Friday Wacky Relays

I think today was the worst day of the week.  It was hot and sticky but we managed to go through another full practice and had a lot of fun doing it with our WACKY RELAYS.  Watching these guys run is fun enough, but watching them run backwards, hopping like a kangaroo, and doing a gazillion variations of cartwheels, round offs, and forward rolls is a total hoot.

My gosh, it's 95 degrees, high humidity, and here we are working hard at it for 20 solid minutes and the team is laughing and having a great time.  Now, you tell me who is crazier!!!

I'll still take any late team shirt orders on Tuesday, as I need to get them to the shirt guy ASAP.

Enjoy the nice Labor Day holiday weekend.  I challenged the team to run two of the three days, getting in a minimum of 3 miles each time for a total of 6 miles during the weekend.  It's important to keep the fitness routine on a roll if we intend to get better, which I know we will.

As for me, I have season tickets for the Illini, so will be at Memorial Stadium for the game, and hopefully I'll get some golf in this weekend too.

Let's get some rain and look forward to some cooler weather!!!

Exhibition Meet #2

Another hot day, yet we responded relatively well to not only the heat but some tired legs.  We've worked pretty hard this week, so I would not expect any super performances at this time.  Overall, I was pleased with how we are taking care of business before and after the meet.  The kids know I mean business when it comes to the warm up and cool down.  They are earning my trust, but still I have to continue to my "due diligence" as their coach to make sure things are done right.

Both teams still know and are beginning to understand that we have a long way to go to get into the kind of shape we need to be in order to perform well at season's end.  Doing the little things will make a HUGE difference when it comes to reaching our potential.

Tomorrow we'll enjoy one of my weird Friday relays and have some fun.  Labor Day weekend is summer's last be hurrah, and I NEVER practice the team on Monday.  My expectation is for my young runners to run 2 of the 3 days during the long weekend and come back ready to compete on Tuesday with our 3rd home meet.

Let's get those team shirt orders in and get ready to enjoy our 3 day weekend.  And go ILLINI.  I'll be at this Saturday's game.  I can't wait to see the new scoreboard, digital ribbon, and signage noting the championships.  Looks great in pictures but probably much better in person.

Forged in the heat

After tonight's workout, I think this team is beginning to believe what we've been preaching.  If we prepare properly, we can do anything!!!!   It was pretty darned hot out there, yet the kids listened and drank plenty of the right fluids before, during and after practice and the results paid off.  We did our normal Wednesday hill workout, with two sprinklers at the 100 meter mark of the 200 meter hill.  Mind you, this workout would have felt like an inferno IF we hadn't prepared, but the kids really performed well.  NO ONE complained, NO ONE stopped to walk, and we did exactly what I wanted in 20 minutes.  Our intensity was pretty sound, yet the kids seemed to enjoy the challenge.  Pretty amazing, I thought!

A former XC runner and PBL grad Craig Boone happened to come by.  I introduced Craig to the team and noted his contributions to PBLHS XC and his GREAT basketball skills.  Then I took time to also feat him as a returning soldier from Iraq and Afghanistan.  What really astounded me is how the team responded by actually taking the time to THANK Craig for his service to our country.  Mind you, I did not know Craig was coming by nor did I prompt the team.  They did this all on their own.  Craig was so thankful for the kids reaction!!!   This was the BEST lesson of the day, after I had just talked to the team at our daily meeting about RESPECT to one another.  One must say that we have a good group of kids!!!

I distributed team shirt forms and a call for parents help for bottled water!!!

Tomorrow will be another scorcher, but we'll be ready to talk the next set of teams who come to invade our Panther XC trail.

Season Opener - A nice start, but....

We had a nice start at our Season Opener, with the guys taking 2nd place and the girls grabbing 3rd.  It was hot, but we toughed it out and had some nice performances.  Note the play on words.  Nothing great or fantastic here, nor were there any "epic fails".  Basically, it was nice to start the season BUT we know we have a VERY long way to go.  That was the message I gave the team in our brief meeting in the shade before doing the cool down.

The best part about this meet is that I KNOW what is coming and that's exciting!!!  You don't do this for as long as I have and not see the tremendous potential we have.  HOWEVER, it's going to take continued focus on THE MAIN THING to reach our goals.  The veterans know this, but may not totally understand it, while the rookies are going to have to take this on blind faith.

So, tomorrow will be another warm one, but we'll have plenty of fun on the hill.  I'll have the sprinklers blasting so we stay plenty wet and plenty of water, too.  We'll work right through the heat.

The high school has a "relay meet" on the JH course tomorrow, so I hope we have a little time left to cheer on our HS Panthers.

Team shirt order forms with go home and I need them back Friday so I can get the order in PDQ.  Pay when the shirts arrive.  Deal?

Heat Hysteria - Let's be real here.

First, I have to say the Picnic, Practice and Pool Party was a lot of fun on Saturday.  I want to again thank the many parents and especially my wife for helping with this event.  The Veterans continued their streak of NEVER losing a kickball game to the Rookies and I got drenched by flying water balloons.  It was all in good fun.  The food was really good and the water balloon relay went well for the workout.  It's always a joy to run on the trail on what I refer to as "the north 40".  So quiet and peaceful.  WOW.

My wife and I beat it out of town with our grandson and went to the railroad museum in Union Illinois to see Thomas the Tank Engine.  I could not believe all the people there.  THOUSANDS, for sure.  I enjoyed riding the train and checking out some old locomotives and other forms of rail transportation.  Really a neat place.

Now let's be real about the weather for a moment.  My gosh, we think folks are going to keel over when it gets warm like this, but as I told the team, the secret to success in this warmer weather is being smart by hydrating right, with the proper liquids, and adapting activity accordingly.  So, that's what we did for practice today.  I backed of slightly on the distance to be run and made sure we had plenty of water during the main part of the workout, which lasted a bit over 20 minutes.  I ran every interval with the team, and was generally impressed with how we performed.  Of course, is the "old man" can do this, then these young pups ought to be able to respond accordingly.  Of course, I would never tease them about being beat by the old guy........

We did spend quite a bit of time on the course so the rookies really understand how the course is run.  Of course, they will be very nervous tomorrow, which is normal.  We'll do just fine.

Girls will run at 4:15 followed by the guys about 4:45.  The team then runs a cool down afterwards, so we just don't pick up and go right after the race.

See you at the races for this seasons first exhibition!

Time Trial #2

We were again fortunate to have some relatively good weather for today's practice, which saw the team jog to Pells Park from the JH for the warm-up.  The team did a great job of following my instructions for our trek through town.  We travel as a team and really are aware of the intersections, especially American, Taft, Market and Rt. 45.  I were my bright green running shirt and stand in the middle of each intersection while the team crosses.  Drivers are always good about this and they wave to the team, so that's a good sign.

Once at the park, the guys and gals split into their respective teams and went through our stretches, drills, and pullouts, followed by a break for water and rest room.  The guys took off first, then a minute later the girls took off, hoping to chase down as many guys as possible during the 1 mile run.

I was very pleased with the team's overall performance.  We had some nice times and some excited kids.  Of course, not everyone was pleased, since we still have a bunch of tired legs out there.  That's to be expected, especially for our first year runners.

Tomorrow is the annual Pool Party, Practice, and Picnic at Lake Iroquois.  I've been doing this team builder for all the years of coaching while back at PBL.  It's always a fun time and no one goes away hungry!  We'll distribute team uniforms tomorrow, too!

Dead Legs

We've got a tired bunch of troopers on the team, but it's all by design and that's what I keep preaching.  I just hope they keep the faith, because once we get into about week 5 of the season, we'll start seeing some amazing results!!!  TRUST ME on this!!!

We lucked out with the clouds, breeze, and cooler weather today and I know the kids welcomed the relief!  I know I did.

The workout today was designed to take some stress off the body, but not so much that we get lazy about things.  I changed up the routine by doing "Leg Circuits" for stretching and strengthening today.  This is something I like to do a couple of times each week, just to vary the work and keep the team from getting bored and nonchalant with the work.  After our regular drill work, we took a bit of a rest and ran lightly for about 10 minutes follow by 10 x 100 meter runs at faster than race pace on the minute.  By about the 7th one most rookies were gassed, but the distance and length of rest gave them hope to finish quickly.  In fact, that took a grand total of 9 minutes and 22 seconds to complete.  Sounds easy, but after a run of about 1.4 miles then a couple of minutes of rest, it is taxing at this early stage of the season.  We'll do this again in a few weeks and the team will think it is easy.

Tomorrow we'll jog over to Pells Park and do another mile time trial then jog back to school.  And of course, Saturday is the annual team pool party, practice, and picnic at Lake Iroquois.  We look forward to a fun day.

Wacky Sock Wednesday and THE HILL

I broke out my wacky socks and the team thought I looked AWESOME, NOT!  Anyway, every Wednesday is WACKY SOCK WEDNESDAY, so don't forget that.  We've seen some pretty wacky socks over the years, so we'll wait to see if anyone can out do me!!

One team member told be during school today that she needed a day off, and I responded with a "No, we have to continue the PROCESS, and being tired is part of it.  You need to be at practice."  She was a no show.

So, I talked to the team about the PROCESS of training and how "being tired" is a necessary part of it.  We generally work on a Hard Day, Easy Day concept throughout the course of the season, so that will not change.  What is important to remember that we are working for 3 distinct meets during the course of the season, and our training and routine are all geared for that.  On top of that, I know the importance of what I call "the 40 day rule".  If you are interested in the "40 Day Rule" come talk to me sometime.  You might be surprised with it's significance.

What makes it challenging as a coach, is that youngsters are not exactly the most patient people in the world, and 40 days must seem like an eternity to them, so its my job to keep them motivated throughout that period and vary the workouts so it keeps things interesting.

We traveled to THE HILL and hit it hard for 20 minutes tonight.  Most everyone was up 5 times and down 5 times with about a 90 second rest interval in between.  Mixed with the heat, it was certainly a challenge, but we were lucky in the fact that the humidity was low and there was a relatively nice breeze.  We also ran a sprinkler from Coach Pacey's house, so the team had some refreshing water to look forward to each time up and down the hill.

First Day of School

I celebrated my 53rd "1st Day of School" and had a picture taken on my Iphone so I could send it to Mom and Dad.  I had my gym bag in hand and a supply of apples!!!!

This day is always fun but stressful for many.  We spent a lot of time just getting new team members adjusted to the building and also being acquainted to our team routine and traditions.  It's really best to take plenty of care and time in doing this right from the get go, so it's all worth it.

Of course, it had to be hotter than Hades out today, and with little or no shade on our course, it was a far cry from the friendly confines of Pells Park.  The kids really wished we were back at Pells, and so do I.  We will get that opportunity on Friday, when we jog the mile over to Pells to do our second time trial.  This will definately give the team something to look forward to.

After a tough workout yesterday, we backed off with a circuit run today, which helped in becoming more familiar with our course.  I thought the team responded pretty well to the heat, and of course the rigors of being back in the school environment.

Since we had early dismissal and had the team head to the Commons for study hall, I took time to discuss the importance of doing ALL of their homework since they must be passing ALL courses in order to stay eligible.  If the kids don't know my feelings about this after today's discussion, then they had to be sleeping.  I'm dead serious about doing what is right and getting things taken care of.  There are no excuses and I just hate it when a team member FAILS in their responsibility to the rest of the team, mostly by being LAZY.

We can't wait for the annual Pool Party, Picnic, and Practice on Saturday.  I hope to have a few parents come out and help, as in past years.  This really is a fun time for the team.

Camp Pells Park - Day 6

Well, the weather finally caught up with us today and we sweat our tails off at practice.  It was nice to see a few more of our guys make it to practice after extended vacation time.  They picked a fine time to come, with a pretty tough workout planned.

I spent time discussing how we'll handle practice tomorrow, with it being the first day of school.  Basically, I want the team to report to the Commons first, then we'll dismiss about 3:15 to the gym to get dressed for practice.  We always meet just outside the doors to the junior high gym under the shaded area with benches on both sides.  We should be done right around 5 PM, depending on how long it takes for the team to do the cool down.  Generally speaking, we're done closer to 5:10, especially until we get into a routine and everyone knows where to go.

The "ladder" workout was on store for today.  We ran 6 segments of starting with the shortest of 150 meters until we finished with the last segment of a full 800 meters.  Rest time was a walking recovery of about 150 meters.  By the time we got to the 4th segment, most of the rookies were gassed, while the veterans knew from past experience what to expect.  I then split the team and had the veterans "keep truckin" while the rookies did just a little less, at "old man pace".  I challenged them all not to be beat by yours truely, and some team members accepted that challenge!!!

We'll look forward to a good week of work and this weekend's Pool Party, Practice, and Picnic at Lake Iroquois this Saturday from 11 AM to 1:30.  It's always a great time.

Camp Pells Park - Day 5

Today's Annual Ice Cream & Cookies Time Trial was a lot of work and a lot of fun at the same time.   I was really pleased with our performances for both the girls and guys teams.  It's always great to see improvement from your veterans and then find that several new comers will really be ready to step in and be contributing members of this year's squad.  I was very impressed with several of our 6th grade boys and girls.  WOW, really nice!!!!  I know that by the end of the season we'll be ready to do well!!!

Just a reminder to everyone of the expectation of running at least 3 miles this weekend, either Saturday or Sunday.  Monday we will practice at Pells Park at 3:30 and be done at 5, then Tuesday at school.  The summer went by oh so quickly and it will be time to put on our thinking caps again!!!

I look forward to our annual Pool Party, Picnic and Practice next Saturday at Lake Iroquois.  It's always a blast and we have such a great time.

Let's work to recruit more team members as school starts.  It's not too late to come out for the team and we welcome anyone who is willing to be a part of our squad.

Enjoy a wonderful "last weekend of the summer"!!!

Camp Pells Park - Day 4

Another nice day brings with it the challenge of day 4, which brings with it tired bodies.  Of course, this is to be expected but all part of the PROCESS of conditioning the body.  I was disappointed that a few girls decided to "skip" practice, so we'll be discussing that with them tomorrow.  No reason to get on the team members who were there, but I did express my displeasure with their decision.  Enough said.

I talked to the team about the weekend expectation of running at least 3 miles either Saturday or Sunday.  One day has to be a rest day, and I would prefer Sunday.  It's really important to keep the body in rhythm and tune to regular work, IF we want to improve.  At this level, I will not impose upon family time on weekends, knowing there are lots of things going on.  I know other programs race on Saturdays throughout the season, but I choose not to put the team through that grind.  We'll be prepared when the time is right, and be fresh for our only Saturday invitational at the end of the season, along with the Sectional and State Finals.

We had a great 22 minute relay workout, with each team member running anywhere between 10 to 12 200 meter runs with about a minute's rest in between.  I was really pleased with the teams overall effort throughout.  We looked good, despite having tired legs.

Let's look forward to tomorrow's Cookies and Ice Cream Mile Time Trial.  This gives us an indication of the fitness level of each team member and gives us a baseline to work with for the remainder of the season.

Camp Pells Park - Day 3

Coming to practice in long sleeve shirts and sweats is unheard of in August.  I hope this isn't a preview of things to come this winter.........

We are what we eat and drink..........  the topic of today's team meeting before our workout.  I really emphasized the importance of eating proper meals each day, starting with a good breakfast.  I likened this to driving my truck, which gets about 16 miles to the gallon, to Gibson City and wanting to get back with no problem.  However, I only have a bit more than one gallon of gas in the tank.  The truck may look great and run well, until the fuel runs out, then bam....  it's a worthless piece of scrap.  Same thing with our bodies.  If we don't give it the proper fuel, it will run "out of gas" too, and not run very well at all.  I think we get the message here.  I took time to describe good foods and bad foods.  POP - BAD,  MILK - GOOD, WATER - GREAT, MONSTER DRINKS - EXTREMELY BAD, CANDY - BAD, FRUITS - FANTASTIC, COLD PIZZA FOR BREAKFAST - FANTASTIC, DONUTS FOR BREAKFAST - YUCK.

We had a great circuit run and the team really performed extremely well.  I was very pleased with the overall effort.  Tomorrow will be much more of a challenge before Friday's mile time trial.

Camp Pells Park - Day 2

We have to be grateful for this wonderfully COOL weather which has made training much more bearable.  Let's hope this continues, but I have this feeling that Mother Nature will somehow balance this out when we start competing.

TRUST was the theme of today's discussion!  Trusting the coaching staff with the plan for success is sometimes difficult to get across to young runners.  For many team members, this may be the first time being pushed to run and breath a lot more than normal.  Novice runners think they are going to faint or something bad is going to happen, but we'd never put our young Panthers in danger of anything like that.  Yes, there is discomfort, but that is just part of the process of learning how to run.  So, TRUST the plan and the process. It's tried and true.  Check the trophy case as proof!

We worked pretty tough for 22 minutes on our second day of camp with the annual Swing Relay.  In the beginning, the swings look rather attractive, but halfway through the workout, no one is swinging?  Hmmm.  I was very pleased with the team's effort.  It's hard to believe that each team member covered 4 miles in today's workout!!!  AWESOME!!!

Tomorrow we'll back off just a bit, hit it tough again on Thursday, then be ready for the ICE CREAM and COOKIES Time Trial on Friday.  First we run, then we enjoy treats after the team cools down.  I look forward to see how well the team performs!!!

Camp Pells Park - Day 1

Here we are back with the 2013 edition of PBLJH Panther Cross Country.  It was great to welcome 35 smiling faces at our first practice this morning.  We were missing quite a few team members who are still on vacation, so we know we'll start seeing our numbers grow over the course of the next few days.

We spent a LOT of time going over our warm-up exercises and drills, as they are an extremely important component of our daily routine.  The coaching staff will be watching and correcting mistakes this week so we can reduce the amount instruction time and focus on other things.

Our workout was a nice 1 mile circuit, with lots of core work and took a little over 20 minutes to complete.  We finished with an easy half mile cool down, getting about 3 miles in on our first day of training.

I spent time explaining the our training is a PROCESS, and any process takes time.  It's the job of the coaches to set up a sound plan and make sure the team executes the plan, while the team needs to listen and trust in the coaches to guide and lead!

We'll work pretty good throughout the week and be prepared for a "baseline" 1 mile time trial on Friday, known as the "Cookie and Ice Cream Run."  More on that, later in the week.  Let's be thankful for the pleasant weather and be prepared to work hard and smart!!!