If you are reading this post…then there are less than three weeks until we are all together for MVXC18‘s first practice of the season! (Holy smokes is it only 21 days until our first practice? And five weeks until Watermelon? And six weeks until our first race? Wow!)
I have trouble expressing how excited I am about the new season. During this summer, I’ve made a trip to Flagstaff, Arizona to get some input from Hoka Northern Arizona Elite coach Ben Rosario on our running plan, and I returned yesterday from Philadelphia and UPenn Professor Angela Duckworth’s Educator Summit to seek more input from her on our grit, self control and all-around mental plan. All summer long I’ve been getting some really nice emails, photos and text messages about MVXC athletes training and traveling and letting me know what they are up to. I’ve had some very motivational talks with MVXC alumni who are all around the world doing exciting things–not just running related, also doing lots of great academic and professional activities.
I’ve been having a solid summer of my own, with fun as well as some great running of my own…but I can’t wait to see the team at our first practice on Monday, August 6 at 7am!
Some reminders to go with some important links–you need to be athletically cleared before you are part of the team and may practice with the team, our season schedule is posted, and the practices before school starts are required. If you have not had your annual physical completed yet and had a doctor sign your physical forms, please get that done right away–you need that before you can be athletically cleared on August 2 or 3. And when you go to your physical, consider asking for a blood test–this is not required to be part of the team, but many college teams do require a blood test and this article will explain why.
Parents, please join the Monta Vista Athletic Boosters here. We need everyone’s support to make the team run so well! Once school starts we will get busy and this is easy to forget so please sign up and get this out of the way…
One last thing…some of you may have been procrastinating about your summer running. Maybe you have not achieved all you want with your summer running and are a little frustrated, disappointed–or just starting to do a little mental gymnastics to make yourself feel better about missing your targets (“I really intended to run more this summer and be prepared to have a great cross country season in 2018, but {explanation goes here}”):
Sample explanations:
- My dog ate my shoes and I’m not sure where to get new shoes.
- My parents planned a trip to (India/Europe/the moon/Saratoga). The trip was a complete surprise to me and threw my running plans out the window.
- I had a job/volunteer opportunity/internship/Fortnite commitment for five hours a day. I was burnt out by the stress and clearly had to cut down my running.
- Do people really run during the summer? Who knew.
- It’s never going to be August 6, is it? Summer doesn’t end.
- Manaña.
- I never really wanted to be good at distance running anyway.
- {add your own! It’s fun. Not particularly useful, though.}
Well, that was fun, wasn’t it? But don’t despair…you still have three weeks! You can run a lot in three weeks! And even 75-100 miles before the season starts can make a huge difference. Get out to the track at 7am or 6pm from Monday through Friday, there have been runners there all summer long, and they can help you get started and ready for our first practice!
See you soon!
