July 8th-14th: Consistency is the Key

New Uniform front

New uniform back

Consistency is Key
Now that we are in July our training is going to become a little more challenging. We have done a nice job building up our miles in the month of June and will continue doing so throughout July. This week should be our most challenging so far. I want to touch base on a few things for this week before we get started. Parents, I feel it's very important that coaches, kids and parents all be on the same page. One way to make sure this is happening is to talk with your kids about what's going on with the TEAM, including the things that are posted on the blog.  

• Consistency is the Key: The most important part of your training as a distance runners is staying consistent. It's amazing what starts to happen to you once you begin running everyday. You begin to rack up week after week of challenging training and your fitness level improves along the way. Running everyday will greatly improve your fitness and help you to reach your full potential. If you are serious about becoming your best then follow the workout plans we have provided for you everyday and watch how you will contribute to the TEAM come fall! You can't get back missed days of training, and every run we do is important. Think of each run as making a deposit in a bank account. You keep building and building your fitness until it's time to cash in on it. Pay day is when we race and your overall fitness is above and beyond where it has ever been. And we want that pay day to be a BIG ONE!
• Should I run on weekends or not?: Yes, run on weekends! Running 5 days a week will get you fit, but 6 or 7 will help to reach your full potential. I think everyone should go out on Saturday and run. Follow your workout schedule and get in the miles/minutes. If this is hard for you to do, call a teammate and run together. Sunday's are optional. If you have done all of the suggested runs in your workout schedule for the week and still want to "Go the Extra Mile" then add a run on Sunday. Keep it fun and don't get carried away, but Sunday is a great opportunity to build on your aerobic conditioning. 
• Days Off: Right now we are running between 6 to 8 times a week. Some of you more if you are running on Sundays. However, taking days off is not a bad thing. They help you recover and can give you a mental break from training when you need it. The coaching staffs suggestion for days off is to make sure you take a least 1 day off (no exercise of any kind) every 3 weeks. If you feel like you need at least one day off every week, then take it. The choice is up to you. 
• Recovery vs. Quality: Now that we are in July our intensity is going to start to increase as well. I don't plan on doing anything at race pace effort until September, so the focus of our quality days will be to improve your aerobic fitness. This will involve things like tempo runs, negative split runs, progression runs, etc. On the days we get after it I want you to push yourself outside of your comfort zone. But make sure you are not hammering everyday. Pushing on the quality days will help take your fitness to a new level, but not getting carried away the day after will help you recover from the hard days. The recovery runs will also help to build your aerobic fitness.
• Which runs/workouts are the most important?: All of them! The biggest determining factor in our success this season will be our consistency. This means getting out and doing all of your scheduled runs. There will be days when we go easy and days we go hard. Days we run long and days we finish quickly. For some of you there will even be days where you go out for a second run. They are all important workouts to your overall success. No one workout or run is anymore important than another. It's when you start to consistently piece them all together day-in and day-out that your fitness and ability really starts to improve. Remember, you can't get back missed days. 
• You won't always feel good: One thing I know about running is that you are going to be tired. When following a challenging training program you should and if it were easy everyone would do it. But we are trying to be exceptional and do things that others can't or won't. The days you are tired and not feeling your best are the days where you can really challenge yourself mentally. You learn to run when your not feeling your best and push through adversity. The easy way out is to cut the run short, or blow the workout off. The way that's going to make us a better TEAM is to go out and get the job done.
• The Hardest TEAM to make: Last summer I wrote this BLOG POST (click) about the Hardest TEAM to Make. Since then it has been an expression that has really been a reflection of our TEAM. It's not easy to make our varsity or our JV. It's not even easy to make our top 7 open TEAM. We are very deep, because we have a lot of athletes that are out working hard and trying to improve everyday. In the process, that hard work is impacting other people who also want to work hard. Do your part and keep getting in the work. Every single member of our TEAM plays an important role no matter what races you end up in during the fall.

Einstein Bagel's After Run on Thursday
After Thursday's DeKoevend Park run we will be going to Einstein Bagels off of University and Arapahoe. Bring money for breakfast. Parents welcome!

New Uniforms
Above is a picture of our new TEAM uniform for this season. Our new uniform will be for everyone; JV, Open and varsity. The coaches decided that it is important that we all look alike when we race and used the remaining $2500 left from last years fundraising to help buy our new uniforms. We will need to raise additional funds during the fall to cover the remaining cost and plan on doing the elementary school race and letter campaign as we did last year. 

I am currently working on a document for parents that explains where our fundraising dollars go. I will have that information available for everyone by our pre-season meeting in August. 

Camping Trip Update:
On Monday I will post an update on the camping trip for those that are going.

Car Stickers and Mileage T-Shirts
If you are a new runner and trying to earn a Mountain Vista HS Car Sticker these are the requirements: Run 5 times Monday-Friday for at least 30 minutes without walking and then go out and do at least one run on the weekend. Once you have done this let me know and I will give you your car sticker.

If you are trying to earn a mileage T-Shirt (200, 300, 400, 500, 600, or 700 mile summer shirts) you have to continue to log your miles on your workout schedule throughout the summer. After the last week show me your log and I will give you your T-Shirt. Here is the link to the workout schedules if you need them:
2013 Summer Workouts (click to view)

Schedule for July 8th-15th:
Mon-MVHS 7 a.m.
Tue-Waterton Canyon (Progression Run) 7 a.m.
Wed-MVHS 7 a.m. 
Thur- DeKoevend Park (tempo run) 7 a.m 
               Meet in lot off of University just past Arapahoe Rd.
               Einstein Bagels after run. Bring money for breakfast. (Parents welcome!)
Fri- East/West Trail Lot (long run) 7 a.m .
          Meet in lot at the top of Griggs/Daniel's Park Rd
Sat-Run on your own or w/ a teammate
Sun-Optional run