Break is not the time to take a break

Thanksgiving break is upon us and with winter break right around the corner, everyone will be spending time away from the university and away from their training partners. Most people see breaks off from school as time for relaxation and letting loose a little. While the distance team will take time off from their studies, the exact opposite has to happen with our training. Winter break is over a month long and this time could be used to make or break ones indoor season. When we get home for these breaks we must keep focus and ensure we are training, and training hard, over the whole break. Those that take short cuts this break and those that use the time off to focus will be easily recognizable come January. I for one know that I will be doing my best to limit my cookie intake, and increase my mileage over the break. While the distance team is running in the cold snow all break I hope everyone can stay warm and please send my well wishes to all of your families. HAPPY HOLIDAYS!!

Pre-break Workout

Today the distance squad had their last workout before break today. The workout was 10-20 minutes of tempo pace followed by 4 hill repeats. Everyone on the team did at least 10 minutes of tempo even those who had their first workout today after cross country. Even though this was a light load it was evident that some of the boys on the team were hurting a bit in the workout. Luckily, we have thanksgiving coming up and an extra week of easy running so hopefully the whole team can be at 100% for the workouts next week. So far this year we have been grateful that the weather has not been terrible. We did the workout today outside today whereas the last two years at Slipper Rock the weather has forced us to have workouts indoor after Halloween. I predict that this may have been the last outdoor work out. All in all the team is looking solid and we are well on our way to being ready for indoor season after winter break.

Tensions increase as indoor season approaches

The indoor season is quickly approaching and that means every athlete is doing his best to be as fast as possible. If you are new to the Slippery Rock indoor track situation let me explain. There is a limit on how many athletes can compete across all the sports at the university. This is especially relevant to us because that means we can only take runners onto the indoor roster if they have a good chance of getting points at the championship meet. The conference has a qualifying standard in each event that must be met before the meet to qualify in that event. This year hitting that standard might not be enough to get onto the team, showing the capability of scoring in the conference will more likely to determine roster spots. With this pressure looming over the team everyone is being pushed to be at there best this indoor season. With any luck it will help push the team to grow and improve as a unit and not lead to divisions and fighting among friends.

First week of indoor track training

The transition from cross country to track is always an ordeal for the distance program at the Rock. First, before the PSAC Championship meet the team gets cut down to 12 runners and those who are not racing at the championship meet start their break in between seasons. Then the Regional's race is 2 weeks after the PSAC meet but this race cuts the team to the top 7 runners and the race bumps up from an 8k to a 10k. So those who did not make the regionals squad start their break between seasons. Finally, after the regionals race the rest of the cross country team takes their break between seasons. After all of that everyone on the team is at a different point and some runners are ready for workouts and some need some time off their legs. It has been 2 weeks since regionals and everyone on the team is back to practice. Regardless of where everyone is at in their training, as a team we are hurting a little in our first couple weeks back into training. Luckily, this pain is what runners live for and we are all excited to start some workouts and start running fast.