Well team, at long last, we have a date for when we may restart group training…and that date is September 14!
Monday, September 14 seems like a million years from now but this time will go by fast. Let’s all be optimistic and work hard so that we are feeling positive and upbeat when we get back together. Hopefully having a date when you will be running with a group will motivate you to work hard at school, be consistent with your training, practice safe COVID-19 distancing protocols–and be nicer to your parents at home!
Please read on.
WHAT WE ARE (STILL) WAITING FOR FROM THE SCHOOL
We know that (pending changes in Santa Clara County guidance) MVXC will start training again on September 14. What we do not know yet is the size of the training cohorts or other safety parameters we will have to follow. Once we know our directions, we can start planning cohorts and training.
You should expect that your parents will have to sign a new on-line release in order for you to participate in group training.
Please check back at mvrunning.com and pay attention at our zoom meetings for more updates on how we will resume training and what you will need to do for you to join us.
VIRTUAL XC TRAINING BEGINS AUGUST 20!
Beginning on Thursday, August 20, we will start ‘virtual’ team training. At 3:35pm we will meet on Zoom. Our brief meeting will cover the workout for the day, review yesterday’s training, discuss any updates to the in-person training plan, and maybe get a little inspiration. We will meet on Zoom using this link until we can start training in person.
After our brief meeting, you can go out and run! You can train alone or arrange to meet up with a friend or two in your neighborhood. Be safe!
I do recommend that you go out and run as soon as we are off the call. Even if it is cooler later in the evening and in theory running will be better and more comfortable, there are a few reasons to start your run right away:
- You have been on your computer all day for your remote classes, so an exercise break should feel good and make you more productive when you start on homework.
- If you get up and start running when we say “run”, there is more likelihood that you will follow through. I know by experience that when you sit and work (or get distracted, and follow clickbait into some internet rathole) on the computer, time goes by, and pretty soon it’s late and you might be tired and it’s easy to say “I’ll make up for this by not skipping tomorrow”. And that can repeat. So when we say “go” use that as motivation to get out the door!
- You can meet a friend that is also training, and agree to meet somewhere…this helps motivate you and give you some accountability.
We can’t force you to train at a certain time, training is all personal choice and we are all out there in our own homes, we can’t check up on you (yet) but we believe that acting like we are part of a team will help motivate everyone.
When you are done with your run please make an entry on the MVXC Pandemic Training Log (email coach if you need access to the sheet).
COHORT ASSIGNMENT CONSIDERATIONS
Because we don’t know how FUHSD will limit our training, we can’t start specific cohort planning now. We do expect that the number of student-athletes will be limited. If we have more applicants to train with MVXC than we have spaces, we are going to have to make some hard choices. We will look at participation in the virtual training, we might conduct a time trial, we will try to match people based upon what they have done in the Pandemic Training Log. Priority will be given to effort and team-focus as much or more than talent and performance. Hopefully we can include everyone that wants to run for MVXC this fall.
QUESTIONS?
If you have questions, now or in the future, please reach out to Coach Flatow, Coach Johnson or Coach Becca, or any of your teammates. We will post new information on mvrunning also. In the meantime, keep up with your training, run some FKTs, call a friend just to talk, be safe and cautious about the pandemic without being scared, be kind to each other and to your family (go do something nice for someone right now!), be gritty.
Have a good first week at school and see you on the road!
