WEEK 3 OF SUMMER TRAINING

Week # 3 of summer training is scheduled to end on Sunday, June 20th. So far we have had very good results - all of our runners have sent in weekly reports to discuss what they accomplished during the past week. In return, Coach Medina and I send back comments and suggestions to each of the runners to better prepare them for the upcoming week of training.

We stress consistency during summer training - trying to get in as many of the scheduled workouts as possible. More so even than fast times or especially strong workouts, we believe it is the accumulation of training results that will reap benefits when November's championship season rolls around.

Our summer program is based on two fartlek runs per week - one with shorter accelerations (up to 45") and one with longer accelerations (up to 4'). In addition, we have two variable paced distance runs which mix easy miles with faster miles in varying amounts. The week also has 3 very easy recovery runs mixed in. We feel this is an excellent mix of aerobic work with enough faster running to keep fast twitch fibers "awake" and prevent any major loss of speed over the summer.

The training schedule is 10 weeks long, with 3 sets of 3 week periods. Within each 3 week period we have 2 weeks of increased mileage and one week of reduced mileage to help recover for the next 3 week period. Our mileage increases over the duration of the summer. Each runner's starting point as far as mileage goes is set individually, based on what the runner has already done and what the coaching staff feels he/she can handle. The final week (# 10) is a moderate week to keep the runners sharp enough for our pre-season training camp, the week before classes begin.

Runners are encouraged to run a road race or compete in a track race or two during the summer to help break up the monotony of summer training and to give us an idea of their current fitness levels.

The end of week # 3 on Sunday will mark the completion of 30% of the summer program and, by all reports, things are going well. Our incoming freshmen have had some very good weeks and that is encouraging. We'll need our freshmen to step up early if we are going to reach the goals we set at the end of the last school year.

SPEAKING OF FRESHMEN

Here is a list of our incoming freshmen for the 2010-2011 school year:

MEN
David Farist
Cody Lee
Miles Bowman
Adam Pierce
Adam Nelson
Matt Ray
Josh Griffin

WOMEN
Hannah Sharrow
Leah Onye

In addition, we have a couple of additional runners who have indicated an interest in walking on to the team and we'll add their names to the list once they have been accepted into school.

We'll get back to you with more information in our next blog. Take care.

Coach Medeiros