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)

• 10min w/u
• Y/W - 6 X 500m, 2min rest
• G - 7 X 500m, 2min rest
• B - 8 x 500m, 2min rest
• 10min Cooldown

 
WEDNESDAY: REST & HYDRATE
 
THURSDAY: On Your Own;

• Y/W: REST & HYDRATE
• G/B: 3-4 easy miles

 
FRIDAY: TEMPO & HYDRATE (Super Important Workout)

• 10 min warm up
• Y/W/G: 15 Minute Cut Down. Start at just a bit slower than Tempo, Then, every three minutes, get a little faster.
• B - 20 min Cut Down, Start just a bit slower than Tempo, every 4 minutes, get a little faster.
• 10min cooldown

 
SATURDAY: REST & HYDRATE
 
SUNDAY: LONG EASY RUN & HYDRATE

• Y/W: 4 miles
• G/B: 5-6 miles

 
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)

• Warm up, 10-15min
• Y/W 4 X 600m
• G - 5 x 600m
• B - 6 x 600m
• 10/15min cooldown

WEDNESDAY: REST

THURSDAY: On Your Own

• G - 3 miles
• B - 4 miles

FRIDAY: Everyone, Easy 2-3 miles

SATURDAY: Time Trials @ the Lake

• You know the drill by now.  Let me know if you are racing this week. I can't wait to see some PRs!

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

• 10/15min Warm-up
• ON A TRACK:
  • Y/W 6 x 300m, 100m slow jog back to start
  • G/B 8 x 300m, 100m slow jog back to start
• OR AT THE SWAMP
  • Y/W 5 x Swamp Loop, 1.5 minute Rest
  • G/B  7  x Swamp Loop, 1.5 minute Rest
• 10/15min Cool Down

WEDNESDAY: REST

THURSDAY: On Your Own

• G/B 3-4 miles, easy

FRIDAY: TEMPO "CUTDOWN" WORKOUT

• 10/15 Min Warmup
• Y/W/G 15min Cut down. Start at Tempo Pace, Every 5 min, increase your speed a little.
• B, Same but for 20min.

SATURDAY: Rest

SUNDAY: Long Easy Run.

• Y/W 5miles
• G/B 6 Miles

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)

• 10/15 min Warmup
• Interval Pace with 90 seconds of rest.
• Y: 4 X 400m
• W: 6 X 400m
• G: 8 X 400m
• B: 10 X 400m
• 10/15 min Cooldown
• This is a HARD workout.  This is where we get faster!

WEDNESDAY: Rest

THURSDAY:

• G: 4 easy miles
• B: 6 Easy miles

FRIDAY: Tempo Run

• See if you can get your workout in at Marshall Hills or elsewhere with some hills.
• 10 min Warmup
• 20 - 25min Tempo
• 10 min Cooldown

SATURDAY: REST

SUNDAY: Long Easy Run

• Y/W 3-4 miles
• G/B  5-6 miles

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.

• 6:02 1600m: 1st in AG, 2nd Overall Male.  1 Sec PR. Solid effort but more in the tank.  A true competitor, I wish I could see him in a race with his peers.
• 2:45 800m: 1st in AG, 2nd Overall Male. 3rd Place was a Chico Strider right on his heals with a 2:48! 

Matthew O.

• 5:49 1600m: 1st in AG, 1st Overall Male.
• 2:40 800m: 1st in AG, 1st Overall Male. 2 Sec PR.  Very strong effort.  Perfect Splits of 80sec & 80 sec

Cohen O.

• 6:52 1600m: 1st in AG, Crushing PR by 29 seconds!
• 3:18 800m: 1st in AG,  1 Second PR.

John B.

• 6:52 1600m: 1st in AG, 1 sec off his PR.
• 3:12 800m: 1 Sec PR.

Adeline:

• 6:35 1600m: 1st in AG, 1st Overall Female. PR by 5 seconds. (Second Place a 13 year old Chico Strider).
• 3:06 800m: 1st in AG, 3rd Overall Female. 1 sec off PR.

Abigale:

• 7:48 1600m. 2nd in AG; 10 Sec off PR, but later learned she hurt her Achilles.  Most important to me though is that I saw Abigale smiling at the starting line, AND she ran the whole race by herself!  So proud of you, Abigale.  (New nickname is brewing)

Sonia:

• 7:28 1600m: 1st in AG,  MONSTER 41 Sec PR!! That's 8.4% !  That's nuts!!!
• 3:39 800m: 1st in AG, MONSER 21 Sec PR!!! That's 8.8% !!!!!!!!!  DOUBLE NUTS!
• I just have to say, Sonia was extra super this weekend because she's been working hard the last three weeks getting her workouts in.  Those PRs were not because she ran tougher than last time.  She worked all three T's: Talent, TRAINING, and Toughness.  I can totally tell Sonia has been working out.  Great work and thank you for putting the training in, Super Sonia.  I'm giving you our "Awesome Athlete Award" for your dedication to training this past several weeks. Well Done!

Natalie:

• 6:50 1600m: 1st in AG, 3rd Overall Female, 11 Second PR! That is a big jump for a mile! That's almost 3 Seconds per lap on the track.  Great work!
• 3:20 800m: 1st in AG, 3rd Overall Female, 16 second PR! WHAT!!!? 8% off your time!  HUGE! (I should share, 4th place was a Chico Strider 1 second behind you! Great job!

Keilen:

• 9:08 1600m: 1st in AG.
• 4:24 800m:  2nd in AG.  PRs weren't in the cards this weekend but I believe they are in the future if the training continues. 

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)

• 10 Min warmup
• If you can find a TRACK:
  • Y/W - 6 X 300m |100m Jog back to the start.
  • G/B - 8 X 300m | 100m Jog back to the start.
• OR at the SWAMP:
  • Y/W - 6 X Swamp Loop (no finger) | 2-3min rest.
  • G/B - 8 X Swamp Loop  (no finger) | 2-3min rest.
• 10 Min Cooldown.
• Stretching & Strength

WEDNESDAY: REST

THURSDAY: Easy Run for G/B 3-4 miles

FRIDAY: REST & Stretch

SATURDAY: TIME TRIALS

• 9 Am Start Time.
• Trials are for 1600m and 800m
• If your athlete would like to participate, please email me at DeltaHawksRacing@gmail.com
• Time Trials will be this Saturday at the Lake. 
  • I will be setting up time slots for each athlete.
  • Athletes and their parents must arrive 30min before their time slot to warm up around the Lake in reverse order.
  • Each Athlete will run their time trial around the Lake by themselves - (Bring on the Toughness!)
  • I will be at the starting line and finish line for each time trial and will record the times.
  • Athletes will complete a cool down in reverse order around the lank and then head home.
• ALL WILL WEAR FACE MASKS WHEN NOT RUNNING.
• ALL WILL PRACTICE SOCIAL DISTANCING
• Please bring all your disinfecting tools like wipes, soaps.
• This method of time trials will keep everyone at a safe distance. 

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. 

• Try to get some hills in the mix.
• 10/15min warmup
• 20 min Ladder Tempo (Black 27min)
  • 3min Tempo (1min jog)
  • 4min Tempo (1min job)
  • 5min tempo (1min Jog)
  • Y/WG 4min Tempo (1min Jog) / Black - 6min tempo (1min Jog)
  • (Black only) 5min Tempo into Cooldown
• 10/15min Cool down
• Stretches & Strength

WEDNESDAY: REST
THURSDAY: G/B 4-5 easy miles
FRIDAY: All groups, 20min Hill Tempo Workout.

• 10/15 Warm Up and Cool Down
• 20 minutes of Hill Running.
  • Try Marshall Hills.
  • If you're up to it, take a drive to the foothills.

SATURDAY: Rest
SUNDAY: Long Easy Run

• Y3, W4, G5, B6

MONDAY: REST.

Looking forward to seeing you all hit some PRs at our next time trials.


Run Tough,
Coach Phil

It was so great to see some of our athletes on Saturday.  Thank you for all doing such a great job with social distancing and wearing those masks.  As was expected, we saw some personal records (PRs) and for every athlete who participated, we now have a "baseline" for the next time trial 3 weeks from now.  If your athlete missed the workout and would like to run the time trial on your own this week, you can do it on Wednesday this week and send me your times.  Message me I will give you the same course we all used. Remember, this was on a dirt trail, running on their own, without the aid of competition and support around a track - stellar results!

RESULTS:

It's time to test ourselves!  In the midst of all the chaos of COVID, I've decided to put together a Time Trial.  This is a simple way to test ourselves and honestly, I'd love to see our athletes running again.  Here's how it will work:

• If your athlete would like to participate in either an 1/2 mile  or 1 Mile time trial, please email me at DeltaHawksRacing@gmail.com
• Time Trials will be this Saturday at the Lake. 
  • I will be setting up time slots for each athlete.
  • Athletes and their parents must arrive 30 min before their time slot to warm up around the swamp.
  • Each Athlete will run their time trial around the Lake by themselves - (Bring on the Toughness!)
  • I will be at the starting line and finish line for each time trial and will record the times.
  • Athlete and parents will jog over to the swamp to complete a cool down and then head home.
• This method of time trials will keep everyone at a safe distance.  Please have your athlete wear face masks when not running. Parents please wear face masks at all times.
• Please bring all your disinfecting tools like wipes, soaps.

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.

With that, here is our training for the week:

MONDAY: Rest

TUESDAY: LADDER WORKOUT @ SWAMP

• 10/15m Warm-Up
• Y/W: 800m, 600m, 400m, 200m
• G/W: 1200m, 800m, 600m, 200m
• 10/15m Cool Down
• (Please text me and I will send you pictures of the starting line and finish line for each segment - 916-265-8387)

WEDNESDAY: REST

THURSDAY: Easy Run

• G/B  3-5 miles

FRIDAY: REST

SATURDAY: TIME TRIALS - Meet at the LAKE

SUNDAY: Easy Long Run

• Y/W: 4 miles
• G: 5 miles
• B: 6-7 miles

Run Tough,

Coach Phil.

As we enter our 3rd week of SIP, I bet we are ALL learning a little more about ourselves.  I've learned just how much I need to be around people! I'm a people person.  I miss our team meetings and I really look forward to seeing you all soon.  Have a conversation with your athletes about what they've learned about themselves during this time.  Please do not do this to shame your kids in any way.  Do it to help them learn about themselves. Some questions to help get the conversation started can be:

• Have you enjoyed being home without others? (Surprisingly, some introverts are thriving right now.)
• Do you miss your Hawk Teammates? If so, what do you miss about them?
• Do you miss Hawk Practices? If so, what do you miss?
• [With Caution] How hard/easy has it been to do these practices by yourself?
  • Are you self-motivated to do the workouts?
  • Are practices easier or harder when you have your teammates?
  • What could you do to get the most out of the weekly workouts?

The goal with the "Caution" questions is to help your athlete learn how they are motivated.  I've seen successful athletes of all strides.  But one thing athletes need to learn is how they are motivated.  For example, early on I learned that I am horrible at getting workouts in when I am on my own.  I learned that I needed a training partner.  Running with someone (I'm I people person) motivated me to get out there and get a good workout in.  Let's help our athletes learn about themselves this week as they carry out their workouts.

MONDAY: REST

TUESDAY: 500m Repeats At the Swamp

• 10/15m Warm Up
• 500m Repeats w 2min rest in between.
  • Start at the sidewalk at the corner of Marshall & Southport Parkway, as if you were coming off the crosswalk after crossing the street. Then do the swamp loop WITHOUT the finger and use the common finish line where the trail turns to sidewalk again.
  • Y/W - 6x500
  • G - 8x500
  • B - 10x500
• 10/15m Cool Down
• Stretches & Strength
  • 3 X (15 Sit-ups + 10 Pushups + 15 Squats)

WEDNESDAY: Rest, Stretch & Strength

• Stretches & Strength
  • 3 X (15 Sit-ups + 10 Pushups + 15 Squats)

THURSDAY: Rest, Stretch & Strength

• G/B Run and easy 3-4 Miles
• ALL Stretches & Strength
  • 3 X (15 Sit-ups + 10 Pushups + 15 Squats)

FRIDAY: Tempo Run

• Y/W 25 min.
• G/B 30 min.
  • At SWAMP: Tempo Pace on the Swamp, Easy Pace on the Finger.
  • MODIFIED: Tempo Pace for 4 minutes, easy jog for 1 min.
• Stretches & Strength
  • 3 X (15 Sit-ups + 10 Pushups + 15 Squats)

SATURDAY: MOVIE NIGHT! (with Rest, Stretch & Strength)

• We've been watching all kinds of movies during SIP.  How about we all watch McFarland, USA together.  During the Movie, let's all complete our stretch & strength routine.
• Stretches & Strength
  • 3 X (15 Sit-ups + 10 Pushups + 15 Squats)

Have a wonderful SIP week.  Let's stay strong together, apart.  I love seeing videos and pics of our athletes running, keep sharing those.

Run Tough,

Coach Phil