2015-16 begins

Please post last week's mileage to the blog comments.  Going forward, weekly mileage will be reported at practice.

It looks like a challenging week ahead with a good chance of rain in the forecast each day, particularly Tue and Wed.  So we'll keep close to campus on Tuesday, then be in the park on Friday.  Just a solid, basic week...we'll have a good idea where everyone's aerobic fitness is by the end of it.  Also, something new this year is a voluntary yoga session with Jenna on Monday's at 3:30 PM.  We may incorporate a second day each week also.  Everyone can benefit from this extra work.  Also, those who have no running on Monday's, keep in mind that you can cross-train on your own too!

monday (on your own or OFF)

dynamic wu

+ light aerobic running

+ 6-8 x technique strides on grass
***(3:30 PM - in freshman gym) Voluntary Yoga with Jenna

tuesday (6:00 AM)

800j + mcmillan wu

+ 20' of AT (anaerobic threshold) running @ 85% on track

+ 6 x ~115m  Cherry St hill w/ jog down rec

+ general strength circuit

wednesday (3:30 PM)

400j, lunge matrix wu

+ aerobic running

+ hurdle drills

+ barefoot strides on grass

+ foot drills in sand & balance exercises

thursday (3:30 PM)

800j + dynamic wu & speed ladder
+ 6-8 x 80m fast striding in spikes

+ light aerobic running
+ med ball throws; 5 x BLF + 5 x OHB
+ work on A march
+ hip and/or core work

friday (6:00 AM)

800j + mcmillan wu

+ 80% strong aerobic running on park lake loop (w= 5-8 mi / m= 6-9 mi)

+ general strength circuit

saturday (on your own)

aerobic running

+ stretching

sunday (time - tbd)

long aerobic running at Kennesaw

+ cool-down exercises

+ recovery at training room

back to school 2015

It's finally here ... we hope you're as excited as we are to get everyone back and get started on a new year!  There will be a lot going this week, but make sure you get the medical paperwork and the compliance forms done before Thursday of this week.  If you are unsure about anything, text or call one of your coaches asap.

We will have our compliance meeting on Friday at 3:00 PM ... the location is still not set so look for notification later this week.  After the compliance meeting we will have our start of the year team meeting, then dinner to follow.

Physicals will be on Sunday morning, you should have received notification about where and when you need to report.  If not, find out!  Freshmen have an athletic academic orientation on Sunday afternoon.

Plan on doing your long run on Saturday.  Just switch the mileage for Saturday and Sunday.  Count your weekly mileage with what you actually run on each day, so this week will be higher than scheduled due to the long run being on Saturday.

As we begin preparing for the start of practice, please text us with your estimated 80% pace as well as your typical easy day pace.  That will help us get organized a little easier.

Lastly, make sure you reach out if you have any questions!

Workouts for this week:

Tue: 5' + 4' + 3' + 2' + 1' @ about 85% with equal time recovery at about 65%
Fri: strong aerobic running approaching 80% or fartlek of 5 x 5' @ 80%, r= 3'

dates and info

Two short weeks left before we kick things off for the 2015-16 school year!  We're excited about getting everyone back together at practice (yes, we're talking about practice), our favorite part of every day!

Some important dates to note:

*Thursday, August 13th is the date everyone should return to campus.  For freshmen attending one of the last two FASET sessions, you will move into your school year housing assignment early when you arrive for the orientation.  Other freshmen can move in on this date without incurring an early move-in charge from housing.  Upperclassmen who incur in early move-in charge from housing will be reimbursed by the Athletic Association.  Upperclassmen who are local can move in Friday if they want, just make sure you allot time for your morning workout and our Friday afternoon meetings.

*Friday, August 14th...though the times are not set, we will have our compliance meeting and our team meeting sometime in the late afternoon, plan on about 3:00 PM.  We'll also have a team dinner.

*Sunday, August 16th will be a busy day...physicals in the morning which includes a fasting blood test, squeeze in a run sometime (probably should plan on doing your long run on Saturday), then freshmen will also have an academic orientation in the early afternoon (2:00-3:30 PM), as well as freshmen convocation in the late afternoon (5:00-6:00 PM).

Hopefully, the compliance office will email you soon with the compliance paperwork now online so that you can fill out the necessary forms prior to the compliance meeting.

AND THEN, practice will officially begin on Tuesday morning, August 18th!

Oh, did I mention classes begin...

As for workouts this week...

Tue - 10 x 1' @ ~90% with 2' easy or 4-5 x 5' @ 80%, r= 3'

Fri - strong aerobic running approaching 80%

Lastly, don't forget the Summer Roll Call!

summer roll call

Though we are getting a late start, let's get our Summer Roll Call going!  All that is required of you if you choose to participate is a picture of you in preferably a GT track & field or cross country shirt...though any GT shirt will do.  Try to take the picture so as to give us some context of how/where you're spending your summer break.  Text the picture to Asst Coach and it will be uploaded to the Georgia Tech Track & Field and Cross Country facebook page.  Participation is highly encouraged!

As for workouts this week...

Tue - 10 x 1' @ ~90% with 2' easy running in between

Fri - strong aerobic running approaching 80% or 4-5 x 5' @ 80%, r= 3'

si joint

Had a good discussion with Dr Glass up at camp last week about the importance of the S.I. joint in running and how the joint doesn't function as it should in many runners.  Sounds like an area we want to keep mobile and strong, so here is link to a short video with some good information and exercises to do so...   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cTo1eAZXNKk

Regarding the Tue/Fri workouts, as with last week, we'll keep it pretty simple.  You should warm-up and cool-down with about 10-15' of easy running.  Depending on your mileage and the length of the workout, you may need to extend the warm-up and/or cool-down.  For the fartlek workouts, you should complete the designated workout and adjust your warm-up and cool-down to hit your mileage.  If you end up a mile or two longer than what you're supposed to get, that's ok.  You can then take off the 1-2 miles from another day, or just end the week being 1-2 miles ahead.  Either is fine.  For the runs approaching 80%, you should figure about a mile warm-up and a mile cool-down, so the length of the 80% run would whatever you need it to be to hit your mileage.  The minimum length though should be 4 miles.

Tue - 3-4 x 5' @ 80%, r= 3'
Fri - strong aerobic running approaching 80%

Lastly, the summer notes do indicated that the next stage of strength-training should be out, but we've decided to continue as is for 2-3 weeks more.  So early in August it will change.

aerobic conditioning

The aerobic conditioning begins this week and you should begin to follow the more structured weekly training schedule in the "SUMMER '15 NOTES" tab of your annual plan spreadsheet.  Some of you who had a delayed start to the summer running due to either returning from injury or your racing season was extended should strongly consider another week or two of just easy running.  You should also begin to look at the pace chart to guide your efforts.  Remember to be conservative with your beginning paces and as always, look at the pace chart thinking about where your current fitness is right now, NOT where your personal best or your goal is.

Regarding heat and humidity...if you are running in hot and humid conditions you will need to adjust your paces so they will be slower.  A typical afternoon in the south would probably be worth 20-30 seconds per mile.  Overall, learn to trust your efforts by how your respiration (breathing) is...you should be able to tell when strong aerobic efforts cross over the threshold and become anaerobic. When you can't keep up with your breathing, you've gone anaerobic.  So focus on your breathing, and stay on the aerobic side!

Regarding the Tue/Fri workouts, we'll keep it pretty simple.  You should warm-up and cool-down with about 10-15' of easy running.  Depending on your mileage and the length of the workout, you may need to extend the warm-up and/or cool-down.

Tue - 10 x 1' @ ~90% with 2' easy running in between
Fri - strong aerobic running approaching 80%

(for new people, "~" means "about"; for Friday's run, warm-up for about 10', then begin to work your pace down towards what you estimate to be your 80% effort...try to run about the last 15' of your run at the 80% effort)

Lastly, from Wikipedia, some of the health and performance benefits of aerobic exercise:

Strengthening the muscles involved in respiration, to facilitate the flow of air in and out of the lungs

Strengthening and enlarging the heart muscle, to improve its pumping efficiency and reduce the resting heart rate, known as aerobic conditioning

Improving circulation efficiency and reducing blood pressure

Increasing the total number of red blood cells in the body, facilitating transport of oxygen

Improved mental health, including reducing stress and lowering the incidence of depression

Reducing the risk for diabetes

Increased storage of energy molecules such as fats and carbohydrates within the muscles, allowing for increased endurance

Neovascularization of the muscle sarcomeres to increase blood flow through the muscles

Increasing speed at which aerobic metabolism is activated within muscles, allowing a greater portion of energy for intense exercise to be generated aerobically

Improving the ability of muscles to use fats during exercise, preserving intramuscular glycogen

Enhancing the speed at which muscles recover from high intensity exercise

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)