Meet Coach Callahan Cross Country has absolutely nothing
Meet Coach Callahan Cross Country has absolutely nothing to do with your ability, speed, or placing on the team. It has everything to do with attitude, resiliency, and determination within a team that will be supportive and encouraging.
Meet the Coach Categories Fundamentals of teens running Championship Mindset for Growth Health and Nutrition for the adolescent Runner Training Theory: Putting together a successful race week Dealing with Setbacks and Injuries As the athlete grows and develops How to prepare the days before a race Creating an inviting Culture for all Coaches background and philosophy What can you do as parents? Fundraising and donations: How to get in contact with What is it for? the team and with the coaches Team History and Culture What to expect as athletes and spectators at meets. Helping to set goals. Off season preparation Training Etiquette for daily runs Athletes Survey Feedback Lettering Standards Running Equipment: Simple-Advanced
Fundamentals of teens running: • Confidence is not a gift: It come from know you are prepared –Gregory Dale, Ph. D Duke University • Relevant because as a coach and as a parent this may be what we keep trying to give to the athletes. • After viewing athletes for many years, this confidence/significance idea is what athletes are searching for and is the foundation of their behaviors in the classroom, in their social lives, and on the course. • A lack of confidence in oneself leads to less effort, fatigue, frustration, and eventually making excuses for oneself, jealousy, cheating workouts, and eventually, burn out. • Conversely, if athletes feel confident, then one will see the opposite Including: An increase in stamina, strong perception of oneself, inclusion of all athletes, encouragement of others, and going the “extra mile” in practice and in life. • The best/only way an athlete can gain confidence is knowing that they are prepared. • Preparation comes from the daily work done consistently on the field of practice.
Fundamentals of teens running • Teen athletes are challenged by body perceptions, compared constantly to others, and are compared to past performances and others of similar ability. • Runners are often perceived by less “confident others” as these skinny, lanky, awkward looking individuals that just run for extreme distances due to lack of coordination and other skilled sports. • Conversely anyone who likes to run for fitness and training that does not fit this perception is also often stigmatized by others. • When one is confident in who they are, the truth behind perception often leads to other individuals saying something to cover up their own insecurities. As confident adults one can often see these as simply comments from someone who has not achieved their own confidence and thus, needs to put down others. • I have yet to see a teen athlete have this kind of cognitive clarity • It is our goal to move beyond this common and often self-destructive mindset and allow in this arena for athletes to test themselves, make learning moments when the unexpected happens, and develop confidence for themselves
Discussion of Puberty is hard! • Our children are changing at an accelerated and unpredictable rate of growth!! • Some kids grow very tall very fast and can often times be susceptible to leg injuries. Osgood Schlaters, Plantar Fasciitis, shin splints and other such injuries. (Which may be a part of an athlete’s personal journey of growth) • For better or for worse, our 7 th and 8 th graders are combined with our high school sports where they will be running with young men with full beards and developed muscles. This can be perceived as intimidating by an individual going through puberty • To shed the stigma, we must first let all athletes know that body size, shape, and development adds to our diversity as a group and thus, gives us a well-rounded perspective. It is NOT something to be ashamed of and there is no perfect body shape for running. • However, we as coaches need to know where athletes are in this process to better tailor workout levels for the individual athletes. • At the elite level if there are 50 athletes in an Olympic training area, there are 50 different workouts planned for each athlete. This is quite challenging at the high school level
Remember, every developing athlete wants to be good right now! • As often as we like to say that this is a 6 year program, inevitably, the first year runner is going to compare themselves to a 6 year runner on the team. • They will often take off and run as fast as possible and collapse into a heap at the end of each runner feeling rejected. • There is only one person in each race that takes 1 st, but we must reinforce that every athlete can “win” a race if they work on proper goal setting. • First year runners should focus on how to make proper goals for themselves. As Coaches we work with each athlete on this specific skill • Seasoned runners can focus on improving prior goals and team-oriented goals.
Runners can excel at any age • Unlike many sports, runners do not have to seriously start training before puberty. Kids love to run anyway. It is fun and it is a fast way to get away from the ever slowing adults. • There is really no reason to start even talented runners on a hard training schedule until they get in to high school and begin to develop into their bodies. • Of course each athlete goes through puberty at a different time. So, many parents want their athlete to come to practice but they realize that middle school athletes that have not gone through or are currently going through puberty, therefore we often divide athletes into running years. • An athlete can be 16 but have a running age of 1. This gets tricky because the athlete wants to train with his friends, but they have a running age of 2 or 3. • Athletes need to know to train properly in the correct groups to help prevent injury and develop consistently. • We divide athletes into different groups according to their running age, amount of previous training, and their current development into their bodies. These groups have very little to do with ability and more so to do with their experience and ability to maintain consistent paces throughout the course of a workout. • Of course athletes look at it like a competition, and will try to either play up or sometimes play down to avoid harder workouts. From a coach’s perspective, avoiding work is sometimes confusing to me, but I believe it has a lot to do with confidence and looking for it. • As coaches, it is often difficult to monitor 50 athletes to make sure they are in the correct groups after we divide them, so the athletes must be responsible for themselves to reduce the chances of injury.
What can we do as the adults? • First of all we must understand that as adults, we deal with our own insecurities and experiences. • As a coach, while looking to improve on this aspect, I am no different. I constantly fight a war with confidence in coaching abilities and motivation. However, I know the more prepared I am, the more confident/successful we are as a team. • Openly discuss confidence in your own lives, the journeys you have had and let the developing teen know that we are all in practice of self improvement. • Let the athletes know that they are admired and respected as a person regardless of performance after practice and after meets. If the athlete comes back excited about the race, they will most likely say, “I can run faster”. • Have them enjoy their successful race for at least 24 -48 hours. We can move to the next goal after • Instead of saying, what happened in that race? Ask the athletes opinion. • If an athlete has a race where he did not meet his goals, then encourage evaluation of pre meet and encourage it as a learning experience • Developing athletes often have a preset notion that love and affection will come from performance based praise. It is important for us to reinforce that regardless of performance, slow races and hard days will occur and are a natural part of the process and that reassessment and modifying certain aspects of behavior may lead to an increase in confidence and performance. • Help them through evaluating their emotions before the race and guide them through evaluating pre meet sleep, food, mental stress at school, and how they felt prior to the race. Athletes can easily assess their performance after the race, so no reason to dwell on this as adults.
What can you do as parents? • Prior to high school running, make sure your athlete understands the difference in running age vs actual age. Prior to 7 th grade, athletes should be running for fun • Encourage 7 th and 8 th grades to make sure that they are running distances that they can actually run at a comfortable level. If that means 800 meters, then that is fine. • Encourage athletes to communicate with the coach. The more information the athlete gives us as coaches, the more accurate groups we can create. • Note that 1 st year athletes and athletes going through puberty will be sore and tired, but if the soreness and stiffness becomes localized to a specific area, then we should address the problem. • Encourage your athlete that if they are not in the “level” they think they should be, then please reinforce that we are also looking at reducing injury levels and looking at the athlete as a whole to develop them in 4 -6 years (plus lifelong) and not just this year. And if they are passionate about it, then talking with coaches is key. • Athletes will complain after workouts. This is what they say, “Coach killed us today in the workout” Here is what they are really saying, “I did something significant today that very few athletes can do!” • Be sure that you are guiding them through proper rehydration (Their body weight divided by 2 in ounces of fluids) and proper foods. (See food nutrition) • Encourage the athletes to come up with some fun ideas post workout. Pool time, amusement park, dinners, etc. and we will encourage fun in practice as well.
Developing a Championship Mindset • The term champion has many different meanings each as individualized as the person aspiring to be a champion. • Often being a champion in Cross Country is perceived as winning a race/state/being the best of everyone. • A more relevant philosophy is a champion is one who sets a goal for himself, takes the necessary steps to accomplish that goal and achieves those goals. • This is what builds confidence/identity which is the fundamental aspiration of the Century XC Program • It also involves self control of emotions, ability to be consistent in practicing how you perform and gaining the ability to overcome negative emotions and physical fatigue to fulfill the athlete’s potential.
Sounds pretty, so……. how? • Picture you are the athlete about to put your toes the start line, • You look around and there are 200 to sometimes 400 athletes all around you. • You are in a tank top exposing your arms and shorts exposing your legs which are inevitable being compared to others. • You are exposed to all the parents/friends/relationships/and coaches in a showcase that goes for 3. 1 miles • You are inevitably going to get tired and feel pain, and everyone will be able to see you go through your emotional spectrum there is no hiding this. • Spectators have absolutely no idea how tired and fatigued you are in those moments. • Other athletes will either be passing you or you will be passing them. Your personal space is non existent • When you finish, there is absolutely no hiding your true self. You are trying to catch your breath and hoping not to fall on the ground, but so desperately want to just lay down. • Parents and teammates are all around you asking what feels like a Shakespearean sonnet of questions while you just want to find a port o potty. • At the end, you will be given a time and a rank in the race which inevitably you are compared to others. • These are inevitable at each race and are the very foundation of testing one’s confidence in self worth and how in shape and prepared one is for a race. • Just going through this scenario gives me a rush of adrenaline. How about you?
Why does one do that? • It is in our innate nature to test one’s limits. • From an early age, your athletes tested their/your limits. If you told them they couldn’t do something, they did the opposite, if you said not to do it, they wanted to. • Now, they are testing their bodies and minds to push to the limits and see if they can achieve at a higher level to find that rush, that excitement, that adrenaline, or simply put, finding their confidence and significance as an individual so that they can become the person they so choose to be. • To do this, one must get outside of comfort, push the mind and body further, experience setbacks and mishaps, push through them, and come out the other side of a barrier more confident in ones abilities
Setbacks and challenges will happen • In one of the other slides, we discuss setbacks. To reiterate: • Setbacks, slow races, extreme fatigue in racing, plateau of progress, and injuries will occur and are a natural test to see if one is truly dedicated to becoming a champion. • With a high level of confidence, I can say that no athlete at any professional or competitive level has not had to deal with all of these setbacks over multiple months/years. • The ones who achieve have a positive mindset, stick to their goals, and have confidence in who they want to be to achieve them
So what can parents/coaches do • Parent’s hate to see their child frustrated. I get this. It is a scary thing to see your child stumbling at the end of a race, or in tears because they did not achieve a goal or is having their confidence tested. • But…. this is the moment where we as coaches and parents need to enforce that setbacks must happen in order to be successful, that analyzing those setbacks and looking at the prerace routine and analyzing how to come back better the next week is crucial to achieving • Remember to affirm with your athlete that your love, respect, and caring of them is not based on any performance good or bad. • As a coach this is something that I can affirm as well as it should be made clear that an athletes performance in a race has fairly little to do with my coaching strategies. • How that athlete approaches those setbacks as a learning moment and can continue to be encouraging and positive to others after a race does reflect on our coaching strategies.
Parents: Help in Goal Setting Athletes have a tendency to avoid our goal setting sheets. They say it is too lengthy or wordy, or they just do not need to use it to achieve their goals. Or they are being sarcastic in the goal. MEH!! Athletes avoid the goal setting with coach and the goal setting sheet due to a lack of confidence or fear that their goals will be ridiculed by others. Parents’ we need your help in encouraging goal setting. I will reduce the amount on each goal sheet, but will continue to work towards helping athletes realize that they should write down their goals and focus on achieving those goals for a championship mindset. To hold athletes accountable to these goals, if an athlete’s goal setting sheet is not being filled out due to fear of sharing goals, or if an athlete’s goals are sarcastic or as coaches, we feel, not being taken seriously, I give that athlete a less than 10% chance of being successful in that weeks race. With this in mind, I logically, will keep that athlete out of the race that they are unwilling to participate in the goal setting process as I feel it is essential for a successful program and look to avoid divisiveness amongst the athletes. I need parent support in working the athletes through their goals and what they are doing in daily practice to achieve those goals. There is no consequence for not reaching a goal. However, we do not accept that an athlete comes to a race without having developed and written down a set of goals to accomplish. Athletes will gain confidence if they keep a digital/paper log of their running and progress See more in our goal setting session
Focus attention on positive visualization • When possible, we do positive imagery and relaxation and focus. • Athletes lie down in a quiet space, close eyes and for 15 minutes, relax the body and focus on positive imagery. • I encourage adults and athletes to do this as often as can be spared for 15 minutes. • This will help give positive imagery when the voice inside ones head prior to race time starts to panic. (And that voice is in everyone) The difference is which imagery an athlete feeds. • Do your homework! Study your competition, know who will be at the race of equal competition as you • Familiarize yourself with the course. This is an aspect that we could certainly improve upon at each race. You will want to know where to make moves, and where to hang back (see race day tab) • Race for time. A runner wants their splits to be as even as possible throughout the race. • Practice continuously flooding your mind and promoting to your teammates positive messages and positive imagery. • There is no such thing as a perfect race. Just progression and no such thing as perfect conditions. Individuals who are confident can run well in the conditions given on any day as long as they are prepared for those conditions.
Dealing with Setbacks and Injuries • Confidence is not a gift…. Respect, Love, and Admiration can be. • The sure-fire sign of a successful program are healthy and motivated runners who, over time, are training and racing at higher and higher levels. • The hardest and greatest lessons that life can teach us is when the wheels fall off. • …. . and they will • You have all experienced it, I have experienced it, and let’s face it. . we usually hate it at the time. • Look back at those major moments of injury or disaster and you will most likely find a pivotal turning point in your mindset or your life. • And yet, somehow, we are disappointed when the next generation experiences those events as well. • Now, there are certain things we can do to help prevent minor set backs from occurring, prior planning on rest, nutrition, training load, progression, stretching etc. • Never the less, no matter how much foresight goes into planning, all athletes will experience gaps in training weather through injury, illness, loss of motivation, personal challenges, bad weather, etc. • If the goal is to promote life long runners, then these should not be feared but confident in developing a plan together in how to overcome these setbacks.
• Successful and typically, individuals who feel happy and content, can see the reasoning behind some of those events and use them as a learning tool or a life skill. • Cross Country injuries or even plateau seasons offer us a learning opportunity in a small microcosm that is sport that will allow athletes to continue to learn and develop. • They will not enjoy it • They will appreciate and come out more energize and excited when they overcome it. • Successful individuals will learn from an injury and who knows, it may become that persons life’s work to help others. • Our Cross Country Ranks are filled with individuals who have become injured during their tenure, and overcome those setbacks • And there is nothing more inspirational in sport or in society than someone how overcomes that injury or setback and achieved their goals.
What can athletes do? • When dealing with a setback, no matter how minor, it is imperative to be in contact with the coach and the • • parent on how they are feeling. It is extremely important not to compare oneself to others or begin to try to shop around. Parents need to be honest with the coach as to what a physician or sports psychologist are doing with the athlete and we can work with them to help your athlete. The athlete should still regularly attend practices. The true key to success is when an injury occurs, there are weight training sessions, endurance workouts, etc. that we can create in order to keep up with fitness. The athlete should be around his peers. They will be his greatest support group during this time. The athlete will be emotional. Understanding that it is necessary to channel those emotions into physical exertion/exhaustion will keep the athlete from taking these emotions out on teammates. This is critical to success. Avoid the blame game. “Well if I had these shoes, or if I hadn’t done that workout, or if we hadn’t played ultimate, or if I hadn’t jumped over the fence…. don’t do the last one in season by the way. Playing the blame game is unproductive and will continue after the athlete recovers and when the athlete is finally ready, they will be well practice in making excuses for plateau performances. We are all about facing a setback head on, working together to overcome it and moving forward. No more wallowing in self pity because you had high expectations for yourself but found it difficult when the road got hard. For those of you that have been to the boundary waters, this is the equivalent of yelling at a tree that inconveniently fell over in your walking path!
What can parents/coaches do? • Remember the critical roles of sleep and recovery. • Remember nutrition: Iron levels and bone density as well as muscle recovery and hydration are key to recovery from injury • Keep it fun. We are in the business of developing life long runners, so there will be injuries. We want them to enjoy the sport whether they are injured or not. Let’s find out what they are capable of and focus on that. • Do not lounge in the trainer area. Let other athletes hang out for their entire practice in the trainer. Get treatment and get back to the team. Our goal is to use the trainer as a resource, not as a hideout due to a test in confidence. • Seek the best physician care of someone who has the same mindset as your athlete. • Look for signs. If the athlete seems complacent or happy to just not recover from the injury or does not seem to be following the treatment, then contact the coach immediately. This is a sure fire sign that the athlete needs a break from running or is not in the growth mindset of the philosophy of the coaches. • Easy sign, if your athlete is not actively looking to recover to get back to the team, or if you feel like you need to drag your athlete to practice, then we as a coaching staff need to be contacted.
Getting back to running • When coming back to running from a setback, it is important to welcome the individual but not to advance too quickly. • We should have at least 6 -10 days of regular practice before getting back into racing. • If an athlete trains all season, but does not want to compete, we are fine with that provided he adheres to our championship growth mindset. • Athletes who miss 2 or more days a week have a less than 10 percent chance of accomplishing their time goals at the meet at the end of the week. • It is irresponsible of us as a coaching staff to allow these athletes to compete when their success chance is so low. • Whether excused or unexcused, we will be sticking to this 2 day a week limitation of athletes traveling to meets. • Athletes who attend meets but are injured are expected to serve a roll in team management. This means, helping with warm up, getting warm ups back to tent, setting up and deconstructing the tent, and taking splits of fellow runners. • Personally, the last thing I want to see is fellow teammates who are injured eating delicious fried chicken back at the camp lounging and eating snacks while the team prepares to do battle against a 5 k course. • So, we will be limiting those who are injured on road trips to 1 -2 that are necessary for helping with meet needs and are expected to play a very active role in managing the team
In closing…. • Injured athletes are a huge part of the team and are still expected to come to practices. • Injured athletes should be in contact with parents and athletes • Injured athletes should be actively looking to get back with the team • Injured athletes who are attending meets should be extremely active in team management and should be in school uniform gear. • If an athlete decides to quit participating in XC, that should be conveyed to the coaching staff as soon as possible. • We tend to leave the 99 to focus on the 1
Coach’s Background and Philosophy • We come to the most self indulgent portion, but understanding where I have been may help in understanding the methods and philosophy that have governed my coaching and thus, may directly affect your athlete • This will be my 12 th year with the Century Cross Country Team, and my 11 th as the head cross country coach. • I am a Graduate of Platteville High School in Platteville, WI. Where I was an above average cross country runner. Typically placing 3 rd-5 th on the team and averaged times in the mid 17 s I started out my 10 th grade year and found a home and a mentor in Rob Serres, my coach. Who sparked my passion for distance running to this day. • I passed out at my first cross country race 2 miles into the race. My father had to drag me out of the weeds of Verona, Wisconsin • I ran varsity my entire sophomore year, usually 6 th or 7 th on a much smaller team than Century. • My junior year, I trained hard over the summer and was the #2 runner on the team until mid season when I developed a stress fracture in my left foot and was devastated. • I trained on a bike alone for two weeks, wore insoles, trained on a Nordic ski device, lifted weights, and spent a lot of time alone which was what I remember most. • I now avoid exercise bikes at all costs • I was able at the end of the season come back just enough to get on varsity and have our team qualify for the state meet by placing 1 st at the section meet. • My all time best meet was at state at the end of that season where I placed 80 th overall and 3 rd on my team Junior year • My senior year, I struggled with confidence where there was nothing wrong physically, but mentally, I could not take my running to the next level. • I passed out at Verona again that year. Only two times I have every passed out and it was on the same course. • I had my best race again at the state meet on the team and was satisfied the season (after it concluded). • I loved Track and was an 800 meter runner and particularly loved the 4 x 800 team where I focused much of my training senior year • I made it to the state meet on the 4 x 800 twice. As you can see, I was always in need of others to take me to the next level.
• In 2004, I graduated from Luther College Decorah, Iowa where I ran both Cross Country and Track. I was an upper JV runner, but never made it to the varsity level of the xc team. I struggled through some burn out times, transferred for a time to UW-P, finished my degree at Luther and still considered myself a distance runner. • Post College, I spent a majority of time as a Naturalist in Winneshiek County through the Americorps program and trained for several Marathons with a group of friends. • I met my wife in 2006 in Rochester after running the P. F. Changs Rock and Roll Marathon • I moved to Rochester when my 2 years with Americorps was up and spent my first few months working for Michaels in downtown Rochester • I became a substitute teacher for the district in early 2007 and became a full time paraprofessional at John Marshall in the fall of 2007 • I applied for the xc coaching position at JM in 2007 • I didn’t get it
• I volunteered with one of my fellow XC runners from Luther, Charlie Burnham instead at Century. In 2007 while working at JM • In 2008, Charlie left, and I took over as head coach while still working at JM. • I finished my teaching licensure in 2010 and began teaching for the school district at JM, Kellogg, and John Adams in 2010. • I lost my job in 2011 due to tenure/rescheduling issues and experienced a set back • Just so happened that Century needed a bio teacher and in the fall of 2011 I began teaching where I was coaching. This was my dream and this was my goal since high school. Funny thing is that I took a completely twisted path to get there. • Can you relate? • I am not perfect, though as a coach and teacher, I have that stigma of needing to be due to my own insecurities and pressure when it seems like we are continuously in our profession, “judging others” • I struggle with self confidence and I must admit that I have leaned on the team for affirmation of significance in what I do. • When the team is successful, I have indulged in knowing that I was a part of it, and when the team hasn’t hit their goals, I feel responsible for those moments. • I stopped coaching track 3 years ago due to the need to be with my lovely young children and I have always felt like I let down the team and the athletes. When in fact, that track program has thrived for the past 3 years. Ego. • Funny thing is…. I am not the one running the races. Very simply, as a coach, I am a guide. I celebrate with the athletes and help through those rough times by keying them into their goals. I will make them uncomfortable in order to facilitate growth • Many of you have heard of my challenges as a young man, and I feel like now those challenges have made me a better teacher and a more sympathetic guide to the struggles of the athletes I coach. • I am proud to say that I am a father, a teacher, a coach, a husband, and a runner. Through all of this, running has always been my anchor. I haven’t always loved it, but I always come back to it.
Here are my hopes I hope that I am always approachable to the athletes. I am human who was above average in running in high school, an average collegiate runner, and a slightly impressive casual distance runner who has a strong passion of sharing this love with others. I hope that each of you sets fourth achievable goals and take the necessary steps to work towards those goals. I hope that you have enjoyed something that can be a lifelong learning experience that will help you handle the much more intense stresses of life in the future I hope that you have enjoyed your teammates and the experiences both fun and sometimes difficult and uncomfortable position we have put you in. . . think yoga. We hope that when you leave this program, you know how to continue to train yourself or find ways to work towards your goals. We hope that we made you uncomfortable, and through that un-comfort, you were able to grow. We hope you will always look back on this time as a growing and significant experience in your lives. I hope that our athletes know how much I respect each of them and what they have overcome, what they may currently be overcoming and what they will overcome in the future with the tools we set forth for them. I hope that my story allows you to know that failure is a natural and learning part of sport and living. That to first grow from failures, we must shed the stigma of it.
Team History and Culture • Century Cross Country began in 1997. The first coach was Aaron Doering for 1 -2 years (not sure about much more than that). • Darald Bothun took over the program in 1998 -2006 we have paper records from those years as Darald took detailed records. (If interested in combining these records with current records, please let me know. • Charlie Burnham head coach (2007) I volunteered this season • Paul Callahan (2008 -
Academic Awards • Gold Awards (Average of top 9 varsity must have a cumulative GPA 3. 75 or higher) 2005, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018 • Big Nine Champions • Champions- 2013, 2014, 2015 • Runner-up - 2012, 2016 • • • Section Place Finish Section Champions-2014, 2015 Runner-up -2012 State Entrants Participants - 2012 -16 th place, 2014 -9 th place, 2015 -5 th place
• • • • • Top Performances at State: Ben Puhl 2003: 15: 42 Seth Massot 2015: 56 Sam Nelson 2014: 16: 13 Seth Massot 2014: 16: 15 Antonio Judson 2016 16: 20 Brian Wille 2007: 16: 24 Antonio Judson 2015: 16: 33 Ben Puhl 2002: 16: 41 Sam Nelson 2013: 16: 42 Colin Eakins 2012: 16: 43 Nathan Larson I 2010: 16: 57 Matt Ryan 2015: 17: 00 Josh Larson 2015: 17: 03 Paul Hale 2011: 17: 04 Seth Massot 2012 17: 05 Shane Steel 2007 17: 10 Matt Ryan 2014: 17: 11 Michael Wagner 2012 17: 11 Graham Massot 2012 17: 12 Michael Wagner 2014: 17: 14 Mark Lucivansky 2015: 17 Zeke Green 2015 17: 25 Jacob Mussell 2014: 17: 26 Zeke Green 2014: 17: 36 Nate Larson II 2015 17: 45 Stuart Bennett 2014: 17: 51 Mikey Allen 2012 17: 58 Hunter Huntoon 2012 18: 17 Justin Kotajarvi 2012 18: 24
Regards to our culture • As a team, we are known to have great integrity at meets. Previous teams have lined up at the end of races and shook hands with all that cross the finish line. (athlete driven) • We are known as a team who takes their racing time with confidence which comes from being prepared (no footballs, frisbees, and other distractions at meets) • We are known as a close-knit team who brings each other up. We cheer for each other at meets • We are an inclusive team who celebrates our differences (the more unique the character, the better we are) • As long as the unique characters in our program know when to put in the work and effort. • We are a team that sets goals and takes the necessary steps to accomplish that goal. • We are a team where alumni return and provide a community atmosphere beyond the academic years.
As the athlete develops and grows • As discussed under the adolescent fundamentals, athletes will develop into themselves very quickly in 4 -6 years (some are barely recognizable from year to year. ) • Each individuals body shape, beginning strength and endurance will change. • Typical (but not always) males will develop more musculature, height, and size as they advance in their years. • As a distance coach and as parents we should understand these changes, not fear them, but adjust and adapt training to fit these changes. • Body shaming is very prevalent in young male athletes. (both too big and too skinny) • Young male athletes typically react with sarcasm and defensive mechanisms when this happens due to an innate lack of confidence which comes from body changes added with lack of training in off season (create team chill) • While I have the utmost respect and empathy for what athletes struggling with this particular confidence issue, it causes team problems that lead to segregation of groups at practice, and is detrimental to our programs culture, goals, and unity. Creating this type of group will never receive a positive reaction from me as a coach or those attempting to put in maximum effort. • We say that this program is a 4 -6 year plan for beyond high school. To do this, we must not look at body development as an obstacle. • Also take into account the social aspects and the academic aspects of developing and growing
Running Age • Whether the athlete began as a 7 th grader or a junior, there a few things we should take into account when training. • Running age. If an athlete is just starting out, their running age is 1. Now that means that their training may be different than a like age individual who has been running for 2 -3 years. • We may involve certain individuals who have a lifting age that is different (wrestlers) but for the most part, anyone beginning at running on the first day will start with level 1. This is to reduce injuries even in older runners. • Athletes who feel that they want to go to the next level should discuss this with the coaches prior to the workouts. At the time of the workout when we are putting individuals in groups is a challenging time to discuss this.
Leadership • The first year athletes are expected to have fun, enjoy themselves, watch and learn from the experienced athletes. We want them to have as much fun as possible and develop into our community of inclusion • 2 -3 year athletes are expected to uphold our standards, put forth maximum effort each day and be a role model for other athletes. These athletes are no longer simply participants. They are now active duty members with an important role to play for our first year athletes. • (Note at this stage, there is usually a plateau season where the athlete is running similar times, and sometimes even a bit slower times. This is expected in any sport, and we plan for it in XC. The key is how the athlete reacts to it. ) • 4 -6 year athletes. These are our leaders on the team. While we assign captains for many purposes, all athletes who have been on the team for 4 -6 years are expected to lead the team in core, stretching, running, and put the team above some of their personal issues. These individuals will learn more from teaching others than from the coach and they are invaluable for coaching staff when emergencies take us away from the team.
Academic side to be aware of: • Consequently, our program does grow side by side with academics and extracurriculars. • First year (unless starting 10 -12 th grade) Usually a lighter academic schedule that allows them to focus much of their attention on their extra curricular activities like XC and other sports. Honeymoon period of sport and getting to know it. • 2 -3 year: Academic rigor and extracurriculars become more prevalent. School rigor usually tops out at Junior year which coincides with the plateau season for many of our athletes. Knowing this is the key to moving forward with your training. To do this, one must be like a clock. In bed at the same time, academics at the same time, wake up routine is the same each day, to fit the 8 hours of sleep and regular meals. These are the keys to overcoming the plateau. • 4 -6 years: Seniors are now beginning to think beyond high school and who they want to be outside of the highly regimented walls of academics. They have more freedom and thus more responsibility. Successful seniors put the team and their legacy on it to the forefront. What will you leave behind will either want to be emulated or it will want to be changed. You have the most influence on the team. To be personally successful, you must exhume confidence as you know that you have been prepared and leave those life long lessons. (Remember, the 7 th and 8 th grade individuals will tell stories of you (good and bad) long after you have left. • Put the team and its culture first and you will find that inadvertently, you will find success in your season.
What can do as parents? • Understand that planning for this type of path and prior understanding of this general trend will help make sure your athlete is sleeping 8 hours each night, planning recovery meals and nutrition is peak, icing and recovery stretching after hard days and a regimented time for academics and extracurriculars. • (Simple not easy) • If you as a parent are thinking right now (it is so hard to get my child to do these things at home. They won’t listen to me at all) Chances are, that they are doing the same thing at practice as well and is one of the major learning points for the athlete once they begin to plateau • **Make your athlete responsible for contacting me as a coach when conflicts arise with practice. ** • Note from previous lessons that 2 missing practices per week will keep the athlete back from meets regardless of excused or unexcused, so having your athlete take responsibility for their schedule is one of the greatest lessons/gifts we can give them. It may be painful, but trust me, as a coach, I am not sitting in judgement of parents of a 16 year who is learning how to manage their own schedule. • This last key will be something that I will fundamental work with you as parents and the athletes about. High school aged students (10 -12) should be contacting me with absences.
What can you do as parents? • Throughout the different topics I have added what parents can continue to do to support the athletes. So some of this will be reinforcement • #1 Support your athlete. Remember to reinforce that regardless of performance, your athlete is respected, admired, and loved. Let them know that their coaches and other mentors feel the same, even if there is an initial disappointment/confusion as to why meet goals weren’t met. • #2 Support coach and teammates. We as coaches are very human and we do have moments of intense experiential learning (mistakes) We may something that gets misinterpreted at home, and statements may make less sense to the developing athlete. Sometimes, we can be very blunt as we think that is what an athlete needs to hear. Most of the time, an athlete would not get so upset at certain observations if there wasn’t a hint of truth to it. If there is anything that you would like clarification after 24 hours from a workout or meet, I absolutely encourage you to contact me for clarification and if you so feel the need, set up a meeting with Mr. Kuisle and involve me as well. Remember, I am on an ongoing quest to become better than I currently am, and need feedback as well. However, having negative conversations at home about the team or leadership will guarantee to have the opposite effect of change that a family is most likely looking for. • #3 Many of you may be distance runners or have experience as distance runners. If you are providing alternative workouts to you child, I can respect that as long as you are in communication with me as a coach as to what your athlete is doing. Keep a log or journal and when they come to me in the fall, I can cater their workouts to the workload they have been doing. If there is a fundamental disagreement with our training practice, I am always looking for volunteers for the program • (Doing extra secret workoutside of practice has been an issue in the past with athletes and parents as the athlete is getting mixed messages, and I must point out that 0% of the athletes that did these extra workoutside of the team found the success they were looking for and had a disappointing finish to otherwise illustrious running careers. )
#4 Be sure to reinforce at home the value of going to sleep around 9: 00 -10: 00 pm. (yeah not the most social time, but if you want your body to recover it is invaluable. ) • Which means eating dinner (well balanced dinner. See Nutrition) around 7: 00 pm • Which means homework from 8: 00 pm-10: 00 pm. I would recommend limiting any screen time during this time. • Like I said before, the most successful athletes are like clocks. • #5 Help in potlucks set up for banquet and alumni race and other social events. This team wants to create a more unified culture. I could use help in creating social events. Prior to each meet, Century Athletes tend to go to Valentino’s. It is a long-standing tradition that our captains would like to continue this year. • #6 Support fundraisers. We are raising funds for uniforms and general admission into all invitationals. We appreciate any financial contributions or time in the fundraisers. • #7 Be sure to support prior planning before meets. Make sure athlete has uniform, spikes, water bottle, and most important, has labeled his clothing. You spend a lot of money on their gear. At the end of the season, I donate half of it to goodwill. • #8 Encourage your athlete to be in contact with us as coaches and if possible, get your athlete to share their goals and dreams with you. Remind them of those goals when academics/social time/general wants begin to occur. • #9 Come to races and be their biggest fans. They know when they have had a good race and when they have had a difficult one. We will work on this a day or two later in practice, but when an athlete finishes, they are simply grateful to be done. Be there to support them, but give them some space. • (*Note: As a coach, prior to a race, I am pretty hyped up and thinking of only the athletes. So, while I really enjoy chatting with parents, I may seem distracted with what is going on with the athletes. Often after the races, I can be much more approachable. I thank you for your patience. As this is 23 rd year being around XC, it only gets more exciting. )
• • • What to expect at a meet Athletes: Confidence is knowing you are prepared: Pack your bag the night before and begin your hydration (body weight/2 in ounces per day is a good standard. ) Bring a water bottle and a snack for refueling after the cool-down. Avoid antihistamines if possible prior to racing We all have to wear the same color undergarment. This is any clothing under the uniform (shorts and singlet). Our white long-sleeve T-shirt works well for cold weather. White only is the under color for the top. Tights or compression shorts need to also be white. Only if it is unusually cold would you be wearing an additional undergarment. Best practice is to not wear jewelry at any race. Label all tags and warm-up gear with your initials so that they do not get lost.
• It is important that all runners exemplify the best behavior and attitude. • Please do not bring Frisbees, footballs, etc. to a meet. • If you have time prior to the meet or are done, then focus on cheering on teammates from the other races. • Unless you are warming up and a race is going on, move over to the course to cheer our team. • The camp is usually close to the path. Identify the race directors and thank them at some point during the meet. • Upon arrival, stay at camp for bib numbers and directions. These are always worn chest level. Please be careful not to wrinkle any bib number. They are often computer scored with a chip in the bib.
For Athletes continued • If time and opportunity exist, walk the course even if you are familiar with it. • Relax, focus, think positive, and visualize your race. Focused attitudes must be maintained on the bus ride to the meet. • Begin with a 10 minute easy warm-up, change to a tempo run for 2 -3 minutes, stretch, be at the race start at least 10 minutes early for strides. It’s your responsibility to be at race start on time. • Know where you will begin your finishing kick.
• JV, we may be 15 -20 rows deep while lining up. You need to be in row position behind anyone who was faster than you in the last race. It’s possible to blend in behind another team if they are smaller. • On cooler days a sweat bag or basket will be available to stash your sweats. Due to the size of the bag it will probably be left close to the start of the race or brought back to camp. Please label any garment that may be left. • After racing: • After finishing a race, get back to the race course and cheer in every runner. Gather at camp after the race and do a cool-down with the team. (10 minutes & stretch. ) • Helping: Keep personal belongings in your bag at the camp as much as possible. Upon being done with everything, pack your bag and help with camp clean-up (cheering others is first priority). If the camp helpers need assistance, please join them. • Return: • Any bagels brought by parents are to be left on the bus. These are only handed out by the coaches when return attendance has been taken. Please take only one bagel each and handle only the one you take. They need to be shared by both busses.
What to expect at a meet Spectators • When attending a XC meet for the first time whether you are a spectator or athlete, it can be a bit intimidating. • Here are some helpful tips to know: • When arriving at a meet, it will most likely be a field, open area, golf course, or field. Be sure to get somewhat early and find parking. Parking can be a bit sketchy depending on where the meet is. Some are in the middle of nowhere • We run in all weather. So, rain/heat makes it more of a challenge. Spectator/athletes should plan accordingly. Some meets have been cancelled if field is flooded or if lightening is detected. Check website or get on our remind texting group if that works best for you. • We provide a uniform, tent for athletes, a large water jug, spike kit, and small med kit. Athletes should provide the rest for themselves (racing shoes are optional). Healthy recovery snacks, fruit, etc. There are sometimes concessions stands with foods that are great for spectators but terrible for athletes to eat (especially before the race) • There usually is not a lot of places for sitting for spectators, so if you are bringing spectators that need to sit, I would recommend bringing portable chairs. Typically look for where all the tents are set up. That is usually a main staging area. • People and kids will be running everywhere! It is organized chaos around the start line, so if you are bringing younger children who like to throw frisbees and footballs, I would recommend getting them as far away from the start line and where the crowds are as possible. This is an area where athletes will be warming up, and they will get run over. Or if there are kids throwing footballs and other things where the athletes are warming up, I will most likely throw the ball away.
• About an hour prior to the race, athletes will begin walking and running the course. As spectators, we ask that you make way for the athletes. Know where the course is. There is usually a map on the century website as well as at the course as well. Please help all the athletes warm up by staying outside the lines of the course while they warm up. • I would recommend avoiding the start line any time 15 minutes prior to the race. The athletes are mentally preparing and focusing on the race. Find a nice place outside the start line to watch the race. It is a beautiful thing watching the start of the race. • Give your athlete space 30 minutes before the race. This is positive visualization time and bonding with teammates. • There will be running spectators! Watch out for the waves of individuals running all around. If this is your first time, follow the crowd. They usually find good places. If you are a seasoned pro, go find an obscure spot after mile 2. Kids will be able to hear you at those points and need it in the final mile. • Avoid, if at all possible crossing in front of athletes. As an athlete, we are always looking at the person ahead of us. It is dis-hearting to see people cross in front of us, and some athletes have made it their life goal to bull over unsuspecting spectators. • Avoid walking with cell phones. People crossing into runners paths as they are on their phones can be a major issue and can ruin a runners day. So, if you are talking on the phone or texting, please find a place away from the course and stay there until the text or call is over. • Avoid Putting Greens/Sand Traps on Golf courses.
• You will get a workout: I love this sport because we never sit. Do note that if you want to see your athlete, you will most likely need to move around a bit. • The finish is also chaotic. Kids are absolutely exhausted. Give your athlete a little bit of space and try to avoid dogging them with questions for at least 15 -20 minutes after the race. Unless they specifically ask you to be there to catch them or if you see your athlete in genuine injury mode. • **Athletes and spectators if an athlete falls down or goes down on the course, avoid the urge to pick them up or touch them. If the athlete is touched by a spectator or even a fellow competitor, by MSHSL rules that athlete is considered aiding the runner and the runner will be disqualified. Find a coach or a marshal and immediately report it. We can then make the call to the athlete. Also, if the individual has a neck injury for some reason, it is best to keep them from moving too much to jostle the neck. • Give them space in the tent. This is their bonding time in the tent and it is one of the most important times in developing a culture of the team. Feel free to take pictures outside of the tent of the athletes. • As often as possible, keep them on the bus. The bus ride home is another essential area for developing lasting bonds and contributes greatly to the one team personality. • *Note as a coach, in any other sport, there is a very specific boundary between spectators and players. That is not the case with XC. It is very intimate with spectators. We as coaches are also very focused. I thank all of you for your patience and love making those connections at meets. Probably the most relaxed you’ll find us will be after the races. • At the end, reaffirm regardless of performance your respect, love and admiration. They may never say it, but they truly appreciate it. • If possible enforce to athletes to help clean up the tent area and all garbage, get rehydrated and cool down.
How to stay in touch with the happenings of the Team • We have multiple ways of contacting us as a coaching staff and staying up to date on what is happening: • Email: pacallahan@rochester. k 12. mn. us • Cell Phone (507)884 -1446 • Website: https: //www. centurypanthers. org/page/show/2339228 -boys-cross-country 2016 • Remind Information for Coach Callahan enter this number in to your phones 81010 • Text this message: @7 bkfe 6 • These will be messages directly from me. • For the team messages from captains enter in this number 81010 • Text this message @ea 2 a 6 e • Follow me on twitter: @paulruntommyboy
Athlete’s Survey Results • Every year, We send out a survey to athletes to get their feedback: • There was lots of positive feedback so, I am choosing to look at what the athletes would like to see improved: • Make PAC meeting not mandatory. More focus on team building instead of individual Improvement would give more of a team feel. • New/different routes, same directions are getting boring • More food • More meets • MORE CORE!!! • To do runs where we just run somewhere by ourselves or with a small group like the girls do. Also more meets • Making it easier for the new people to know what is going on • More funding plz • Less talking at the beginning and end of practice • Just keeping doing what your doing • The coaches are very clear about what they want us to do.
We need more funding. Despite our fantastic care of our uniforms, they are getting old and ragged. More meets and runs that the athlete can choose where they run Maybe add more activity based running or something to do on the long runs. Also the set times were a great idea for meeting our goals. I wish we would have gotten around to goal setting a little sooner. Stop throwing stuff at each other Less time spent talking at the beginning of practice. Shorten PAC meeting More meets/ runs were athletes can choose the route More funding, and more Ben larson Yeah well my mom and dad for some reason have a bit of trouble trying to piece apart information from Callahan s webpage I guess they don t like the paragraph layout and would prefer a bulleted list or a table or something. Me personally? I d like some more long runs and maybe a couple more fun days here and there, but yeah this has been a great season. Callahan is very passionate about cross country. Sometimes it was too much however. There were times where coach Callahan almost snapped and would act in an angry way. I found myself and others sometimes being afraid of the head coach. He was quite good often, however sometimes he would snap, he would be unapproachable, scary, and degrading.
Have better coaching and enforce non bullying of teammates and upper-class men ! Pasta feeds at students houses in order to improve camaraderie. Get rid of the P. A. C meeting Bring back mystery runs please Get rid of the pac meeting and come up with a better way to get us all information and provide real new information instead of the same stuff every year. Remove swearing from the team and diminish cliques Separate program for middle schoolers Coach buses for every meet and new uniforms Better uniforms New uniforms, coach buses for every meet I wish we also had a little more fun workouts like the running behind the bus out in the country idea, and more exploring the city during the workouts in various locations. Doing the same routes over and over gets repetitive and boring. Finally, I hope in the future it is more student driven sometimes its better for us just to go on our own. But coaching was great for the season.
Fundraising for Uniforms • We appreciate all of the voluntary donations for the past several years. • For a set of new uniforms, we will be looking at raising approx. $4, 000. 00 in the next two years beyond the normal fund needs for entries into races, equipment, etc. • To do this, we will be setting up a fundraiser through Hy-Vee • Athletes will be going door to door selling water softener pellets on the basis that we will also be delivering back to the individuals who are buying them and helping put the bags in or near the softener system
What can parents do? • We are still grateful for any monetary donations for these uniforms. • We will be choosing the first week to go door to sell water softener pellets. • Students will most likely need rides to help sell the water pellets. • When we get the pellets in, I will need some parent volunteers to help distribute the pellets and make sure the athletes properly deliver the pellets. • I will pick up the pellets at Hy-Vee and we will distribute them to athletes during the first two weeks of practice • Fundraiser Script • Fundraiser Worksheet
How to prepare for a race? • Confidence is not a gift…. . it comes from being prepared! • How the athlete has practiced the week leading up to the race is critical to a good performance at the race. • If athletes have missed two practices in the 6 -7 day microcycle, then most coaches would agree that there is a 10% chance of success at the race. OR, the athlete will peak at an early race and will plateau later in the season. • Regular attendance is key as each workout builds on the one before. • **Coming into the season with the idea that an athlete can make half of the practices and still wear the uniform may sound acceptable, but in reality, it is detrimental to the team culture, unity, and sets the athlete up for frustrations and early plateau. • Also, as a coach, when there attendance issues, my time and resources must be diverted to figuring out the why of this. This is just my personality, and I doubt it will change. So, if it is your full intention to simply “get in shape” for multiple reasons and racing does not appeal to you, please contact me. I can give three months worth of detailed workouts that one can do during their leisure times. • If you are training to race, then attendance in practice is the first key.
Training mentally • So, now you have done the workouts and are regularly practicing. What’s next? • Two nights before the meet, it is essential to get extra rest as this is when your body will recover the most from tissue damage. • The night before is also important, but sometimes nerves can set in. It is best not to stress. • Keep a running log or journal and read through it the night before • Two days leading up and the day before the race. It is best to eat a meal with a decent portion of carbohydrates (see nutrition details) as well as two days before, vegetables, proteins, and dairy. Depending on the race time, I would recommend avoiding large amounts of leafy vegetables if there is an 8: 00 race time start. • The evening before, avoid large amounts of fat. This includes butter (sorry Valentino’s) A developing body can most likely digest this if the race is in the afternoon. • Do 15 minutes of positive visualization before heading to bed or when convenient. Anything greater than 15 and there is a risk of REM sleep and grogginess.
• Have your bag packed the night before. Be sure to include all essentials. Start with uniform first, then move to extra gear. Check the weather for the next day and always, prepare for the most extreme. • Hydrate. This does not mean to slam water early in the morning, but drinking consistently throughout the day. This is good practice all days but especially essential prior to a race. Your body weight divided by 2 in ounces every day is a good standard. • Watch out for allergy season and cold and flu season! Antihistamines tend to dry out the system. If you are on any medications, be sure to workout a hard workout while on them and see their effects. Otherwise, they may have adverse effects on the race. • Ice: Early in the season, if we have had a particularly challenging week, Ice your inflamed areas 1 -2 days prior to the race. Avoid chronic icing as your body will develop tolerance to it. (Yale Study) • Also when icing, avoid icing for more than 15 -20 minutes and immobilize yourself during the icing.
• On the bus ride. Keep it quiet on the ride out. As a loud individual, we sometimes forget how much our voice carries. Many athletes will listen to music, podcasts, or even be doing homework. Some athletes are doing 15 minutes of positive visualization. • I’m usually praying • It is great common courtesy and respect to all if we keep the bus quiet. After the race…. bonding time occurs! If we want to break out in a bus wide sing along, then let’s do it! • When we get to the race, get into a routine. We will always get the tent set up while the coaches are getting bibs. Typically, we lose a few athletes to the bathroom. If possible, get your bib first and then use the bathroom. • **Note many of our coach busses have a toilet. If you are just peeing, then use the coach bus. This is an advantage that we have and will reduce the line waiting!
• Prior to the race: Once you have your bib, double check your racing time. Varsity Athletes, it is the expectation that you round up the team and get them on the course. This is not a punishment, but if an athlete is running varsity, they have a lot to share. Please share tips and tricks at each race. • **Note: Parent’s at this time, it is my goal to get back to sharing these tips with the team, so you will find me as a coach with our team. • When returning to the camp, occupy your time by cheering on the other races. There are girls races, and middle school races, etc. Cheer on other runners, become a student of how they run and watch • Begin your warm-up about 40 minutes prior to the race. 10 minute easy jogging, 3 minutes of running just below race pace, 5 minutes easy cool down, return to camp, put on racing shoes, quickly get in bathroom break and head to the start line with 15 minutes prior to race. Do all of your usual form drills together and that should take you to about 5 minutes before race time.
• After the race. Whether it was a fast race or a slower race, most will agree that there is much to celebrate about just being done. Find teammates greet them first, make sure everyone is feeling ok in your general area. (some teams high five the other competitors, this is what makes Century a great culture!) • **Note, if you need help, put your hand in the air and ask for help. There are usually multiple course marshals assigned to help folks at the end. While media has applauded helping others during and after a meet, I recommend against it as a competitor and as a parent. • Emotions can run high. If you are feeling particularly emotional, make your way as quickly as possible to the tent. This is your safe area to evaluate, cool downs and reassess. • If you have a teammate that you can relate to, ask for them. Personally, after a difficult race, the last thing I wanted was a whole bunch of people telling me to feel differently. • Back on the bus, celebrate with teammates. The ones who had a great race will need you the next race when you have a great race and vice versa. • Dealing with setbacks and frustrations and re-evaluating racing strategies is an invaluable skill that will benefit you in ways that you cannot possible predict and understand until later in life. One of those wonderful mysteries that come with age. • If you did have a fast race, enjoy it, celebrate it, and be aware of those around you.
Goal Setting: History and success • There is a difference between dreams and goals. • One day, I dream of being one of the best runners in the state of Minnesota! (what is your plan? ) • I dream of having the team win the state meet! (what teams do you need to compete with? What times need to be run for this? ) • I want to run a Personal Best. What steps have you taken to accomplish this? • A goal without a plan is just that…. a dream • When we first started with goal setting in 2008, I was surprised at the relatively low standard in which individuals would set for themselves. • Now, we realize that this is because telling someone else what their goals were was/is scary. There was accountability when writing down a goal and looking at the steps necessary to accomplish them • Back then, most kids had one goal in common that I believed was sincere. Win the all city meet. • Back then, Mayo High School was winning the all city meet consistently. • As far as conference and sections, most kids said, I would be happy with…it would be nice if we got 5 th and had relatively few goals for themselves. • So, we created a goal setting sheet and began goal setting sessions which were also check in sessions with athletes. • I gently nudged athletes to start thinking bigger than all city. What about conference, what about sections? • Each year, the team members got more and more aggressive with small goals, like beating Mayo High School, and getting top 2 in conference. These were goals that the entire team were aware of and the captains were passionate/militant in enforcing. • By 2012 we had finally qualified for the state meet. The team won conference the next three years, and won sections in 2014, 2015, and were conference runner up in 2016. We had a streak of being in the top two or three in the section. • So what happened?
• As a coach and as an individual, I find affirmation that our methods are effective if athletes peak at the end of each season with their best races. • I am also affirmed if the team is consistently performing at a high level at the championship portion of the season. (It is important to note, that as coaches, our athletes keep moving on to bigger and better things. The coaches have known each other long before the current athletes started and most likely long after, so we have to have personal goals as well. • Since some of the team goals were not accomplished in the past three years, I began to search for a reason/excuse and it was always personal. My growing family, My dedication to team, the change in coaching for track, etc. Note the self-centered nature • Last year was a huge learning year for me as it was a driving force in my coaching to get the team back into the top two at section to go to state because that what I thought the team wanted. • I thought that this was also the goals of the team as it was consecutively reinforced by the captains as their team goals: • Win all city, win conference, win sections, top 5 at state (half the team but this on their sheets) • I applauded these goals as it was truly what I as the coach wanted. It was affirmation for me that our training methodology is effective. • Then I realized, the teams that accomplished those goals were pushing me to be better. They expected/demanded from their coaching staff a level of training and attentiveness because they expected nothing less from their guides, and I was stretched to make it happen because the varsity teams expected it of me.
• In reality, I began to discover that the personality of last years team wanted/needed something different than this. • In fact, most of the team goals were simply repeating what prior teams put down because that was easier. • By midway through the season, I had trouble believing that the team goals were in fact the wants and desires of team overall based on their practice and their performances. • Which is not a bad thing at all, again , it was huge paradigm shift in my thinking as a coach. • In fact, I think the biggest change I would make to our goals from last year, is that the team was searching for confidence in themselves as individuals and in the teammates. And that should have been where we focused. • Most athletes needed to see improvement in their times, and when that did not come immediately, they got frustrated and the easy talk of, “I don’t matter on the team, I can skip races, there is no way we can beat these other teams so why try? , and “I have not had a P. R. in two years, I need someone to blame for this, it must be the training, and “I guess this is what coach wants” Were commonly heard amongst the runners. • So yeah, I now understand why half the team did not fill out their goals sheets, and why many team members skipped goal setting sessions, and why athletes were frustrated with the team goals which eventually lead to the segregated groups doing their own activities and not following the specific plans that we as coaches laid out for them (see team comments)
• And I am so grateful for that type of season! • It shakes up the coaching staff and forces us to grow and get out of our comfort zone • The key I keep coming back to is that one must understand the twisting path of growth and that we as coaches are once again guides to get you to your goals. • This year, I ask the team. What do you think our goals should be? • I have already picked the brains of the captains, and we send it out to the team. Instead of you living up to my expectations (I’ve been to state both as an athlete and as a coach) What are yours?
• So, let’s simplify our goals: Come up as a team with what you think is possible at the meets and hold each other accountable. • It is my purpose as a coach to guide you to your goals whatever those may be, and I will hold you accountable for those goals, so think very hard on your goals. • 2018 was a great season with some wonderful individuals. I doggedly enforced goals set by the captains that were rarely put into practice. Which I understand now. But you want to think very carefully about the goals you set forth as a team. • I will still require team members to sit down with me as a coach once a season for a check in. This is invaluable to me and honesty in these sessions will be fundamental in your mental health and prosperity this season. • I will still require goal setting for each race and the season, but will simplify our goal setting sheets to two portions: What is it you want to accomplish, and what did you do that week to get yourself and your team there? • If you as an athlete cannot answer these two questions prior to a race or refuse to do so, then I can logically conclude that your confidence levels are not sufficient to perform well in the race and I will most likely take you to the side and either have a discussion or make the decision to withhold you from the race to reduce chances of failures and thus contribute to the increase in self doubt in the individual.
Parents and Athletes: • Once an athlete sets a goal, hold yourself accountable to it. • Your parents/closest relationships should know your goals. If you are uncomfortable sharing these goals with your family members and teammates, then you will most likely not be confident enough to achieve those goals and should reassess them. • Do your research: If your team has a goal for meets, then know who is at the meet, see what times they are running, find someone of similar team who is running times you want and figure out who that individual is. • If there is a team looking to outcompete, check their times, see what times and places they are running. • If there is an individual you are looking to compete with, find out what they are running and pinpoint that athlete. • Friendly competition within a team is healthy. • Parent’s encourage and remind athletes throughout the season when school sets in and things get hard (Usually Mid September) and other social and extracurricular events set in, that they set goals for themselves (ACT, Band, Homecoming, MEA, Labor Day, Beginning of Flu Season) Please do not take away the athletes accountability piece. (middle school exceptions) • Believe in those goals set forth (I will keep your goals until the championship part of the season) There will be obstacles and there will be challenges. This is why most individuals are end up frustrated. They have a dream or goal, but they never put forth a plan of attack in accomplishing this. • That is the MOST important role of a Coach! So, you have to trust me. That takes a few steps on my part. • Goal setting has been a fundamental basis of our team culture and one that I am so thankful to have seen grow and develop. Parents and athletes, if there is any place where honest and communication needs to be stressed, this is where I need cooperation the most if we are to see success in the longevity of this program.
Lettering Standards. • Our Lettering Standards have been relatively well set since before my time as the coach and have worked well. However, there are some areas of clarification I can help with: • There are three major ways that an athlete can earn a “varsity” level letter for cross country. • Note: It is required of all varsity levels to be strong community contributors and there is a community service worksheet that is required to be filled out by all athletes looking to letter. This worksheet is on our website and a hard copy can be handed out if requested by the athlete. • #1 run varsity with no major behavioral violations. (straight forward for the most part. Athletes who run on our varsity team (top 7 on team for at least 1 meet in the season, and attend practice regularly will most likely letter. • #2 if an athlete is in the top JV team (top 7 JV) and is competitive in JV level races (aka top 20 at invitationals) as well as regularly attending practice which count towards letters. • #3 if an athlete is a senior, has contributed positively to the program for 2 -3 years, fills out the community service worksheet, they will letter. • #4 if a varsity level athlete gets injured and it is judged that the athlete would have lettered if injury had not occurred and fills out the community service worksheet, they will letter. • #5 if an athlete successfully helps manage the team for the entire season (regularly is available for rides, water stops, manage meets with clothes baskets, etc. and fills out the community service worksheet, they will letter. • We have a 100 point system that we as coaches uses to quantify athletes who are on the line of lettering to quantify this system • Note: In this system, if an athlete attends all practices that accounts for half of the points. The other half is performance based. So, if an athlete does 20 hours of community service, attends all practices, but runs 25 th on the team, chances are, that the athlete will not letter under the criteria. • If you have any questions on the point system, please download sheet, and keep track of your points based on the criteria, I can’t refute evidence!
Race Specific Training Theory: In season running • *Let me preface this with there really is no “secret” workouts in the program. Everything we do, I have found from other coaches who found it from another coach or athlete and so on and so forth. • Some athletes prefer more distance, some prefer more intervals, and others thrive on hills. The key is finding what motivates the athletes to confidence and cater the workouts to their needs. • I have also seen and been a part of programs that experience setbacks when coaches/parents/athletes begin splitting hairs over different variations of workouts that basically work the same body systems. • The danger here is that different parent/coaching styles are looking for affirmation of their program. The athlete(who is still a developing young man/woman, gets caught in the middle, loses confidence with one program or the other and their performance suffers. • If parents/coaches/athletes effectively communicate with each other and ask respectful questions and work together, confidence is built up. It is our goal to instill confidence as a coaching staff • Remember, we have had championship jumpers, vaulters, throwers, wrestlers, drum majors, Rhodes Scholars, hockey players, basketball players, hurdlers, and sprinters all come out for cross country at some point in their careers. • My expectations for all is to adhere to our team culture and morals when they join with the realization that while we are all in a search to define ourselves, there advantages to not compartmentalizing oneself.
• In a calendar year, there are generally three macrocycles. Off season winter training, spring/summer training: training to train (note there is an adjustment for those training for distance/mid-distance in Track and Field) and training to race • Sprint specific conversion from track to XC translates a bit different for our XC sprint/hurdle crew • I am focusing solely on in season training (see off season training link for other macrocycles) • Big idea #1 Race specific training methods are guided by principle of specificity: To run fast, you must train fast. • This means that there is specificity behind each and every workout during a cycle • At Century, the first cycle of the season is based on the premise that we have two full weeks of training prior to our race season. After, we create microcycles around and through specific races to prepare athletes to run their best in October. • In these 6 day microcycles, our goal is to have one Aerobic (VO 2) Training session, one Interval Session, one strength building session, and typically one long run per week with 2 days of “training” runs • Of course everyone comes in with different specific goals/training/needs • So, we break these down into four major workouts: • Tempo’s and Fartleks: This is Swedish for “speed play” The goal of this workout is to train athletes to change up their running speed and most specifically readjust or slow back down without walking. • Typically this first workout looks like this: 10 minute warm up 4 x 1: 00 pick ups 6 x : 30 pickups and 8 x : 15 picks with derivation depending on the level of training. • Later in season Aerobics are known as VO 2 max which are training sessions just under maximum volume of oxygen an athlete can go before they go into Lactic Acid Debt. • *Note that understandably for all of these workouts, first year athletes just basically run until they are exhausted. We adjust their workload accordingly, but the key component is not to stop between intervals of speed. This is often affiliated with muscle confusion and can help see aerobic gains more quickly much like switching up a lifting routine can cause muscle grown
• Intervals develop “at pace” speed: For our first week, we do a 1 mile time trial for our new and middle school runners and a 2 mile time trial for our returners. We do this at RCTC community football fields with relative success in seeing where athletes are and gives us data that we use in catering to athletes workouts in the future. We then do varying levels of intervals ranging from 200’s at pace to mile repeats at pace during the season while decreasing the amount of rest. • The key to learning pace is to do the intervals at even paces while decreasing rest in between. (There is no doubt that our varsity athletes could run with the state champion for the first mile of the state meet. ) • Strength Development Days: These are designed to promote anaerobic work in the legs and strengthen the stride, legs, and posture. The easiest way to work the strength days are hill days. We do a lot of hills because they are abundant around Century and Frankly, one of my favorite workouts when I am in training. • Hill days vary. Sometimes we incorporate longer hills with less incline to infuse aerobic with strength days. Some days, we incorporate shorter and steeper inclined hills to make it an anaerobic leg day. Depending on the time of the year/goals, they are also our go to for strength and posture building. • Long runs are typically 15 -20% of weekly total mileage so, if an athlete went 30 miles in the week, their long run should be 6 miles. If an athlete went 50 miles, their long run should be 10 miles. Not everyone should do the same distance, but the run should be 1 minute slower than their “recovery runs during the season. ” and should contain 5 -6 x 100 meter strides at the end. Since these occur outside of the 5 day week, we usually have some recovery foods planned for these long runs and they are off campus • Long runs are a vital part of the program. They build large numbers of RBC’s in the body and also provide a unique camaraderie for many of our athletes. • Long runs are the runs that are most often skipped as many occur on weekends due to our running schedule. And are feared by runners who missed long runs early in the season as they feel a certain amount of pressure to run with their friends when long runs fall on weekdays. If an athlete is plateauing and wants to improve. Simply look at their long run schedule.
• The rest of the training days are a lot of runs at prescribed paces that are slower than race pace to help build aerobic levels and get the feet used to the pounding of running as well as building up large levels of Red blood cells to effectively transport oxygen (see anatomy and physiology of running) • These days typically are trail running, mystery runs, or true recovery days. • I must admit that our athletes do an amazing job of hitting interval day paces given and attack hills very well. Tempo days are a challenge as they often require pacing knowledge and discipline that comes from experience. • The area that we could see some great improvement are on the “recovery run” or training runs. I would like to change the term recovery as on these days, typically, even our top varsity athletes take these days at about 8 -10 minutes per mile, which will benefit an athlete who is looking to break 30 minutes in a 5 k or even our 22 minute athletes can go at this pace. • Athletes looking to run at an elite level should be running recovery days at about 1: 30 slower than race pace. So if an athlete can go 5: 50 pace/mile, their recovery days should finish an average of 7: 20 pace. • If an athlete is truly exhausted, then once again, they should communicate that with the coach, and if trust has been developed, then we can make the choice to slow it down or turn back home and reduce mileage. • **This is a key area that we can cooperatively work on together to help break through plateaus and setbacks. • See chart below:
“Easy” Days recovery pace Goal Recovery/Pre Meet Day Pacing Chart Goal Time: 17: 00 17: 30 17: 45 18: 00 18: 15 18: 30 18: 45 19: 00 19: 15 19: 30 19: 45 20: 00 20: 15 20: 30 20: 45 21: 00 21: 15 21: 30 21: 45 22: 00 22: 15 22: 30 22: 45 23: 00 23: 15 23: 30 23: 45 24: 00 7: 31 ppm 7: 43 ppm 7: 49 ppm 7: 56 ppm 8: 02 ppm 8: 08 ppm 8: 14 ppm 8: 20 ppm 8: 26 ppm 8: 32 ppm 8: 38 ppm 8: 44 ppm 8: 50 ppm 8: 57 ppm 9: 03 ppm 9: 09 ppm 9: 15 ppm 9: 21 ppm 9: 27 ppm 9: 33 ppm 9: 45 ppm 9: 51 ppm 9: 57 ppm 10: 03 ppm 10: 09 ppm 10: 15 ppm 10: 21 ppm 10: 27 ppm
• We then work these microcycles through each race as opposed to a typical week. Sometimes the race will be on a Tuesday, and our microcycle changes than when we have a full week of training with a Saturday race. • Saturday races, we typically have a long run upon returning to school on Monday. So, there is some rotation of days in a week. • We like to think of creating 4 workout goals per week between races ideally. • As the season progresses, we move from the training phase, to the racing phase to the championship phases of the season • The season is set so that the most challenging three weeks are by far week 2, 3 and 4 in September. We know this, the program is designed for it, and it is predictable and measurable • The final phase is championship phase (October) where we gradually reduce the workload which allows athletes bodies to recover and perform at their best. • At the end of the season. • All of my workout calendars are placed on our website and give me a “rough” idea as to how to set up my microcycles. Then, I create workouts that are slight variations in different areas based on the request of the team • **While missing any of these workouts will still have an athlete eligible for running, missing a key workout not only forces us to goal set with athletes without full knowledge, it also inhibits the athlete valuable racing experience prior to meets.
For Parents: • In terms of putting together a training program, this is something that coaches should really put at the forefront of their duties. • **and can focus on more thoroughly if other parts: culture of trust, reduction of absences, behaviors of teammates in practice are all working in a positive manner • It is very important for parents to understand the methodology of the training. Particularly if the parent has some experience in distance running and has questions please ask. • Open communication with parents is vital, if you have a question on a particular workout and why it is in a sequence, please feel free to contact me prior to making comments to the athletes. If a parent believes that the training methodology could use some overhaul, I appreciate the feedback. I am always looking for dedicated volunteers.
Creating an Inviting Culture for all • Successful coaches almost simultaneously agree that team culture will outperform strategy consistently. • Team talent can fluctuate. Team culture, once it is established, can be consistent. • Three major factors contribute to team culture in this order: Team members, Coach, Parents. • Captains set the standards for the team culture and are put in practice which means that it is more important that the coaches, parents, and captains model these behaviors in order to see the team personify those moral characteristics. • A few things to know about our team culture prior to the season:
Team Culture • Foundations of Century: We are a team that values sportsmanship and support of all athletes. • Unique to XC, regardless of team jersey, there a lot of runners that are on the brink of absolute exhaustion. At the end of each race, we support each other and the other athletes. • We strive to be the classiest team at meets: Once we leave the bus, we represent Century High School to the highest level of professionalism. (Language, behavior, food choices, etc. ) • We are responsible for our equipment and our teammates so that the next generation can enjoy it. • We are respectful of all athletes regardless of skill, talent, race, ethnicity, background, and prior behaviors. • Pretty words but if we are honest, can be challenging. Especially the last portion if an athlete has struggled with confidence in his career. • We understand that each athlete has a different goal for the season and that all goals should be respected and celebrated together as a team. • We like to have fun. We have some very unique individuals on this team and we celebrate that runners can and tend to be a bit different. This was my running mantra and still continues to be a huge part of our culture. • We are inclusive and are excited to have diversity on our team. • We value dedication over talent. More important to this team than trophies and medals is the foundational idea that the team can create goals for itself and hold each other and its leaders accountable to those goals. • As a coach (and probably as a parent), there are few things that are more of a challenge than a talented athlete who is afraid to unlock their potential
Captain’s feedback and challenges • The team culture truly rests on the shoulders of the captains. As a coach, one of the major goals of 2019 is to enforce the goals of the captains. • The captains have developed an idea to work on team goals with the team’s feedback, so we are in process of defining this as the season begins. • My biggest goal/dream would be to instill confidence in our athletes to empower them to believe in their goals and push me to provide training theory that fits their needs • Do note: I am inherently competitive both as a runner and as a coach. One of my foundational pillars is to quantify improvement in myself and others. • The captains this season have also made it their goals to come up with smaller team groups that they will be working with to help athletes acclimate. We have a lot of individuals in the “year 1 group” • Other additions would include more complex and better mystery runs. This was not a priority for last years captains, it will be again this year. • We plan on putting together more out of running and practice time activities. Ultimate Frisbee, days at parks, ice cream social, fundraising as a group, pool time, dinners, and many others. • The #1 sign that we are heading in the correct direction is that we have overcome the “Disease of me” • Disease of me: I am not getting what I want, I am not improving, I am not having any fun, I am tired all the time, I am sore, My legs hurt. My crew just wants to hang but instead we gotta do some workout. I don’t need to do core, I don’t want to stretch, I just want to go home. • Let me find 3 -4 other athletes who feel the same way because nobody wants to be alone. Now we have a crew! • When the disease of me sets in, the athlete needs to work on confidence and communicate this to the coaching staff. We have a danger ranger this year, Hunter Krizan who is roughly going to be our liason in overcoming the disease of me.
Parents help for creating the culture • Parents: we are looking for ideas here as well in other activities that are low cost to create more of a community with the team. If these can be priorities, particularly in the first two weeks (challenges arise when the school year starts) we would be grateful as a coaching staff as we continue to work on workout theory. • Also, remind athletes particularly in mid to late September of their team goals. Instead of asking, how was practice? Ask, how is the team culture doing, do you feel included, are the workouts suiting your skill level? Do you feel the team is heading towards its goals? • Have athletes communicate, and communicate with me and the captains. This is not a passive sport. The team will consider itself successful or not based on whether they accomplished the goals they set out. • Parents get involved and look at how we as adults are communicating. Are we modeling this behavior sometimes? As a coach, it is an easy trap to fall into: I have taken the team to state three times in a row, I have a winning coaching record, I have coached some of the top athletes in the section, my training programs are effective for most kids. • As a parent: My kid is not enjoying themselves therefore the program is faulty. (Think of so many team sports) • My son is not improving or became injured so there must be some singular flaw in the training methodology. (Probably a bit more in-depth. See overcoming setbacks) • Its not about us as adults coaching, and it is not about us as parents. You are all amazing… The fact that you are taking the time to listen on these sessions shows you care. • So let’s allow the athletes to develop the team culture they want and support that culture. They will feel more successful come November regardless of performance. • Veteran distance parents, help relay these messages to our newer parents in the program. They will most likely speak with you before approaching me.
Side Note to Culture • One of the most unique challenges and areas that we have untapped potential in team building and unity is the girl’s team. • As an athlete who grew up in a team with one coach, it has always seemed foreign how separated the girls and boys teams have become. • Perhaps it is numbers and perhaps it is size, and maybe some coaching issues, but there is a vast level of untapped support between the two genders that we could utilize in the future. • There is a lot of history in the programs, and probably some ego issues. but would be willing to take feedback here. • Parents, you may have daughters on the girls team • Athletes may have siblings on the girls team • There have been comparisons. As we note, that can be a point of contention. • Current captains have expressed interest in some community development portions with the girl’s side. I would be interested in this as well, but once again, this will most likely come from the girls and boy’s sides meeting in the middle and making some compromises.
Off season training • Whether this is your first year our for XC or a seasoned veteran, the biggest areas of improvements will come in what happens after the season ends. • Post season, we encourage all athletes to take 2 weeks of recovery time. Take a break mentally and physically. This usually is the first two or even three weeks in November. • Then begin to do fun physical activities: Turkey Trots, casual runs with friends, etc. • Our training programs usually start up again for Track and XC in January and continue to March • Depending on goals, then we usually start training athletes for distance in track (note, training for all sports is beneficial. Typically, if the goal is to be in the top 5, track is a beneficial component of that goal. • Summer training typically begins in June and that cycle is more of a training to train: • We usually have a meeting the day after the section meet to discuss winter training and I typically post winter training workouts on the website and can print out winter training. • In May, we have another meetings to discuss summer training: Training to train, and is run by the captains • We have diversified workouts into three categories: Beginner, Intermediate, and Advanced.
• Note: As a coach, I cannot run with athletes in the winter and I cannot actively participate in skill specific workouts. Bill Skaden can do specific lifting programs for our team: • I plan on being more involved with Track and Field this season for a number of reasons and hope to continue to be part of the program now that my children are a bit older. I thank you for your patience as I believe being in contact with athletes in the spring is beneficial for fall. • However, I can give feedback, encouragement, and workout meetings all winter long…and I am in the same building as the high school athletes. • In summer, as a coach, I cannot organize practices, but can participate in practice most of summer until August (with exception of 4 th of July week) • In summer, it is most important to be consistent. So, if you there has been a vacation or some other portion, injury, confidence, has kept you away from training, then it is most important for confidence to begin with less workload and build back up. • As a coach, I can come up with training programs for any level, but will not force athletes into doing anything that is not in their goals. • Each team culture has been unique and each season comes with challenges, but the most successful teams have pushed me to meet their goals. They were athlete driven.
Health and Nutrition for developing runners. • The most important supplement to our training! • What is put into the human body will be shown in their performance output. • The needs of a developing adolescent are different than an adult, but especially for distance runners, there are some extremely important guidelines that can help supplement their training for energy, recovery, and performance. • Probably the #1 area that parents can help and have the most questions on • Here are some common questions: • How many calories should a runner consume? • What proportions of the diet should come from carbohydrates, fat, and protein? • Are vitamin and mineral supplements necessary? How about Iron? • What are the best meals for prerace and postrace? • Do runners need special sport drinks or is water the best? • What are the nutritional keys to performing at the highest levels while also maintaining optimal health?
Foundational rules for performance • Skipping breakfast, lunch, or dinner will decrease performance and increase risk of injury. • Athletes will often do this to get more sleep. Not recommended. Earlier bedtime would be the suggestion • Time to start carrying a water bottle with you at all times. Dehydration during the school day is epidemic in our athletes. • Sports drinks do replenish lost salt, sugars, and water quickly for endurance work that continues over an hour. • If an athlete is performing workouts for over an hour, a sport drink can replenish this task as well as encourage the athlete to hydrate more often. However, water is still highly recommended. • Changing diets drastically or following adult fad diets can be detrimental to performance. (remember, kids have different nutritional needs than adults. )
Daily Calorie Needs • One of the foundations of nutrition is to replenish the calories used in a daily workout. • Remember, calories is a mathematical formula that we use to measure energy expenditures in the body. • Distance runners need a lot of energy to do what they do. • Adolescents need even more energy to do what they do through puberty. • So, this is not a time in their lives to count calories with the goal of decreasing weight or body mass. • Only reason to count calories is to make sure they are getting enough and not less. • Iowa State research 16 -19 years of age with VO 2 max of 68 (intermediate/advanced) placed daily expenditures for boys around 3, 609 calories with a range from 2, 306 -6, 442 calories per day! • In general young men need to replenish somewhere between 3, 000 -4, 000 calories per day just to maintain energy levels necessary for the activities of the day and running.
Where should they get those calories? • The vast majority of the calories that athletes should be eating should come from carbohydrates. (complex and simple sugars) • Carbohydrates are the key to ATP production (the energy molecule that fuels a runner’s muscle contractions and thus movement. • The carbohydrates stored in an endurance teens body are mostly in the blood glucose and liver and are relatively low. • Most glycogen (glucose in blood and liver) will decrease over 5 -6 days of intense work if not replenished by carbohydrate rich foods. • Therefore, the vast majority of a distance runner’s diet should be carbohydrate rich foods. • Note refined sugars are a different beast, so do note that eating chocolate and candy with soda all day will most likely not increase performance • 12 -18 year old athletes should be eating about 50 -70% carbohydrates in their total caloric intake in a given day.
Carbohydrate Recommendation for Male distance runners: *Note these are suggestions and can be different for a female distance runner Age Reference Weight (lbs) Total Daily Calories Carbohydrates calorie needs (5070% Total Intake Carbohydrates (grams) 12 89. 2 2, 703 1, 352 -1, 892 243 -365 13 100. 4 2, 893 1, 447 -2, 025 274 -410 14 112. 3 3, 104 1, 552 -2, 173 306 -459 15 124. 0 3, 588 1, 794 -2, 512 338 -507 16 134. 1 3, 727 1, 864 -2, 609 365 -548 17 142. 3 3, 801 1, 901 -2, 661 388 -581 18 148. 0 3, 838 1, 919 -2, 687 403 -605 Published by the National Academy of Science (www. nal. usda. gov/fnic/DRI//DRI_Energy/energy_full_report. pdf)
Quick calculation of total caloric needs • According to the Food and Nutrition Board of the US Institute of Medicine and adapting caloric needs to a chart here would be a calculation that you could use: • A 12 year old girl weighs 92 pounds and runs 3 miles a day. So 50 -70% of her daily caloric intake, which is of average 2, 458 would be about 1, 229 -1, 721 calories. Or (2, 458 x. 5=1, 229 calories) • Do note these are only suggested ranges. Use them as guidelines. • Study Food Labels and familiarize your athlete with the numbers found in common foods
A Sample Breakfast: • So, here would be a sample breakfast meal for Carbohydrates: • 2 Whole grain pancakes=28 grams (112 calories) • 2 Tablespoons of sugar=30 grams (120 calories) • 1 Banana=28 grams (112 calories) • 1 Cup Orange juice 26 grams (104 calories) • 1 Cup low-fat milk =12 grams (48 calories) • Total for breakfast 124 grams (496 calories) • If you compare this intake to the overall daily intake, this would typically contribute to about 34% of the total carbohydrate intake of the day.
High Carbohydrate Foods: Breads, Cereals, Pasta: Food Serving Size Grams of Carbohydrates Calories from Carbohydrates Bread, Whole Wheat 1 Slice 12 48 Bagel Cinnamon Raisin 1 (3. 5 in) 39 156 Flour Tortilla 1 8 in 20 80 Pancake 1 5 in 14 56 Frozen Waffle 1 13 52 Cereal: Cheerios 1 Cup 22 88 Honey Nut Cheerios 1 Cup 46 184 Oatmeal Instant (Maple) 1 Packet 31 124 Spaghetti or Macaroni 1 Cup 40 160 Rice (White, Cooked) 1 Cup 45 180
Carbohydrates in Vegetables, Beans, Nuts Food Serving Size Grams of Carbohydrates Calories from Carbohydrates Broccoli ½ Cup 4 16 Carrot (raw) 1 7 28 Corn (frozen) ½ Cup 21 84 Lettuce (Iceberg) 1 Cup 1 4 Peas, Green, Frozen ½ Cup 11 44 Potato (Baked) 1 43 172 Baked Beans, Canned ½ Cup 20 104 Black Beans ½ Cup 20 80 Refried Beans, Canned ½ Cup 19 76 Almonds, Dry Roasted 1 oz 6 24 Peanuts Dry Roasted 1 oz 6 24 Sunflower Seeds 1 oz 7 32
Simple Carbohydrates: Fruits Food Serving Size Grams of Carbohydrates Calories from Carbohydrates Apple 1 21 84 Banana 1 28 112 Cherries 10 11 44 Grapes 10 9 36 Orange 1 15 60 Pear 1 25 100 Raisins 1/3 Cup 38 152 Orange Juice 1 Cup 26 104 Grape Juice 1 Cup 38 152 Apple Juice 1 Cup 29 116
Carbohydrates in Dairy, Drinks, Sweet Snacks Food Serving Size Grams of Carbohydrates Calories of Carbohydrates 2% Milk 1 Cup 12 48 Yogurt Plain 1 Cup 16 64 Yogurt Fruit 1 Cup 43 172 Sport Drinks 12 oz 16 64 Soft Drinks 12 oz 38 152 Honey 1 tbsp 17 68 Syrup 1 tbsp 15 60 Jams and Jellies 1 tbsp 13 52 Table Sugar 1 tbsp 4 16 Chocolate Candy 1 bar 34 136 Store Cookies Chocolate 4 28 112 Doughnuts 1 27 108
Fat Intake • Fat plays major role in fueling low to moderate intensity training runs, like long runs and recovery runs. • Fat is highly concentrated energy meaning 1 gram of fat accounts for about 9 calories of energy vs 1 gram of carbohydrates account for 4 calories of energy • Also, fat is highly involved in all the growth and communication hormones being released during puberty. • A healthy teen averages usually 12 -15% body fat for boys • Distance runners sometimes average less 8 -12% • As fat intake is an essential part of body growth and development, here are the recommended amounts of intake:
Fat intake typically accounts for 20 -30% of calories Age Reference Weight (lbs) Total Daily Calories Fat (calorie needs (20 -30% Total Intake Fat (grams) 12 89. 2 2, 703 541 -811 60 -90 13 100. 4 2, 893 579 -868 64 -96 14 112. 3 3, 104 621 -931 69 -103 15 124. 0 3, 588 718 -1, 076 80 -120 16 134. 1 3, 727 745 -1, 118 83 -124 17 142. 3 3, 801 760 -1, 140 84 -127 18 148. 0 3, 838 768 -1, 151 85 -128
• Note: Examples of high fat content can include products such as cheese and dairy • When eating meats like chicken or beef, fat consumption skyrockets when cooking with oils and butter. • For health reasons, no more than 10% of daily caloric diet should come from saturated fats. • The rest should come form unsaturated fats like vegetable oils, • Omega 3 fatty acids have been known to reduce inflammation and promote faster recovery after strenuous workouts. • Products containing these fats include fish, flax seed, nuts, and various other oils.
Fat Content in Common Foods Food Serving Size Grams of Fat Calories from Fat Bread, Whole Wheat 1 Slice 1 9 Bagel Cinnamon Raisin 1 (3. 5 in) 1 9 Cereal: Frosted Wheat 1 Cup 1 9 Cereal Ready to eat 1 Cup 17 153 Oatmeal Instant (Maple) 1 Packet 2 18 Spaghetti or Macaroni 1 Cup 1 9 Rice (White, Cooked) 1 Cup 0. 5 4. 5
Fat in Dairy Food Serving Size Grams of Fat Calories from Fat 2% Milk 1 Cup 5 45 Whole Fat Milk 1 Cup 8 72 Yogurt Whole Fat 1 Cup 7 63 Yogurt Low Fat 1 Cup 3 27 Cheese, Chedder 1 oz 9 81 Cream Cheese 1 tbsp 5 45 Butter 1 tbsp 12 108 Ice Cream ½ cup 12 108
Fat in Meat, Fish, Poultry, Beans, Nuts, and Eggs Food Serving Size Grams of Fat Calories from Fat Ground Beef (15% Fat) 3 oz 16 166 Pork Chop Broiled 3 oz 11 99 Chicken Breast skinless 4 oz 5 45 Tuna Fish in Can (water) 3 oz 2 18 Fish, Cod 3 oz 1 9 Baked Beans, canned 1 cup 1 9 Almonds, dry roasted 1 oz 14 126 Peanut Butter 2 tbsp 16 144 Eggs 1 5 45
Fat in Snacks Food Serving Size Grams of Fat Calories from Fat Popcorn oil popped 1 Cup 3 27 Potato Chips 1 oz 9 81 Tortilla Chips 1 oz 7 63 Chocolate Chip Cookies 4 10 90
Protein: repair and growth of body • Typically the human body used very little protein as an energy source when carbohydrates or fat are available. • Protein is key in rebuilding muscle tissue, ligaments, bones, and creating myoglobin as well as hemoglobin in the body. • The body basically takes proteins consumed, breaks them down into 22 different amino acids, and the body rebuilds those proteins into the desired structures needed. • The best sources of protein would be lean meat, fish, poultry, eggs, and milk • A protein rich diet can help encourage muscle, hormonal, growth as well as quicker recovery and repair to tissue damage. • **Note, as a distance runner, it is a myth that lifting and eating a balanced diet will make you “too” ripped to run endurance.
Protein Content in Common Meats Food Serving Size Grams of Protein Calories from Protein Ground Beef (15% Fat) 3 oz 22 88 Pork Chop Broiled 3 oz 24 96 Chicken Breast skinless 4 oz 24 96 Tuna Fish in Can (water) 3 oz 20 80 Fish, Cod 3 oz 20 80 Baked Beans, canned 1 cup 12 48 Black Beans, canned 1 cup 15 60 Almonds, dry roasted 1 oz 6 24 Peanuts, dry roasted 1 oz 7 28 Peanut Butter 2 tbsp 8 32 Eggs 1 7 28
Daily Meal Plan: total calories: 3, 300. 60% Carbs, 25% Fat, 15% Protein • Breakfast: • Dinner: • 2 Cups of Cheerios, 2 slices of whole grain toast with 2 tsp margarine and 2 tsp jam • 1 Banana • 12 oz Orange Juice • 1 Cup of Skim Milk • Morning Snack: • 1 Bagel • 1 Fruit (apple) • Water • Lunch: • Chicken Sandwich 3 oz boneless, skinless 2 slices of whole grain bread, lettuce, mustard • 1 small bag of potato chips • 1 slice of fruit cantaloupe • 1 carrot • 12 oz sport drink • Afternoon Snack (Post Run): • ½ cup of canned fruit of ¼ cup dried fruit (raisins) • 6 graham crackers • Water • Cheeseburger 3 oz ground beef or turkey, whole wheat bun, tomato, and lettuce, 1 slice of cheese, ketchup, and mustard • ½ cup of baked beans • Large salad with 2 tbsp of dressing • Iced tea or water • Dessert: • 1 Cup Low Fat Yogurt • 6 Vanilla Wafers
Other Key Nutrients, Vitamins, Minerals and Water • Vitamins are key organic compounds found in meats, fruits, vegetables, and dairy products: • B-complex vitamins speed up metabolism of carbohydrates and fats • Vitamin C strengthens bones and protects against infections and is found in many fruits and vegetables • Vitamin B 1 (Thiamine) found in meats, grains, and nuts help form hemoglobin on red blood cells • Vitamin D found in Dairy foods and eggs plays a major role in promoting bone growth • Calcium aides in bone growth as well and is found in dairy, whole grain foods, and vegetables • Iron is essential for carrying oxygen and can be found in red meats, green vegetables, eggs, nuts, and whole grains
Iron Deficiencies: • This has probably become the biggest concern of adults and parents, and many are scratching their heads. • The answer is relatively uncomplicated. The continuous pounding of the body while running ruptures blood vessels in muscles that then causes blood to “leak” out of capillaries. • The more an athlete runs, the more ruptured blood vessels, the more inflamed the muscles become, and thus, combined with lactic acid build up, soreness and stiffness. • Blood transports oxygen throughout the body, and hence, the more ruptured blood vessels, the more the athlete feels fatigue. • Good news: If training theory is put into practice and proper diet and rest are put forth, capillaries have time to regrow via mitotic growth and adapt by creating more blood vessels to a given muscle and allow for improvement. • In a 3 month performance season, we often are rushed in our development of athletes and hence, we rely on nutrition and early bedtimes to help with this. • **Note there a few extra factors in the developing female runner with Iron Deficiencies • So, should you give your kid Iron pills or supplemental drinks? There really are not a lot of studies that disprove their benefit and many parents and athletes swear by ferritin supplements and iron pills • However, they haven’t been scientifically proven to help increase performance either. (There are have been a lot of parents and athletes that swear by it. ) • They have been proven to increase constipation so, I would recommend a stool softener of some kind if you so choose to use an iron supplement.
Should athletes take supplements? • Most nutrition experts agree that young athletes should focus on eating a complete balanced diet rather than supplements • No strong scientific evidence exists that can prove that taking supplements increases endurance performance. • There is, of course, always the placebo effect to take into account. • However, any extra supplements that the body does not need will simply be excreted from the body through sweat and urine. • Vitamin D, E, and K are fat soluble and get stored in the body and excessive amounts can cause toxicity. • However, there nutritionists often agree that there is no harm in taking a general supplement as long as the mineral supplement does not exceed 100% of daily recommended allowances. • Beet Juice contains nitrates which can help increase blood vessel dilation and thus blood flow, and also contains some vitamins and minerals, so there is no major drawback to it (other than taste in my opinion. However, there has been little correlation of increase in performance after taking beet juice. • I have learned never to doubt the amazing results of Placebo effects!
Timing of your eating is also critical: • Remember that complex carbohydrates take a longer amount of time to digest and thus you should plan your meals in the morning earlier than 10 minutes before running. • Drink lots of water with meals as this will help dilute and encourage digestion. If you are vomiting after workouts or feeling full, then the timing and the foods you are eating need to be adapted. • Know your body: If you are getting sick before races or workouts, then check the foods you are eating and the timing of those foods. • For best recovery, get in your dinner or meals and hour or so before sleep to allow for digestion and get in a 10 -15 minute walk post dinner to aide digestion. • Begin eating as soon as you can post workout and post race with proper nutrition. supplement that pizza and walking taco with some packed snacks post race. • Slow down and chew your food. It will be beneficial for you. • Watch your buttered bread consumption at Valentino’s • These aspects will benefit your daily performance in practice and at races.
Tips for Parents: • Parents are in the best position to ensure positive nutrition choices: • Watch for suboptimal nutrition. Look at sharp declines and inclines in accumulation of weight as well as dry lips, and skin which may be caused by dehydration. • Promote hydration throughout the day with your athlete and be sure they are in the habit of bringing a water bottle to school. • Keep in contact with the coach and discuss options to help athletes • Avoid body shaming on both ends. Instead, talk about energy levels and the benefits of extra energy through diet and sleep. Developing teens need not be as concerned about weight. Instead discuss health benefits. • Account for dietary differences amongst family members. Adults may be on a low sodium or fat diet while a developing runner may need to supplement these dietary needs • Bring post race foods of fruits, whole grains, and even some protein building foods as athletes are more than likely to forget to pack these items on their own. We often offer bagels post races and after long runs. • Be a positive role model. Even adolescents will follow your habits. • When in doubt consult a dietary physician for more information
Equipment: Simple to more complex • It is often said that there is nothing more simple and pure than running • And yet, the plight of humans is to complicate the nature of simple behaviors in order to push the limits. • So said with even running equipment where the basic running gear involves, shorts, socks, a decent pair of running shoes, and a water bottle. • This is what most athletes should show up with on their first week. • And pretty much all that a year runner 1 needs for the season. • We provide the uniforms and water. Athletes provide the shoes, water bottles, and other clothes each day as well as a positive attitude ready to work. • However, as soon as the athlete comes to practice, they will see many athletes with other little toys and tools.
Watches, compression sleeves, heart monitors, and spike shoes oh my! • Including: Dry-Fit gear, shin sleeves, arm warmers in the fall, Garmin watches and other GPS watches, head bands, body glide, and shorts, with an American Flag Imprint. • At their first race, they will see warm up gear, hats and other such items. At the first race, they will notice runners putting on special shoes called spikes which contain gnarly spikes on the bottom. • Do note that some of this gear is utilitarian, and other gear are things that athlete use to declare their unique identity. So let me explain the different uses of the gear athletes will use
• There are literally thousands of different shoes out and it can be a pain to find the correct pair (literally) My best suggestion is this. • Go to one of our local running stores. Terra Loco, Running Room, etc. and try on a variety of different shoes. Have them (or me) assess your foot type of put a wet foot on a piece of paper. We will be looking at your foot strike. Are you a forefoot striker, under pronator or over pronator? . • Once you get that data, you can reduce your choices to structure/stabilizing shoes, cushion shoes, or minimalist shoes. (If considering minimalist shoes, please talk with me first) • Then, simply run on the treadmill with them or run around the store. The ones that feel most comfortable will most likely be a decent pair for you. *Count on the factor most of our running is in the mud, rain, and dirt* • *Hint, once you find a pair you like, sometimes there are discounts on websites and webstores • An average running shoe can last around 300 -400 miles before the sole breaks down and it is time to replace. So, I recommend changing shoes twice a year. Probably more with developing foot size of adolescents.
• Those training shoes can be used at Cross Country races but may be a bit slippery depending on the terrain and the weather conditions • Remember, cross country courses are designed to be challenging, muddy and difficult. There is a spring season for flat hard surfaces to focus on times. • Racing spikes are minimalist designs with holes in the bottom for spikes. We provide the correct length spikes as most shoes come with illegal type spikes anyway and not the correct size. • These shoes do no have cushion, are extremely light and can dig into the earth. They are probably the signature piece of equipment for XC runners. • When purchasing these spikes, we still recommend wearing them first. They will not be as comfortable, but you won’t be wearing them for as long as trainers. • Be sure to purchase the running shoes with hard rubber bottoms and NOT plastic bottoms. Plastic bottoms work well for track and can be painful in XC. So, look at the shoes that have the name xc or country in them. Avoid anything that says, sprint or even mid-distance in the name. • Terra Loco and running room have a select number of racing spikes. Start there and remember the hint above.
Watches Having a stop watch is a huge advantage to an athletes training in season. We have a limited amount of stopwatches that we should reorder soon. Most of our intervals/workouts are based on times that athletes need to hit. Plus, it is a great way to monitor progress during running. However, there is no need to go out and buy a $200. 00 watch with GPS component for an adolescent runner. • While they are cool and do help coaches and more mature runners pace themselves, a high school athlete would be just as well set with a wrist watch with stopwatch components for $10. 00. • Garmins and GPS watches aren’t allowed in races anyway. • So while you are more than welcome to get your athlete a GPS watch and they are becoming more affordable. A wristwatch with a stopwatch is just as useful for training • • •
Clothing. Dry Fit vs Cotton • For shirts and shorts and socks, I would recommend dry fit over cotton. • Sweat seems to stay in cotton during the season and weighs down the material. • Any dry fit materials and shorts that go above the knee. Basketball shorts are a bit heavier and cumbersome. • Do note that dry fit retains smell. Sweat will dry, odor will linger. • As the season progresses, you will need light jackets, running tights, or light wind-pants. Cotton sweatpants are also bulky and probably outdated. • Hats and gloves for November are a must • Athletes are required to wear a tank top or other shirt in practice, so in August and September, the lighter, the better. • Shirtless…I know that this is reasonable in the summer, however, in practice, we do need to keep it classy, so make sure you have the correct light weight gear for the day. • When the weather gets cooler, please dress appropriately. Shirtless and shivering is really not macho and impresses nobody, and likely increases your chances of getting sick • Our school store should be open soon, so check out the options
Compression stuff • Compression designs are popular as they often time fit snuggly on the body, allow for more mobility and, in theory, compress blood vessels to reduce inflammation. • Often they can help keep external parts of the body in place and can reduce cooling in winter conditions. • Many athletes get compression shorts to wear underneath their racing shorts. These can be any color as long as they are above the knee. • Any tights below the knee just need to be a solid color and be uniformed with us. We usually get black compressions as they are the easiest to find. • They can be any color in practice. (Think active wear) • Same can be said of a compression top. • After discussing with many athletes, shin compressions appear to help with shin splints which is a common pain for runners. I have never personally worn them, and have not done enough research to confirm, but if they feel comfortable, they are allowed in running and racing. • The sleeves, look cool and can be any color for racing, in terms of utilitarian, that is up to the individual runner. • Any other equipment you may look into, it is always just good practice to show me as the coach and we can discuss it to make sure it is allowed at races.
Inhalers, Glucose Bags, AED’s etc. • There are by-laws that allow for individuals who have asthma or are diabetic to be able to carry in races these items, but they need to be declared by the coach • So please let me know if you plan on bringing these to a race and it is typically advantageous to let me know of carrying any of these items. • Jewelry rule has been dissolved. That being said, you increase your chances of losing valuable jewelry when racing, and believe it when I say that if an earring or necklace gets lost on a course, its gone. • **We discourage athletes when running in a group from listening to music on i-phones/headphones. When running in a pack of runners, it is best to be able to hear instructions, traffic advice, and be social with those around. Its just a bit different when running with a group.
Running and Training Etiquette • On any given day, we will have 50 -60 young men following a 3 -6 mile route in town. • This is unique to XC where we are usually not contained by any field. • That being said, we have had athletes stray from the path, role ankles on acorns, run into oncoming traffic while not paying attention, jump and fall over fences, and run on neighbor’s properties. • Therefore, we have some guidelines for when we run in town:
#1 KNOW THE ROUTE!!! • Many of our athletes rely on following others for the route, then get lost or get separated. This is a safety issue. To help reduce this in the woods and fields and roads, it is imperative that each athlete knows the route. Or, please talk with the coaches or captains to make sure you understand the route. • Athletes who get lost, tend to start walking, and lose confidence. So, this needs to be our most important priority this year. (Year one athletes, you are the most important in helping with this. ) • “If an athlete is intentionally getting lost in order to “hide” from the coaches, or sneak away, then we are going to need to have a conversation. Remember, this is not for a grade. ” My advice, reduce your distance each day, and avoid running alone at any time • #2 Run on sidewalk if possible and if not, run against traffic with only two runners side -by side. • We share the road with cars and a car will beat a runner every time regardless of laws. • Run against traffic, communicate with each other. Typically, if an athlete notices a car and shouts “Car back” or “Car Up” That tells the pack to get into single file until the biker or vehicle passes. Communication is key to helping keep athletes safe. • I would recommend avoiding stray dogs and dogs on leashes when possible • #3 We are community ambassadors: • When we run, we run near people’s homes and people see us everywhere. • So, if athletes are running with their shirts off, there will be a phone call to Century. If athletes run in peoples yards, we will get a phone call, if athletes step in wet cement…. • If athletes are using foul language, we will hear about it. Plus using profanity WILL reduce people’s respect of who you are and what you do
• #4 We do not multi-task well: • When we are running, let’s focus on running. Which means, avoid brining tennis balls, throwing choke cherries at each other (I have yet to see this practice benefit any aspect of the team. ) • Also, 9 times out of 10 you will most likely make it over that fence you jumped over. So do those when not under our supervision. NOT during practice • Other Shenanigans harmless or not, can be continued after practice and away from supervision when I hand back the liability to parents. But from 3: 30 -5: 30, you are under my responsibility and my priority is to keep each athlete safe and working towards their goals. • Crabapple throwing is not in the plan and if you look at the student survey, others are put off by it as well. • #5 Show up on time and attend practices. • From a safety standpoint, athletes who do not do the route tend to get lost or feel abandoned. So, being late to practice and not getting the full instruction is detrimental to everyone’s goals. • To reduce this time, we are setting different meeting times and places during the school year. Instead of meeting in my room, we will meet at 3: 25 pm changed and ready for practice at door 27. • Sometimes athletes like to run alone. I get this. It is very important to build that trust relationship with me so I am confident that you know the route, will be at the designated areas on time and doing the stretches and other work. This usually comes in the 2 -6 year old groups
• #5 We are a team that communicates: • If an athlete passes out, gets injured, or is walking, it is extremely important to be able to communicate with coaches and captains. • This is difficult when we are so spread out, so we have designated individuals that help keep everyone safe • Eric Welch-Safety Captain • Hunter Krizan-Danger Ranger • Ben Larson-Captain • Spencer Harveland-Captain • 4 -6 year athletes can help • These are athletes who have built trust with the team and will help if injured or lost in communicating with me if on a run.
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