Off-Season Begins, Looking Ahead to 2022!

Great cross country season, Hawks! Now – we recover. 

Many of us are banged up and worn out and need a break. A break is a good thing, especially for young athletes.  Taking a bit of a break allows us to heal, and grow, and develop in other ways.

Some of our Hawks will be doing some other sport over the winter – which is great.  Try to keep growing stronger and enjoy life a little.  Those of you who are not engaging in another aerobic activity between now and track season – you need to get up off the couch and do some off-season training!

Now don’t worry, we are not talking about much. I don’t want to see any of you running 6- or 10-mile long runs or cranking out intervals at Locks Hills.  We need to just keep our fitness levels up and remind our bodies how we efficiently move when we run.

First off, I highly recommend we take 2 to 3 weeks without any running at all.  If you feel motivated, do some long hard bike rides, or swim some laps if you have access to a pool.  Jump on a Peloton or elliptical if they are available.  But no running.  Your joints and bones will thank you, and you’ll have better luck avoiding injury later as we move through the long track season.

If you are planning to hit the beginning of track season with some momentum, however, then you need to start getting some easy runs in by the start of the New Year. I will send out a more detailed plan in the coming weeks, but everyone should plan on starting to get 2-3 three-mile runs in per week in January. These can be supplemented with other activities (like indoor soccer practice), but just hitting the road a few times a week is important for running mechanics and preventing injuries once the season begins.

So enjoy a few weeks of indulgence and rest, but be ready to start it back up in January.  We expect to begin track practice March 14th, with our first meet likely coming two weeks later (to get a feel for where everyone is at) so we want to hit the ground running, so to speak!

In addition, I would really like to coordinate some kind of conditioning camp over the off-season, but we will see if that will work out.  Also, if you think your athlete is interested, I am happy to put a specific off-season plan together for him or her – just let me know.

One final note, please invite friends to join (especially if they are athletes who are ready to take running seriously); we will need some fresh blood next fall in order to have enough kids to compete as teams. And as always, let us know if you have any questions!

Run Strong,
​Coach Eric