This week will look a lot like last week. For those athletes that have taken their 2 weeks off from running we will be meeting in the front hallway each day at 3:10. The runs will be left up to each individual athlete this week to decide how much volume you need, but I suggest between 3 to 6 miles (or 30-45 minutes). I will be at the start of practice each day to touch base and then will be heading home shortly after. Our official start date for winter running as a full TEAM is Monday, December 8th. 

If you have not taken your 2 weeks of yet please continue to do so. Even if you feel like running after a week off I still want you to take an additional week of recovery. You will come back more motivated, physically recovered from the season, and psychologically prepared to begin running again. 

End-of-the-Season Honors and Rankings
Congratulations to the following members of the TEAM for their post-season recognition.
Parker MacKay: Selected to Colorado's Future Stars of XC Freshman Boys Team
Allie Chipman: Selected to Colorado's Future Stars of XC Freshman Girls Team 
Boys XC Team: Ranked #34 in the United States by Dyestat.com 

Running Track this Winter and Spring
I want to encourage everyone that is not participating in another sport this winter to join our off-season training program for track. Likewise, I also want to encourage those members of the TEAM that are playing a winter sport, but not participating in soccer, baseball, or lacrosse in the spring to come out for track. The reasons are simple:

• You will continue to develop as a distance runner
• Your relationships between you and your teammates will continue to grow
• Your overall foot speed will improve
• You will be in better shape for XC in the fall
• You have the opportunity to compete in other events outside of the 5K. Most of our athletes on the XC TEAM will be racing in the 800, 1600, 3200, 4x800, 400, and 4x400. However, some of you may decide to train specifically for the sprints (100-400), jumps, or throws.

I am a big believer in consistant year round training being the key to your development as a distance runner. That is why we meet 5 days a week in the offseason. It takes patience and persistence to get there, but the greatest gains you will make as an athlete will come from the work you put in developing your talents. The more consistent that work is the better prepared you will be when it is time to race. 

December Training Schedule
The schedule for this month has been posted. Just like during the XC season, I have broken workouts up into 3 groups based on your age and ability. I wrote everything down as miles instead of minutes on the calendar. We will not be running any doubles/2-a-days in December. If you want to get in some extra mileage go out and run 4 to 7 miles on Sunday. 

Whichever group you were in during the summer/fall is the same group that you should be in this winter and spring. I do not want anyone moving up a group at this time. In order to keep everyone healthy I would like for you to follow the same training plan you completed during XC until you have at least a year under your belt in that group. Here is the breakdown of the groups that you will see on the December training schedule. 

• Group A: Freshman, new runners, and those that need to be on a lower mileage program. Volume will be between 20 t0 35 miles each week in December (more if you run on Sunday's)
• Group B: Runners that have completed at least 1 year of the A program, or those that are not quite ready for our highest mileage program. Between 35 and 45 miles most weeks during December. 
• Group C: Our highest mileage group from XC this past season. Only juniors and seniors should be following this plan. Running between 45 and 60 miles most weeks in December. 

The key to December running is coming back in January from break aerobically fit. We will be starting tempos and hill workouts within the first week or 2 after break for those that are ready. 
December Training Schedule (pdf)

U.S. XC Champs, Indoor, and Road Races
This winter, there will be a handful opportunities for us to compete as a TEAM. The purpose of racing during the winter is to provide a fun and low key environment to test our fitness. Indoor track is one option. Although there is no official indoor season in Colorado there are opportunities most weekends in January and February for those that want to race. There are also road races most weekend if you are looking for a longer option to race (5K and up). Here is some additional info about racing this winter:

• Colorado indoor track and field meets and information 
• Mark Saturday, February 7th on your calendar. We will be taking the team up to Boulder to compete and watch the U.S. Cross Country Championships. Athletes will be able to run in the H.S. 4K race and then watch the professional championship race. 
• Put Saturday, February 21st on the calendar as well. For those interested we will be taking a group over to Hudson Gardens in Littleton to run the Snowman Stampede. Athletes have the choice to run 5 miles or if you are brave enough the 10 mile event. 
  

Holiday Party
The party this year will be on Friday, December 19th at 5:00 p.m. We will start with our usual ugly Christmas sweater run and then hang out to eat pizza and dessert afterwards. Thank you to the Smetanka family for inviting us into their home again this year! 

Nike Cross Nationals and Footlocker Nationals Live Feed
Both NXN and Footlocker Nationals will be broadcast live over the internet. Here is where you can see both races.

• NXN live feed on Saturday, December 6th starting at 10:30 a.m.
• Foot Locker Nationals live feed on Saturday, December 13th starting at 10:15 a.m.

Schedule for December 1st-7th
Mon-MVHS 3:10
Tue-MVHS 3:10
Wed-MVHS 3:10
Thur-MVHS 3:10
Fri-MVHS 3:10 
Sat-Run on your own
Sun-Run on your own or Rest

We had a great meet down in Arizona this past weekend at the Nike Cross Regional Southwest meet. Against plenty of nationally ranked teams in what is one of the most competitive HS XC meets in the United States, Vista Nation XC performed very well. Here are some of the highlights.

• All 28 Vista Nation XC runners that competed ran PR's or season best times.
• The Boys JV team finished 1st of 65 teams. We beat some top notch varsity squads from across the SW Region, and bettered the 2nd place team by over 40 pts on Saturday.
• The girls varsity finished 6th in the Championship Race. The 5 teams that were ahead of us were all ranked in the top #21 nationaly. This is a great accomplishment after finishing only 9th at state. This was our best TEAM race of the entire season. This is also our best finish ever at NXR for the girls. Our previous best was a 7th place finish 3 years ago. 
• The varsity boys were 5th in the Championship race against a superbly competitive field. The 4 teams that bettered us on Saturday were all ranked in the top 19 across the nation. Our cumulative team time of 79 mins, 31 seconds comes out to an average time of 15:54 for our varsity teams average 5K. 
• Our freshman ran extremely well at NXR considering it was their first trip to Arizona. On the girls side, Allie Chipman made the All-Region 2nd Team by finishing 14th in 17:52 (#2 all-time at Vista). Allie was the top placing freshman in the entire meet and Becca Walton was the #35 freshman from the meet finishing in 19:59. Here are the rankings for the top NXR-SW Freshman Girls. 
• In the 6 years we have attended NXR SW only 2 freshman boys have ever finished in the top 10 freshman rankings at the meet. This year we had 3! Parker Mackay was the top freshman of the entire meet finishing in 16:12, bettering Andrew Walton's freshman school record of 16:26. Carter Dillon was #5 in 16:27 and Shayan Zarrin in 16:35 was #9. Here are the rankings for the top NXR-SW Freshman Boys. 

There is a lot of coverage from the meet up on Milesplit including results, articles, rankings, videos, pictures, and more. Here is the link. 
Nike Cross Regionals-Southwest Results, Articles, Video and Pictures

How do we look for 2015 and 2016? 
I am very proud of what our young men and women accomplished this season, especially our seniors. They have left a legacy for our TEAM that will continue for a long time. Looking ahead at where we currently stand across the state of Colorado and the United States things are shaping up nicely for the future. It's going to take a lot of hard work, consistency, and patience to get there, but we are going to continue to be successful as the TEAM moves forward. 

We are currently at a very unique time in the history of our TEAM here at Mountain Vista. I believe we are about to start seeing success outside of Colorado, and are approaching the time where we are going to become more competiitve in both track and cross country at a national level. Here are a few things to think about as we look ahead to 2015 and 2016:

• Boys National Rankings for 2015 (U.S. #13)
• Girls National Rankings for 2015 (U.S. #104)
• Boys Current Underclassmen National Rankings (U.S. #3)
• Girls Current Underclassmen National Rankings (U.S. #40)
• Boys 5A Colorado Rankings for 2015 (Colorado #1)
• Girls 5A Colorado Rankings for 2015 (Colorado #5)
• Boys Current Underclassmen 5A Colorado Rankings (Colorado #1)
• Girls Current Underclassmen 5A Colorado Rankings (Colorado #2)
• Boys JV Rankings for 2015 (Colorado #1)
• Girls JV Rankings for 2015 (Colorado #1)

Time-off and Back to Running
If your season finished over the weekend then you are ready for some time off. Take the next 2 weeks away from running and enjoy yourself. Don't stress out about your nutrition or hydration habits. You have been working hard for 6 months and are ready for some down time. Even if it kills you not to run for 2 weeks, don't run! You will come back mentally and physically rested for the upcoming track season and off-season conditioning.

If you have finished your time-off and are ready to start running again keep things simple. I will meet those that are ready to start again after school each day at Vista. We will meet at the usual 3:10 start time. I am only going to stay long enough to say hello until December 1st when we start back up again. Until that time keep things simple. Go out and run between 30-45 minutes each day until you have had enough.  Enjoy your runs and keep them at a conversational pace. 

Spring Track & Field and Winter Off-Season Training
I am going to post a whole bunch of stuff on the blog about the upcoming track season over Thanksgiving break. Our official off-season start date is Monday, December 1st at 3:10. We will meet in the front hallway of Vista. There is no cost to take part in our off-season track program (but if you want to buy me some Starbucks and/or make me cookies I won't turn you down!).  

Vista Nation XC Holiday Party
The party this year will be on Friday, December 19th at 5:00 p.m. We will start with our usual ugly Christmas sweater run and then hang out to eat pizza and dessert afterwards. We are still in need of a location for this years party. If there is a family willing to host please let me know. 

Schedule for November 24th-30th
Mon-MVHS 3:10 (Dalby will be there at the start)
Tue-MVHS 3:10 (Dalby will be there at the start)
Wed-Run on your own
Thur-Highlands Ranch Turkey Trot
Fri-Run on your own 
Sat-Run on your own
Sun-Rest

Nike Cross Southwest
Please make sure you have arranged a ride to the airport on Thursday morning. We will plan on meeting at the gate.
NXR Itinerary (doc)
Car and Room Assignments (pdf)
Meet Website:
http://nxnsw.runnerspace.com

Schedule for November 17th-23rd
Mon-MVHS 3:10
Tue-MVHS 3:10
Wed-MVHS 3:10
Thur-Leave for NXR
         -Run in AZ
Fri-Run in Arizona
Sat-NXR SW
Sun-Rest

Three Lessons from Meb Keflezighi
I thought this was a great article when I read it and wanted to share with everyone. The article is an interview with 2014 Boston Marathon champion Meb Keflezighi about things running has taught him. The 3 lessons that he talks about are:

1. No Pity Parties
2. Relentlessness
3. Hard Work Pays Off

Although Meb talks mostly about the marathon, all 3 tips can be applied to all of our running. Here is the link to the article.
http://www.runnersworld.com/running-tips/three-lessons-from-meb-keflezighi

Broomfield 2 Mile XC Race
The 2 mile time trial has been canceled due to the weather. We will have practice as normal at MVHS after school on Thursday. 

Pre-Season Athlete Track & Field Meeting
There will be a brief 15 minute pre-season track and field meeting on Wednesday, November 19th at 3:00 at MVHS. Location TBD. We will discuss what conditioning will look like during the winter, optional indoor meets/road races, and a few things related to the spring season. There is no cost associated with winter off-season conditioning this year. 

Schedule for November 10th-16th
Mon-Redstone Park 3:20 p.m. 
             Tempo Fart-lek on the Grass
Tue-MVHS 3:10
Wed-MVHS 3:10
Thur-MVHS 3:10 
Fri-MVHS 3:10 p.m.
Sat-DeKoevend Park 8 a.m.
         -Einstein Bagels after run
Sun-Rest

End-of-Season Survey
An end of the season survey was emailed/texted out to everyone this weekend. Selle and I would really appreciate if  all athletes and parents would take a few minutes to fill this out for us. The purpose of the survey is to give feedback on how we are doing coaching the TEAM. The results from the survey help to guide our conversations about how to improve as we try to move Vista Nation XC forward. The survey is totally anonymous so the coaching staff will not know how individuals responded to each question. 

Athlete Communication with Coaches
If you are going to miss a practice for some reason please understand that the expectation is that you should communicate with the coaches before hand. We had several athletes missing from Saturday mornings run that did not touch base with either myself or Coach Selle. We understand that things come up, and we are willing to be flexible with you. However, our expectation is that if you can't make a Saturday run that you tell the coaches before practice. We also expect that you go out and get in the assigned run that day on your own. We would prefer that you communicate with us face-to-face, but a phone call, text, or email is better than not telling us at all. 

End-of-Season Banquet
Here is a copy of the email Mrs. Romine sent out about this Friday's XC Banquet: 

Hello Vista Nation-
Our end-of-season XC Banquet is on November 7, 2014 in the MVHS Commons at 6:30 p.m.  We will be having our traditional potluck, and the coaches will hand out awards, letters and other recognitions.  

Please click on this Sign-up Genius link to sign up to bring something and RSVP.  Since we usually have about 300 people in attendance, we have quite a few slots to fill.  Feel free to sign up for more than one item.   Please read through the sign-up sheet carefully - some of the items have important specifications.  I will monitor the sign-up sheet and make necessary changes as the RSVPs are logged.  You will receive an automatic reminder 2 days before our event.

http://www.signupgenius.com/go/60b0c4ea4aa2ca57-vista1

Finally, we wil need a crew to come early (6:00) to help with set up.  Please email me if you can help.  We will also need some folks to stay and help with clean-up.  Again, please email me if I can count on you. 

For those who are wondering about a dress code, the kids usually dress up and look sharp!

Also, if you picked up any extra clothes or items at meets or practice, please bring them to the banquet as we will have a Lost and Found table set up.

Please email me (Kimmy Romine) if you have any questions.  I look forward to seeing all of you and helping our kids celebrate their successful 2014 XC season.

NXR 2 Mile Time Trial
On Thursday, November 13th those athletes competing in Arizona will be racing against 2 other teams (Broomfield, Dakota Ridge and possibly 1 or 2 more) in a 2 mile XC time trial. Right now, we are scheduled for Commons Park in Broomfield. There will be a bus both to and from this event. The tentative race time will be around 4:00 p.m. that afternoon.

The 2 mile XC time trial will help the coaching staff to decide which athletes will be competing in the championship and open races in Arizona. However, the time trial is not the only determining factor. Practice effort and attendance during the next 3 weeks will also be taken into consideration. We will make final decisions on line-ups after the time trial. 

Schedule for November 3rd-9th
Mon-Redstone Park 3:20 p.m. 
             Tempo Effort on the Grass
Tue-No School, Run on your own or w/ a teammate
            40,50, or 60 mins
Wed-MVHS 3:10
             Aerobic Run + Speed
Thur-MVHS 3:10
             Aerobic Run + Weights
Fri-MVHS 3:10 p.m.
            Track Workout @ Race Pace
Sat-Rocky Heights MS 8 a.m.
          IHop After the Run (bring $$$ for breakfast)
Sun-Rest

Turkey Day 5K Registration
The Highlands Ranch Chamber of Commerce has once again given us a discount for the upcoming Turkey Day 5k. Discount applies to all registrants including those ordering the performance tshirt. Please print form and return with payment to Therese Fitzsimmons (Delaney or Mauren) or to Coach Sprafke at MRMS by Fri., 11/7. You may also bring forms to the MVHS XC Banquet on Fri., 11/7.

Still need volunteer hours? High school and adult helpers needed for bib and tshirt pick up. If interested, contact Therese Fitzsimmons at tjfitz@q.com.

Race Registration Form