In case you missed the time trial results here they are again:
2012 Time Trial Results and Photos (click)
Here are the final team results:
Boys: Yellow 37, Black 39, Red 48
Girls: Black 38, Yellow 40, Red 43

Arapahoe Warrior Invitational
When: Friday, August 31st
Where: Dekovend Park (6301 S University Blvd) 
Race Schedule/Line-ups:
     4:00 Frosh/Soph BOYS Race (all 9th/10th grade boys)
     4:05  Frosh/Soph GIRLS Race (all 9th/10th grade girls)
     4:50 Boys Varsity (Walton, Steiner, Parker, Geisler, Hart, Graf, Wagner)
     5:20 Girls Varsity (Schwartzkopf, Fitzsimmons, Smith, Londono, Reicher, Brooke
                                                Mackay, McGinty)
     5:55  Jr/Sr BOYS Race (all 11th/12th grade boys)
     6:00 Jr/Sr GIRLS Race (all 11th/12th grade girls)
Busses: Out of class at 2:00
                  Busses leave at 2:15 (athletes may not drive themselves to the meet)
                   No return Bus, please arrange a ride home with your parents, or a friend
Awards: Plaques to the 1st and 2nd place teams in each race
                     Medals to the top 10 individual finishers in each race
Course Map (click)


Qdoba Post Meet Party on Friday
After the Arapahoe meet on Friday there will be a short post race party at Qdoba (next to Whole Foods on Colorado Blvd) for all Vista athletes and families. $6 will get you an entree and a drink. Make sure you mention you are with MVHS XC to get the $6 meal. 

Practice over Labor Day Weekend
We will have practice this Saturday over Labor Day weekend for those that are in town. The Saturday practice is at Waterton Canyon to do our weekly long run. If you are going to be out of town that is not a problem, but please touch base with me about how far your long run should be on Saturday so that you can get it in on your own. On Monday, September 3rd there is no school, but we will still have practice. We have scheduled the Monday night practice for 6:00 p.m. up on the track to so that those that are out of town can still make practice. Please make arrangements to be back in town in time for Monday nights track workout. 

Schedule for August 27th to September 3rd
Mon 6:00 a.m. coaches run at Vista for those needing to "go the extra mile"
           3:10 MVHS (playground run/weights)
Tue   3:10 MVHS (race pace workout/uniform check out after practice)
Wed 6:00 a.m. coaches run at Vista for those needing to "go the extra mile"
         3:30 Redstone Park (Recovery run/Core)
Thur 3:30 MVHS (Recovery Run/Weights)

Fri     4:00 Arapahoe Warrior Invitational
Sat      8:00 a.m. Waterton Canyon (long run)
Sun    Optional run on your own, or with a teammate
Mon   6:00 p.m. MVHS Track

The 2 mile time trial was a great start to the season today. Lots of outstanding performances from both our new runners and our veterans. Compared to last years time trial the team as a whole made some HUGE improvements. Here is how we did:

Girls:
Number of runners that ran the Time Trial in both 2011 and 2012: 14
Improvement from 2011: 6 mins and 10 seconds faster this year than last
Average Improvement per runner: 26 seconds
Biggest Individual Improvements from 2011 to 2012: 
           Kirsten Dixon, 1 min 17 seconds 
           Courtney Goodrum, 1 min 28 seconds
           Kenzie Habercorn, 56 seconds
           McCall Harris, 51 seconds

Boys:
Number of runners that ran the Time Trial in both 2011 and 2012: 22
Improvement from 2011: 21 minutes and 14 seconds quicker
Average Improvement per runner: 58 seconds
Biggest Individual Improvements: 
         Logan Dunn: 2 mins 18 seconds
            Robbie Stewart: 3 mins 17 seconds
            Matt Price: 1 min 48 seconds
            Nate Mortimor and Nick Romine: 1 min 33 seconds

Results from last years 2 mile time trial in 2011:
            Boys 2011 Time Trial Results (pdf)
            Girls 2011 Time Trial Results (pdf)
2012 2 Mile Time Trial Results
             Boys/Girls 2012 Time Trial Results (pdf)

These performances speak volumes about what training with your teammates during the summer can do for you if you commit to it.  If we can support each other for the next 2 months and continue working together imagine what is possible at the end of the season. Great job today Vista!

If you would like to see pictures from todays time trial or upload pictures of your own to share please visit our team Shutter Fly site:
http://vistanation.shutterfly.com

If you missed the finals of the 800 meters at the Olympics check this out!!!
http://www.nbcolympics.com/video/track-and-field/highlights-david-rudisha-sets-wr-wins-800m-gold.html

The 800 meters at the Olympic Games this summer was the fastest 1/2 mile ever run on the track. David Rudisha ran a 1:40.91 and became the first person ever under 1:41. Just as impressive, the top 8 runners all ran personal best times in the race and 5 runners dipped under 1:43, including American standout Nick Symmonds who ran 1:42.9 finishing 5th. After the race, Symmonds was interviewed about the race. This is what he had to say after running a new personal best; "I did everything possible. I brought a 1:42.9 which I never thought I'd humanly be able to do, redefining my own limits which is really what the sport is about, competing at the highest level and redefining what you are capable of. I just feel really honored. I thought I could run 1:43 mid maybe at one point in my life. I thought I was just not physically gifted enough to run 1:42 but it shows what I know."

I really like this quote. Even at the Olympic level, athletes build false barriers in their mind about what they are capable of. We all do. We tell ourselves how fast we are, or that we can't go any quicker, or that we are not capable of more. In actuality, how much more are we all capable of when we don't set limits on ourselves? What can we all accomplish when we start telling ourselves, "How fast can I go? How hard can I push? What am I capable of if I set my mind to accomplishing something great?" Don't let mental barriers hold you back. We are all capable of great things!

If you want to see a really cool NBC Olympic video about David Rudisha check this out. And when you see it, don't make fun of me anymore for using the wheel!
http://www.nbcolympics.com/video/track-and-field/david-rudisha-maasai-warrior-olympic-champion.html

2 Mile Time Trial Information
Our annual 2 mile team time trial is this Saturday. This is an event that all Mountain Vista High School Cross Country runners should be at. It is your first opportunity to get in a race before Arapahoe, see what kind of progress we have made over the summer, and give us a chance as a team (both athletes and parents) to spend some quality time together. This will also help us determine our varsity, JV, and frosh/soph team for the Arapahoe Invitational.  We will set up 3 to 4 boys and girls teams to run this off like a real XC meet. After the race is over we will have a team breakfast on the track for all athletes and parents. Here is the schedule and list of things to bring:

What: Team 2 Mile Time Trial and Breakfast
When: Saturday, August 25th. Athletes should arrive before 7 a.m.
Who: All Vista XC Runners and Parents
Course: We will use the same 2 mile XC course around campus that we used last year
Schedule:
7:00 a.m. Team Warm-up Begins (everyone together)
7:45 2 mile time trial 
8:15 Cool-down and stretch as a team
8:45 Breakfast
What to bring for breakfast:
Please bring enough for approx. 10 people
Freshman-Bagles/Cream Cheese
Sophomores-Fruit
Juniors-Bagles/Cream Cheese
Seniors-Juice
(The coaching staff will provide plates, cups, forks/knives)

Schedule for August 20th-26th
A quick word on this weeks schedule. Tuesday is our travel day. We are going down to Redstone Park to do a Progression Run. In order to do this we will need to use the Highline Canal because it is flat. Please try and arrange a ride ahead of time. For those that are unable to get to Redstone a coach will stay behind at Vista to do the progression run either on the track or up on the hill. 

On Friday, everyone should meet at Vista at 3:10. However, some of the older/higher mileage athletes (400 mile summer and up) will travel to get their run in since they will be going longer that afternoon than some of the other athletes. All freshman will be running from Vista on Friday. 

Mon: 6:00 a.m. Coaches run from Vista (Optional for those going the "Extra Mile")
            3:10 MVHS (Playground Run/Weights)
Tue:  3:30 to 5:15 Redstone Park (Progression Run)
Wed: 6:00 a.m. Coaches run from Vista (Optional for those going the "Extra Mile")
              3:10 MVHS (Recovery Run/Weights)
Thur: 3:10 MVHS (Tempo Intervals)
Fri: 3:10 MVHS (all-athletes)
         A few of the higher milage athletes, 400 miles and up,  will be traveling to get in the 
           shade after a quick team meeting)
Sat: 7:00 a.m. MVHS Track
           2 Mile Team Time Trial and Breakfast 
Sun: Optional run on your own or with a teammate
            

The Hardest Team to Make.
When I went out to the Olympic Trials in June this saying was everywhere. It was on posters, billboards, the back of T-shirts, and even on the sides of buses around Eugene. And when you think about it's meaning it's absolutely true. No other track and field team in the world is more difficult to make than the U.S. Olympic team. There are over 300 million people living in the United States today, yet only 3 Olympic spots available in each event. To be one of the best in the United States it takes a lot of determination, hard work, and commitment to be on top. Knowing that other athletes are working just as hard toward the same goal only pushes these men and women to be at their best. When you watch our athletes compete on the track in the Olympic games over the next week realize that it was not just hard work, determination and commitment that helped these athletes make the team. It was also having a large group of American track and field athletes behind them that were also trying to make the team, pushing everyone together to be their best.

Mountain Vista XC is very similar. We are one of the hardest XC teams to make in the state of Colorado. This summer I've watched over 100 determined and committed runners work extremely hard. However, not every member of our team gets to run at the state meet, or gets the opportunity to be in our top 7 JV. But everyone on the team does play an important role in helping us achieve our team goals. There are a lot of athletes on our team trying to earn those spots, but along they way your hard work as an individual is making the team better. You are helping push your teammates along so that they can be at their best. In turn, the team is helping you to be a better runner as an individual.

Recently, there have been a number of really nice articles written about us  on co.milesplit.com:
Mountain Vista Girls: 4 Years in the Making (click)
Mountain Vista Boys: Following the Pied Piper (click)

These are really great articles, but one thing they don't address is the fact that there are a lot of people on this team that contribute. There are a lot of young men and women here that push each other every single day to be their best. Athletes that everyday do their part to make the team as a whole better. And it doesn't matter if you are running in the Frosh/Soph races, Open, JV or varsity, everyone here is important.

We are all in this together and we make each other better people and runners along the way. We certainly have the opportunity to do some special things this year if we keep working towards our goals. Articles like the ones above are nice, and hint at things that are possible, but today is only August. We still have a lot of work to do before we are capable of achieving our team goals. Nothing is going to be handed to us and the process will certainly be challenging. This is one of the "Hardest Teams to Make." in the state, but this team is in it together. No matter where you place, we are still a team and still a family. We push each other to be our best, but also pick each other up when we fall short. Everyone on the team plays an important part here, and myself and the other coaches are very lucky to be able to work with such incredible young men and women each day.

August 6th-12th Schedule
Mon: MVHS Track 7:00 a.m.
Tue: Rocky Heights MS 7:00 a.m. (Tempo/Fart-lek day)
            Platte River Park Res. 6:30 p.m. (Upperclassmen Only)
Wed: The Bluffs 7:00 a.m.
             Einstein Bagels on University/Colorado Blvd after practice
              Bring $$$ to eat
Thur: MVHS Track 7:00 a.m.
              Audubon Center at Chatfield 6:30 p.m. (Jr/Sr Boys Only)
Fri: Redstone Park 7:00 a.m.
Sat: Run on your own or with a teammate
Sun: Optional Run