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At the end of the track season, we were all wondering what would happen with Cross Country. At the end of June, we were well underway into the new Covid reality and we made the best of what little Track season we had. I am very proud of all the hard work by our Athletes. We had to learn to train for ourselves, by ourselves, and not necessarily for the next race. What a great challenge and learning opportunity.
Well, it's time for the next Challenge: To learn Patience and Persistence. The CIF (California's High School Sports Authority) has decided to push all Fall Sports back to the Spring. With that, many of the large meets that allow Youth teams to "tag along" will be postponed as well. This leaves us either with an EXTREMELY long season with few (if any) opportunities to compete, or we need to postpone the start of our season. I am relying on CIF instead of the AAU or USATF because neither of the latter have posted updates and I feel that a regional focus is better than a national focus in terms of safety. So we have Patience. Our season will begin in November and we will look for events in Nov-March to participate in to build some kind of a season realizing we may not have the opportunity to attend nationals. I will keep vigilant and make adjustments to our schedule as needed to maximize our ability to compete. Finally, we need to be Persistent. Any runners who want to compete in the Spring should start some easy running now. Set a goal for a couple time per week. Keep those running muscles growing. Stay active. A lot of sports are being cancelled so the last thing we want as runners is to get lethargic. A few parents have reached out already for some running plans - great work. I am telling everyone at this time the same thing: A couple times a week at a distance and pace your athlete is comfortable with. Thank you for your understanding. Let's get through this together and practice all safety steps we can. Patience & Persistence. Run Tough, Coach Phil
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 What a Day. What a season. Today was a huge success and we even got onto the track! It was great to see toughness out of each athlete on the track. I AM SO PROUD OF YOU! Parents, please share comments with your athlete. Here are the results:
NAME: 1600m Time / 800m Time; Cloud Classic Placings; Comments JAKE: 5:54/2:44; 1st in AG, 2nd overall in 1600, Last race as a Delta Hawk but not the last race on that track. I can't wait to cheer Jake on in Cross Country and next Track Season. MATTHEW: 5:42/2:41; 1st in AG & 1st overall for 1600. 1st in AG and 3rd overall for 800m. Another tough race. No PR's today, but ran but ran his PR from two weeks ago in the 1600. Matthew is learning how to kick. COHEN: 6:37/3:18; 1st in AG in 1600 & 800. WOW!!! What a race today! Cohen broke out and ran 15 sec PR in the 1600m and a tied his PR in the 800m. More importantly, he RACED. JON: 6:51/3:11; 2nd in AG for 800 & 1600. Ultimate consistency. Tied his PR in the 1600. 1 Sec PR in the 800m. Great to see Jon's toughness with a gritty finish in both races! ADELINE: 6:31/3:03; 1st in AG for 800 & 1600. 1st overall female in 1600, 2nd overall Female in 800. 2 Sec PR in 1600 and 2 Sec PR in the 800. What a great and tough race as well! ABIGALE: 7:46/3:33; 2nd in AG in 800 & 1600. Toughness was seen on Abigale all morning and so was her smile. No PRs today, and that's OK. SONIA: 7:15/3:20; 1st in AG in 800 & 1600. Coach Phil bumped Sonia up to the fast group because she earned it. After monster PRs in the last two time trials and killer workouts, It was time to set up another challenge. What I learned today is that Sonia is a "Front Runner" just like Coach Phil was. No monster PRs this time, but a 1 second PR in the 800. NATALIE: 6:47/3:13. 1st in AG in 800 & 1600. We saw some amazing racing out of Natalie today. That look of determination!! Confident resilience. Natalie earned a 3 sec PR in the 1600 and a 7 sec PR in the 800. That's HUGE! KELINE: 7:54/3:52; 1st in AG in 800 & 1600. WHAAAAAAA! You may not have known it, but Keilen got the MONSTOR PR AWARD today. HE BROKE 8 MINUTES!!! His last 1600 was a 9:08 and the best time I have on record is 8:41. That's a 47 second PR today! I can't wait what XC has in store for him. On top of that he bolted out with a 19 second PR in the 800! So proud of you, Keilen! Thank you parents and athletes for making the most of this crazy season. We finished what we started and I can't wait to see what is in store next season. Run Tough, Coach Phil. We've been add it for 19 weeks now and what a season it has been! Our first season without coach Dusty. My first season as a head coach ever. It has been a tough season, hasn't it. It didn't go as planned and yet, we've adapted and pivoted and have continued to choose to run. Thank you everyone who kept with it. I know it's hard. For those who have opted out, there is no shame in that at all. We miss you and look forward to seeing you in Cross Country season however modified that may be. :)
With that, here is the last week of workouts. It's a little lighter as we are working toward the Cloud Championships on Saturday. Monday: REST TUESDAY: Speed Workout - HYDRATE
Wednesday: REST Thursday: On Your Own
Friday: On your Own, 2-3 easy miles. Saturday: Cloud Championships.
It's been an honor to Coach our kids this season. Thank you so much for all your patience and support this season, parents. This really is an amazing community. Run Tough, Coach Phil  I'm dubbing this week HYDRATION WEEK! Let's ALL be drinking at least 64 oz of water per day. Even better, let's try and drink our weight in oz of water. So, I weight 180lbs, so my goal is 180 oz of water. We are going to be seeing some SERIOUS heat this week and hydration will be our greatest weapon against it.
This is our second to last week. I am going to be pushing you all to work hard this week and then next week we will have a short taper till our Cloud Classic Championships. We had some GREAT races on Saturday with tons of PRs all while running against the wind. I know some of you are just shy of your goal and this week is the week we earn it. So, here are this week's workouts: MONDAY: Rest & HYDRATE TUESDAY: SPEED WORKOUT & HYDRATE (Super Important Workout)
WEDNESDAY: REST & HYDRATE THURSDAY: On Your Own;
FRIDAY: TEMPO & HYDRATE (Super Important Workout)
SATURDAY: REST & HYDRATE SUNDAY: LONG EASY RUN & HYDRATE
Again, this week is sooooo important for the success of the championship on June 6th. I really look forward to seeing how our kids do in their final meet of the season. Run Tough, Coach Phil We've been working hard over the last few weeks and now come to our last Time Trial before the Cloud Classic Championship. Here's this week's workouts:
MONDAY: REST TUESDAY: Repeat 600s (Swamp Loop + Finger)
WEDNESDAY: REST THURSDAY: On Your Own
FRIDAY: Everyone, Easy 2-3 miles SATURDAY: Time Trials @ the Lake
SUNDAY: Long Easy Run - 4-6 miles. Finish Strong. We have only 4 Weeks left of our Season. Every workout counts as we race toward the Cloud Classic Championship. I hope you're getting them in.
Here are this week's workouts. MONDAY: Rest TUESDAY: Speed Workout - Two options
WEDNESDAY: REST THURSDAY: On Your Own
FRIDAY: TEMPO "CUTDOWN" WORKOUT
SATURDAY: Rest SUNDAY: Long Easy Run.
As I watched our Time Trials on Saturday I saw very clearly the power of what we call a "Base." The Base is the mileage we put on every week. As a runner improves, the goal is to increase the Base. Base is typically measured in Mileage per Week. The trick is to slowly increase an athlete's base over time. If you increase too fast, and there is risk of injury. If you increase too slow, the speed workouts may suffer and PRs are not attained. If you drop your mileage and loose that long fought for base, you have to build it up again. Luckily, in this scenario, the body has already learned what it needs to do and recovering the base is typically quicker than laying it down the first time.
All this to say, I saw some athletes that have clearly done a perfect job increasing their base over the last three weeks that translated into stellar PRs (ie: Sonia & Natalie). I saw a few athletes that are ready to increase their base a little more (ie: Adeline, Matthew, and Jake) It's all about that Base. We increase the base when we complete the workouts, run our warmups and cooldowns, and get our long easy runs in. Here's this week's workouts: MONDAY: Rest TUESDAY: Speed Workout: Track/(Swamp w/out Finger)
WEDNESDAY: Rest THURSDAY:
FRIDAY: Tempo Run
SATURDAY: REST SUNDAY: Long Easy Run
Run Tough, Coach Phil  Thank you everyone who came out for the Cloud Classic Time Trials! It was fun to see everyone and thank you for practicing social distancing and wearing masks. As a reminder, we are now competing against other teams in a virtual race where we log each athlete's times. We have one more time trial at the end of May and then a Championship on June 6th. This week we competed against the Chico Striders who had a very good showing of almost 20 athletes!
Below I've listed every Hawk that competed and their results: Jake M.
Matthew O.
Cohen O.
John B.
Adeline:
Abigale:
Sonia:
Natalie:
Keilen:
Team, I am so proud of your effort and determination. Let's keep these workouts going and make sure we are appreciating all three T's: Talent, Training, and Toughness. I had a good talk with one of our athletes on Saturday about how important it is practice our Toughness during these times. We don't have our group practices three times a week or track meets. This is the opportunity to practice mental toughness. Train when everyone else is playing video games. That's what will get you ahead. Not just for the Cloud Classic Series, but for next Cross Country Season and for life as well. Parents, as always, thank you so much for being a part of your athlete's journey and part of the fabric that makes up the Delta Hawks. I am thrilled to be coaching our kids. I'm busy these days, but I can honestly say the Hawks is one of my greatest joys outside of my family. Thank you for allowing me to coach during this awkward season. Let's get through it together, enjoy a break, and then tackle Cross Country in the Fall. Run Tough, Coach Phil PS - The Week's workouts coming tomorrow, Monday is a Rest Day as usual. We've now had 2 weeks of training under our belt. Opportunities to improve. Let's make this week count so that Saturday's time trial is successful. We will be following the same rules as last time. This is an important week of training. We will be Virtually Competing against the Chico Striders and also looking forward to our Cloud Championships on June 1st. For more info, you can look at this PDF document all about the Cloud Classic. PLEASE CONTACT ME AND LET ME KNOW IF YOUR ATHLETE WILL PARTICIPATE IN THE TIME TRIAL. This week's workouts are as follows: MONDAY: REST TUESDAY: Speed Workout (2 Choices)
WEDNESDAY: REST THURSDAY: Easy Run for G/B 3-4 miles FRIDAY: REST & Stretch SATURDAY: TIME TRIALS
Finally, Time Trials are not mandatory. If anyone in your family is not feeling well or is uncomfortable with participating, please stay home. Additionally, we will have one more time trial later this year on the same course so that we can compare our improvements and see the results of our training. Run Tough, Coach Phil  Parents and Athletes, if you've can take anything away from these several weeks of shelter in place, zoom meetings, distance learning, and "one your own" workouts, remember this: You are NOT alone. Running clubs all over this country are experiencing the same issues you are. They aren't seeing their friends, they're running their workouts by themselves, and they are all missing out on competing against others in track meets.
As we are all learning how to innovate and do our everyday tasks a little differently, we have come up with a new "way" to compete for the second the second half of the season. Our first set of Time Trials on April 11th two weekends ago was a step toward success. Word got out and the coach of the Chico Striders reached out to me with a great idea. Let's Race! Over the weekend and today, we mapped out a series of 2 more trials and a Championship to finish off the seasons. Our goal: Keep training, Keep Improving, and start winning against other teams doing the same thing. We are working on "Branding" the time trial series right now but the dates will be as follows: May 2nd - Time Trial #2 May 23rd - Time Trial #3 June 6th - Time Trial Championships! We will invite other Track Clubs to join us such as Oak Hill, Buffalo Chips, and SRA. Hopefully by the time we reach June 6th, we will have several clubs reporting their athletes times. We will even have some awards for top finishers in each age group and races. Our First Time trial is the template. Each Club will host their own Time Trials at their own courses. Athletes will run a 1600m and/or 800m time trial and coaches will report the times onto a shared google spreadsheet by 4pm the day of the trial. It has been agreed that if some athletes want to run their trial on their own on the preceding Thursday or Friday for purposes of safety, they may. As with the last Time Trial, we will follow all safety rules including 6 feet separation, staggered start times, and mandatory face masks anytime someone is not running. The Chico Striders will be catching up with us and posting their first set of time trials this week. On Saturday, I will share the first set of Race results. With that, Let's get Training!!! Sorry that this week's workouts are a late. I'll try and be better. :/ MONDAY: REST TUESDAY: TEMPO LADDER.
WEDNESDAY: REST THURSDAY: G/B 4-5 easy miles FRIDAY: All groups, 20min Hill Tempo Workout.
SATURDAY: Rest SUNDAY: Long Easy Run
MONDAY: REST. Looking forward to seeing you all hit some PRs at our next time trials. Run Tough, Coach Phil |
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April 2020
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