Hey Team,
Finals are over and the summer is stretching out in front of us…and summer seems like it will last forever, but for runners, time will race past us! So let’s not just sit around and think about training…let’s start running!
Here are some basic principles that will help you as you plan your summer of running:
1. Nurture your running as a lifestyle! Find a reason to run (almost) every day…you can run while keeping up with your other activities! If you are traveling to a photography camp for the summer…ask the other campers if they will run with you, and if they don’t want to run, ask the instructors! Internship for the summer?–check and see if they have a shower, maybe you can run at lunch with co-workers, run when you get home, or even run in the morning before work! Your family is going to Yosemite to camp? Ask your parents to rent bikes, drive you five miles up the road, and follow you back to camp! Visiting your relatives in Tokyo?–did you know that it is about 5km to run around the Imperial Palace! You can do it!
(I’d like to share why nurturing running as a lifestyle is so important for Monta Vista student-athletes. I admire you all so much!–you study hard and work on your grades, you get involved in so many activities, you are so open to learn and achieve more than seems possible for high school students. I am so proud of what you all have planned for the summer: Working at internships, traveling to photography camps, getting head starts on AP Chemistry by taking a summer class…you design your own summer reading lists, volunteer at charities, teach yourselves programming languages, have trips planned with your families all over the world. It’s easy to let running slide–but you don’t have to! When I was working, I traveled all over the world and packed my running shoes too. Our bodies are important, just as our minds and souls, and it is important to take care of every part of ourselves. Don’t cut back on the academic or other activity that matters to you–add running to your lifestyle. Not just so that you can be a beast for cross-country…run because healthy and fit is part of being a complete person, and run hard because you can achieve and improve in all parts of your life. So…keep doing all the these wonderful things, and nurture running as part of your lifestyle! You CAN do it!)
Coach…years ago!…on a run while on a business trip:
Running CAN be a lifestyle, we all decide for ourselves!
2. Build up your long run! There are beneficial adaptations your body will make by running for a longer and longer time. Don’t do this every day, but pick one or two days a week where you will run for a longer time than other days. Your pace can be conversational. Give yourself a goal this summer to run a run longer than you ever have before by 15 minutes or 2 miles! If your longest run last year was 45 minutes, work up to an hour…if your longest run was 8 miles, set a goal of 10 miles. If you have never run REI before, try to run that by the end of the summer. DON’T try to run your longest run ever in the first week–work up to that goal slowly (but relentlessly!).
3. Bond with your teammates! It’s more fun to run together, you will run faster with a friend, you are more likely to go out on a run when you know your teammate is waiting for you to get started. Join the team runs Monday through Friday at 9:30am at Monta Vista…explore a new run together…go to the movies, talk about life, discuss a book…run together, race together, win together!
4. Start keeping a running log! This will be inspirational, and also help your running career by allowing you to continue to learn what works for you and let you talk to your coach about your progress.
Attached to this posting is a summer running guide that can help you plan your summer…you can use this to plan your own running, and the 9:30am run group can use this as a guide too. However, this is only a guide from your coaches–this is not set in stone! I encourage you to use the guide but to be creative also…figure out different runs that you think will accomplish the same goals. Switch days around to work around your schedules. HAVE FUN while you train!
And don’t hesitate to contact your coaches. I’m going to be traveling a lot this summer; I’m attending the USA Olympic trials, and taking an advanced endurance training class from USA track & field, and spending time on the Oregon coast. I’m always reachable for questions, and so are your other coaches.
You are the best student-athletes that we could ever imagine coaching!…let’s have a great summer of running and prepare for a fantastic 2012 XC season!
