Clemons on XC

All is not lost

2009-10-26T08:46:00.000-07:00

Mt. Sac was not a wonderful experience for the Mustangs. Finishing seventh in the Team Sweepstakes race left all of the varsity runners with a bitter taste in their mouths and holes in their hearts. All is not lost though. There is still time ti fix the mistakes we made at Mt. Sac and we will have plenty of opportunity to prove our metal in the next few weeks.

Our performance was of the same sort that ended our season prematurely last year. We ran flat and our depth was non-existent. So how do we fix this? Practice! We need to practice running our race; practice running with confidence. I have taken a close enough look at the results to see that with some minor improvements, we could actually beat the entire field. Here is how: Jantzen needs to run like Jantzen (he ran 15:33 when I had projected at 14:50), Brent and Ryan need to drop 30 seconds each, which is well within their abilities, Brian needs to run and be close to Brent and Ryan as he has been all season, and we need a fifth man to step up and compete against the fifths from Dana, Royal, and Arcadia. If our front four average 15:00 and our fifth man runs anywhere between 15:45 and 16:05, we will win the CIF title. We can do that and it is time to show it.

How to get nationally ranked

2009-10-05T13:29:00.000-07:00

The 2009 season is well underway now and we have been busy climbing the rankings with strong performances at major Invitationals. We started the season in relative obscurity both regionally and nationally, but we have quickly shown that we are a force to be reckoned with. Milesplit.com (http://usa.milesplit.us/articles/28219) has us ranked at 12th in the country and Dyestat.com (http://www.dyestat.com/?pg=us-2009-XC-National-Team-Rankings) has us at 15th. Although we do not run for rankings and I put very little emphasis on looking at them, it is nice to be recognized.

Rankings are also one of the only measurements used to select teams for the national championships in Portland after the state meet. If our team finishes as one of the top two teams at the state meet, we will receive an automatic entry into the nationals. However, if we finish outside of the top two, the selection comitee has four at-large entries that are awarded based on rankings and head to head race performance over the course of the season. That is why our win over Mt. View (once ranked as high as #2 nationally) and Ferris of WA (once ranked #1 nationally) was so key to our season.

In the end, it is the state meet that matters most and that has been and will remain our focus for the season. We are moving up on our competition and if practice is any indicator, we may have done better than that. I encourage everyone to check out running websites for videos, pictures, and in-depth articles about the sport we love. I have listed some of my favorites at the bottom of this post.

www.dyestatcal.com
www.flotrack.com
www.ca.milesplit.us
www.runnerspace.com

Payton Jordan

2009-05-04T13:54:00.001-07:00

New American Junior 5K record

J.T. Sullivan setting a new steeple PR

For all you coaches

2009-05-01T08:41:00.000-07:00

This goes out to all the coaches out there who, like me, have to perform under some pretty stormy skies at times. I don't literally mean thunder and lightning, although this has been an odd spring with regard to weather. I am actually referring to how much work we do in an average day and how little we have to show for it sometimes.

I often get that old rung out expression, "when it rains it pours" stuck in my head. It seems that administrators, athletes, parents, and even our own families coordinate behind our backs at times and plan a simultaneous dumping of work/torment/guilt for when you are at your busiest. Now, before I go any further, let me first say that my family is great. I love them with everything that I am and I would not trade or change them for the world. However, 3-year olds are nuts and when coupled with a 5-month old... oh man! My wife is a frickin' saint; I don't know how she does it every day. I digress... My average day usually includes four hours of teaching, at least one meeting on my duty-free lunch, a mountain of paper work for something (yesterday it was PE testing forms), 30-40 emails to return, 5-6 phone calls to parents or athletes, a three hour practice, 10-30 minutes of feeling guilty that I had no time to prep for my classes, and finally home to eat, play trains, read stories, and doze off while telling bed-time stories to my son. That is a normal low-volume day and I can handle that just fine. It is those other days that kill me.

How many of you coaches out there do your own meet entries? How many of you have to attend coaches meetings? What about setting up and tearing down track meets? These are the things that can suck the life out of a coach and leave him standing against a wall wondering why God hates him. And it is at these moment that we invariably get that one athlete, you know the one, who will come up, and with no hesitation to consider your current status ask, "What time does the 800m start?" These are the moments that challenge me. It is a small moment. The athlete has no idea that your day has already been invaded by a horde of rampaging stress goblins. Yet the broken blood vessel behind your eye and the clinched fist in your pocket are clearly visible to anyone passing by. So how should a coach react in this situation? We are only human... right? Wrong!

A good coach is not just a normal human. You have to be a little super human. Sorry, that doesn't mean you get to tie on a cape and fly, it just means that you have to constantly measure your actions and unlike many normal people, think before you do anything. I have often wrestled with this, especially this year, when I have been rung ragged more times than a dirty old dish towel. No matter what I may be feeling on a personal level, that does not excuse me from acting like a mentor, even to that athlete with impeccable timing. That directive, however, does not necessarily mean that you have to act happy in this situation. It simply means that whatever you reaction is, it needs to be delivered in a manner that teaches, not torches.

I used to handle this by taking a deep breath, looking the athlete in the eye and answering, "about five O' Clock." That reaction makes me look like a nice guy, but it doesn't teach the kid anything. Those moments are what led me to take the advice of the coaches at Vista Murrieta and put together a handbook for the track program that includes a schedule for every meet. Now my reaction is a calm, "Look at the book."

The message here is simple enough I hope. Preparation is the key to survival. My parent used to say, "Liam, always expect the best, but prepare for the worst." I never fully appreciated that advice until now. Do your best to prepare yourself for all those little moments in advance. You will be a more effectice coach if you can preemtively cut off all those little annoying questions that pop up at times when you are least prepared to handle them. There are still going to be times when you want to throw a chair, but they will occur much less often.

No Plan

2008-10-30T12:25:00.000-07:00

How many of us spend the majority of our days planning to do something? As a teacher I plan a lot. I have to plan how to get my students to participate in lessons and how that will lead to them gaining some knowledge they didn't have before. We all plan though. We plan to do work, plan to eat, plan to sleep even. Some of us go so far as to plan what we will wear for the whole week. Is this healthy? Where does it lead us?

I have seen the talk shows (unfortunately) that have on some master of organization who takes some disorganized and dysfunctional person and teaches them to plan and itemize their life. This is followed by a video montage of the person undergoing changes and then culminates in their total transformation. That would have us all believe that if we follow suit, we too can be productive members of society, as if planning is the key to success. Maybe planning is a key to success. I am a big advocate of going into a situation with a plan of action, but planning can only take a person so far.

What worries me is that some of us become consumed by the act of planning and forget to act. I don't think that everyone is meant to put on the "master planner" hat. In fact, I think that if too many people who are involved in the same activity try to plan, those plans end up canceling each other out. Then what are you left with? Well, you either end up with no plan at all, which isn't so bad at times, or you end up following some destructive mutant plan that will lead to disaster.

Runners plan too much in my opinion. It really isn't an athletes job to plan. Athletes are not objective with regard to their own performance and can not see that they really aren't capable of jumping over the moon. The act of planning should be left to coaches who are capable of remaining objective and are well-studied enough to make careful decision for an athlete. The athlete's job is to act on the plan. Some coaches believe that their athletes should play an active role in the planning stage. I think that a good coach has to be receptive to an athlete's feedback, but athletes shouldn't really be allowed to plan a season or a workout for that matter.

At least half of coaching is listening and interpreting what you hear. If you are a varsity coach, working with seven runners, you half to be able to speak seven different languages. Every athlete on that team is going to tell you something different and in a different way. You have to be able to read body language and decipher vocal inflections. It is not easy. So, if it is a daunting task for an adult coach, why would anyone reasonably expect an adolescent athlete to have any success at it. That is why I now advocate the No Plan approach to running.

The No Plan approach is pretty simple. Coaches plan and athletes run. Coaches need not micromanage though, let your athletes fulfill their half of the equation. If you are going to get any meaningful feedback from a race performance, then you have to allow your athletes to race naturally. Far too often I have athletes come to me with a need for a race plan. I help them plot and dissect the course, but I do not at any point expect them to do exactly what I have laid out, in fact, I hope they do not. Racing is pure. Good racing is usually the result of a mix of training, competitiveness, and personality. I break that mix down as: 15% personality, 80% training, and 5%competitiveness. There is an argument that could be made for a person's competitiveness being a component of their personality, but I prefer to think of it as an underlying trait of all humans, so it is tied more to instinct than to personality.

With all of this in mind, I suppose the best advice I could give to any athlete or coach would simply be to listen an be willing to fail. The coach has to plan for personality, competitiveness, and a myriad of other items. No one is right all the time. Coaches have to go out on a limb with their planning at times in order to push a runner to achieve a new level or breakthrough performance. Runners have to be willing to try out those hair-brained ideas that their coaches come up with so that if nothing else, they know what doesn't work. So plan away coaches, but remember that you hold another person's future in your hands. Make decisions that instill trust in your athletes and show them that if they believe, there are no real limits.

My advice to athletes: Feel your run, don't think it.

Anxiety

2008-09-18T12:19:00.000-07:00

I am all too familiar with the anxiety that comes from something unexpected either de-railing a season or at least interrupting it. Every season, I have an athlete that unfortunately has a season-threatening or ending injury. I have been the victim of that myself, so relating to them is not too difficult for me. The challenge is helping the athlete to calm down and effectively deal with the problem.

I think the natural reaction is to panic and feel like you are the first person to ever get injured and there is no way anyone could possibly understand how you feel. This is especially true with teenagers in my opinion. As the coach, or just as the adult, the important message to send is that every injury heals with time. I always preach patience and persistence to an injured athlete. The two most common reasons someone gets a major injury are that they neglect a minor injury and are not patient enough to let it heal or they do not have the correct balance between their training intensity and volume. The later of those two reasons is almost invariably tied to missing practice for whatever reason, or rushing back into full training before their body can adapt.

So, what can I do to prevent an injury or recover from one as quickly as possible? The first answer is listen. Listen to your body, it is a remarkable machine that knows when something is not going right. If you ignore the warning signs of an injury, you risk catching it at a point when it has progressed too far to be prevented. Listen to your coaches, they know more than you about training and have a different perspective on your running. For example, if a coach tells you not to wear Rainbow sandals all day because they will damage your arch, they do so for good reason, not because they care about your personal fashion in the least. Speak up. If it hurts, tell someone. No one can feel what you feel, so it you don't say anything, chances are nobody will know you are in pain until you start limping...when you are limping, you have passed the point of prevention and you have achieved injury.

There are many things a runner can do to prevent injury, from stretching after runs and taking ice baths, to strengthening the lower leg and feet. The things that often get overlooked are diet, sleep, and recovery. If you eat nothing but sugar and fat (aka McDonald's) you will not be able to build the necessary tissue that your body requires to grow and strengthen. If you don't sleep enough, you enter into a cycle of diminishing returns. That means that you might feel OK for a day or two, but after a few days you will start to feel more and more fatigued. Eventually you will crash. Recovery is when your body actually accepts and adapts to your training load. If you run hard every day there is no time for the body to adapt. That would be like trying to learn Calculus by just picking up the book and reading it from cover to cover in a couple of hours. Sure you read it all, but how can you possibly remember any of it.

Injured or not, the point is to be a good communicator. Listen when someone gives you valuable advice and don't be afraid to let your coach know that it hurts. Listen to your body and respond appropriately. Injuries are not like the boogie man...you can hide under the covers all you want, but when the sun comes up the injury is still there. Train hard, train smart, and always be willing to learn.

Happy running

Hard Work

2008-08-07T14:21:00.000-07:00

I was watching a video on Flotrack earlier about Olympic marathoner Brian Sell. You can watch the video here. His coach was talking about how hard he works and how the type of work he does translates to his ability to perform well in adverse conditions. This got me thinking about a conversation I had with the team a week ago after a hill workout. That day we talked about what it means to feel comfortable when you are uncomfortable. To clarify: how to perform well in situations that do not match with your strengths. I have long admired Sell for his accomplishments, but probably more for how he goes about preparing for them.

To give you some background, Sell runs somewhere between 150 to 180 miles a week on average and probably at an intensity level higher than most collegians who run 90 miles a week. The interviewer ask his coach, Kevin Hanson, what makes Sell different from a guy like Dathan Ritzenhiem (another of the USA Olympic marathoners). Ritz is one of those "talented" runners. As Hanson put it, Ritz's talent is that he can do a lot with very little. Meaning, he does not have to train as hard or as long to achieve a fabulous result. Sell, on the other hand is one of those Chris Mosier types, he just simply out-works those "talented" runners. He runs 180mpw because he has to in order to keep up with guys like Ritz who run 100mpw at max. The interviewer in the video said something to the effect that because Sell has to work so hard, he is perceived as having less talent, which is a very common perception. However he also brought up another good point. He asked Coach Hanson if he thought that maybe Sell really has some "talent" after all. He did qualify for the Olympics for goodness sake. Hanson chuckled and then said "the ability to work hard is a talent."

Wow, I mean WOW. To a guy like me who values hard work more than all the talent in the world that short little quote made me want to shout out loud and pop the champagne (uh...spring water). I know that maybe my reaction is possibly a little over the top, but come on, how often do you hear a world-class coach say something like that. Some might say that it is nothing new, or that it is not that big of a deal, but hang on, stop and think about it on a high school level for a minute. What Hanson really did was validate the efforts of all those guys who get made fun of a practice because they put in extra miles or run hard 6 out of 7 days of the week. He stood up and basically said to all the pre-Madonna "talents" who can run 4:40 in PE class and then "train" at 25mpw, "if that is all the work you are willing to put in, take a seat, because guys with talent like Sell are going to run you into the ground."
"
So, what does that mean for the Mustangs of Trabuco Hills...it means write what you want Dyestat, because when push come to shove, Dana trains at 50mpw and we train at 80.

Hard work is our talent!

XC Dates for the Summer

2008-04-18T11:00:00.000-07:00

Some important dates to make note of for the summer.

Summer conditioning starts July 14 and ends August 9. We meet on the track from 7:00 - 9:45am Monday through Saturday.

Running Camp in Idyllwild is August 11-16.

Please take not of these dates and plan vacations around them. You plan on running varsity, I expect you to be at all practices.

On another side, we are slated to travel to Texas on October 4 for the Nike South Invitational. We will take the top 14 athletes as they are determined by the first 2-3 races of the season. Attendance and attitude also factor into the decision making process. The cost of the trip has not yet been determined, but it should be over $300. More information will come later in the summer.

Thoughts for racers and pacers

2008-02-25T10:50:00.000-08:00

I think that it was in college that I started to think about how runners often get labeled as a "pacer" or a "racer." I interpreted the meaning of both as -- Pacer: a runner who runs with a watch or can otherwise continually run consistent pace over a middle or long distance. Racer: a runner who thrives on beating his opponents over improving his times. The obvious implication here is that pacers are the introverted marathoner type that lack the competitive fire to win races against real competition and racers are only as good as the people around them. That all sound nice and good at first, but after 15 years of running competitively, I now know that neither label really works.

In college, I found that I had the natural ability to pace better than most, and I could do so with or without a watch. No I was not born with a watch in my head, and no, I did not count off seconds either. I didn't think much of it actually. It was simply the result of training solo for much of high school and trying to repeat good performances over and over again while focusing on how I physically felt while running different times. Because of this, I was labeled as a "pacer" straight away, and when my coaches planned my races and helped me prepare, everything was slanted towards that perspective. But they were wrong, I love to compete. I thrive on competition and I hate to lose. So why then did my coaches ignore those personality traits and convince me to hit specific splits for each mile regardless of where my competitors were? I suppose they thought what I have often thought as a coach: if a runner has no sense of his or her own ability, it doesn't really matter how competitive they are because they will never be in a position to use that competitive drive. I guess that is true.

My coaches had a plan for me and by the time I was a sophomore, I understood what they were doing. In track, they finally started to preach tactics to me and started to fuel me to attack my competition. By the middle of the season I was winning races convincingly and running fast times consistently as well. I was a complete runner. But what if I had not been so naturally competitive? What if I really was the introspective desert island type of runner who didn't give much thought to beating the people around me? Would my coach's plan have worked still? I think not.

Competitive drive is often thought of as one of those things you are either born with or without. However, I am not so sure if that is true. Competition is natural after all...right? Being someone who loves to compete, no matter the medium for the competition, I find it hard to relate to those who claim to have no burning desire to win. I just don't buy it, not one bit. There is no way that a human can survive in life if he or she never aspires to either be the best at something, or to at least be better than those around them. If such a person exists, they must surely live on a deserted island with no contact with any other life form. Why then, do I have athletes that appear to fall into this categorization? They plot along, more concerned with holding a conversation than holding onto the leaders. If I train them to simply focus on pace, am I not enabling their lack of desire to push themselves to a new threshold? Is it even possible to teach competitiveness?

I operate on the "to each his own" wavelength most of the time. That just means that I know every athlete is going to succeed by doing things the way that work best for them. However, there are some definite prerequisite traits that I think all runners must adapt at some point if they are to ever really succeed. Good runners are both "racers" and "pacers." Ryan Hall did not win the Olympic trials by simply running faster than the competition. He kept himself in check long enough to not let his pace get away from him, while maintaining contact with the leaders - that is pacing. Hall's well-timed surge late in the race that broke his competitors secured the win in the end - that is racing. If he had failed to appropriately apply either tactic, the race would have gone to another runner in the talented field. Every runner must at some point decide why they run. If it is simply to smell the world and feel their heart beat, then a long training plateau is in their future. If it is more in their interest to improve from race to race and season to season and beat their opponents, then I am confident that they will find success in their career. The problem is that success does not come easy, nor does it necessarily happen when we expect it to. That can be frustrating for even the most gifted of runners and it can lead to a lack of inner fire.

My advice to all is: First accept that you are going to lose sometimes, maybe even a lot. The fear of failure is the number one excuse we use to not take chances in sports and life. Allow yourself to admit that you want to win, everyone wants to win. When the day comes to race, go for it...all out. You don't need to be conservative with racing all of the time. If you get into a race that is "over your head," just race, don't worry about the pace. If you can do just one of these things, you will see improvement...and you will thank yourself later.

Flotrackr for all

2008-02-07T12:19:00.000-08:00

I recently made changes to our team's Flotrackr site that allows parents and fans to see what is going on. I like the idea of parents being able to communicate with the team directly or to at least be communicated with directly regarding workout schedules and important team announcements. This in no way will replace the email system for parent communication, but it should provide more visibility with regard to what the athletes are doing. Parents and fans will have access to the team forum and the coach's corner, where most announcements are made. Parents can also see pictures and upload videos that everyone can watch, which just adds to the whole experience.

I see this as a nice companion to the main team website. I encourage parents and alumni to check it out. You can join and view the team by following this link: http://www.flocasts.org/flotrack/flotrackr/teams.php?tid=682

I hope that this adds to the overall satisfaction of the team experience and I hope you all enjoy the access.

"TEAM = Together Everyone Achieves More" - Unknown

2007-10-01T21:07:00.000-07:00

I have been doing this for a while now and as with many people who focus on one thing or another for very long, I have started to notice trends. One recent observation is that runners, especially varsity runners, always seem to get sick on this particular week of the season from year to year. I am not sure if it is stress related or some sort of incubation period of a nasty germ they pick up when school starts, but it is an interesting phenomenon. Today at practice, as I surveyed the symptoms of the many coughers and sniffers, I got to thinking about other trends. When forced to stop and contemplate it for a few minutes, one popped out at me pretty quick: the tendency to want to emulate the successful even when it does not fit our style.

I don't think it really matters who you are; I think it applies to most of us. We see someone do something that we also do (or attempt to), only they do it really well. Let's just say we're talking about running for the sake of argument. You watch a marathoner on TV run a new world-record time and you are naturally impressed. You are so impressed that you start to research this person to find out how he did it. You read articles about his nutrition and training. You read the book his coach wrote. You watch interviews about how he runs a million miles a week. All of this leads you to the familiar conclusion that if you are ever going to be that good, then you have got to do what he did. And that would be perfectly logical right?

WRONG!!

That man is a runner first, human second. He eats the way he eats because some scientist told him it works best with his blood chemistry and digestive system. He runs all those miles because his body responds well to the callousing that a million miles a week brings. It all works...for him, not you. Why, because you're not him, and it is as simple s that. In order for you to be that good (if you are physically able) you need to find your own scientists, doctors, and master coach. Then you have to spend years trying and failing with different strategies that are designed specifically for you. By now you're asking why I'm telling you all of this. What could this rant possibly have to do with me? Well the funny thing about this trend I have noticed is that is doesn't seem to just apply to individuals, it applies to whole teams too.

Last year we had a tremendous amount of success running in a style that can only be described as cavalier or even supercilious at times. The runners that departed from that team took with them that particular style of running. In the early going this season I have seen runners attempt to emulate this style of racing, though it does not mesh with their training or personal history. At Bob Firman, I saw almost my entire varsity team try this brash and overly confident approach though they were warned against it. But with every failure comes learning and we mustn't miss the lesson here.

This year's team is not last year's team. There will never be another team like that one again. However, that does not mean that their level of success will go unmatched or unbested. It simply means that there will not be another team that runs and wins in that exact fashion. About six weeks ago, I asked this varsity team to come up with an identity. Just an underlying set of principles that defined them as a team. They never really did that... at least not with words. I watched them train and after watching them try to race the last few weeks, their identity is clear to me now.

As with the past few years, we have some front-running strength. Scott and Riley can rub elbows with the best the country has to offer. But, what is different this year is we have depth. We have a lot of depth on the varsity level and if we use it correctly, we can achieve a lot this season. As some of you realized this week in practice, sometimes you can gain more when you do a little less. In running this principle is called "pack running."

In a pack, runners work together to collectively accomplish a team goal. This can at times require a runner to slow down a little or to speed up a little depending on their ability and confidence level. The pack allows runners to pool their strengths and collectively cover their weaknesses. Packs can do a tremendous amount of damage in terms of scoring when they work together to finish high up in a race. When a team runs as a pack and does it correctly, they are nearly impossible to defeat.

So in short, this team is a unique blend of talents that can achieve a lot of success in the remaining weeks of the season if they work together. They have an identity now and are gaining the confidence that comes with knowing who you are. We still have high goals and we are still committed to out working our opponents. We just have to do it a little smarter and continually remind each other who we are. If you asked me to describe what this team is capable of, I'd say, think of how good El Toro's team would have been last year if they had their normal pack and two Brandon Bethkes running up ahead.

The Woodbridge shuffle

2007-09-16T20:33:00.000-07:00

Congratulations have to go to our freshman standout Brian Gomez after his outstanding 15:49 effort at Woodbridge this past Saturday. Brian's time is the fastest ever posted by a Mustang frosh on the fast Woodbridge course. Brian was well backed up as the frosh team took the Div 1 team title in convincing style with fine efforts by Jantzen Oshier and Brent Ritschel both finishing in the top 10.

There, in fact, were many great performances at Woodbridge; too many for me to name them all. A few highlights were Scott Blair running to a second place showing in the sweepstakes in a school record time, Colton Addy and John Wright both dipped under 16 minutes for the first time, Nick Otto had a nice 20 sec. PR of 16:32, and Alex Theologidy covered the three miles in just under 17 minutes (not bad for a sprinter). With the good often comes the bad, and this time around the fabled Warrior path was no exception. The varsity took a major thumping, to say the least, and hopefully learned a few key lessons in the process.

One parent asked me if I felt embarrassed after the sweepstakes race on Saturday. I had to stop a second to take a breath and think before I answered that one. I quickly realized, however, that I can never be embarrassed of what we do on the course. I am proud to coach such a fine group of young men. I am behind you in victory and defeat. So, when asked about reddish hue of my cheeks, I replied...never.

All of the events of Woodbridge have lead to a few shake-ups though. The varsity will be slightly retooled for Bob Firman and the travel roster has been shaken up a bit. These changes are intended to benefit the team and bring about a positive swing in motivation and morale. First, and probably most necessary, Riley will be back in action in Idaho. He assures me that he is ready and he will help Scotty to lead this team in a new direction. Next, we will for the first time in two years be adding a freshmen to the varsity ranks. Brian Gomez will don a white singlet this week and take his first shot at the big boys. Lastly, we will be inviting three freshmen to Idaho this year. Gomez, Oshier, and Ritschel have all EARNED the privilege of traveling with the varsity to Boise and competing in an outstanding Northwest slug fest.

To all of my runners I say keep your eyes on the goal. November is still a long way off and we have much work left to do. We will be ready when it counts most.

A little Pre-Race inspiration

2007-09-05T21:46:00.001-07:00

Just watch

Heading into Competition

2007-09-01T20:48:00.000-07:00

As this summer prep period winds down I find myself excited for what is to come. The boys have put in a tremendous amount of work in the last 7 weeks and it is starting to really show now.

Our freshman class appears to be the fastest ever, I can't wait to see them race as a team and see if they can live up to their billing. The sophomores are getting stronger ever day due in large part to the efforts of Ian Shiedenberger, James Mata, Cody Deleon, and others. I am impressed with their willingness to take chances and challenge themselves more than they did a year ago. I know the extra efforts will pay dividends, and I am excited for them. The JV and Varsity squads are tremendous. We look stronger now then we did last year, and that is really something special. No one can predict what the future will bring, but we can and will prepare to face it with all of our strength and tenacity.

This time of year is always a concerning period as well. Injuries of all varieties seem to spring up all over. The weather is unbearable. Legs are fatigued and bodies are feeling the effect of a couple months of hard training. The most important thing to remember is: This is all normal. Recovery is on the way. In fact, the week of Woodbridge is our next scheduled down week and it will be a welcomed one I am sure. In order to improve as a runner, you must first stress your body, then you recover. After a period of recovery, the body responds with more strength and energy. We call this callousing and it is a necessary part of distance running. I is as important as the shoes you wear.

We are on our way now and I just wanted to wish all of you the best of luck. There isn't much luck involved in running, but a little bit in your favor never hurts.

Let's go get our goals.

Coach Clemons