Are you running with joy???
In four weeks–4, cuatro, quatre, vier, चार, 四,أربعة–we get together for our first practice as a team to begin the new season! Yikes, time goes fast for this coach…is your summer going by as fast as mine? Time is relative, so this is a serious question 😉
If you have been cruising along with your summer running, congratulations and a big hug from your coach! Keep it rolling. If you have been procrastinating a bit, no worries…you can do a lot in four weeks. A LOT. Whether you have been crushing your miles and filling up your running log since school ended last month, or if you have been waiting to see if the calendar would really flip to the next month as scheduled, I’d like to challenge you to be consistent with your running for the next four weeks. We don’t have to be heroes. Easy runs provide a lot of value, we don’t have to hammer every day. Figure out how much running you can do in a week comfortably, given your fitness and your schedule commitments, and do that every week for the next four weeks and you will be ready for the start of MVXC23!
Here is some information, all important and useful:
- Suggested runs for weeks five and six are attached below as a download. These should give you some good ideas for your runs, whether you are in Cupertino or traveling. Pay attention to the core work…core can be tedious but it matters a lot. It would be nice if we all did some dedicated shin splint prehab this month, too…new and veteran runners, both. If we all did some shin splint prevention in advance, and we helped the new runners get strong too, maybe this would be the season with zero days missed for painful shins!
- A schedule has been posted. This schedule is subject to change!
- It is time to get serious about our athletic clearance! All athletes must be cleared before they may join any team practice lead by a coach. There are no exceptions! Information on how to be cleared is posted by the school–this is the link. Get your physical done right now. Every year there are athletes who find out they can’t get appointments with their doctor…I’m sorry but there is no way around it, we all must be cleared. If you wait until too late and your doctor is not available, there are urgent care clinics (Action advertises a sports physical for $45, this is not an endorsement of any clinic but is an example of an option if your doctor cannot see you before the season starts) and some CVS locations that will provide us with the needed service. Please take are of this!
- Get your iron levels checked as part of your physical. Please! This is not a regular part of your physical but knowing iron levels makes a difference to many runners.
- Please, please, please get fitted for new shoes! Old or poorly fitting shoes can lead to injuries. Don’t just go online and buy some cute pair of shoes…please go to get fitted by a running specialty store. My favorite spot is Running Revolution in Campbell. Full disclosure, the owner is a friend of mine. But as more and more stores close or cut back, the Rev continues to hang in there. They train their salespeople well, and if there is a problem I can contact the owner and say, ‘hey please take care of my athlete’. Let them know that you are a Monta Vista athlete and you will get a discount! Go get new shoes in July, please!!! (Make this a group outing…you and a couple friends can go buy shoes at the Rev, take a first run in your new kicks on the Los Gatos Creek Trail (the people at the Rev can direct you), then get your parent who drove you to take you all to Blue Line Pizza for a snack. That’s a pretty good evening in my book!)
- (Send me a photo of your shoe purchases. Sunny Shan sent me this photo of her purchases from the Rev in July, 2013, just before the start of her senior varsity season– she was part of a team that won a CCS championship that year! I remember getting this photo from her…it made us both happy!❤)
Bring a friend to practice! XC loves everyone.
- Tell one of your teammates what you appreciate about them.
See you all soon!
