Well, we are now officially one week into our new cross season! The team checked into their apartments and/or dorm rooms last Monday evening just in time for the initial physical examinations.
We had our first practice of the season Tuesday, August 14th at 7 AM. It was good to see all the new faces and the old faces for that matter. After an easy run we talked about the upcoming 2-mile time trial Wednesday morning. We do the 2-mile trial for two reasons. First, it allows us to see where everyone is and what kind of work was done during the summer base building phase. Secondly, it helps us set everyone's daily paces. We take the 2-mile as an indicator of a race-based VO 2 Max (based off of Dr. Jack Daniel's formulas). This assures me that we are training at our prescribed paces based on where each athlete is at the this moment.
2-mile time trial highlights: Shayn Weidner continued his accent with a solid, uncontested 9:42. He was able to run that time solely based on his summer aerobic building. With that time we are encouraged that he will have another successful school year. Yvonne Rodriguez led the women's team with a very undercontrol 11:36. Yvonne is attempting to get back into the competitive realm after sitting out of athletic competition for the past two years as she served in the military. She looks like she hasn't missed a beat. The girls looked strong as a team as Melissa Martinez, Maggie Callahan and Rose Caldwell all worked together to finish in 12:40, which is ahead of their pace at this point last year.
After the time trial we packed our vans and headed for the Hill Country and some team building! We spent the next two days at a camp in the hill country running on the beautiful trails and swimming in the spring fed Frio River. Each team cooked on dinner (spaghetti for the women and chicken fajitas for the men). We cleaned up and came back to the UIW campus Friday afternoon.
Monday morning (August 20th) called for us to do our second time trial – a 6 miler for both the men’s and women’s team. Needless to say, it did not go according to plan. It was quite rough for most people. It did help us work on our mental and physical toughness, however.
Our first meet is quickly approaching (September 1 relay hosted by us at Live Oak City Park). This will be a good opening test for us as we continue preparation for our big meet September 14 at the National Catholic Championships hosted by Notre Dame.
Keep checking out our progress on this Blog throughout the season as we continue to strive for our seasonal goals!
