Yes, friends, countrymen and teammates…our first practice as a team for the MVXC21 season will be on Monday, August 9, at 7am. Yay! and Yikes!
A few things to think about…
Athletic Clearance: If you have not started the process, start today! The school athletics site has a description of everything you need as well as new links to the physical forms that actually work 😊 If you don’t have your physical complete or scheduled, go have your parents make that appointment right away! You must be completely cleared before you can practice with the team from August 9 forward. (Athletes who have started the on-line process are Naoka, Kimaya, Vera, Sophia, Shirin, Meena, Joey, Sean, Andrew, Darren, Ethan, Alan, Jayden, Saran.)
Iron Test: When you get your physical, please consider getting a blood test as well. Many people think they don’t have endurance, when really they simply have low levels of iron and lower than optimal red blood cell counts. When you get your physical, have your iron levels tested as well.
Schedule: I will have a first pass at the schedule up shortly, but a heads up for those of you planning when to take your standardized tests…we will probably be competing at invitationals on September 11 and October 23, which I believe are ACT dates. If you can schedule your ACT on another date, you will avoid conflicts with the XC schedule.
I have really enjoyed those of you that have kept me updated and even sent me photos of the team out running, running daily! (If you found this site for the first time, and are reading this post with some befuddlement because this is all news to you, don’t worry, we’ve got you, you can come join summer running TOMORROW! Monta Vista summer running groups meet at 7am, Monday through Saturday, at the Monta Vista track. These runs are mostly student lead, with Coach Becca and Coach Victor dropping in when they can to support you. These runs are for all levels…summer running will include beginners, athletes from other sports that want to get in shape for their winter sports, JV athletes that have designs on a varsity spot, and varsity athletes that are ready to leap to the next level. We all co-exist and we all support each other! So come out tomorrow and introduce yourself and join summer running!)
For the next couple of weeks…
- There is a suggested running plan for July 19-August available as a download to this post.
- Don’t forget to get your physical scheduled and start the process of getting clearance to join cross country! You do not have to be cleared for summer running, however when formal practice starts on August 9 you must be cleared by the school or you will have to run by yourself–you can’t train with the team (and this will effect your ability to earn PE credit).
And you can always reach out to me at coachflatow@gmail.com if you have questions or need support.
Now, this has nothing to do with core strength or running biomechanics, but bears are one of my favorite animals to watch. Here is a a livecam hosted by the National Park Service at Brooks Falls, Alaska. I can watch these bears fishing for hours on end! Here is a recorded video from July 14, where there was a super epic bearapolooza with 17 bears fishing on Brooks at one time!
