Nike Cross Regionals Recap 2009

I am sitting here typing away at an outdoor pool in Phoenix. It is about 8:30 at night. I have a fresh cup of coffee and the temperature is about 70 degrees. Chloe is asleep upstairs with Beth after a very busy day, but I am sitting out here staring at a beautiful crescent moon. And people ask me why I don't take the kids to Wisconsin during Thanksgiving Week???

Today was our big race. The Nike Cross Regional Championship. Tempe, Arizona. We came here last year, had some great success, so we have been planning on coming back ever since. Wow, I am very glad we did.

Our first glimpse of the course on Friday night was an eye-opener. The entire park was under construction! With all the fences and holes and construction material lying around, it looked like a war zone, like Sarajevo in the 1990's. Most of the course was marked, but not all, so we did not have a very good idea of where we would be running the next morning. Another thing there were a lot of were negative coaches and parents. Complaining about this, bitching about that, they were everywhere. It was all we could do to keep our kids away from all that. Pretty to similar to track in a lot of ways, actually. Eventually, we figured out 95% of the course, it was totally different from last year, but we went back to the hotel confident we knew what we were up against.

The next morning, an early wake-up call. We got to the course with no problems, figured out that our predictions of six big power hills interspersed with long stretches of concrete were correct, and set about the task of warming up for the race. To say there was a big crowd was an understatement. They split the boys open race into two divisions, due to numbers, and the girls races were overwhelmingly large fields. Luckily, with the new set-up of the course, the wider start was able to accommodate all of the athletes. There was kind of a running celebrity scene, with Dyestat on site, Bernard Lagat and Bret Schoolmeester roaming around the course, and Ryan Whitenack offering his thoughts on Taoist philosophy to all of the crazy parents in the crowd.

We did not have a full team, so our two runners were in the earlier open races. Even though this was not the championship section, the girls winner ran a 19:30? and the boys winner was clocked by my watch at sub 16:10. Very competitive times, very fast racers, and all this showed the course was in fact more difficult than in the two years prior. In 2008 and 2007, the top times were much faster than this year. (It must be those six hills, one right after another, they reminded me of a Tour de France stage!) The new course did not worry me in the least, however, as I felt if our racers followed the plan of not stressing the first 3/4 mile, racing the two laps with all the hills in them like that was the only race, then holding on and gutting out the final 3/4 mile home, we would do very, very well. We had practiced running steep hills, with Coach Neale, and we had developed the power to be able to attack them with Coach Whitenack. The last 3/4 mile, when you are dead and you need to race from the heart, Coach Dianne had fine-tuned all fall long. All our racers had to do was follow the plan, and success would follow.

Well, as I am sure you have heard, we had some amazing success today. Katelyn Wojan smashed her 5 km PR, with a 19:55, good for a fifth place finish in that open race! She ran a 20:12 on the faster course last year, and to come up with a sub 20 minute race this year is really impressive. I know for a fact Katelyn trained very hard, as her goal was go under 20 in this race, and she did it. She should be very proud of herself, she has turned herself into an excellent 5 km runner. Tyler also had the makings of an amazing race. He got out fast and had a great first mile split. However, he was running with a broken rib sustained a week before. During the race, he took an elbow right to the swollen bruised spot, and unfortunately could not finish. He did go back, after the championship races were completed, and finish the course. In his his mind he had completed it, which was the right thing to do. His training was excellent over the fall, and even though we could not celebrate it today, I know we will be celebrating it big time this spring.

I am very proud of the two athletes who ran their hearts out today; very, very, very proud. As I have said before, I wouldn't have cared if they each ran the course in an sixty minutes or in fifteen minutes. These two dedicated themselves to a brutal training program over the fall, they sacrificed more than anyone can imagine, they changed the very core of their lifestyles to become better athletes, and they showed their loyalty and commitment time and time again. I value these qualities in athletes a million times more than speed or strength or power. Thank you Katelyn, thank you Tyler, this has been a wonderful season of coaching for me.

And thank you to Coach Whitenack, who came on the trip, and proved again how important and indispensable he is to this program. Thank you to Coach Neale. His enthusiasm, his perspective, his connection with the athletes is amazing. Thank you to Coach Hawk. He is an architect of how we do things, his support and presence are vastly underrated. Thank you to both Coach Maroneys. Jimmy, you are always there for the kids, even when they don't realize it. The kids know you love them and support them, and that allows them to focus on what is important. And Dianne, it is a testament to your caring and knowledge when you see the athletes using the tools you taught them literally ten seconds before the most hectic moment of the race. They trust you, they believe in you, the depend on you, and so do I.

Last but not least, thank you to Beth. Without you, none of this would be happening. Your support of my passion has been unparalleled, and I could never hope to pay you back. You take care of so many aspects of my coaching career and this running program we have built together, I don't have the cyberspace to list them here. But, I want everyone to know that I love you and I am so grateful for you and for Chloe. Your are both the biggest prize I could ever win. Thank you, thank you, thank you.

Now what? Well, winter track starts on Nov. 30th. We got a big winter race season in front of us, and then an even bigger spring season. Until then, relax and recover. Heal up, rest up, eat up. Pay attention to you H-N-R. You deserve it. Congratulations.

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Race Change

I just got an email from the NXN Race Director. I was not aware the cut-offs for individual athletes to compete in the Championship Race is 19:45 for women, and 16:40 for men. They seem very intent on keeping any individuals out of the Championship Race, as those times would have been easily top ten in the Open Races last year. But, I am not in charge, and we have to race where they place us, which is in the Open Races.

What does this mean? Well, it means one thing to me, we have to go out and DOMINATE the open races. This turn of events could be interpreted as an obstacle, as a negative; but I choose to look at it as a positive, as a favorable opportunity. The course will be the same for everyone. the runners will be just as fast in both races, we will just have less of them in the open races. That means we need to be in the front groups from the gun. We will have less overall race traffic to deal with, we will be running earlier in the morning at a cooler time of day (girls at 8:45 , boys at 9:30), and the course might be faster, as it will be less beat-up and rutted out. This is a blessing in disguise for us, let's take advantage of it.

I firmly believe that we have great athletes, with great training, and when we get two kids from Walnut Hills Track Club on the podium, it will show everyone right where we belong!!!

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*Great* Article on HNR

Click on the picture above to find out what you should do on your recovery days.

Plan for the Next 8 Days

Good morning everybody.

One week from now we will be at DIA, getting ready to board a plane to Arizona. (I bet we get an otter plane.) The week prior to this is very important. So, here is the workout plan, take heed.

Friday (11/13): Easy Recovery Run. Pay attention to your H-N-R!
Saturday (11/14): Kenyan Runs @ 7:30 @ Sep's House
Sunday (11/15): Long Aerobic Run (45-60 min). Do not neglect this, we do not want to have to make it up later in the week, make sure to get this run done!
Monday (11/16): Light weights in the early morning. 43's after school @ Sierra. Last hard workout of the fall! Be prepared with race shoes.
Tuesday (11/17): Easy Recovery Run. Make sure to focus on H-N-R! At this stage, recovery is more important than working out.
Wednesday (11/18): Light weights in the early morning. In the afternoon, same as Sunday Long Aerobic Run (45-60 min) on your own.
Thursday (11/19): Tempo Intervals after school @ Sierra. Then pack for Arizona.
Friday (11/20): Fly to AZ in morning, tour race course in afternoon
Saturday (11/21): Race fast. Race really fast.
Sunday (11/22): Fly to CO in morning, relax in afternoon.

Let's make sure to do everything perfectly this week. Eat good food. Stay super hydrated. Get lots of sleep. Stretch at every opportunity. Mentally prepare to race fast. We have been working towards this goal for months, lets have a perfect last week!

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Arizona Plan of Attack

NXN SW Regional Championships

Walnut Hills Track Club Itinerary

Thursday:

Pack for two nights, three days.

Do not bring luggage to be checked, carry-on’s and backpacks will suffice!

Essentials:

USATF Card (Can be printed out on USATF.org if necessary) Picture Identification

W.H.T.C. singlet

Racing Shoes

Water Bottle

Medicine you may need

Recommended:

iPod

Swimsuit

Camera

Friday Early Morning:

Flight leaves at 9:00 AM, need to be at Frontier Check-In Desk at 7:00 AM

Frontier Airlines # 851

Flight lands at 10:50 AM in Phoenix Airport

Friday Late Morning/Early Afternoon:

Lunch at Subway (or something similar)

Friday Afternoon:

Check in at Residence Inn @ Phoenix Airport hang out at pool, unpack

(i.e. stay off your feet as much as possible!)

Friday Late Afternoon:

Course Walk-Through @ 4:00 PM

Packet Pick-Up (Need Valid USATF Card!) @ 6:00 PM

Friday Evening:

Dinner at Buca de Beppo @ 6:30 PM

Lights Out 30 Min. after Arrival at Hotel

Saturday Morning:

Continental breakfast at Hotel as a Team

Drive to Race Course @ 8:30 AM (tentative)

RACE!!!!!

(10:15 Tyler/11:00 Katelyn)

Lunch on way back to hotel after racing and awards

Saturday Afternoon:

Pool time, relax time in hotel room

Saturday Evening:

Dinner and walking around at Mill Avenue District (Depart Hotel @ 5:00 PM)

Castles n’ Coasters ($20) after dinner

Saturday Late Night:

Room Check at 11:00 PM

Sunday Morning:

Continental breakfast at Hotel as a Team

Leave for Airport at 8:30 AM

Flight leaves Phoenix at 10:40 AM

Frontier Airlines # 851

Flight lands in Denver at 12:25 PM

Random Sunday Thoughts

Just some quick hits for you on a breezy Sunday afternoon.

Great racing yesterday from the WHTC yesterday up in Longmont. Check out the results here.

Let me say, that was a tough race, my legs are killing me today.

WHTC practice this week is pretty standard. Normal weights in the morning, intervals @ SMS on Monday, long run on Wednesday, intervals @ CHS on Thursday, Kenyans @ Sep's on Saturday, easy recovery runs inbetween.

Things look pretty set for Arizona, I am *super* excited for this trip.

HNR is more important than anything else we can do leading up to this race, do not neglect it!

I am already planning the Disney Track Trip in March, that will be awesome!

The Winter Track coaches meeting is coming up, that means Winter Track practice is right around the corner.

I know we are setting up a CHAPTRACK twitter account, to be able to communicate with everyone, you can just "follow" us on it.

Congrats to all XC runners, you preformed well yesterday up in Ft. Collins. Take some time off, get rested up. You deserve it.

Go Pats!

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Adaptability

Yesterday was one of those practices where nothing seemed to be going right. The streets were a slick mess, the park where we normally run on Saturdays was an un-plowed field of crusty snow and ice underneath, and even Otis almost took a digger in the parking lot on some black ice. It was looking like we were not going to get in a quality speed day. I was getting discouraged, and I was racking my brain to try and come up with an alternative, and quickly, before the team showed up at the park. In my mind, we had to get this workout in, it is getting too close to race day to be sacrificing workouts.

So, Otis and I jumped in the truck, and raced down to the other end of the park, and packed the athletes in as well. They seemed to be relieved that we weren't going to run in the park, but wary of what else I had planned for them. (My athletes usually are wary and suspicious when I say I have a "surprise", I wonder why?)

Driving down Arapahoe, we passed a couple of middle school tracks, but they were covered in snow. I was thinking maybe DeKoevend Park would have plowed some trails, but no luck there either. The best thing we could find, in a the short amount of time we had to find it, was a loop around the church at Goodson Rec. Center and the Highline Canal Trail. It was in a parking lot, with cars coming in and out, but it was the safest and best alternative I could come up with.

Instead of doing Kenyan Runs at 600 m, we did them at 400 m, which was the longest loop we could map out. We therefore did more of them, to make up for the shorter loop distance. Also running on part of our loop was a marathon training group, who had tried to head out on the Highline Canal Trail, but found out it was way too icy and too much post-holing to be of any benefit. We also had lots of cars pulling in and out to get to Goodson Rec., and a few corners that were in the shade and still covered with black ice. Was it an ideal training situation, hell no, but it was the best we could go given the weather and the all the other variables, so we had to make it work.

What I am most proud of is how well the athletes did make it work. They were dodging parked and moving cars, taking turns wide and straight to minimize the ice, running with their heads on a swivel to avoid the slower marathon runners, throwing in accelerations when they got slowed down by obstacles; it was a fantastic display of what I dubbed adaptability. Adaptability is being able to take a bad situation and turn it into a positive. Not getting frustrated by the problems we were facing, but being able to get around them and deal with them in an appropriate way. Changing your initial ideas to work with your surroundings. We could have just packed up and not gotten in a great workouts, but the athletes were determined to get some benefit out of the day. They fought through the cars, the ice, the horrible drivers; and they got in a very high quality speed day. That is just amazing, as most people I know would have decided to go Einstein's a couple of hours early.

Hats off to Katelyn, Tyler and Corrina, yesterday was a fantastic workout for all of you, you got some great speed work in when I bet a lot of your competitors were home watching Saturday morning cartoons. Let's hope for some more sunny weather today, to melt all this snow, so we can get back on a normal schedule for this upcoming week.

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Talent

I read a book a lot of other people read a couple years ago, it was called Freakonomics. It was written by economists Steven Levitt and Stephen Dubner. I really enjoyed it, it was a great read on how to look at things from a different perspective. Now, my esteemed colleague Ryan Whitenack has sent me a heads-up on the sequel to this book called Superfreakonomics, Why raw talent and genius are overrated". I happen to agree that talent is overrated and that by working hard and working smart, you can overcome any lack of talent to be successful in any field you choose. I am just not a good enough writer enough to create a whole book about it.

But, I loved the short article Whitenack sent me, so much so that I will certainly purchase this book. (Hopefully it comes out in paperback!) It seems similar to Malcolm Gladwell's most recent book, Outliers, and how it equates hard work and dedication with being successful, not necessarily being "born with it". Actually, all of Gladwell's books are excellent reading, if you ever gt a chance to pick one up, do it! There is another newer book out there, called Talent is Overrated, by Geoff Colvin. This looks like it deals with a similar subject, hard work trumping talent, and I would like to read that one as well.

What I am trying to get to is that by working hard every day, doing the little things right, and staying focused on a goal, you will find success much more often than by hoping for the big opportunity and for your natural talent to take over. It has been proven time and time again, as evidenced by the above books, and that is how we must think and act in order to be successful in our own endeavors. That is why we must work hard and work smart every day, so we can be successful when the opportunity comes.

And, while I am pimping products, go to www.giantmicrobes.com. Quite possibly the greatest baby toys for geeky science families like my own! We got Chloe "penicillin" and she loves it!

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Last Race Before Arizona

Just a quick reminder to sign up for our last tune-up race before we head to Arizona. The Twin Peaks XC Challenge is Nov. 7th, up in Longmont. Like the Louisville Death March, these races have limited fields, so signing up early is neccessary. I just got my registration in, I am ready to rock on next Saturday! :) Click on the picture below to get to the sign-up webpage. Once we figure out who has signed up and is racing, then we can figure out logistics on race day.

(The start of last year's elite race)

Jim Creek Time Trial

Ed's Note: The following post is guest written by Katelyn W. and Tyler B. They participated in an uphill time trial on the Jim Creek trail in Winter Park. About two miles long, well over 9,000 feet at the start line, and about 35 degrees F to start. Not an easy task, to say the least. Here are their thoughts, unfiltered by me.

Nothing against Jim, but he picked the most excruciatingly painful spot in the entire world to name after himself. The first thirty seconds of the time trial felt great, but after that I was taking four breaths for every one that I would take down in Parker. My legs and arms felt fine; it was my lungs and throat that were not happy. The thing that kept me going on the trail was the amazing scenery, I could not believe how gorgeous it is up here. Although this run nearly killed me, I think it will definitely make Tempe an even better race because I know that I will not be racing in the snow, over the ice, through the ice cold water, over long rock piles, a couple thousand feet higher than usual, and it will be twice the temperature it was today. --Katelyn

Wow, I don't even know how to explain how this time trial felt. It was really, really hard. Going through the campground (the first part of the trail) was very tough, then once the boardwalk (the second part) came around I thought I was gonna die throughout the rest of the course!! The Jim Creek Trail is a great trail for HIKING, not running, especially for me. After the exhausting time trial was over I felt great and was glad I did it, now I am really excited to run at lower elevations and pumped to run at Tempe because that course is nothing at all like this one! It has been eight hours since we ran and I can still feel it in my legs!! I am still very glad that we did this and I can't wait to come back next summer and get a better time and run at this elevation again --- Tyler

H-N-R

One of the key points I have been trying to stress this summer and fall has been the utmost need for high quality recovery. This level of recovery starts with hydration, nutrition and relaxation (sleep). Ice baths, massage, mental work, etc. are the next level. That means none of that stuff is any good without proper hydration, nutrition and relaxation (H-N-R). The crazy thing is, H-N-R requires no giant tubs, no therapists, no real expensive tools. It requires discipline and dedication to the task. I have said for years that what separates the champs from the almost champs are the "little things" and those athletes who do those little things the best always end up winning.

So, I posted a quick article about hydration, and the importance of it. Check it out here. But, it seems like we are not doing as well in the other two areas of nutrition and relaxation. Coach Whitneack noticed it, Coach Neale has mentioned it. So, I did some research, and found a some great resources that have lots of information on those two topics for athletes. Some of the better links I found were:

Athletes: What to Eat and When for Top Performance
This is a great article about the protein, the idea of re-fueling, and how to avoid getting into a nutrient deficit.

Recovery Nutrition Guidelines After Hard Exercise
This article covers a little bit of what the first one talked about, but in a broader sense. Still, it is great information, even to hear twice!

Sleep Deprived Tri-Athletes Face an Uphill Battle
This is article is geared towards tri-geeks, but it can apply to us as well. Hard working, dedicated, busy, busy, busy teenagers often sacrifice sleep before anything else. This is the worst option, but read this article to find out all of the negative things that occur with even a little sleep loss.

The first two articles were written by Nancy Clark, a renowned sports nutritionist. You can check out lots more of her nutrition ideas here. I got the sleep article from Active.com as well, it is a great site to really dig into to find information on all things training.

But, you can hear it from me, you can hear it from other coaches, you can read about it and study it. But, you still have to do it. This is where the "bad guy coach" comes in. I have instructed all of your coaches; that if any athlete shows up at practice not 100% recovered and ready to work at their maximum, to send them home. No modified practice, no re-scheduled practice, no begging or pleading. You turn right around, and go home. It is our job to coach you two hours a day. It is your job to do all of the little things the other 22 hours to be a ready for the coaching. If you don't fulfill your end of the bargain to the utmost, then we don't now fulfill ours.

The tickets for AZ are purchased, the registration is sent in, the hotels are booked, the rental cars are reserved. But, we will not sacrifice your overall health for any of that. The coaches will get you as ready as we can, but you need to get yourself as ready as you can also. Take H-N-R as seriously as you take hitting your times on intervals, or using perfect technique lifting weights. I believe through dedication, discipline and the proper perspective, H-N-R will become second nature to you. Make it happen.

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