by feel, and not by constanting monitoring your pace on your GPS watch!

Add in your general strength-training, your recovery nutrition, a focus on improving your mechanics as you run, and living like a clock. You're on your way to a great year!

I enjoyed the blog comments from last week, especially deejerz's offering of the Kroger Slim-Rite shake as a recovery option, the newly-loquacious joe stowe, betsy's outing of maureen, and doug's shout out for midfoot-striking. Apparently we're adding a new "ask doug" feature to the blog :)