What an amazing weekend! The Hawks showed up in force in Chico on Saturday, facing the bright blue skies and hot afternoon sun. There were several PRs earned, and most everyone else ran close to their best times despite the heat. Of particular, Mackenna and Dylan both ran their fastest times in both the 1600m AND the 800m! In addition, Foster, Sonia, and David all braved the hot conditions to run their first 3200m races.

One last note, almost all of our Hawks ran their hearts out for each other in the 4x400m relays! I think this demonstrates not only the speed our runners are developing through the track season, but also the connection they've made with each other. Relay races are great for growing bonds and encouraging athletes to push their limits!

Moving forward, we have a number of upcoming meets. Next week, we have the option to compete in the USATF 3M Meet in Oakland or the USATF PR Invitational in Rancho on Sunday. Please check out the pages on the team app and RSVP by this Tuesday.

The following weekend (Memorial Day Weekend) is the Tom Moore Meet in Modesto. It is a well-run, fast meet that gives all of our Hawks the chance to compete at the highest levels prior to the Association Championship Meets in June. Elias has competed at this meet for many years and we have always had a great time! If you don't want to travel all weekend, you might want to drive down just for one of the two days and compete in the events of that day. Check out the team app events page for schedule and more info.

The first weekend in June (June 1st) will be the Golden West Invitational in Rancho Cordova. This meet can be fun, but tends to last all day. The 3200m will be early Saturday, with the 800m sometime around 11am (estimated). Depending on how the day goes, the 1500m may be closer to 5pm. Please see the team app for more details. As always, please RSVP as soon as possible (either yes or no) so that the coaches can plan accordingly.

For this week's practices, please see the schedule below.

Monday:  5:30pm at McClatchy High School Track
10 min warm up, drills
Ladder workout
100, 200, 300, 400, 400, 300, 200, 100
w/100 walk recovery after 1's, 2's, 3's, 2 min after 400, cool down
10 min cool down, strength

Tuesday: rest and stretch

Wednesday: 5:30pm at Bridgeway Island Park
30 minute warm-up and then throwing practice
*or Easy 3-4 mile run on your own

Thursday: 5:30pm at the Boathouse
10 min warm up, drills
Poker Run, Cards 2-6
4 x hill sprints
10 min cool down, strength

Friday: rest and stretch

Saturday:
3M Invitational (optional)
Laney College, Oakland
​Arrive by 8:30am for 3k

Sunday:
3M in Oakland or PR Invite in Rancho Cordova
See Team App for Details

If you have any questions, contact us any time!

Run with Heart,
Coach Eric

Hawks! I know this weekend wasn't what some of us had hoped. The weather impacted the potential for awesome performances at the Chico meet, However, we have another chance!  This coming weekend we will again be traveling to Chico and I expect to see us rise from the ashes and soar once more! That is resilience: the capacity to recover quickly from difficulties.

If you haven't RSVP'd yet, please do so on the Team App.

This week we will continue to improve our speed! Here's the schedule:

Monday:  5:30pm at McClatchy High School Track
10 min warm up, drills, strides
3 x "Broken 800s"
(500m fast, 100m float, 200m finishing speed)
10 min cool down, strength

Tuesday: rest and stretch

Wednesday: 5:30pm at Bridgeway Island Park
30 minute warm-up and then throwing practice
*or Easy 3-4 mile run on your own

Thursday: 5:30pm at the Boathouse
10 min warm up, drills
Lake Loop Fartlek
6 x 60 seconds hard, 60 seconds jog
10 min cool down, strength

Friday: rest and stretch

Saturday:
Chico Strider Fast Five Meet #2
Pleasant Valley High School, Chico
​Arrive by 10am

Sunday: 3-8 mile long run

If you have any questions, contact us any time!

Run with Heart,
Coach Eric

This coming weekend the Hawks are taking their first trip of two to Chico for the Fast Five Meets. If you haven't RSVPd on the team app please do so soon.

I also added a new meet in June on the weekend of the 8-9th in Pleasant Hill, please see the schedule on the website. I will add it to the Team App Events when I have more information.

As for practice this week, we are meeting at McClatchy Track on Monday as usual, Bridgeway Island on Wednesday, and the Boathouse on Thursday. Here’s the schedule:

Monday:  5:30pm at McClatchy High School Track
10 min warm up, drills, strides
Ladder Intervals
200, 400, 600, 600, 400, 200
10 min cool down, strength

Tuesday: rest and stretch

Wednesday: 5:30pm at Bridgeway Island Park
30 minute warm-up and then throwing practice
*or Easy 3-4 mile run on your own

Thursday: 5:30pm at the Boathouse
10 min warm up, drills, strides
Rock/Paper/Scissors Tempo
4-5 hill sprints
10 min cool down, strength

Friday: rest and stretch

Saturday:
Chico Strider Fast Five Meet
Pleasant Valley High School, Chico
​Arrive by 10am

Sunday: 3-8 mile long run

If you have any questions, contact us any time!

Run with Heart,
Coach Eric

Every season, I am more impressed by the dedication, the strength, the fortitude, and the fight in our Hawks. On Friday, at the Glenn Rogers Distance Carnival, so many Hawks ran amazing races that I was truly awestruck. We had 27 runners at the meet, and collectively saw 34 PRS!! Way too many to list here, but some highlights include:

Maddi 1600=7:07 (44 second PR!)
Isaac 800=3:15 (24 second PR!)
Gyan 800=3:27 (18 second PR!)
Hadley 1600=6:31 (29 sec PR!), 800=3:03 (15 sec PR!)
Jack 1600=6:40 (12 second PR!)
Mia 1600=6:33 (12 second PR from last week!)

So many great performances, I am so proud of you all! This is what happens when runners do the work, believe in themselves, and get after it in their races.

This coming weekend we don’t have a meet, but the two following weekends we are running in Chico. These meets are super fun, laid back, and relatively short (for track meets). There are only a few events, the 100m, 400m, 800m, 1600m, and 4x400m relay (mixed age groups). There might be a 3200m in either or both, just waiting to see the interest. I will need to receive your RSVP by next Thursday, May 3rd. Your Hawk can run at either or both, just let us know!

As for practice this week, we are meeting at McClatchy Track on Monday as usual, Bridgeway Island on Wednesday, and the Boathouse on Thursday. Here’s the schedule:

Monday:  5:30pm at McClatchy High School Track
10 min warm up, drills, strides
800m ins/outs – 50m intervals
4 x 300on/100m walk
2 x 150m fast/250m jog
10 min cool down, strength

Tuesday: rest and stretch

Wednesday: 5:30pm at Bridgeway Island Park
30 minute warm-up and then throwing practice
*or Easy 3-4 mile run on your own

Thursday: 5:30pm at the Boathouse
10 min warm up, drills, strides
Fartlek: 8 x 30 secs fast, 60 secs steady
10 min cool down, strength

Friday: rest and stretch

Saturday or Sunday: 3-8 mile long run

If you have any questions, contact us any time!

Run with Heart,
Coach Eric

Great work, Hawks, on that team time trial today! I saw a lot of effort, a lot of focus, and am so proud of you all!  I know a lot of you ran your Personal Records (PRs) today, which is amazing! Either way, this is a great benchmark to compare our progress against when we get to the end of the season.

For those of you interested in your times  here you go!

Adeleine 2:35
Natalie 2:46
McKenna 3:00
Lily 2:57
Dylan 3:00
Foster 2:36
Luke 3:01
Isaac 3:23
Jai 3:13
Matix 3:52
Mac 3:32
Amelia 4:36
Sonia 2:49
Josie 3:06
Maddi 3:14
Kate 2:57
Harper 2:54
Stella 3:05
Pier 2:30
Evan 3:00
Jack 3:08
Cal 3:23
Tyler 3:09
Gyan 3:48
Mia 3:06
Luna 3:06
Hadley 3:05
Henry 2:56
Cam 3:37
Max 3:30

​Great work team!

The Delta Hawks ran amazing races this weekend at the Halden Invite in Davis. The rain ended just around 5pm, the air lightened up, the brisk evening ambience set up perfectly for distance racing.  Nearly every Hawk ran a PR compared to last year, with some of the most impressive improvements as follows:

Harper – 64 seconds
McKenna - 54 seconds
Tyler - 53 seconds (equiv)
Natalie – 31 seconds
Sonia – 27 seconds

It was an amazing night for our athletes! While the heavy rain Saturday morning forced us to cancel the time trial, we are planning to make it up at practice on Monday! Can’t wait to see what all our Hawks can do to begin the season. In order to give us all a benchmark to compare against later this year, we will all run a fast 800m on Monday. I hope to see everyone at the McClatchy track tomorrow!

As for our meet on Friday, it looks like the schedule has shifted. For those who wish to run the 1600m, that is now scheduled as the first event of the meet, so those athletes need to arrive no later than 1:15pm. If that is too early, or if you don’t want to race the 1600 this week, the 800m is more likely to be around 4pm so those athletes only running the 800 need to arrive around 3pm. If you have any questions about the schedule, please contact the coaching team.

For this week, our schedule is as follows:

Monday:  5:30pm at McClatchy High School Track
10 min warm up, drills, strides
800m time trial
20-25 min cool down, strength

Tuesday: rest and stretch

Wednesday: 5:30pm at Bridgeway Island Park
30 minute warm-up and then throwing practice
*or Easy 3-4 mile run on your own

Thursday: 5:30pm at the Boathouse
10 min warm up, drills, strides
3 x (3x200 relays)
10 min cool down, strength

Friday: Glenn Rogers Distance Carnival
1:!5pm for 1600m, 3pm for 800m
Sheldon High School, Elk Grove

Saturday or Sunday: 3-8 mile long run

If you have any questions, contact us any time!

Run with Heart,
Coach Eric

We are finally ready for our first races of the season! Some of us will be racing at the Halden Invitational in Davis on Saturday evening, while the rest of us are running a team time trial at McClatchy track on Saturday morning. The time trial will be a blast, with some running the 800m and others competing in the 1600m. We will meet at 9am to warm up together, go over the start of a race on a track for the newer athletes, and break into our race groups.

The runners competing at Halden need to arrive by 4:30pm to warm up and be ready to compete when the heats begin.

This week, we do a medley of intervals on Monday at McClatchy, our throwing practice on Wednesday at Bridgeway Island, and a hard tempo on Thursday from the Boathouse. Don't worry about going easy this week in order to be fresh for the race on Saturday - we train through our meets so that we can peak for the important championship races at the end of the season.

Our next meet, the Glenn Rogers Distance Carnival at Sheldon High School in Elk Grove, is a fun meet on Friday evening, April 19th. We have to register our athletes by next weekend so please RSVP on the team app as soon as possible if you plan to attend. We have updated information on the team app event.

For this week, here's what we have scheduled:

Monday:  5:30pm at McClatchy High School Track
10 min warm up, drills, strides
2 x (600m, 400m, 200m w/200m jog between reps)
10 min cool down, strength

Tuesday: rest and stretch

Wednesday: 5:30pm at Bridgeway Island Park
30 minute warm-up and then throwing practice
*or Easy 3-4 mile run on your own

Thursday: 5:30pm at the Boathouse
15 min warm up, drills, strides
Tempo out and back run on the levee at Marshall Hills
Hill strides
10 min cool down, strength

Friday: rest and stretch

Saturday: 
9am - Team Time Trial at McClatchy Track
4:30pm - Halden Invitational at Davis High School

Sunday: 3-8 mile long run

If you have any questions, contact us any time!

Run with Heart,
Coach Eric

The Hawks are beginning to hit their stride, so to speak, and it is magnificent to witness! As we move into week three of our spring track season, we will again be meeting at McClatchy High Track on Monday, at Bridgeway Island Park on Wednesday for throwing practice, and at the Boathouse on Thursday. We are getting in shape for our first meet on April 13th at the Halden Invite in Davis.

Speaking of Halden, we need to know if you are able to attend so we can be sure to register you for the meet.  Everyone will be entered into the Middle School/Club  1600m on Saturday evening around 5:30pm (we want all racers to arrive by 4:30pm to warm up). Go to the Events page and RSVP by next weekend if you want to participate, it is a great event!

Last Monday, we talked about approaching each practice with "intentionality," recognizing when during practice we get to play and be silly (before practice starts), when we get to chat with our friends (warm ups and cool downs), and when we need to be serious and listen (when coaches are talking, when we're doing drills, workouts, and strength). Let's try to carry that commitment into the coming week!

This week, here's what we have scheduled:

Monday:  5:30pm at McClatchy High School Track
10 min warm up, drills, strides
3 x (3x200m fast/200m jog), full rest between sets
10 min cool down, strength

Tuesday: rest and stretch

Wednesday: 5:30pm at Bridgeway Island Park
30 minute warm-up and then throwing practice
*or Easy 3-4 mile run on your own

Thursday: 5:30pm at the Boathouse
15 min warm up, drills, strides
Fartlek at the swamp (30 sec fast/90 sec steady)
10 min cool down, strength

Friday: rest and stretch

Saturday or Sunday: 3-8 mile long run

If you have any questions, contact us any time!

Run with Heart,
Coach Eric

This is it, the start of our 2024 track season! This Monday, March 18th is our first practice, and we can’t wait to see how all this off-season training is going to turn into success!  For the first practice, we will meet at the Bridgeway Lakes Boathouse near the intersection of Marshall and Southport Parkway at 5:30pm. Practice will be until about 7pm. 

Our regular running practice schedule is Monday and Thursday evenings, and we meet either at the Boathouse (on Thursdays) or at the McClatchy High School track (most Mondays).  The weekly schedule will be posted on this Coaches’ Blog each week.  The coaches have put together a training schedule to make some fast track runners!
​
Beginning March 27th, on top of our running practices, we are introducing a new practice for throwing events on Wednesday evenings at 5:30 at Bridgeway Island Park in West Sacramento. Hawks can get their 30-minute Wednesday run in as a warm up and then Coach Blake will introduce and help us learn the skills of the throwing events. We will talk more about this exciting opportunity at practice this week!

As a reminder, we always start each season with a two-week trial – a time for the coaches to get to know our runners and also for the athletes to decide if they are ready to commit to this team.  The Delta Hawks Racing Team’s mission is to develop the next generation of confident and competitive elite distance runners in the Sacramento Region.  That confidence is derived from effort, and the effort is only put in when there is commitment.  What we mean by commitment is two-fold: (1) showing up to practice ready to do the work, and (2) doing the runs on non-practice days when the coaches aren’t there to encourage you. Without real commitment, there is increased risk of injury and the potential to be left behind by more dedicated teammates in practice and races.  So everyone gets to try out the Hawks and see if this is what they want to do, hassle-free; if it doesn’t feel like a good fit, no worries.  If you are ready to commit to our system, then we’d love to have you be part of this awesome team and community.

And a little about community - the Delta Hawks work hard and race hard, but we also support each other and seek first to be a team and then to be champions. Because without each other, we are all just free agents traveling in a stream of other runners. Together, we are a community of athletes and families who look out for each other, work hard for each other, and believe in each other.

So let’s get going; next week's practice schedule is as follows:
​
Monday:  5:30pm at the Boathouse
10 min warm up, drills
Card Run 1-5 min, 4-5 Hill Sprints
10 min cool down, strength

Tuesday: rest and stretch

Wednesday: Easy 2-3 mile run on your own*
(*Ask the coaches if you are unsure about whether you should do this extra run)

Thursday: 5:30pm at the Boathouse
10 min warm up, drills
20 min Lake Loop Fartlek, 15 sec hard/45 sec float
15 min cool down, strength

Friday: rest and stretch

Saturday: Long run on your own
3-6 miles, depending on fitness level

Sunday: rest and stretch

We are really looking forward to seeing everyone on Monday!  Bring your running shoes, water bottle, and positive mental attitude, and be ready to get to work.  We’ll post more information on the coming season in the next few days, but if you have any questions, contact us any time!

Run with Heart,
Coach Eric