This is the last post that I will put up until January. Before we head into winter break I want to share with everyone what I believe to be the 2 biggest determining factors in your success as a distance runner as we move forward. 

#1 Have Fun!
This is the most underrated aspect of training. Enjoy what you are doing everyday and training becomes more meaningful.  If you are going to be out running 6 or more times a week make sure you are having fun in the process. It's easy to get caught up in the daily grind of training and to forget that sports and fitness should be enjoyable. The means have to justify the ends, and if you are enjoying the process distance running with your teammates becomes a lot more fun! 

#2 Be Consistent
The best way to achieve your goals is to have fun training with your teammates and to be consistent. Run everyday that you can, 6 to 7 days a week. Being successful in distance running, or anything else in life, requires consistent hard work. Set a goal for yourself this season, work consistently towards it, and have fun with your teammates in the process.

Christmas Party on Thursday, Dec 19th
When: Thursday, December 19th @ 5:30
Where: Caroline Smetanka's House (see email for address)
Who: All Vista XC Runners and Alumni
What to Bring: The Smetanka's are providing pizza and drinks. You should bring the following.

• Seniors: chips
• Juniors: desserts
• Sophomores: veggies or salad
• Freshman: fruit

Schedule from December 16th-January 6th
Everything for December is posted here: December Schedule and Training 

There are a few optional meet ups on the calendar during winter break. These are simply opportunities for the team to meet up and run together. 
December 23rd (Monday)-Redstone Park 9 a.m. (athletes only, no coaches present)
December 30th (Monday)-Rocky Heights Middle School 9 a.m. 
January 2nd (Thursday)-The Bluffs 9 a.m.
January 3rd (Friday)-9 a.m. RedStone Park 9 a.m. 
January 6th (Monday)-1st official day of winter conditioning. 3:10 MVHS

I am going to attempt to provide a brief overview here on what to expect over the next 6 months (December to May). Hopefully this gives everyone a good idea of whats coming up for track and how to prepare. 

Tentative Spring Track Schedule
Here is the schedule for the track season, however, it is tentative at this point and subject to change. The league has not announced the JV schedule yet and the dates here will most likely move around some. 
Tentative 2014 Track & Field Meet Schedule (click to open)

Arcadia Invitational Trip
We do have plans to send a few athletes to the Arcadia Invitational in Los Angeles, California the weekend of April 11th and 12th. Arcadia is the most competitive regular season track meet in the country and as a result there are qualifying marks that must be obtained in order to go. This years qualifying marks have not been announced yet, but if you go to the meet site you can view last years minimum qualifying standards. We are planning on taking relay teams that can be competitive and potentially individuals that are able to get into the faster heats of events. Athletes that qualify will be responsible for the cost of the trip (airfare, hotel, food, etc). Needless to say, it will take a lot of work over the off season to be able to qualify for this event. 
Meet Website (click to view)
Minimum Qualifying Standards from 2013 (click to view)

Basic Overview of the Training Plan
Here are the basics of what to expect during winter conditioning (Dec-Feb) and then on into the season (March-May). This training plan works but it requires one thing from you as an athlete, 100% buy-in. If you are serious about being at your best by the end of the track season (April and May) follow the plan as it's written. You will have to run 6 to 7 days a week to be ready, but if you have that kind of commitment level this winter then your spring will be a successful one. 
The Basics:

• 100% Buy-in: This training plan works and will make you a better runner, but you have to be all in and commit yourself to it. 
• Slow Gradual Improvement: You will have to be patient. Not everyone achieves success at the same rate. We won't be doing hard intervals or track workouts early on. Instead, you will need to build back a base of miles early on. As the season moves along we will start working on more quality efforts gradually. 
• Consistency: If you want to reach your full potential run 6 to 7 days a week. Sunday's are optional, but you are welcome to run on these days if you desire. 
• 10% Rule: If you are ready to increase your miles from the XC season do so gradually over the course of 1 to 2 months. As a rule of thumb, don't increase your max volume this track season anymore than 10% of what you were doing in the fall. (For example, if you were running 40 miles a week in the fall start working up to 44-45 miles per week this winter).
• 20 of 21 days: If you are going to start running on Sunday's that is okay. It's a great way to get in an extra run each week. It also helps to stretch your daily mileage out over 7 days instead of cramming it into 6. As a general rule, just make sure you are taking 1 day off for every 20 that you are running. Always keep your Sunday runs easy. 
• Going the Extra Mile: Some of you will be "going the extra mile" this winter by adding a morning run or 2 into your routine. If you decide to do this keep your a.m. runs to 30-35 mins at an easy pace. This is a great way to sneak in a few more miles and build on your aerobic base. This is also a great option if you need to take Sunday off, but still want to run a little more volume. (Freshman and new runners should not run doubles).

Training Phases: 
There are 5 basic training phases to our season. Each one builds on the next. Here is how we will approach them.

• Phase 1: Time-off After XC                                                                          This is your time-off from running to recharge both physically and mentally. Don't skip this, your body and mind need a rest.

• Phase 2: Early Pre-Season (December to mid-January)      This is where you start slowly building your miles back to where they were after XC. Take 1 to 2 months to do this. If you are ready to increase your mileage from the XC season add a max of 10% to your weekly volume by the end of this period. No hard running, intervals, racing or tempos right now. Focus your pace on easy to moderate running. Do one long run each week that is about 20% of your weekly volume. No matter what week you begin at, start with week #1 on the December schedule. Don't move on to phase 3 until you have completed all of the weeks on the December schedule. 
• Phase 3: Late Pre-Season (Mid-January through February) Your mileage should be at it's peak volume per week by now. You will keep this mileage up until April. We will start to slowly increase the intensity of training by adding 1 tempo effort and 1 hill workout each week. This is to get ready for the faster track workouts ahead. You might also decide to run an indoor meet or 2 this time of year for fun. 
• Phase 4: Early Track Season (March to Mid-April) This is the official start to our season and runs through spring break. At this point, experienced athletes will be placed into 1 of 3 groups on our harder workout days; the 800 meter group, middle distance group (800/1600) and a longer distance group (1600/3200). Your mileage will still be at max volume but we will begin transitioning away from hill workouts and tempos in-order to do some faster workouts on the track that are specific to your best event. This is also the time when we start to compete again.
• Phase 5: Late Track Season (Mid-April through May) These are the most important races of the season. The main focus here is on racing and typically this is the time of year where our top athletes will start qualifying for state.  Your volume will start to decrease and we will be doing more "speed workouts" to make you faster on the track. Meets we attend this time of year are State, Leagues, Liberty Bell, St. Vrain, Frosh/Soph Championships and the JV League Championships. 

Winter Running

• In December you are mostly on your own. The coaching staff will be round but on a limited basis. Follow the December schedule each day. No matter what week you start at begin doing the runs in week #1 and then work your way through the schedule. 
• We will meet 5 days a week in January and February. Monday to Friday from 3:10 to about 4:30 (5:00 if you decide to lift).
• Saturday's and Sunday's are on your own or with a teammate all winter.
• Bring lots of layers to run in. We will always go outside unless the roads are un-runable due to snow/ice. If it's cold we will still go out. 

Goals

• If you want to talk goals for the upcoming season please send me an email. I'm happy to sit down and talk both short-term (track season), mid-range (XC season), and long term (next year) goals with anyone on the team. 
• Goal setting meetings are a great way for you to understand how much work you will have to do in-order to achieve your goals. 

XC Dates to Keep in Mind for Next Summer

• June 2nd: First day of summer conditioning
• July17th-19th: Camping Trip (Location TBD)

Christmas Party Details
When: Thursday, December 19th @ 5:30
Where: Caroline Smetanka's House (see email for address)
Who: All Vista XC Runners and Alumni are welcome
What to Bring: The Smetanka's are providing pizza and drinks. You should bring the following.

• Freshman: chips
• Juniors: desserts
• Sophomores: veggies or salad
• Freshman: fruit

T-Shirt Orders and Fundraiser for Student In-need
We are making available an end of the season XC shirt to help out a student in need. In September, Mountain Ridge student Rickey Cooper was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis. Rickey has been in an out of Children’s Hospital since. It is hard to imagine being diagnosed with MS, especially at the age of 13. We are going to sell the shirt above (with or without state champs printed on the back) and donate all proceeds to Rickey and his mother. The shirt comes in both men's and women's cuts and will be printed on an American Apparel 50/50 cotton-polyester blend T-shirt. 

Our goal is to raise $1000 to help Rickey and his mother. 

Order forms need to be turned in to either coach Selle or myself no later than this Friday, December 6th. 
T-Shirt Order Form to help Rickey Cooper (click)

NXN and Footlocker Midwest
Today we found out that our boys team did not receive an at-large bid into the NXN national championship. Although disappointing this certainly isn't something that we should be feeling sorry for ourselves about. Of all the high school XC teams across the United States we were one of the very few that ran well enough this year to be considered to compete in Portland. This says a lot about the commitment level and determination of this TEAM.  The coaching staff couldn't ask for a better group of kids and parent community to work with! 

I do want to recognize Connor Weaver and Andrew Walton this week for their outstanding performances at the Footlocker Midwest Regional in Kenoshia, WI on Saturday. Connor finished 14th in a time of 15:30 and Andrew was 32nd in 15:52. This is one of the most competitive XC meets in the entire U.S. and to have 2 individuals performs so well says a lot about our TEAM. 
Footlocker Midwest Results, Articles, Pictures and Videos

December Running
The purpose of running in the month of December is to rebuild your aerobic base. This should be a very low-key month of training. It is a time to start re-building your miles,  take a mental break from hard training/typical organized practices, and time to take your 1 to 2 weeks off from running if you have not done so yet at the conclusion of the XC season. 

Check the calendar below to see when and where we are meeting this month. Although there are practice times listed after school these practices are 100% optional. The coaching staff will be around on a very limited basis this month. We are providing times and dates so that people can meet to run if they wish to have someone else to run with this month. Starting in January we will become more structured again and the coaches will be there everyday. For now, we have provided you with a training plan so that you know what to do each day. 

I am going to post a rough training outline of what to expect from December through April/May later this week. For now, I want you to keep a few things in mind.

Time-off:
Please make sure you have taken 1-2 weeks off from running at the conclusion of your XC season. For some of you this has already happened, for others your time-off starts today. I suggest one of the 2 options for your time off:
Option A) Take 2 full weeks off from running completely.
Option B) Take 1 full week off from running. The next week run 15-25 mins easy every other day.

No matter when your return to running begins please start at week #1 on the calendar. 

"Re-Entry Month"
December is a "re-entry month" for us. This means we are starting to get back into building your miles. Keep the following rules of thumb in mind:

•  All runs should be easy to moderate paced. No Intensity, no tempo runs, no racing, no intervals.
• Gradually build your miles. It should take 4-6 weeks to rebuild your miles to where they were during the fall. 
• Try to run a little bit more each week from the week before with the goal of building towards peak milage by early to mid January (peak mileage being the max amount of miles you want to run during the track season). 
• Focus on consistency by running 6 to 7 times every week. 
• No doubles/2-a-days in December
• If you feel ready to increase your milage from the XC season only add a max of 10% to your weekly total (more later this week on the 10% rule)

December Training Calendar
Here is the calendar I passed out last month. Please click on the image below to enlarge. If you have already taken your full time off start at week #1. If you are still taking time off start at week #1 (Dec 2-8) when you are ready to start running again.

FCA Shoe Drive
Molly Reicher is helping organize a shoe drive for FCA. Here is a message about the shoe drive from Molly:
         "Starting Monday, December 2nd, Fellowship of Christian Athletes (FCA) is hosting a shoe drive through the organization Soles4Souls. Please donate your old/used shoes of any size or kind in the collection bin in the MVHS Library. Also, please donate $1 per pair of shoes to cover the cost of shipping. Thank you for benefitting people around the world through Soles4Souls! If you have any questions, please contact Molly Reicher."

Vista Nation XC Christmas Party
There has been a date change from what the calendar above says so please take note. An invitation will be sent out shortly.
When: Thursday, December 19th @ 5:30 p.m. 
Where: The Smetanka's House
Who: All Vista Nation XC runners and alumni are welcome