important dates for this week

Well, it's finally time to return to campus and begin a new school year and a new season!  Everyone seems excited about the latter but not so much the former.  But the two go together, so might as well get excited about both!  Generally this week will be hectic for most, if not all, of you.  From a training standpoint, do your best to get the week in, and at a minimum just try to get the miles in even if you can't get the workout(s) in.  For the freshman, you should be moved in on Thursday so maybe you can get together for the workout on Friday and then get together for your long run on Saturday.  For the upperclassmen, you can move in on Saturday without paying for early check-in, so hopefully you can get your workout in on Friday and do as much of a long run on Saturday as you can get in.  Lastly, maybe a group can organize getting to the river on Saturday for those that can make it.  As you'll see from the important dates below, Sunday will be a difficult day to get the long run in...

Saturday, Aug 17 @ 6:00PM
Team Meeting & Dinner for all distance group members, where - tbd
(we're going to have dinner and go through our meeting at the same time as we want to take as little of your time as possible, and we figure everyone has to eat anyway!)

Sunday, Aug 18
PHYSICALS at Stamps Health Services/Student Health Center
7:00AM - Incoming Women & Incoming Men
8:00AM - Returning Women
8:30AM - Returning Men
*fasted blood test will be given upon arrival - DO NOT eat or drink anything except water after midnight
*attire - loose-fitting bottoms, T-shirt, and sports bra for women
*bring insurance card

Sunday, Aug 18 @ 1:00PM
New Student-Athlete Orientation in lobby of Edge Athletic Center

Sunday, Aug 18 @ 4:00PM
Compliance Meeting for everyone (XC and T&F) in lobby of Edge Athletic Center


If you have any questions make sure you contact us ASAP.  See you soon!

the second nutritional step in recovery

For some time now we have emphasized and been committed to the importance of nutrition in recovery.  All of us know how hugely important it is to get ~50 grams of carbohydrate and ~12 grams of protein inside the 45 minute window after practice to jumpstart recovery.  But we now need to understand and commit to the second nutritional step in recovery - the next four hours or so after practice.  Intake of carbohydrate and protein during this period is equally important.  More specific guidelines will be developed and distributed, but some information recommends consuming another ~50 grams of carbohydrate every hour for 4-6 hours after the workout.  At a minimum you must make sure you follow up the 45 minute post-workout window with a meal within two hours, and that meal should contain a significant amount of carbohydrate, along with protein.  If you have not been taking care of this second step you are not taking full advantage of the recovery process - let's commit to this important second step!

Do not buy into the misguided notion contained in much of the current popular diet/nutrition advice that carbohydrates are bad.

Sluggish days and heavy legs are not an indication that the training is too much, rather they are signs that recovery has been too little!  Very likely you have depleted your glycogen stores by not replenishing them at a high enough rate.  Think about your nutritional recovery strategy with regards to both steps of the process.  And remember that adequate hydration is also vital to the process.

For high performance endurance athletes, carbohydrate intake and hydration are crucial!

Now some important notes:
*Freshman - make sure you have 'final certification' with NCAA Eligibility Center.  Some of you are missing final transcripts from your high school and some of you have not had your SAT/ACT test scores sent directly to the NCAA Eligibility Center.
*While the specific times will be sent soon, remember these important dates:
Sunday August 18 - physicals in the AM
Sunday, August 18 - freshman athletic academic orientation in early afternoon
Sunday, August 18 - team meeting with the Compliance Office at 4:00 PM
Tuesday, August 20 - first official team practice, time - tbd

the schedule

Another good jump in mileage for the next two weeks, focus on getting the miles in and don't worry about the pace.  And a note about the Friday strong aerobic runs approaching 80%...you should have a mile warm-up and a mile cool-down, the middle should be run at a strong aerobic effort that approaches 80% for where you are at now, not where you were at during the school year last fall or winter.  The length of time spent at the strong aerobic effort is what we want, so don't worry about what the pace actually is.

And below is the schedule for the fall season...

Sat, Aug 31 - UGA Invitational, Athens, GA
Sat, Sep 14 - Furman Invitational, Greenville, SC
Fri, Sep 20 - GSU Invitational, McDonough, GA (B team)
Sat, Oct 5 - Greater Louisville Classic, Louisville, KY
Sat, Oct 19 - Pre-NCAA Invitational, Terre Haute, IN
Sat, Oct 19 - Berry Invitational, Rome, GA (B team)
Fri, Nov 1 - ACC Championships, Kernersville, NC
Fri, Nov 15 - NCAA South Regional, Tuscaloosa, AL
Sat, Nov 23 - NCAA Championships, Terre Haute, IN

one week closer

After two weeks of a mileage jump, this week is a bit of a recovery week.  Make sure you follow the plan and take advantage of it!  Hopefully the stronger aerobic efforts went well last week but keep in mind that it was just the first week of more structured efforts.  So be patient with them.  One more week in the mountains then back to the ATL.  While it's great here, the promise of a new season is one week closer, and the excitement of having the team back together is building!

aerobic conditioning begins

The aerobic conditioning begins in earnest this week.  Some of you have already gotten a little head start on this phase with some faster-paced easy runs and some of you are still a week or two away from beginning it, but you should begin to follow the more structured weekly training schedule in the "SUMMER '13 NOTES" tab of your annual plan spreadsheet.  And you should 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.

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 is...you should be able to tell when strong aerobic efforts cross over the threshold and become anaerobic.  Stay on the aerobic side!

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

team cohesion and team achievement

Sitting in a dorm room preparing for the first of three weeks of camp in the mountains of NC, there's only time for a quick post.  In the recently released book, "Eleven Rings - The Soul of Success", great NBA coach Phil Jackson talks about how he knew the 2008-09 Lakers team had the seeds of greatness from the first day of training camp.  The team would go on to post a season-record of 65-17 and would win the NBA Championship.  One of the biggest differences Phil Jackson saw early in training camp was in star player Kobe Bryant.  From the beginning of training camp that year, Kobe made a great effort to connect more closely with his teammates.  In prior years, Kobe made little effort to spend time with his teammates.  Jackson credited Kobe's effort as a major factor in forging a more cohesive team focused on something bigger than themselves, understanding that "what we achieve is bigger than what you can achieve".

The challenge for each of us is to think about what we as individuals contribute in the area of team cohesion.  What efforts are we making to connect more closely with our teammates? And, are we as individuals more committed to the team achievements than we are to our own achievements?

Lastly, this is our last week of just easy aerobic running.  The following week you should begin using the aerobic conditioning schedule contained in the summer notes.  If you want to however, you could do an aerobic speed fartlek workout this Tuesday as a little extra credit and to get a little jumpstart on the training schedule.

"Great moments are born of great opportunity."

Inspired, once again, by the movie "Miracle", which chronicles the 1980 US Olympic Hockey Team's march to the gold medal, this week we're re-visiting Coach Herb Brooks great quote.  Great moments, indeed, are born of great opportunity.  All the great moments you dream of having in the next academic year will be born by how you take advantage of all the opportunities you have each and every day to improve.  And that includes every hot and humid summer day!  Hopefully actor Kurt Russell's rendition of Herb Brook's locker room speech will get you motivated...

and if that doesn't do it for you, try this...

Lastly, enjoy a pic of Kelly taking advantage of every opportunity to get a little extra work in :)