Sorry about how late this one was up guys. It's a crazy weekend for me. That was an awesome conference meet we had. It went almost exactly like we wanted it to. Let's recap, shall we?
4x800 - Nick ran a 2:29 leg and helped his team by contributing the points the F/S team needed. His main focus was on the mile later that night, so this was exactly what he needed to do.
3200 - Joe and JT ran. Joe had only run it the one time this season and ran about 12 minutes on a windy day. We knew he was ready for a big improvement, and I thought 11:20 was a good goal. Joe's a hungry fellow though, and he set a goal of running under 11 minutes. I love that. Nothing will make this team better than hungry athletes with high goals. The race didn't play out to plan, but Joe still gutted an awesome 11:18, which was a big improvement, and it met the goal I had for him.
JT had missed several weeks this season and this was his first race back. This was also his first 3200 this season. He set an ambitious goal of breaking his PR of 11:22. That's tough to do on the first race back. He ran a smart, fairly even race and came very close with an 11:27. That was great for coming back after not racing for so long.
800 - Nathan Smith ran in the F/S 800 and was going for points. He needed to get top 7 and ran a smart, fairly even race, going through 400 in about 7th or 8th and moving up strong in the last few hundred meters to grab 5th. He also hot a huge PR in 2:13, down from a previous 2:20
1600 - Nick and Nathan Smith doubled back from earlier 800s to run in the mile. Nathan Smith had a very short recovery after his 800 race, and to be honest, my expectations were low. I knew it was a tough double, and I knew he was exhuasted after the 800. They both ran smart races, keeping out of the early mad dash, and going out near their goal pace. Nathan finished extremely well to score a few more points, and both Nick and Nathan set PRs.
In the varsity, Nathan Young and Dave ran. Their goal was to get in the 4:40s, low 4:40s if possible. They ran smart, hanging out right in the back of the pack during the first lap scramble, and keeping near their pace. On the second lap they slowly started picking people off, and on the third lap, Dave made a big move to get towards the front, with Nathan following. They both finished well, and while the front four guys were way too far to catch, Dave managed to hunt down everybody in his pack and beat them all to the line, finishing 5th, with Nathan just a few seconds back, having caught most all of them. Dave ran a PR of 4:43 and Nathan ran a PR of 4:47. They did exactly as we planned, exactly as we trained them to. I believe, but am not certain of this, that Dave's 5th place finish were the only points the varsity team scored in the entire meet.
Dave came back and ran anchor on the 4x400 as well. The gap was pretty big before he got the stick, so he was all alone, but hung tough and ran a 58.8 split for a PR.
I told you guys to run smart before the meet, and you guys did exactly that. We had guys going out in the backs of their groups and moving up. You found just the right position to stay as close to your pace as possible, while still keeping contact with the race. Dave and Nathan Smith ran especially smart. Dave went out at the very back of his group. I believe at 400 meters, he was even in last! But he started slowly picking people off and was moving by people like they were standing still the last 700 meters. You'd watch that race and think his second half was way faster than his first, but it was actually a second or two slower. But he ran smart and everybody else was slowing down while Nathan and he were holding pace and moving by them.
Nathan Smith executed almost exactly the same way in both his races. After an awesome 800, I told him to start conservatively in the 1600, and he started way back and moved way up as well, picking up some big spots in the last 300. It was the smartest way to run, especially while attempting a tough double with short recovery.
Sectionals
I need to know for sure who's wanting to race at sectionals (next Friday the 16th) and will be there. Only 2 guys in each event. I know some of you guys have said you're interested, but I need to know for sure who will be there. Here's what I've got so far.
Dave - 1600
Nathan Young - 1600
Joe - 3200
JT - 3200
Nathan Smith - 800 or 4x800
Mark - ?? (you can choose 800 or 4x800)
Stuart - ?? (if you're interested, we can about setting up a 4x800)
Nick - ?? (if you're interested, we can about setting up a 4x800)
Saturday
Saturday's workout is repeat 300s. It's just like we've been doing the 400s, but with 300s instead. We're going to adjust the paces slightly, so you're practicing at the pace you'll be racing at next week.
Dave and Nathan Young - 8x300 @ 52 with 2:30 cycle.
Nathan Smith - 8x300 @ 49-50 with 2:40 cycle
Nick - 8x300 @ 52 with a 2:40 cycle
Joe & JT - 8x300 @ 59-60 with a 2:40 cycle
Mark - 6x300 @ 52 with a 3:00 cycle
Stuart - 6x300 @ 56 with a 3:00 cycle
Rest of the week
Here's the schedule for the rest of the week as well.
Sunday - rest
Monday - 2-3 miles easy + strides
Tuesday - 1x2000 threshold
Wednesday - easy warmup, 4x200 @ goal race pace, easy cooldown
Thursday - 5-7 minute warmup, 4-6 strides, 5-7 cooldown (yes, that's really all, you should feel rested just reading this stuff)
Friday - Sectional
State Meet
I intend to drive down the Charleston on Saturday the 24th to watch the finals of the State Meet. I think it'd be awesome if a lot of you guys came. It's a fun time, you get to chill with your friend and watch some of the best athletes in the state. It's also a great experience to see what it's all about, because I think if we do the work we can have some of you guys there as juniors and seniors. I don't know how transportation will work, or if I'm even allowed to transport you guys, but if people are interested, let me know and we'll try and figure something out. It's an awesome time.
Friday, May 9, 2008
Wednesday, May 7, 2008
Mid Illini Tomorrow!
Alright, guys, this is my last update before the Conference meet tomorrow.
It should be a great day. It should be high 50s/low 60s at race time, which, in my opinion is about perfect for distance racing as long as you warm up properly. There will possibly be a bit of wind, but at Eastside a lot of that is blocked since the track is kind of recessed into the ground. How about you guys get out there and run fast, ok?
During the race, I'm not going to be able to be out there giving you as much feedback as I have during other races. You should get lap splits, but likely not splits at 200, or me going back and forth across the field with advice. You're going to be 'on your own' this time. Feel the race. Guys are going to go out quick. You know how to pace yourselves decently well by now, so don't let those guys get too far away, but don't feel the need to chase them like mad the first 200. Unless they're a superstar, the faster they start, the slower they'll likely run the middle of the race.
If you're latched onto the back of a group, however, beware of how that group is changing. A race is a fluid dynamic thing, always in motion. You can be following one guy, and if he starts to fade, you need to get around him and get back with your group. Beware of the race! It's too easy to focus on one person's back and then you're out of the race before you knew what happened.
Guys in the mile, make the third lap happen. The third lap's going to hurt, but don't let it slow so that you'll have a kick on the last lap. Your goal on the third lap is to get yourself in the position that you want to be in for the last lap. Your goal is not to save up for a final sprint. Here's a little secret: no matter how much you slow down on the third lap to save energy for the last one, the last lap is going to hurt the same anyway. You might as well get yourself in position. The same thing applies to guys in the 800. Use the first half of the second lap to get where you need to be to kick people down the second half of the second lap. Two mile guys, apply that same logic to the 5th, 6th, and 7th laps.
Let's knock down some fast times tomorrow, let's score some points, and let's have some fun. We have some guys that have a good shot of scoring some points in the F/S races. We've got guys who have a good shot at scoring in the varsity 1600 and of possibly working their way closer to the PJStar Honor Roll. I'm going to leave you with a paraphrased piece of advice from Jack Daniels (the coach, not the drink). I'd quote it exactly, but I can't remember it exactly, so you're stuck with my memory.
Make sure you beat all the people that you're better than. Make sure you beat most of the people that are as good as you. And make sure you beat some of the people who are better than you. How do you do that? By running a smart race.
Sectionals
Sectionals is likely the last race of the season for most of us. It is Friday the 16th, which is just over a week away. Dave and Nathan Young get to take the two spots in the 1600. After that, Mark gets first choice. There are two spots available in the 800, two in the 3200, and we can put together a 4x800 relay. If everyone else wants those 800 spots, then we'll run the relay. Let me know soon who's going to be there, and what they'd like to run. We need to turn in our entries for that soon.
I'm still considering running a time trial the week after sectionals at some point. My thought is that I would try to pace guys to a fast mile time. I'm thinking I would go out at about 5:08 pace and try and help our young guys get the times they've been chasing. Once again, let me know if you are interested or not. For there to be any point in doing this, guys have to want to do it. If you don't want it, you'll run two fast laps, and then when it starts to hurt, you'll decide you don't really want to do this, and bag it from there.
Avanti's
I've reserved some tables at Avanti's for after the Conference meet. I'm anticipating the meet to end at around 8 PM, and Avantis closes their doors at 9, so we'll want to get on over their fairly quick. Any of the guys on the distance squad are welcome to come, as well as parents and family.
Right now, I've got room for about 20 people and from what I'm hearing, that's about accurate, but I'd like to let Avanti's know if we'll need more. So if you're coming or not coming, try and let me know or let Dave know.
It should be a great day. It should be high 50s/low 60s at race time, which, in my opinion is about perfect for distance racing as long as you warm up properly. There will possibly be a bit of wind, but at Eastside a lot of that is blocked since the track is kind of recessed into the ground. How about you guys get out there and run fast, ok?
During the race, I'm not going to be able to be out there giving you as much feedback as I have during other races. You should get lap splits, but likely not splits at 200, or me going back and forth across the field with advice. You're going to be 'on your own' this time. Feel the race. Guys are going to go out quick. You know how to pace yourselves decently well by now, so don't let those guys get too far away, but don't feel the need to chase them like mad the first 200. Unless they're a superstar, the faster they start, the slower they'll likely run the middle of the race.
If you're latched onto the back of a group, however, beware of how that group is changing. A race is a fluid dynamic thing, always in motion. You can be following one guy, and if he starts to fade, you need to get around him and get back with your group. Beware of the race! It's too easy to focus on one person's back and then you're out of the race before you knew what happened.
Guys in the mile, make the third lap happen. The third lap's going to hurt, but don't let it slow so that you'll have a kick on the last lap. Your goal on the third lap is to get yourself in the position that you want to be in for the last lap. Your goal is not to save up for a final sprint. Here's a little secret: no matter how much you slow down on the third lap to save energy for the last one, the last lap is going to hurt the same anyway. You might as well get yourself in position. The same thing applies to guys in the 800. Use the first half of the second lap to get where you need to be to kick people down the second half of the second lap. Two mile guys, apply that same logic to the 5th, 6th, and 7th laps.
Let's knock down some fast times tomorrow, let's score some points, and let's have some fun. We have some guys that have a good shot of scoring some points in the F/S races. We've got guys who have a good shot at scoring in the varsity 1600 and of possibly working their way closer to the PJStar Honor Roll. I'm going to leave you with a paraphrased piece of advice from Jack Daniels (the coach, not the drink). I'd quote it exactly, but I can't remember it exactly, so you're stuck with my memory.
Make sure you beat all the people that you're better than. Make sure you beat most of the people that are as good as you. And make sure you beat some of the people who are better than you. How do you do that? By running a smart race.
Sectionals
Sectionals is likely the last race of the season for most of us. It is Friday the 16th, which is just over a week away. Dave and Nathan Young get to take the two spots in the 1600. After that, Mark gets first choice. There are two spots available in the 800, two in the 3200, and we can put together a 4x800 relay. If everyone else wants those 800 spots, then we'll run the relay. Let me know soon who's going to be there, and what they'd like to run. We need to turn in our entries for that soon.
I'm still considering running a time trial the week after sectionals at some point. My thought is that I would try to pace guys to a fast mile time. I'm thinking I would go out at about 5:08 pace and try and help our young guys get the times they've been chasing. Once again, let me know if you are interested or not. For there to be any point in doing this, guys have to want to do it. If you don't want it, you'll run two fast laps, and then when it starts to hurt, you'll decide you don't really want to do this, and bag it from there.
Avanti's
I've reserved some tables at Avanti's for after the Conference meet. I'm anticipating the meet to end at around 8 PM, and Avantis closes their doors at 9, so we'll want to get on over their fairly quick. Any of the guys on the distance squad are welcome to come, as well as parents and family.
Right now, I've got room for about 20 people and from what I'm hearing, that's about accurate, but I'd like to let Avanti's know if we'll need more. So if you're coming or not coming, try and let me know or let Dave know.
Saturday, May 3, 2008
Morton Relays & getting ready for the end of the season
Sorry about the delay getting this updated guys.
Morton Relays was an awesome race. Everyone ran a personal best or within a few seconds of their best. The only people who didn't set a best either had to run more than one race or were returning from time off due to an injury.
In the 4x800:
Nick ran a 2:25 personal best
Stuart ran a 2:36 personal best
Joe ran a 2:32, while saving for the 1600
Nathan Smith ran a 2:25 while saving for another 800
In the 1600 medley:
Nathan ran a 2:20 personal best, after an earlier 800
In the team 1600:
Dave ran a 4:51 official personal best, and only a few seconds behind his relay split before he got hurt
Nathan Young ran a 4:52 dropping 7 seconds off of his best
Joe ran a 5:15, only a few seconds from his best, after an 800 earlier
In addition, Nathan Smith, Nathan Young, and Dave came back for the 4x400s very soon after their other races and ran very well for the short recovery. Nathan Young set a season (personal?) best with a 58.9 split.
It was a great meet, and we're not even done yet, guys. We've still been working you hard, and we're just now ready to rest you for the last few meets. This morning was our last really hard workout. Now we're going to drop the total mileage some, and drop the intensity of the hard workouts. We've got you guys fit, now we just need to get you used to smoothly running at speed, and let the energy pile up. To use a cheesy car analogy, we've already built and tuned up the engine, now it's just time to change the tires and and fill up the gas tank to get that last little bit of performance. I couldn't call myself any sort of coach if I didn't use cheesy analogies and sayings, could I?
I've put up a few more photos as well, from the Morton Relays and from the meet with Washington and Pekin. They aren't anywhere near as good as the first set, and there aren't as many, because I quickly got frustrated with my junky camera.
Here are some better pictures of the Morton Relays from a Washington fan (who knew there could be such a thing?) Even if they do support Washington, their pictures are more plentiful and of a higher quality than mine from last night. If you click the 'Home' button near the top, you get the index, and see that this person's taken pictures of a lot of meets in the area, including the girls Mid-Illini meet the other night.
Update: Apparently, people from Washington are good at taking pictures. Here are some more.
Some of you were interested in my photos from the air show a few weeks ago. I've put up some of the better pictures from that as well. Those were taken with my brother's Nikon, so even though we don't know how to use the thing yet, there are still some good ones in there. I put the full resolution versions up, so if you click to download the full version, you can see a lot of detail on some of them. All those people you don't know would be members of my family:)
I handed out sheets at practice today with this weeks workouts and conference selections. However, since some people couldn't be there, I'm going to copy that up onto the site here so everyone knows what we're doing this week, and what they're running at Conference.
Workouts for the week:
We’re cutting back the total amount of running that we’re doing and the amount of intense fast stuff. We are going to focus still on making sure that you spend some time running at race pace so that you feel smooth and comfortable at those speeds. Next week we’re going to cut back even more so we should be really rested for Sectional. Everyone should get a chance to run at Sectional, but not necessarily in the event they wish, since there are only 2 spots in each race.
Monday easy 3-5 miles + strides (Dave, bike for 40-60 minutes easy)
Tuesday 2x1200 meters threshold pace with 60 second recovery
4x200 race pace with full recovery
Wednesday easy 2-3 miles + strides
Thursday Mid Illini Conference Championships
Friday easy 2-3 miles + strides
Saturday 8x300 meters
For the 1200s and 200s, use the following paces:
Nathan Young and Dave – 1200s at 4:20, 200s at 35-36
Nick, Joe, Nathan Smith – 1200s at 4:40, 200s at 37-39
Mark – 1200s at 4:50, 200s at 34-36
Stuart – 1200s at 5:00, 200s at 37-39
For the strides, do 6 of them and hit top speed for 30-40 meters on the 3rd and 4th strides. Don’t do go so hard that you get tired, but try to smoothly go as fast as you can.
Conference meet:
This was a tough decision guys. There are only four spots for the 1600: 2 Varsity and 2 F/S. I had promised early in the season that everyone would get chances near the end to run in fast races at their goal distance. Unfortunately, we’ve had several of those meets canceled and so this is the last meet that has any F/S spots for the 1600. In order to keep that promise, I decided to let Nathan Smith and Nick run the F/S 1600 because they have not had the opportunities lately to run a 1600 that Joe has had. I’m putting Joe in the 3200 and I think he’s ready for an improvement in that event, as are Nathan and Nick in the 1600.
I am considering running an end of season time trial to give everyone one more chance to meet their goals. This would be unofficial, and only for the personal satisfaction of meeting your goals. Nothing’s worse than ending a season thinking you could have gone faster, but you just didn’t have the opportunities. Let me know if this is something you would be interested in. It'll only work if you're onboard and pumped up for it, so if it's not of interest, we won't bother.
4x800 V ---
4x800 FS ---
3200 V ---
3200 FS Joe
800 V Mark
800 FS Stuart
1600 V Dave, Nathan Young
1600 FS Nathan Smith, Nick
Morton Relays was an awesome race. Everyone ran a personal best or within a few seconds of their best. The only people who didn't set a best either had to run more than one race or were returning from time off due to an injury.
In the 4x800:
Nick ran a 2:25 personal best
Stuart ran a 2:36 personal best
Joe ran a 2:32, while saving for the 1600
Nathan Smith ran a 2:25 while saving for another 800
In the 1600 medley:
Nathan ran a 2:20 personal best, after an earlier 800
In the team 1600:
Dave ran a 4:51 official personal best, and only a few seconds behind his relay split before he got hurt
Nathan Young ran a 4:52 dropping 7 seconds off of his best
Joe ran a 5:15, only a few seconds from his best, after an 800 earlier
In addition, Nathan Smith, Nathan Young, and Dave came back for the 4x400s very soon after their other races and ran very well for the short recovery. Nathan Young set a season (personal?) best with a 58.9 split.
It was a great meet, and we're not even done yet, guys. We've still been working you hard, and we're just now ready to rest you for the last few meets. This morning was our last really hard workout. Now we're going to drop the total mileage some, and drop the intensity of the hard workouts. We've got you guys fit, now we just need to get you used to smoothly running at speed, and let the energy pile up. To use a cheesy car analogy, we've already built and tuned up the engine, now it's just time to change the tires and and fill up the gas tank to get that last little bit of performance. I couldn't call myself any sort of coach if I didn't use cheesy analogies and sayings, could I?
I've put up a few more photos as well, from the Morton Relays and from the meet with Washington and Pekin. They aren't anywhere near as good as the first set, and there aren't as many, because I quickly got frustrated with my junky camera.
Here are some better pictures of the Morton Relays from a Washington fan (who knew there could be such a thing?) Even if they do support Washington, their pictures are more plentiful and of a higher quality than mine from last night. If you click the 'Home' button near the top, you get the index, and see that this person's taken pictures of a lot of meets in the area, including the girls Mid-Illini meet the other night.
Update: Apparently, people from Washington are good at taking pictures. Here are some more.
Some of you were interested in my photos from the air show a few weeks ago. I've put up some of the better pictures from that as well. Those were taken with my brother's Nikon, so even though we don't know how to use the thing yet, there are still some good ones in there. I put the full resolution versions up, so if you click to download the full version, you can see a lot of detail on some of them. All those people you don't know would be members of my family:)
I handed out sheets at practice today with this weeks workouts and conference selections. However, since some people couldn't be there, I'm going to copy that up onto the site here so everyone knows what we're doing this week, and what they're running at Conference.
Workouts for the week:
We’re cutting back the total amount of running that we’re doing and the amount of intense fast stuff. We are going to focus still on making sure that you spend some time running at race pace so that you feel smooth and comfortable at those speeds. Next week we’re going to cut back even more so we should be really rested for Sectional. Everyone should get a chance to run at Sectional, but not necessarily in the event they wish, since there are only 2 spots in each race.
Monday easy 3-5 miles + strides (Dave, bike for 40-60 minutes easy)
Tuesday 2x1200 meters threshold pace with 60 second recovery
4x200 race pace with full recovery
Wednesday easy 2-3 miles + strides
Thursday Mid Illini Conference Championships
Friday easy 2-3 miles + strides
Saturday 8x300 meters
For the 1200s and 200s, use the following paces:
Nathan Young and Dave – 1200s at 4:20, 200s at 35-36
Nick, Joe, Nathan Smith – 1200s at 4:40, 200s at 37-39
Mark – 1200s at 4:50, 200s at 34-36
Stuart – 1200s at 5:00, 200s at 37-39
For the strides, do 6 of them and hit top speed for 30-40 meters on the 3rd and 4th strides. Don’t do go so hard that you get tired, but try to smoothly go as fast as you can.
Conference meet:
This was a tough decision guys. There are only four spots for the 1600: 2 Varsity and 2 F/S. I had promised early in the season that everyone would get chances near the end to run in fast races at their goal distance. Unfortunately, we’ve had several of those meets canceled and so this is the last meet that has any F/S spots for the 1600. In order to keep that promise, I decided to let Nathan Smith and Nick run the F/S 1600 because they have not had the opportunities lately to run a 1600 that Joe has had. I’m putting Joe in the 3200 and I think he’s ready for an improvement in that event, as are Nathan and Nick in the 1600.
I am considering running an end of season time trial to give everyone one more chance to meet their goals. This would be unofficial, and only for the personal satisfaction of meeting your goals. Nothing’s worse than ending a season thinking you could have gone faster, but you just didn’t have the opportunities. Let me know if this is something you would be interested in. It'll only work if you're onboard and pumped up for it, so if it's not of interest, we won't bother.
4x800 V ---
4x800 FS ---
3200 V ---
3200 FS Joe
800 V Mark
800 FS Stuart
1600 V Dave, Nathan Young
1600 FS Nathan Smith, Nick
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