the heat is on

Sorry for the late post!

Again, reminders...

For those on campus, go to MY HOUSING for info on move-in dates and times for your dorm.

Incoming first-year: move-in August 10-11
Returning Students & Transfers: move-in August 12

Both the team and GTAA will have functions during the following week before school starts.  Before you make any other plans for this week, make sure you clear with coaches first. If you know of any conflicts, make sure you notify coaches as soon as possible.

For those on the schedule, this is the first week at full volume.  Because of that, let's keep only one 75% Easy Tempo on Tue or Fri, short hill repeats or fast strides on Thursday, and S&C circuit on Tue and Fri.

The week should look the same for those not yet reaching full volume this week.

Lastly, slow down in the heat and humidity!

#MTM #chopwoodcarrywater #lastyearmentality  #WILDDOGS ⬈🝚x🝚 #rememberthegoal

simple but not easy

Reminders...

For those on campus, go to MY HOUSING for info on move-in dates and times for your dorm.

Incoming first-year: move-in August 10-11
Returning Students & Transfers: move-in August 12

Both the team and GTAA will have functions during the following week before school starts.  Before you make any other plans for this week, make sure you clear with coaches first. If you know of any conflicts, make sure you notify coaches as soon as possible.

The build to full volume continues.  One 75% Easy Tempo on Tue or Fri, short hill repeats or fast strides on Thursday, and S&C circuit on Tue and Fri.  Simple, but not easy.  Stay the course, be patient.

Huge congrats to KE and CM!

#MTM #chopwoodcarrywater #lastyearmentality  #WILDDOGS ⬈🝚x🝚 #rememberthegoal

easy tempo time and iron

Reminders...

For those on campus, go to MY HOUSING for info on move-in dates and times for your dorm.

Incoming first-year: move-in August 10-11
Returning Students & Transfers: move-in August 12

Both the team and GTAA will have functions during the following week before school starts.  Before you make any other plans for this week, make sure you clear with coaches first. If you know of any conflicts, make sure you notify coaches as soon as possible.

The annual volume spreadsheets have (finally!) been sent out.  This week gets a little closer to full volume.  Also, you can begin to make either Tue or Fri a ~75% Easy Tempo run.  Continue with the short hill repeats or fast strides on Thursday.  Also, you should begin the S&C on Tue and Fri.  Just be conservative with your number of reps as you start back.

#MTM #chopwoodcarrywater #lastyearmentality  #WILDDOGS ⬈🝚x🝚 #rememberthegoal

Also, it is always a good time to touch base on the importance of iron!  Especially, given this news story from the article below...

Almost 40 per cent of US girls and young women have low iron levels

Below is a link to a really good article, for those of you who want to read up on this very important topic...

http://www.runningwritings.com/2017/04/low-ferritin-and-iron-deficiency-anemia.html

For those who don't want to read, because it's summer and all, here are some important bullet points:

*one study showed by the end of a cross country season (i.e. the point in the season where you want to be your best), iron deficiency had increased to 17% of boys and 45% of girls.  And in those who were not classified as iron deficient, the majority had a decrease in their serum ferritin levels.

*the above numbers were found in using the conservative standards for iron deficient serum ferritin levels used in the general population of less than 12 ng/mL.  A case can be made that for endurance athletes, serum ferritin levels less than 40 ng/mL should be considered iron deficient.

*ferrous sulfate, taken with vitamin C, is the weapon of choice to raise serum ferritin levels; while tea, calcium, phosphorus, magnesium, and antacids should be avoided as they inhibit the absorption of iron. One study showed that simply putting a slice of cheese on a hamburger reduced the amount of iron absorbed by 50-60%!

*because of the above, the iron in a multivitamin is almost useless.

Additionally, an article released last year in Outside magazine (link below), demonstrates not only the importance of iron supplementation, but that supplementing every other day was just as effective as supplementing every day.  Either way, though, you have to be intentional about taking iron and not forgetting!

https://www.outsideonline.com/2415334/iron-increase-methods-athletes

Suffice to say, your serum ferritin levels are very important to your aerobic performance.  If you are not managing your iron intake and absorption, you are putting your performance in jeopardy.

attaining excellence through competition

Reminders...

For those on campus, go to MY HOUSING for info on move-in dates and times for your dorm.

Incoming first-year: move-in August 10-11
Returning Students & Transfers: move-in August 12

Both the team and GTAA will have functions during the following week before school starts.  Before you make any other plans for this week, make sure you clear with coaches first. If you know of any conflicts, make sure you notify coaches as soon as possible.

Training for this week... let's have a consolidation week and keep our volume at 70% of your full volume week.  For those that are behind on the schedule, you can use this week to get closer to being on schedule.  Add some short hill repeats or fast strides on Thursday.  FYI, fast striding is not sprinting, rather a relaxed but quick stride with a focus on good technique.

XC Schedule:

Friday, Aug 30 - Kennesaw State Inv
Friday, Sep 13 - Southern Showcase at Huntsville
Friday, Sep 27 - Gans Creek Classic at Missouri
Friday, Oct 4 - GT Inv at Fairburn (formerly Asics Inv)
Friday, Oct 18 - Arturo Barrios Inv at Texas A&M
Friday, Nov 1 - ACC Championships at Wake-Med
Friday, Nov 15 - NCAA South Region at Tallahassee
Saturday, Nov 23 - NCAA Championships at Wisconsin

#MTM #chopwoodcarrywater #lastyearmentality  #WILDDOGS ⬈🝚x🝚 #rememberthegoal

summer in the south

We're working on our competition schedule for the fall season, but for now an update on move-in dates. For those on campus, go to MY HOUSING for info on move-in dates and times for your dorm.

Incoming first-year: move-in August 10-11
Returning Students & Transfers: move-in August 12

Both the team and GTAA will have functions during the following week before school starts.  Before you make any other plans for this week, make sure you clear with coaches first. If you know of any conflicts, make sure you notify coaches as soon as possible.

Sorry for the extraordinary delay in sending our the annual training spreadsheets.  We are working to get them sent out as soon as possible.  For this week, shoot for 70% of your full volume week.  Add some short hill repeats or fast strides on Thursday.  FYI, fast striding is not sprinting, rather a relaxed but quick stride with a focus on good technique.

For those that are not quite on the schedule yet, you should be communicating the the coaches on how to progress to the schedule.

Also, with summer officially here, the daily temperatures are on the rise.  Make sure you are always paying attention to proper effort.  This means not looking at the pace chart and being beholden to hitting a certain pace per mile.  With high heat and humidity, your daily pace will be slower for a given effort.  THAT IS NOT ONLY OK, BUT IMPORTANT THAT YOU LET IT BE SLOWER.  Training in a hot climate can slow your pace down by as much as thirty seconds per mile.  In fact, there is even new information out that demonstrates how running in direct sunlight will slow you down even further. It is important that you account for the weather conditions.  Trying to hit a certain pace without doing so will take a toll on you through the summer, and will leave you fatigued during the fall season.  SLOW DOWN if the weather conditions call for it!

Maintaining proper sodium levels is essential and a lot of sodium is lost while running.  With the summer heat and humidity, sodium loss is even more extreme.  The basic advice would be to make sure your are salting your food to taste when you eat.  Drinking a sports drink, even adding a little salt to it, BEFORE and after runs is beneficial.

#MTM #chopwoodcarrywater #lastyearmentality  #WILDDOGS ⬈🝚x🝚 #rememberthegoal

continuing to build

Still a few hold-outs, so please TEXT US YOUR THOUGHTS FOR FULL VOLUME WEEKLY MILEAGE FOR NEXT YEAR.

Most of you are on week three of training on the new schedule.  For this week, 5-6 light runs totaling 65% of your full volume week.  Add some short hill repeats or strides on Thursday.

Some of you are also ahead of schedule as you took your post-season break earlier.  If ahead of schedule, that's ok.  Just continue gradual build to full mileage.

Reminder...first, increase the frequency of running... second, increase the duration of runs... and third, increase the intensity of runs.  So early on, run more often.  Run twice a day more often.  Then, increase the durations of those runs.  Continue with stretching, foam-rolling, mobility, leg swings, etc.

Don't be afraid of the heat and humidity.  Just slow down and run easy.  Adjust pace up to 30-45 seconds per mile slower than normal pace.

#MTM #chopwoodcarrywater #lastyearmentality  #WILDDOGS ⬈🝚x🝚 #rememberthegoal

summer running

We still have several who have not done this, so please TEXT US YOUR THOUGHTS FOR FULL VOLUME WEEKLY MILEAGE FOR NEXT YEAR.

For those of you that have and are on the training schedule, week two should look like 4-6 light runs totaling 50% of your full volume week.  Add some short hill repeats or strides on Thursday.

Reminder...first, increase the frequency of running... second, increase the duration of runs... and third, increase the intensity of runs.  So early on, run more often.  Run twice a day more often.  Then, increase the durations of those runs.  Continue with stretching, foam-rolling, mobility, leg swings, etc.

As we get into the summer months, don't be afraid of the heat and humidity.  Just slow down and run easy.  Adjust pace up to 30-45 seconds per mile slower than normal pace.

#MTM #chopwoodcarrywater #lastyearmentality  #WILDDOGS ⬈🝚x🝚 #rememberthegoal