Eleven weeks ago tomorrow, we began practicing. All of the summer training and these last eleven weeks are to prepare us for the 12th week and the NCAA South Southeast Regional Race. This year we will be running at the Emory/Nash Battlefield Course on November 10th.
Cross Country works a tad different than the other sports. In our sport everyone runs a Conference Championship, but Conference Champions do not automatically qualify for the NCAA National Race.
In our sport National Qualifiers come from the eight regional races. The top two teams from each regional qualify for the National Race, also the top seven runners not on the top two teams from each region qualify.
After those 168 runners, then their are 16 at large team bids awarded based on performance at the team's last four meets (This makes it a little more like NCAA for other sports). The National field will then have 280 runners each year. This race will take place in Terre Haute, Indiana on November 17th!
The USA South race was great for us, as we had many great performances, to include the race winner, and a Squirrel on each All Conference teams. It took all the MBC runners to lead the team to a Third Place conference finish.
The team has been dedicated to getting through workouts in the early and sometimes cold, sometimes rainy mornings. I appreciate their dedication to working hard to prepare themselves for each race. We finish as individuals at meets, but it takes the team together motivating and pushing each other during practice to finish high at those meets.
So, now it is taper time and if you are a runner you know that this is a good reward, but also a little scary as you decrease the amount of time running. However, I will encourage the runners to think about the phrase - the hay is in the barn - basically what they will do at the regional race they have been preparing during these last 11 weeks!
Friday, November 2, 2012
Saturday, October 6, 2012
Into the Home Stretch
Seven weeks of practice are behind the team and we enter the phase of training that will build race pace for the conference and regional races. This last week was a difficult week in terms of mileage and workouts, the team feels a bit tired, but that is exactly how they should feel at this point in the season.
It is a great pleasure to see them breaking records and improving their pace. It is evident that the hard work is paying off and the future looks bright. Our first 6k race was last Saturday. The race had a very large field and a very flat course. The ladies kept their paces and most of them ran their fastest for the last 3/4 of a mile to the finish.
The whole key to a great race is maintaining your race pace for the race distance. Right now, I feel confident that they are doing that for the first half of the race and that the remaining workouts will prepare them for race pace for the entire 6k.
I shared with my Dean the other day that I am probably the happiest person in Staunton from 6-730 am. I appreciate each of the runners on the team, and look forward to a great October.
It is a great pleasure to see them breaking records and improving their pace. It is evident that the hard work is paying off and the future looks bright. Our first 6k race was last Saturday. The race had a very large field and a very flat course. The ladies kept their paces and most of them ran their fastest for the last 3/4 of a mile to the finish.
The whole key to a great race is maintaining your race pace for the race distance. Right now, I feel confident that they are doing that for the first half of the race and that the remaining workouts will prepare them for race pace for the entire 6k.
I shared with my Dean the other day that I am probably the happiest person in Staunton from 6-730 am. I appreciate each of the runners on the team, and look forward to a great October.
Sunday, September 16, 2012
Challenge Brings Good Things
James Madison University Meet 9.15.12
Early in the season as I reviewed the meets with the runners, I had mentioned that our second meet would be at James Madison University against mainly Division I runners. I also mentioned that it was a good challenging course, not too far from school and would push our number 1 runner.
Yesterday morning we arrived at the New Market Battlefield and since we didn't have to arrive early for a men's team to warm up, we were the last to arrive. Present at the meet were JMU, the host team, Longwood College, Howard University, Virginia Military Institute and Southern Virginia University. All except SVU are NCAA DI programs. SVU is an NAIA program who currently is transitioning to a DIII program.
As we exited the van, some discouraging words started to take over. Coach, we are going to be dead last.
Coach, this is going to be embarrassing.....and more that I can't remember. I tried to assure them that each runner had a very good week of practice and that it was them against the course. I encouraged all to try and reach a personal record.
The race began and Mary Baldwin had runners at the front, in the middle and at the end. None of that was a surprise to me. The first mile they had splits that were a little fast for some and a little slow for some, but I still believed good things would happen.
As the race finished, we had some surprises. A DIII runner had finished second among a field of DI runners. She had led most of the race and was overtaken in the last half mile. There had been some place finish changes among our nine runners since the first meet. At first glance it appeared that when these 5.2 K times were converted to 5 K times there would be lots of personal records.
So here is the outcome. As a team we came in 6 out of 6 teams. When our brilliant Coach Mark figured out the mile splits and converted the times to 5 K times we did have lots of small wins. The tide started changing and there were encouraging words and congratulations happening among the team members.
After smiling and feeling great all afternoon and evening about the team's accomplishment, I woke up this morning and did a little more work with the times. As a team we were 2 minutes and 10 seconds faster than our first meet. The individual personal records varied from 2 seconds faster to 1:36 minutes faster. So I feel that we are doing the right things in practice.
What I wonder about is our individual and team mentality. I truly believe that looking for the good and staying positive is needed at all times even when the deck seems stacked against you.
I wonder where this team will go as we work this week not just physically, but mentally?
Early in the season as I reviewed the meets with the runners, I had mentioned that our second meet would be at James Madison University against mainly Division I runners. I also mentioned that it was a good challenging course, not too far from school and would push our number 1 runner.
Yesterday morning we arrived at the New Market Battlefield and since we didn't have to arrive early for a men's team to warm up, we were the last to arrive. Present at the meet were JMU, the host team, Longwood College, Howard University, Virginia Military Institute and Southern Virginia University. All except SVU are NCAA DI programs. SVU is an NAIA program who currently is transitioning to a DIII program.
As we exited the van, some discouraging words started to take over. Coach, we are going to be dead last.
Coach, this is going to be embarrassing.....and more that I can't remember. I tried to assure them that each runner had a very good week of practice and that it was them against the course. I encouraged all to try and reach a personal record.
The race began and Mary Baldwin had runners at the front, in the middle and at the end. None of that was a surprise to me. The first mile they had splits that were a little fast for some and a little slow for some, but I still believed good things would happen.
As the race finished, we had some surprises. A DIII runner had finished second among a field of DI runners. She had led most of the race and was overtaken in the last half mile. There had been some place finish changes among our nine runners since the first meet. At first glance it appeared that when these 5.2 K times were converted to 5 K times there would be lots of personal records.
So here is the outcome. As a team we came in 6 out of 6 teams. When our brilliant Coach Mark figured out the mile splits and converted the times to 5 K times we did have lots of small wins. The tide started changing and there were encouraging words and congratulations happening among the team members.
After smiling and feeling great all afternoon and evening about the team's accomplishment, I woke up this morning and did a little more work with the times. As a team we were 2 minutes and 10 seconds faster than our first meet. The individual personal records varied from 2 seconds faster to 1:36 minutes faster. So I feel that we are doing the right things in practice.
What I wonder about is our individual and team mentality. I truly believe that looking for the good and staying positive is needed at all times even when the deck seems stacked against you.
I wonder where this team will go as we work this week not just physically, but mentally?
Tuesday, September 11, 2012
PLACE
Place is a theme for Mary Baldwin College Mary Baldwin College
Just this morning I was thinking what a great group of nine runners appear each morning! Although they don't all welcome the workout of the day announcement, they do put on the safety vests and head out for the workout.
Today it was a track workout! The coaches thought they had set pretty aggressive times for the 400 workout. The first rep was preceded by some dynamic warm up and then it was time to begin. Coach Mark reminded them of the times and that they had a long rest in between each one which meant the work should be quality. I reminded them that the work needed to stay quality throughout all 10 reps!
The start as it sometimes is was pretty fast, on repetition 2 runners started settling into paces faster than we had set and continued with those paces for all 10. It was a great morning.
Although the runners always don't see their place as at cross country practice at 0600, by the end of the workout they do feel good about the work accomplished and how this will lead them to better times in races.
This team is moving together in the right direction. I have to reflect on Patriot's Day that I believe many since 9-11-01 want to make sure that they live each day happy and without regret. Being at cross country practice with this team is that for me.
Stay tuned for practice tomorrow - meet at 0600, same place!
Just this morning I was thinking what a great group of nine runners appear each morning! Although they don't all welcome the workout of the day announcement, they do put on the safety vests and head out for the workout.
Today it was a track workout! The coaches thought they had set pretty aggressive times for the 400 workout. The first rep was preceded by some dynamic warm up and then it was time to begin. Coach Mark reminded them of the times and that they had a long rest in between each one which meant the work should be quality. I reminded them that the work needed to stay quality throughout all 10 reps!
The start as it sometimes is was pretty fast, on repetition 2 runners started settling into paces faster than we had set and continued with those paces for all 10. It was a great morning.
Although the runners always don't see their place as at cross country practice at 0600, by the end of the workout they do feel good about the work accomplished and how this will lead them to better times in races.
This team is moving together in the right direction. I have to reflect on Patriot's Day that I believe many since 9-11-01 want to make sure that they live each day happy and without regret. Being at cross country practice with this team is that for me.
Stay tuned for practice tomorrow - meet at 0600, same place!
Thursday, September 6, 2012
Rain Changes the Venue
The ladies came to practice knowing that today was a tempo day, but not knowing the workout. They were particularly lively this morning as they tried to guess what we had in store for them today. Coach Mark had created a progressive mile workout based on their CNU Opening Meet times. The goal was to work on overall speed and finishing speed.
The times for each mile were passed around and then one asked for a pen to write her times on her hand……then the pen was passed around. The warm up to the park was uneventful, but as we started doing the dynamic warm up down to the starting line, the sky opened up on us.
The times written on hands were soon washed away, the coaches had to be creative in writing down times, but the rain didn’t dampen the workout! Although one runner was mad about the rain, she actually had a PR – I think we need to find ways to make her mad before each race! One runner donned her shower cap because “her hair doesn’t do rain”, but the shower cap kept a smile on her face and provided a giggle for lots of runners and walkers in the park. Others in the group commented on how they loved running in the rain, and one of our runners who decided to leave her glasses with the coaches had a great “almost collision with another runner” story. Her story – the guy was wearing black and probably wondered why I was running right at him!
All in all it was a great workout for each runner. I wondered on the way back about adversity and how it can work for the good. The team posted some awesome performances this morning, we had some laughs, and we took a team picture!
I hope that we also can remember this positive performance the next time we have a rainy practice or race. Better yet when faced with adversity off the course, I hope that we can remember how the rain changed the venue for the good!
Squirrels love to run in the rain!
Thursday, August 23, 2012
A New Season
Today is Thursday, August 23rd. The runners moved in Friday the 17th and today marks our sixth day of preseason practice. It has been a pleasure to welcome back returning runners and to add new faces to the team. The runners are determined and dedicated and I am looking forward to an exciting season.
The cool weather has welcomed us to our first practice each day. The team has arrived each morning ready for the next run. They are getting to know each other and look forward to team breakfast after our workout.
This is a dedicated group which is active in other areas on campus. They leave breakfast to other campus duties to include training in our corps of cadets and research in our psychology lab. The upperclass students are introducing our two freshman to the college and the city of Staunton.
They have set high goals as individuals and as a team and it is going to be a great adventure seeing all this play out between now and November. I hope you will follow along with us.
Coach Spalding
The cool weather has welcomed us to our first practice each day. The team has arrived each morning ready for the next run. They are getting to know each other and look forward to team breakfast after our workout.
This is a dedicated group which is active in other areas on campus. They leave breakfast to other campus duties to include training in our corps of cadets and research in our psychology lab. The upperclass students are introducing our two freshman to the college and the city of Staunton.
They have set high goals as individuals and as a team and it is going to be a great adventure seeing all this play out between now and November. I hope you will follow along with us.
Coach Spalding
Friday, February 24, 2012
Track Club Off and Running
The MBC Track Club continues to see ladies coming out to improve their runs. We have been practicing 2 weeks now and I have enjoyed seeing my cross country ladies out putting in miles and also working with the sprint group. Our goal is to go to an outdoor meet on March 24th!
It seems that the winds of March are already upon us, and I thought it might be a good time to discuss the wind - Head Wind, Tail Wind and Cross Wind. Think about running in the wind....sometimes the wind just seems so stiff it is hard to run....but the good side of a Head Wind is that it can be a training tool, it provides added resistance and in the long run will improve your running. As a distance runner one usually gets to experience all the winds on a windy day, so looking forward to the Tail Wind and how it makes you feel so FAST is great. A Cross Wind is just enough to make you think about your posture and running form, so it to helps us to keep our eyes on the finish.
For Sprinters, tracks are laid out with the finish in line with the prevailing wind, so it is awesome to train your repeats with a Tail Wind....just makes the walk back to the start challenging.
In life sometimes our days resemble the wind. A Head Wind day where we keep thinking this is going to make me stronger, to the Cross Wind days when we need to keep our posture upright and our eyes on the final goal, and then those great epic Tail Wind days when everything is right with the world.
I wish you strength for your Head Wind runs, patience and determination for your Cross Wind days and great joy on your Tail Wind days. Remember in running and in life you usually get some of each.
Happy Running,
Coach Spalding
It seems that the winds of March are already upon us, and I thought it might be a good time to discuss the wind - Head Wind, Tail Wind and Cross Wind. Think about running in the wind....sometimes the wind just seems so stiff it is hard to run....but the good side of a Head Wind is that it can be a training tool, it provides added resistance and in the long run will improve your running. As a distance runner one usually gets to experience all the winds on a windy day, so looking forward to the Tail Wind and how it makes you feel so FAST is great. A Cross Wind is just enough to make you think about your posture and running form, so it to helps us to keep our eyes on the finish.
For Sprinters, tracks are laid out with the finish in line with the prevailing wind, so it is awesome to train your repeats with a Tail Wind....just makes the walk back to the start challenging.
In life sometimes our days resemble the wind. A Head Wind day where we keep thinking this is going to make me stronger, to the Cross Wind days when we need to keep our posture upright and our eyes on the final goal, and then those great epic Tail Wind days when everything is right with the world.
I wish you strength for your Head Wind runs, patience and determination for your Cross Wind days and great joy on your Tail Wind days. Remember in running and in life you usually get some of each.
Happy Running,
Coach Spalding
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