A Mostly Dead WeekWhile this week is the fall sports dead week, we did fit a few things in between the last newsletter and now, including our final team breakfast and working the carousel at the picnic.
Pre-Participation Documents Due By MondayThis is a final reminder that physicals and pre-participation documents must be turned in prior to the start of official practice. Students cannot practice until they are both turned in. Please reference this checklist. If an athlete is missing one or both documents, I would strongly encourage bringing them to the parent meeting on Sunday. Athletes may bring them to practice next Monday morning, but if they forget, they will not be allowed to practice, which hurts not only their training but potentially their ability to accumulate the 14 practices necessary to compete in our first meet. The sports physical form can be found here. Please only return the last page The pre-participation form can be found here. Parent MeetingThe fall sports parent meeting is this Sunday at 6PM and will begin in the high school gym. If they haven't already, parents should read through the parent info document shared previously and come with any questions they might have. Athlete ChecklistThere are a lot of things that need to be turned in/accomplished as the season begin, and it can be hard to keep track of it all. We've created a checklist where you can see all of these things and whether an athlete has completed them. You can access that here. At this point it should be up to date, but if you believe there are any mistakes, please contact Mr. McLain. The Week AheadNext week is our first of official season. Some things will remain similar to summer training, but others will change, most notably the shift from 7:00AM to 3:30PM starting Wednesday. Please note the days when athletes are asked to bring spikes. This is also denoted on Google Classroom with an (S) at the front of the event title. Monday 8/10 (7:00-9:15AM): Neural Day at School (Bring Spikes). This will be very similar to our summer neural days with a bit more volume and a bit more games. Tuesday 8/11 (7:00-9:00AM): Long Run at Perry County Community Lake. Because there is Mass at St. Joseph in Apple Creek on Tuesday mornings, we'll be pivoting to the county roads new Perry County Community Lake for our long run. We'll meet in the back parking lot (the one without a boat dock off of PCR 702).  Wednesday 8/12 (3:30-5:15PM): Recovery Run/Fun Day at School (Bring Spikes). We'll do a recovery run before playing some Ultimate Frisbee. We will also distribute uniforms to all athletes. Thursday 8/13 (3:30-5:15PM): Easy Run at Blechle Park. For those who were completing the Thursday workouts on their own all summer, this will be very similar, only we'll meet together at Viola Blechle Park. Friday 8/14 (3:30-5:00PM): Pre-Race Workout at School (Bring Spikes). This is the workout we do before races and some of our race-pace workouts. Saturday 8/15 (8:00-11:59PM): Midnight Marathon at Course (Bring Spikes). This has become a tradition over the last few years. We'll meet back at the front loop of the course for a workout involving 300m Repeats that collectively will add up to a marathon for our team. Specific details will be shared with athletes.  UniformsUniforms will be distributed after practice on Wednesday, August 12. Runners will try them on then. It’s natural and common for high school students to grow throughout the year. If a student needs to switch uniform sizes midseason, that’s no problem as long as we have the desired size available. Uniforms will be collected at the end of the season. Any runner who does not return their cleaned uniform by the end of the fall semester will be fined the cost of the uniform by the school ($140) and will have their access to report cards restricted until the fine is paid. Media Day Media Day is next Saturday (8/15) at 9AM. This is an opportunity for parents and media to take pictures of teams and athletes. Athletes should wear their cross country uniform and should arrive a few minutes early. Given the number of people, except parking to be challenge. We ask that no one park on Rosati Street in the spots across from church, as they will be in the background during pictures. SpikesIf athletes plan to race in spikes (which we generally recommend), they should have them by Monday if at all possible to begin acclimating athletes to running in them. See below about various sales and discounts. Shoe SalesTax-Free weekend is this weekend, making it a great time to shop. Shoes (and maybe spikes) under $100 qualify for the exemption, making it a great time to find some additional savings. Online: --First to the Finish has some pretty steep discounts on a number of models of spikes. Do make sure they say cross country or XC. --TC Running Company has several spike models on clearance. Note that the Adizero Avanti from Adidas, the Dragonfly from Nike, and the Havok from Saucony are all more aggressive and probably not ideal from new runners. The rest of the models that are on sale are all suitable for beginners. --Running Warehouse has some closeout deals on a few of last year's models, though sizes are limited. The HOKA Crescendo is one of the most cushioned spikes out there, making it favorable for beginners. The Puma Crossfox and On's Cloudspike XC are both more aggressive super spikes, meaning they are better options for athletes with several seasons of spike use under their feet. And be aware the On Citius is actually a track spike (despite the filter for XC spikes). In-Person: --Missouri Running Company (Cape Girardeau) are running a promo the first two weeks of August where cross country athletes will save 20% when they buy a combo of spikes and training shoes. --Fleet Feet St. Louis (5 locations in the greater St. Louis area) is offering a 15% discount to all cross country athletes during the month of August on the purchase of regularly priced shoes, spikes, socks, apparel, as well as 10% off all electronics. --Big River Running Company (3 St. Louis locations) is offering a student athlete discount August 1 through September 15. That entails $20 off any training shoes, $15 off any spikes, and 15% off any accessories and apparel in store. You should also be able to use the codes STUDENTATHLETE20 and STUDENTATHLETE15 respectively to get these discounts online. --Running Niche (Tower Grove neighborhood of St. Louis) is having a big tent sale on August 7, 8 and 9. They will have sales on a variety of past season running shoes at $100, $75 and $50. Also, they'll have 50% off select apparel, and socks will be buy 3 get one free! Team StoreThis year we are once again partnering with Amanda Warren and her business Pep Rally Prints to offer a team store. She has created a specialty page on her website where athletes, families, and fans can purchase a variety of cross country branded gear, like shirts, hoodies, socks, sock caps, blankets, and more. You can find the full assortment of items at this page, and it's also accessible from the top menu on our team website. Orders can be placed and paid for online. Items can either be shipped directly to your home or picked up in town. Since items are made to order, please allow several weeks after ordering to receive your finished item. If you want your items to be ready before our first meet, please place orders sooner rather than later.
Course Build DaysIt takes a lot of work to get our course ready for races. Thankfully the rain and heavy traffic during the rain didn't leave things in quite as bad of shape as we feared. But even ruts aside, a lot needs to happen before September 3. To accomplish this, we'll have two course build days, on Saturday August 15 from 3-5pm and on Tuesday September 1 from 4:30-6:30pm. We would ask that every athlete and parent work at least one of these, though both would be preferred. The first day will entail getting the course mowed, measured, patched, and boundaries built. Signups for the 8/15 day can be found here. On the second day we will mow again, paint the course, clean facilities, and set up for the meet. Signups for the 9/1 day can be found here. Pasta Dinner SignupsWe have a pasta dinner prior to most meets. Barring a few exceptions, these are two days before a meet. Not only does this allow runners to consume some energy-rich carbohydrates, but it is probably one of the best opportunities for runners to bond as a team. They usually swim, play yard games, ping pong, board games, tag, hide and seek, etc. Generally 2-3 families sign up to host each pasta party and prepare the food. These usually take place at a family’s home, but they have also been done at locations like park pavilions, local venues, or the Hospitality Room in the past. Most families serve some sort of pasta with salad, bread, and desserts, but we have seen things like chicken and dumplings and fried rice as well over the years. What we found works best is if veteran families partner with new ones to host each dinner. Having at least one family who's done a dinner before makes everything much less intimidating and much more likely to run smoothly. Families have already stepped up to serve as primary hosts for each of the dinner, but they are in need of secondary hosts to help out with food preparation and other items. Families can sign up using this form. The form allows up to 2 families to sign up as secondary hosts for each dinner. The one exception is 9/9. The Warrens are allowing us to use their home/pool for the dinner, but with Noah not running this year, we would like other families to handle the food. To make sure each dinner has ample coverage, we ask that if at all possible, the second slot for a dinner not be claimed until the first slot for all dinners has been filled. SnockerThe Snocker will be back again this year. Snocker is short for snack locker. This is a snack depot that operates out of my classroom, open during cross country season exclusively to runners. Athletes can purchase various snacks before school, during break, at the beginning of lunch, or immediately after school. With lunch roughly four hours before practice, it is important that athletes get some sort of fuel in their system during that gap. And while unfortunately many athletes haven't built the habit of eating breakfast in the morning, it's still important that they start the day on the right track energy-wise. The Snocker has a combination of simple carbs ideal for a half hour before practice (perfect for right after school), as well as more dense things better consumed earlier in the day (maybe at break). Pre-chilled water bottles will also be available since many runners either don't like the school water or don't have a clear bottle that meets school policy. There are also a variety of electrolytes. We buy everything in bulk and sell everything at cost (or a little below in some cases), so most Snocker items cost 25 or 50 cents, with a few exceptions like the electrolytes costing $1. One thing to ask. I (Mr. McLain) often have a lot of other things going on as a teacher during the times the Snocker is open, so it makes my life much simpler if athletes have exact change and can simply grab what they want and place their money in the attached money box. Therefore if athletes plan to use the Snocker, it is encouraged they have a steady supply of quarters and $1 bills. Additionally we do offer Snocker Dollars for purchase. These are basically $1 paper gift cards that can be used at the Snocker. Parents are welcome to send money and then their athlete will receive the equivalent amount of Snocker Dollars. Some parents like this because they may not trust that cash given to an athlete will be spent at the Snocker rather than elsewhere. It also saves the trouble of tracking down $1 bills for their child. Payment for Snocker Dollars can be made via the following means:
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