An Extremely Positive StartOur first week of summer training is in the books. While the weather wasn't the most flattering, there were a number of other impressive aspects to the week. First, we had 16 runners make it to training this week, including 9 who made it every single day. On Monday we cut some post-run work so that practice could end on time, and yet several runners asked if they could stay late to complete it. We had runners who couldn't stay for all of training come in early (meaning even earlier than 7am) to get the full workout in. We saw veteran runners helping new runners learn our warm-up and offering young runners rides home. I don't know where our team will be in November, but when you look at the top teams not only in the state but in the nation, these are the sorts of characteristics that define them. We are proud to see the sort of culture our team has started off with. It's the kind of foundation that success is built upon.  Dead PeriodTomorrow starts our school's dead period. That means no contact between coaches and athletes, as well as any athlete use of school facilities. Athletes are free to continue running to build on their progress this week, and in the past some have even organized get-togethers, but these aren't team led and must take place off school grounds, including our course. If you want a more detailed Q&A on the Dead Period, you may find that here. Chicknlegs ChallengeAs an incentive for athletes to keep running over the dead period, we are bringing back the Chicknlegs Challenge. Here's how it works:
 Seminary PicnicIn previous years, fall sports teams have helped with the Seminary Picnic. This year that has been expanded to all sports teams. Our team has typically worked the soda stand, but with the increase in the pool of athlete workers and out of a desire to increase our team's support of the picnic, we will be making a shift over to the carousel. The carousel has been a long-standing pillar of the picnic grounds. Our team has only existed for a small fraction of that time, but we would like for cross country to one day be identified with the picnic grounds as well. The picnic committee has generously allowed us to not only hold our home meet on the grounds since 2012 but to practice there regularly the last two seasons, all free of charge. Any help we can offer the picnic is a small token of our gratitude. We hope all of our athletes can help out by taking a shift. Linked below is the signup form. Athletes can use it to choose the best shift for them. If an athlete has already signed up to work the soda stand, that is fine. They can either keep that shift or remove it and take a shift at the Carousel. Mid-America 5KSpeaking of sign-ups, information was released this week regarding the Mid-America 5K on Saturday, August 23. Since this falls within our official season, it poses potential issues with MSHSAA regulations if our athletes race in it, especially with coaches present. Instead, our team typically volunteers at the race, from passing out water to simply cheering on participants. Parents, siblings, and alumni are all welcome to run, but athletes should not register for the race. Pre-Run FuelingOne of the things we stressed at training this week was the importance of fueling, both before and after training. One common myth is that eating before exercise will lead to an upset stomach. This is actually broadly false in general. In fact, running without eating is far more likely to cause an upset stomach. An empty stomach isn't truly empty. There's a bunch of acid sloshing around inside as an athlete runs. The truth is that your body needs fuel to function, and running is a big ask. The body's blood glucose levels and energy stores in the liver and get depleted overnight without food intake. This can compromise performance in harder workouts that demand higher energy loads while also leading to issues like lightheadedness and even nausea. Studies have also linked fasted running to higher cortisol levels, when increases risk of illness and injury. But it is a balancing act. A full stomach is not the answer either, as hard workouts divert blood flow from the digestive tract to exercising muscles. This slows digestion, and with a full stomach this can lead to feelings of bloating or other GI distress. Certain foods like fats and fiber also require more time to digest, which can exacerbate this issue. Greasy or spicy foods as well as many artificial sweeteners are also more prone to lead to GI distress. The middle ground is a small amount of easy to digest carbohydrates. This could be something like a handful of pretzels or animal crackers or a sheet of graham crackers eaten around 30 minutes before harder running. An athlete's digestive system does often require training and individualization. They can start with small amounts and build up from there. An athlete will also need to experiment with the sorts of foods that work best for them. For example, some people thrive on bananas or apple sauce packets, where others have trouble with these. Team BreakfastsWe currently have the following families volunteered to host team breakfasts this summer: 7/11 (Amanda Warren) 8/1 (Michelle Hadler) If you would like to help with either of these breakfasts, please reach out to them (You can send a direct message to anyone in our parent GroupMe). We are still looking for someone to possibly host a breakfast on 7/18. This would mostly be for our boys, as many of our girls will be at our team camp during this time. Team Camp Sign-Ups ClosingThe deadline to sign up for our team camps is Monday, June 30. The goal of these camps is to immerse runners in what our team culture stands for, to bring our runners together and build team unity, and to equip athletes with the skills to be healthier and happier runners and human beings. Both camps feature speakers on nutrition, mental skills, and more.
You can find more info about the boys camp here, and the girls camp here. If you have additional questions or would like to attend, please contact Mr. McLain. |
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