schedule

All reporting of weekly mileage should now be to the comment section of the blog.

Friday, Sep 4 - Jacksonville State Opener, Oxford, AL (w=4k / m5k)
Saturday, Sep 19 - Vanderbilt Classic, Nashville, TN (w=5k / m=8k)
Saturday, Oct 3 - Upstate Invitational, Spartanburg, SC (w=5k / m=8k)
Saturday, Oct 17 - Pre-Nationals Invitational, Louisville, KY (w=6k / m=8k)
Saturday, Oct 31 - ACC Championships, Tallahassee, FL (w=6k / m=8k)
Friday, Nov 13 - NCAA South Regional, Tuscaloosa, AL (w=6k / m=10k)
Saturday, Nov 21 - NCAA Nationals, Louisville, KY (w=6k / m=10k)

principles

All reporting of weekly mileage should now be to the comment section of the blog.

A short post as a long day of travel back to the east coast is on tap for today. So everyone, new and old, look up and read the two sub-titles to the blog.  Those are two very important concepts to always keep in mind in our program as they govern almost everything we do.  Read them, understand them, and know them!

the swarm

All reporting of weekly mileage should now be to the comment section of the blog.

Something to think about, with apologies to a significant literary work...

"For the strength of the Swarm is the Yellow Jacket, and the strength of the Yellow Jacket is the Swarm"

Kudos to anyone who can name the literary work.  This week we go back to Eugene for the USATF National and Junior National Championships.  Brandon will compete in the men's 800m, Bailey will compete in the women's junior high jump, and Ryan will compete in the men's junior triple jump.  Wish them well as they represent us in one of the biggest meets of the year!

Now let's finish what we began two weeks ago with the last two items of the 4 THINGS YOUR LEADERS MUST DO TO CREATE A CHAMPIONSHIP CULTURE...

3. LEADERS MUST CONNECT THE CULTURE
You also need your leaders to serve as the primary Connectors within your team. This means they need to connect the various subgroups on your team so that they don’t splinter off and become corrosive cliques.

Opposing subgroups often arise within teams based on a variety of factors: starters vs. the reserves, the upperclassmen vs. the underclassmen, the people the coach recruited vs. those the coach didn’t recruit, etc. While this is natural and a positive when the subgroups get along and work together, sometimes these subgroups become internally competitive and combative with each other and create divisive cliques on your team.

Your team leaders must help to keep the natural subgroups working together for the benefit of the entire team - not battling each other. Good team leaders connect with all the natural subgroups on your team and understand each subgroup’s viewpoints, challenges, and value to the team.

For example, some years back, Chester Frazier was the starting senior point guard on the Illinois men’s basketball team. Even though he was an experienced senior, Chester made a point of connecting with the freshmen on the team by reaching out to them often. Even though the perimeter players had different workout times, Chester also made a point to hang around afterwards so he could be at the gym when the post players came in for their workouts. And even though he was a starter, he still worked with the reserves after practice so they could get in some extra shooting. Chester made a special point to connect with all the various subgroups on the Illinois team to keep everyone on the same page, which gave him great respect and credibility as a leader. Your leaders must also take the initiative to reach out to the various subgroups on your team to keep them all connected.

"Great leaders are great connectors."  Jeff Janssen

4. LEADERS MUST BE THE CARETAKERS OF THE CULTURE

The fourth important function of your leaders is to serve as the critical Caretakers of your culture. If your team is going to be successful, you must establish high Standards in practices, conditioning, weights, the classroom, on campus, and in the community. Your team leaders must vigilantly monitor your program’s Standards on and off the playing field and hold everyone accountable to them. When people meet and exceed your team's Standards, your leaders should be the first to congratulate them and call them out to the rest of the team as a positive example.

When people fall below the Standards, as they inevitably will, your leaders must constructively confront their less-disciplined teammates for the good of the program. Holding teammates accountable is an ongoing, challenging, and uncomfortable job for many leaders, but nevertheless a necessary one that absolutely must be done for the overall health of the culture. If your team leaders let your team's Standards slip or allow others to abuse the culture intentionally or unintentionally, your culture soon decays and collapses right along with your leader’s credibility. In this way, your team leaders serve as the guardians and caretakers of your culture. Like the safety guardrails on a treacherous highway, leaders must keep their team from running off the road and into the ditch, or worse, off the side of the mountain.

“The final piece in a championship team is leadership. The most attractive type of leadership to me is the student-athlete who is a coach on the field. I want a driving verbal force who won’t let standards slip. That’s how teams with ordinary talent can win championships.”
  Anson Dorrance, North Carolina Women’s Soccer Coach

team culture to continue next week

All reporting of weekly mileage should now be to the comment section of the blog.

Gonna be a short post...in Salt Lake City on a layover to Atlanta, arriving very late tonight.  Everyone should now just follow your regular daily schedule with either every Monday off or every other Monday off depending on your schedule.  Also, note that in the Summer Notes there are no fartlek or workouts for the first six weeks. When we get past six weeks of just easy aerobic running, workouts for Tue/Fri will be listed on the blog.  And next week we'll continue with #3 and #4 of the 4 THINGS YOUR LEADERS MUST DO TO CREATE A CHAMPIONSHIP CULTURE.

team culture

Off to Eugene for Sam in the pole vault at the NCAA Championships!  The women's vault will be Thursday at 4:45 PM PST.  She's had a great senior year and is ready to compete well at Hayward Field...message her and wish her good luck!

At the time of this post, the annual volume spreadsheets are done and have been emailed to the incoming people.  Right after this posting, emailing all the returnees will begin.  So by evening's end all should have their schedules.  Read through all four tabs in the spreadsheet.  Note: the weekly dates listed in the spreadsheet are the Sunday that begins each week.  Mileage is tabulated from Sunday-Saturday.  Each Sunday night or early in the week you are reporting on the blog your mileage from the previous week.  Ask questions as needed.  Make sure you understand the plan!

All reporting of weekly mileage should now be to the comment section of the blog.

continued return to running schedule:

mon - stretching & mobility + light aerobic running

tue - stretching & mobility + light aerobic running

wed - stretching & mobility + light aerobic running

thu - stretching & mobility + light aerobic running

fri - stretching & mobility + light aerobic running

sat - stretching & mobility + OFF or crosstraining

sun - stretching & mobility + light aerobic running

From the Janssen Sports Leadership Center…

4 THINGS YOUR LEADERS MUST DO TO CREATE A CHAMPIONSHIP CULTURE

As a coach, you likely already realize that your team’s culture is absolutely essential to your program’s success both on and off the playing field. While your leadership is certainly critical to building and sustaining the kind of winning culture you need to be successful, your team leaders play a HUGE role in molding, managing, monitoring, and maintaining your team’s culture. Because your leaders often have the most contact and credibility with their teammates, their strong, continual influence shapes your team’s culture in a multitude of ways. YOUR TEAM LEADERS MUST DO THESE 4 CRITICAL THINGS TO HELP YOU BUILD A CHAMPIONSHIP CULTURE:

1. TEAM LEADERS MUST HELP CREATE THE CULTURE

Your team leaders play an important initial role in helping you create the kind of winning, high-performance culture you need to be successful. Culture cannot simply be created and mandated by one person but must be co-created in a collaborative effort between the coaches, leaders, and team.

Together you must co-create your culture by first envisioning the goals and standards you would like your team to achieve. You must collectively decide how your are going to treat each other, what you are going to expect from each other in terms of commitment, what kinds of attitudes and actions are appropriate, and how committed you are to each other and winning. Your leaders are critical not only in helping you co-create the kind of culture you need to be successful - but they are also important in selling this culture to the rest of your team.

 “The most successful cultures are shaped by the leader’s own vision of how things should be done and influenced by her actions and behaviors; it’s the tone from the top.”
Marty Parker, Author of Culture Connection

2. TEAM LEADERS MUST CHAMPION THE CULTURE

Once your team leaders help you create a winning culture, they must then Champion or drive the necessary culture throughout the rest of the program. As the primary Champions of the culture, your leaders must eat, sleep, and breathe your culture and be the best examples of it. Your leaders must lead the charge as they first embody the culture in every way imaginable and then encourage everyone else to live up to it too. Not only must your leaders live the culture at the highest levels themselves, but they also need to continually inspire, challenge, and support their teammates to do the same.

Because of their passion for your program’s cause, your leaders create a palpable sense of energy, excitement, enthusiasm, and urgency toward achieving your program’s Vision. Their teammates can sense your leaders are there to do and accomplish something special – rather than just being there for something to do. In short, effective leaders drive behavior by both their words and deeds. They determine which attitudes and actions are necessary to move your program toward the goal, then model the way themselves while inspiring and motivating others as well. They continually look to move the needle in a positive direction.

As former IBM CEO Lou Gerstner said, “If the CEO isn’t living and preaching the culture and isn’t doing it consistently, then it just doesn’t happen.” The same principle applies for leaders and coaches.

“A leader doesn’t just get the message across - a leader is the message.”


Warren Bennis, Leadership Author

#3 and #4 to come next week...

all day err day

***Please make sure you are either texting your weekly mileage (even if it was zero) or posting it to the blog comments.

It was a disappointing end to the NCAA season as we were not able to reach a goal of reaching the NCAA Championship Round in Eugene, snapping a three-year streak of doing so.  Last year I wrote the following about the NCAA East Preliminary Round, it is equally appropriate this year... "last week's NCAA East Preliminary Round in Jacksonville had its ups and downs.  The competition is fierce for the twelve coveted spots to Eugene in every event and there is little margin for error.  Strong endurance, honed speed, poise and patience, heart and soul, and good fortune...all are needed to advance.  It's awesome and inspiring when all of those come together, it's heart-breaking when they don't."

We've accomplished a lot in the last few years and it's important that we be proud of what we've done.  But this week we begin preparing for future accomplishments, both next year's and beyond.  To reach greater heights requires a focused and consistent commitment to excellence, a commitment to virtuosity, in everything we do.  We must hold ourselves accountable AND hold each other accountable to that commitment.  Going through the motions, half-commitments, cannot cut it.  Everybody needs to all in, all day err day.  That's what it takes at this level, square biz.

Is that a commitment you will make?

To the seniors leaving us...we're proud of you, and we will miss you at practice, on the bus, and at the meets!  Never again will we convene as the 2014-15 distance group, but we are so grateful that you chose to be a part of our team.  We appreciate so much your investment in making us better, and we're wishing you great success in life!  Also, we hope you will always stay in touch!

Training Schedules
Below is the suggested schedule for this week as we begin to build up.  Obviously you haven't received the 2015-16 training schedule even though it starts this week.  Generally this first week is in the 20-25 mile range for women and 25-30 miles for men.  The schedules are almost complete and hopefully will be emailed by mid-week.  There will be some changes, so as always, make sure you understand everything.

suggested return to running schedule:

mon - stretching & mobility + light aerobic running

tue - stretching & mobility + OFF or crosstraining

wed - stretching & mobility + light aerobic running

thu - stretching & mobility + light aerobic running

fri - stretching & mobility + light aerobic running

sat - stretching & mobility + light aerobic running

sun - stretching & mobility + OFF or crosstraining

ncaa east preliminary round

***Please make sure you are either texting your weekly mileage (even if it was zero) or posting it to the blog comments.

While six of our group will line up and compete at the NCAA East Preliminary Round in Jacksonville, the journey to next year begins with the return to running for almost everyone else.  Below is a suggested return to running schedule.  Your 2015-16 training spreadsheets will be ready soon.  Make sure you read through the information carefully, including the Summer Notes tab.  If you have questions, make sure you ask.  Great things happen when we follow the plan.  KNOW THE PLAN!

suggested return to running schedule:

mon - stretching & mobility + light aerobic running

tue - stretching & mobility + OFF or crosstraining

wed - stretching & mobility + light aerobic running

thu - stretching & mobility + light aerobic running

fri - stretching & mobility + OFF or crosstraining

sat - stretching & mobility + light aerobic running

sun - stretching & mobility + light aerobic running

those preparing for the NCAA EAST preliminary round:

monday (9:00 AM)

800j, mcmillan wu

+ w10k:  light aerobic running + 4-6 x strides

+ mMD/800:  3-4 x 200 @ 108-100% of 800RP, r= ratio of 1:10

+ general strength circuit

tuesday

OFF

travel to jacksonville

light shake-out upon arrival

wednesday (time - tbd)

800j + dynamic wu

+ 20' light aerobic running

+ 2-3 x 200 @ race pace

thursday

shake-out, time-tbd

COMPETITION in PM

m1500m & m800 first round; w10k semi-final

friday

shake-out, time-tbd

COMPETITION in PM

m800 quarterfinal

saturday

shake-out, time-tbd

COMPETITION in PM

m1500 quarterfinal

sunday

travel to atlanta

easy aerobic running

+ cool-down exercises

+ recovery at training room