We had the first race of the season for our varsity runners, and as coach I've got to say I'm mighty proud!
    Typically, we've only taken a few kids up to the Tiger Run each year, and for good reason: it's a killer-competitive meet, and HUGE.  Starting the season with a meet of this size has wigged out many a runner.  It's no way to start the season for the inexperienced, but with so many seniors, I thought we'd give it a try.  I'm glad we did!  (And our I'm especially proud of our rookie Jonathan!  He didn't let it phase him a bit!  Way to go!)
    Almost everybody started the season with a PR, or awfully close.  There was a real correlation between performance and summer training, and that's both reassuring and gratifying.  It's nice when effort pays off.  That's the plan.
    At the same time, starting with a PR means we have our work cut out for us to keep improving.  Sure, it's a fast course, but most of us have ran it before, multiple times, in far cooler and less crowded conditions, and gotten worse times.  So things look good.  But we've got to be prepared to bring our best efforts to daily practice to keep getting better.
    A REMINDER: don't compare PRs from course to course.  That's deceiving.  Make sure you compare times from one course to other times FROM THAT SAME COURSE.  Otherwise, you'll be in for some serious confusion and maybe even disappointment.  Saturday was the easiest course of the season, in my opinion.  Not the easiest RACE, but definitely the easiest COURSE.  This Thursday is the hardest (besides our home course, ha ha)--Asbury College--a.k.a. "Death Valley."  Don't expect to run Saturday's time this Thursday (although, please feel free to).   
    We'll be taking more than just the top fives, so wrap your brains around it.  Let's have a great week of practice.

    It sure was great seeing all the new faces at the XC Kickoff party tonight.  We had 54 kids at it!  Wow!  But I've got to tell you, 27-on-27 NerfWar is pretty ridiculous.  I'm just glad nobody got REALLY killed.  It sure was fun, though.
    I'd like to thank our booster club for funding it and Dee Vernon and Debbie Hughes for helping make it go off without a hitch.  And of course, a big thanks to all my runners who invited their friends and brought in the crowd.  I was able to talk to many new kids about Cross Country, and I'm hopeful that many of these contacts will join the team.  Stay on them, folks!
    It's an exciting time.  Keep up the good work.
    

    Distant lightning flashes in the dark clouds as one by one the cars roll in, headlights cutting beams through the humid air.  Soon a group of young men gather around a central vehicle, shaking loose jangly arms and legs, curious ears awaiting the night's workout.  After a few short commands, the boys are off for warmup, leaving discarded T shirts like brightly-colored litter on the ground.  
    It's to be two sets of 4 reps on the half-mile loop, 400 hard and 400 recovery.  The leaders establish themselves within seconds of starting the first rep, arms propelling them forward, feet skimming across the asphalt.  Pump your arms.  Push on this last little hill.  Through the line...through the line...there!  
    "60 seconds," a voice calls out.  Strides break immediately, violently almost, to a recovery trot, burning lungs suck oxygen deep, wills forcing bodies to breathe deeply, slowly, back under control.  Breath by agonized breath, guts unknot.  Recovery is spent dwelling on how hard seven more of these are going to be.  There's no way I can keep that up, minds think.
    And yet somehow it happens.  For the next 35 minutes, determination grows hardened, bodies are disciplined, and the sound of the cicadas is puncuated only by the periodic voice calling out times.  Times that may waver somewhat, but eventually level out and begin to drop as the workout mercifully winds down.  The leader finishes the last push, rep 8, with the fastest time of the night.
    What is it that drives someone off the couch, out of an air conditioned home, to engage in such punishment?  What makes a kid turn his back, however momentarily, on TV or girlfriend or video game or even just basic comfort to run intervals in the dark?  What makes a kid leave a perfectly good supper semi-digested in the grass on the side of an asphalt track in the middle of a bug-infested park?  And then finish the workout, improving rep after rep?  What is it?
    It's not duty or even mere compliance; the storms made Coach cancel the evening's practice.  The voice that's been calling out splits is that of a runner's mom.  Most of the kids on the team aren't here.  The ones that are didn't have to be.  No. Practice. Tonight.  Yet here they are, pouring themselves out, and when it's over leaving glassy-eyed and sweat-drenched and smelly and exhausted.  And satisfied.
    Tonight the coach, just there as another runner, a peer, sharing the workout with a group of kids one-third his age, is the one who leaves inspired.  
    Thanks, guys.

    Man is it ever hot.  Like record-breaking hot.  REAL hot.  If there's any good news weather-wise, it's that the humidity has been pretty low.  The weatherman on the radio said we're having Phoenix weather.  And he's right, I've been there.  Low humidity means that as hot as is it, it doesn't strike us Ohio-valley dwellers as steamy hot-hot hot ("this ain't hot--lemme tell you about hot...").  And that can be dangerous, as we have a hard time estimating when to draw the line in training.  Train as early as you can.  The earlier the better.  
    Regarding training, I hope your summer workouts are going well (don't forget, the summer workouts are located on my "Clipboard" page).  I gotta admit, today being Friday, these Mon/Fri Arms & Shoulders + easy run + Indy Core days seem to take forever.  It's quite a commitment.  Keep it up.  (Speaking of arms & shoulders, I'm amazed at how different 3 sets of 10 seems compared to 2 sets of 12.  I guess you've got to feel weaker sometimes in order to get stronger.)
    All this time spent training reminds me of one of my favorite Bible verses, 1 Timothy 4:8.  In it, Paul (the "coach") reminds Timothy (his young "athlete") that "physical exercise has some value, but spiritual exercise is far more important, because it offers a reward in both this life and the next."  In other words, don't make yourself and your training a higher priority than your relationships with God, your family, and others.  Keep things in perspective.
    Like the sign on my classroom wall says, "the main thing is to keep the main thing the main thing."  Keep up the good work.

    Great to see everybody at the Run for the Health of It 5K in Bardstown this morning.  I paced my daughter and running partner Julianna and I'm proud to say she not only set a PR (on a long course) but came home with a age-division gold medal around her neck.  Nice job!  Pacing her was fun, and it made for an enjoyable, although different, running experience for me.  Normally I coach racers from the sidelines, but today I was doing an awful lot of coaching as we ran, and funny enough found myself accumulating runners.  After the finish, I was surprised at the number of people (some complete strangers) who came up to me and thanked me for the advice and encouragement given out throughout the race.  One of my HS runners even said, "I wanted to stop, but I saw you up there yelling at your daughter and it made me press on!"  (I was not yelling at Julianna, that was coaching.)  It also made me appreciate those who've helped me through races, like by bud Matt H. who not only paced me to a PR but drove with me two hours to do so in a 1/2 marathon.  That's love, people.
    And although I'm not into times too much at this juncture of our summer training schedule, I did check out a few times, and WOW! Landon F good job and how about NC runner mom Katie H. WHAT IMPROVEMENT!  WOW!  You guys are inspirational.  My congrats to all who were there and thanks to God for the fun rain to run in.  Fun fun fun.
    A new week ahead is a new opportunity to kick-start that training schedule.  If you're on target, keep it up, and if you're not, click over to the Clipboard and let's get this ball rolling!  Have a great week and call me if you need me.  
    Coach

Well, as of yesterday's workout, I've completed the first week of summer workouts.  Have you?  I'd have to say that as a guy who's used to training by charting mileage only, yesterday's LSD day was still my favorite.  I ran road/ trail loops at Nazareth with my main man Jeb.  But I can definitely tell that every activity is benefitting me.  Arms & shoulders and the core work have clearly been needed as they are producing some soreness.  But I never thought the mertyl stuff would be such a workout, esp in the glutes.  Plyos is fun like always, but I fear I'm no Shawn-T.  I gotta admit I hate the speedwork, but I got it done.  I'd like to hand it to my family--they're my training group and are really helping me keep on track.  If you live in the North Nelson/Cox's Creek area and like to join us, give me a call--we normally train at around 10AM and do our runs at the Methodist 2nd Campus.  ONE FINAL NOTE: do the workouts RIGHT.  If you do what's supposed to be an easy run like a tempo, you're jacking up your whole week.  Tempos are tempos and easy is supposed to be easy.  The key?  Talking.  Run with somebody and talk the whole time.  If you can carry on a conversation, it's an easy run.  If you're gasping out one word answers to their questions, back off, you're overdoing it.  It really helps to find a partner you're at pace with and then talk it up. 

    If you found the site, congratulations!  Over the next few weeks, I am hopeful that more and more of you will visit the site, and I plan to distribute most of our important info for the upcoming seasons on its posts.
    If you have any recommendations of what you'd like to see on it that I've missed, shoot me a note through the message board on the "Starting Line" home page.
    I hope you've been doing the summer workouts according to the training schedule.  I've been doing them (and my wife and kids have become my new training group, poor guys).  Each day has been sort of hard, but not really, and I have a general feeling of having stressed my body without really any pain.  Yet.  Remember, it's a progression, but a friendly one that will strengthen you and get you ready for the upcoming season.  And veteran runners: follow the plan!  Don't blow off what's written to substitute in runs not on the schedule.  There's a method in there if you'll follow it.
    It's available on my "Clipboard" page.  If you've already started, keep up the good work!  If you haven't, click over there!  What are you waiting for?  You're not going to get into any shape staying up late ready some silly blog!
    See you later,
    Coach