Rolling Into the NorCal Striders!

Delta Hawks are rolling into the middle of the season! We are doing some amazing work, getting into great shape, and avoiding injuries - this is right where we want to be! Next weekend most of us are traveling up to Cottonwood to compete in age group races in the NorCal Striders Youth Cross Country Meet.  Our runners in the 8-and-under age group will run a 2k race, our 9-10 and 11-12 age group runners will compete in the 3k, while our 13-14 runners have to complete a 4k. These are the distances our athletes will compete in at Associations, Regionals, and Nationals, so this is a a great trial run for everyone!

Speaking of the end-of-season meets, I added the championship meets to the events on the Team App, and they are on our website calendar (as well as the athletic.net calendar if you're checking that page). There are some unknowns still related to these meets as the details have not been released, but there are some things we know for sure. First, runners have to qualify for Nationals through the Regional Championship, and qualify for Regionals by competing at the Association Championship.  The dates are certain: Associations is the Sunday before Thanksgiving (11/19), Regionals is the Sunday after Thanksgiving (11/26), and Nationals is on Saturday, December 9th. Currently, the Association Championship is set to be held at the same course we are visiting this weekend in Cottonwood (though there is some effort to move it to the Bay Area: we will know more in a week). The location for Regionals is definitely Woodward Park in Fresno, and Nationals is Tom Sawyer Park in Louisville, KY.

In the past, in order to advance from race to race you need to either be on a top-5 team or in the top 30 in your age group. Without the race details, I don't know if that will still be the case, but let's assume that it will. We have a good chance to get a large group of our kids to Regionals - I want all of our athletes that qualify to be able to join us in Fresno as that course is famous because it hosts the California High School State Championship Meet each year. Based on our current roster, and barring injury, I think we have a 9-10 boys team that will qualify for Regionals, as well as an 11-12 girls team, along with a number of individuals in other age groups.  Parents: please see me or Coach Galen to discuss, based on our experience, what it might take for your athlete to advance so we can all be prepared to work hard and compete at the end of the season.

For this week, we are still doing the hard mid-season work that builds us toward a successful conclusion to our season.  We will be meeting at the Boathouse for the remainder of the season. It will be getting dark earlier and soon we will need to bring headlamps to practice - please be prepared. Here is our schedule for this week:

Monday - Intervals at Marshall Hills
(Meet at the Boathouse)

• 10min Warm Up & Cool Down
• Marshall Hills 2-5 x 1000m Intervals - 3min Rest

Tuesday - Rest & Stretch

Wednesday - On your own

• Those who have been running, easy run - 3-4 miles

Thursday - Marshall Hill Tempo
(Meet at the Boathouse)

• 10 min WU/CD
• 20 minutes Out and Back Run on the Levee
• 4-6 Hill Repeats

Friday - Rest & Stretch

Saturday - Easy Run if you want

Sunday - NorCal Striders Youth Cross Country Meet

• West Valley HS, Cottonwood
• Please arrive by 9am for course walk, races begin at 10am

REMEMBER: What you put into your training will dictate what you get out of your races. Train Hard, Win Easy!

Coach Eric