First Day of Practice: Monday, August 3rd

Hey Everyone:

Here's information regarding our first official day of practice:

• We're meeting at ALHS (by the caboose).
• Girls will meet from 8 - 9:15 a.m.
• Boys will meet from 9:30 - 10:45 a.m.
• All athletes should bring their own water, a mask, running shoes, and clothes that could get dirty (don't wear your best clothes). Please bring your own water, there can't be sharing of water this season and we don't think you'll be able to use the drinking fountain.
• Just a reminder that masks are mandatory, we'll bring extras but try to bring your own as we may not have enough.

A few things about forms:

• The two forms you need in order to practice Monday are the Emergency Medical Form and the Physical Exam Form.
• The Emergency Medical Form can be found HERE
• The Physical Exam Form can be found HERE
• If you haven't had a physical yet, you can still attend practice! You can't practice with us, but we can give you an alternate workout to complete on your own. We'll still take your attendance, and you can meet with the team both before and after the workout.
• We'll focus on the other forms after we collect these two forms.
• Try to drop off these forms this week at the Learwood Office. We'll go through them, create our current roster, and meet with everyone Monday. 
• The Learwood Office will be open this week from 10 a.m. - 2 p.m., so you can stop by and drop off your forms.
• If you can't turn in your forms this week and you show up Monday with them, try to get there 15 minutes before practice so we can process them prior to practice officially starting.

A few things going forward:

• We are planning on starting practice at ALHS for the first week, as it has a nice track, stadium steps, a fitness trail, a place to run on the north side of campus, and we can utilize Kopf Reservation.
• If we run at Kopf Reservation the coaching staff will direct athletes to run 6 feet apart through the trail.
• We may be shifting some practices to different locations this summer, and we may not be allowed to use buses to get there. If we do this, we'll allow for alternate workouts to take place for those athletes who may not be able to attend practices off-campus.
• Mostly, however, we plan on being at the high school throughout the remainder of the summer.
• If you cannot attend practice because of a family commitment (namely, you're on vacation) or you have an excused absence (dentist/doctor appointment, for example) just email us and we'll post alternate workouts on the blog so you're still staying in shape when you return.

Lastly:

• We're used to having really large teams, but this might change this year. 
• Still, if someone you know is interested in running, it's not too late to join! Let them know about this blog site and have them go through the blog posts from this summer.
• They can also email me at rob.rocco@avonlakecityschools.org

Pre-season Running Session: Week #5 (July 27-August 1)

Hey Everyone:

Make sure you're logging your minutes/miles, we're going to go over them as we head into the first official day of practice Monday, August 3rd. Here are a few things to go over regarding this week:

• We're going to continue last week's running volume, 5 days this week, with a sixth day of cardio. 
• The volume of the runs will continue to increase gradually, so you won't be running a lot more miles. It's gradual, but be ready for the first day of practice as we're going to continue to increase the volume and intensity. 
• If you want to go a little faster, try increasing your speed on the last 25% of your longer runs (most likely Wednesday's run). For example, if you're going to run 28 minutes, run at the same pace for the first 75% of the run (21 minutes), then increase your speed on the last 25% (7 minutes) of that run. Again, this is only if you feel like you can--it's not required at this point.
• Try to keep the shorter days light, even though you may think they're easy. Make those your recovery days.
• The last day of your training this week should be a minimum of 45 minutes of sustained cardio. This can be any form of cardio (elliptical, bike ride, swimming, playing another sport, etc.). Just log the activity and the time.
• Stay hydrated!

Here's this week's running times:

• Monday         24 - 34 minutes
• Tuesday         10 - 20 minutes
• Wednesday   26 - 36 minutes
• Thursday       10 - 20 minutes
• Friday            10 minutes 
• Saturday       45 minutes sustained (uninterrupted) cardio

These times are listed as a range of times, you can pick a time in between (for example if you decide to run 16 minutes continuously you can run 8 minutes out and 8 minutes back).

Good luck, keep up the good work and don't forget to log your minutes! 

UPDATED Pre-season Running Log (Weeks of July 20th & July 26th)

Hey Everyone:

Here's the Pre-season Running Log for the Weeks of July 20th & July 26th: UPDATED Pre-season Running Log

If you still need to log your minutes/miles from the previous weeks (for the weeks of June 29th, July 6th, and July 13th), go to the blog post from Tuesday, June 30th and click on the link provided.

We're going to go through your running logs to help us prepare for your workouts when we start next week!

Tonight's Parent Meeting

Parents:

Here's information about tonight's meeting:

• The Cross Country meeting will be held from 6 – 6:45 p.m. I’ll go over a few items regarding the season, and the last 20 – 25 minutes will be devoted to answering any questions you may have
• Here’s the link to join the Zoom meeting: https://us04web.zoom.us/j/71117011542?pwd=Sm5zeEZNNUFMam5OaWNzRVJKVk1CUT09
• The Meeting ID is 711-1701-1542
• The Passcode is 9Jf1pw

Reminder from our Athletic Director:

• The Learwood Athletic Office will be open Tuesday, July 28th through Friday, July 31st from 10 a.m. - 2 p.m. to collect physicals and all other paperwork.

Questions and (some) answers from the Google Survey:

• Just a reminder you can post your questions/concerns to the following GOOGLE SURVEY
•  Here are some of the questions/comments we received so far:

1. Is it possible for my son to play football (7th) along with running cross country? If so, how does that work? Please email me at rob.rocco@avonlakecityschools.org and we can set up a time to discuss this. I’m not against it, but we’d need to figure it out and coordinate it with the football staff.
2. I am worried about having 100+ kids in the line breathing on each other. Maybe the kids could wear the masks for the start and then take them off as they space out. This is something I brought up to the Learwood Athletic Director and our varsity coach, and it’s one of our staff’s main concerns. I’m not sure how much say we have in the matter (in regard to how many participants there will be), but one thing we discussed as a staff is splitting large meets into more divisions/races, elongating the start line as much as possible, and allowing more spacing after kids get through the chutes. Hopefully we get answers on how we can distance kids appropriately in this sport. Wearing masks at the line is something I’ll bring up.
3. Are you still planning on having Friday night dinners? We had two questions regarding this. I’ll ask the administration, but I really can’t see them approving a large gathering of people on school grounds—for those unaware, we have had our Friday Night Dinners in the Learwood cafeteria after practice. I’ll double-check on this and get back to everyone.
4. As you have stated, our biggest concern is it possible to host a safe season with the social distance guidelines being followed. I think if we split up practices (boys/girls practicing at different days/times), then breaking those groups into thirds (one group per coach), we could better manage practices. The big issue will be the meets and transportation to and from meets. If we can have parents transport athletes and help at camp, maybe it can work. Of course we’ll have to see what the OHSAA says about race protocols.
5. Our fans allowed at meets? This may be my biggest concern—there are hundreds of spectators at any point in any one of our races this season. And over the course of a meet day, it could be thousands of people at these events. I’m not sure of the answer to this, perhaps they can limit the number of spectators? I don’t know how this can be enforced, but something will need to be done.
6. If our child does online school, can she still participate in cross country? I’ll find out! You might want to email me at rob.rocco@avonlakecityschools.org. I’ll get back to you.
7. Are the students required to wear masks to practice and/or meets? I’m guessing the answer is yes—to practice, from practice, on the bus, but not during workouts/competition. I’ll double-check and let everyone know prior to the first day of practice but be prepared to bring and wear a mask.
8. Are students able to opt not to go on the bus to meets this year? Yes, in fact we’d feel a little more comfortable if students did NOT ride the bus (if that’s possible). Of all the fall sports at Learwood, we easily spend the most time on the bus. If parents could transport to and from meets, it could help us spread kids out on a bus and lessen the demand for buses this fall.

Pre-season Running Session: Week #4 (July 20-July 25)

Hey Everyone:

I'm going to go over your running logs in the next couple of days, so make sure you're logging your minutes. Here are a few things to go over regarding this week:

• We're going to increase our running from 3-4 days to 5 days this week, with a sixth day of cardio. 
• The volume of the runs will continue to increase gradually, so you won't be running a lot more miles. It's gradual, but be ready for the first day of practice as we're going to continue to increase the volume and intensity. 
• If you want to go a little faster, try increasing your speed on the last 25% of your longer runs (most likely Wednesday's run). For example, if you're going to run 28 minutes, run at the same pace for the first 75% of the run (21 minutes), then increase your speed on the last 25% (7 minutes) of that run. Again, this is only if you feel like you can--it's not required at this point.
• Try to keep the shorter days light, even though you may think they're easy. Make those your recovery days.
• The last day of your training this week should be a minimum of 30 minutes of sustained cardio. This can be any form of cardio (elliptical, bike ride, swimming, playing another sport, etc.). Just log the activity and the time.
• Stay hydrated!

Here's this week's running times:

• Monday         22 - 32 minutes
• Tuesday         10 - 15 minutes
• Wednesday   18 - 28 minutes
• Thursday       10 - 15 minutes
• Friday            10 minutes 
• Saturday       30 minutes sustained (uninterrupted) cardio

These times are listed as a range of times, you can pick a time in between (for example if you decide to run 16 minutes continuously you can run 8 minutes out and 8 minutes back).

Good luck, keep up the good work and don't forget to log your minutes! We'll update the log and send that to you.

Fall Sports Meeting Information

Athletes & Parents:

Here's information from our Athletic Director:

• The Learwood Athletic Director, Kaitlin Leonard, has changed the Fall Sports Meeting to a VIRTUAL MEETING. The information for this meeting can be found on the Learwood Athletic Department website: https://avonlakesports.com/2020/07/09/learwood-fall-sports-2020-important-information/
• The Learwood Athletic Office will be open Tuesday, July 28th through Friday, July 31st from 10 a.m. - 2 p.m. to collect physicals and all other paperwork.

Here's information we typically go over at the Fall Sports Parent Meeting:

• The FORMS tab on the blog (up at the top) will go over all pertinent forms that need to be filled out prior to the first day of practice. We've posted everything you need on this tab, no need to go searching the district website. 
• The SWC CHAMPIONSHIP HISTORY tab highlights our performances at the SWC Championship. 
• The BOYS' TOP TIMES and GIRLS' TOP TIMES tabs highlight the top individual performances since the early 1990's. Middle school cross country course lengths have changed from 1.8 miles to 2.0 miles, so I've included equivalent times in order to better compare athletes.
• The SCHEDULE will have the meets we're planning on attending this season. A couple things about the schedule:

1. We haven't heard anything about how meets will be run this season. I've asked around and I haven't heard anything yet. 
2. We have our Fun Run scheduled with Amherst at ALHS (we run through Kopf Reservation). I usually have to reserve the reservation through the Lorain County Metro-parks, so we'll see if we can access it this season.
3. I was so excited to get this email from Seneca East this past winter! It's about a night run where they set up a course that is lined with lights. So I registered our team for this race, with the thought being we could take the top 7 boys & girls to run here. This will also allow our next top runners to run varsity at Cloverleaf earlier in the day. Hopefully we can get this race in, it's one of the things I was looking forward to this season--a few of the runners I had in class already heard me talk about this when I got the email.

• Finally, the CROSS COUNTRY EXPECTATIONS has all the information regarding our season, including Student Expectations, Paperwork Requirements, Attendance Policy, Discipline, Transportation, Uniforms & Equipment, Athlete Participation, Miscellaneous Items, and Parent Communication. I did not update this document yet as nothing is set, but we will communicate everything to you once we have a better idea of how the season can progress.

A note from the coaches about this season:

• We met as a staff recently to discuss our concerns and ideas about how we can safely conduct a season.
• Because of this, a lot of what we would typically go over at the Fall Sports Meeting may be obsolete this season.
• With that said, it might not hurt to take a look at last year's CROSS COUNTRY EXPECTATIONS so you have an idea of what a typical season would look like.
• We are taking a look at the following items as we prepare for the season, and they may change: 

1. Attendance: we're looking at staggering practices and then splitting that smaller group into groups of three (one group per coach). We're thinking of meeting with boys & girls separately this season, helping us to maintain social distancing. We'll send out a separate post with information about summer practice days/times and school year practice days/times for both groups. 
2. Transportation: we want to set up a meeting with the Athletic Department and I'll reach out to the Transportation Director to see how we can set this up this season. There are a couple issues we may face: will the district be able to provide enough busses with the social distancing measures put in place (our teams have ranged in size from 75-93 total athletes the past several years), and what can we do if we don't have enough adult monitors on the busses? We would like your feedback as well, so feel free to fill out the Google Form below.
3. Athlete Participation: I've reached out to a few other coaches and no one has heard anything about how meets will be run. We may be told how many athletes we can take to meets (but that's just speculation). Personally I don't want there to be any restrictions, as one of the great things about this sport is not just the team component; it's also how the individual athlete can track his/her own's progress from week to week--everyone can demonstrate growth. However, as a staff we're going to be more stringent on taking only those athletes who can complete a race without walking. 

• Once we have a clearer picture of how things can be run this season, we'll be sure to communicate that to everyone.
• The biggest concern we have is how to keep everyone safe, yet still getting the kids out and running and being part of a team. 

Let us know what questions, concerns, and/or ideas you have:

• Post your questions/concerns to the following GOOGLE SURVEY
• If anyone is interested in joining the team, please feel free to pass along the link to the blog--especially the post with the REMIND information.

Thanks!

Cross Country Coaching Staff
Aubin D'Andrea
Scott Peepers 
Rob Rocco

Cross Country Team Manager
Anna Walters

Pre-season Running Session: Week #3 (July 13-July 18)

Hey Everyone:

I wanted to go over a few things regarding our team so far:

• First, we have 50 runners signed up. That's awesome! If anyone still wants to join, make sure you refer him/her to this blog site so they can sign up online and for REMIND texts.
• Of the 50 runners signed up, 41 of you logged in your minutes/miles for Week 1's Pre-season Running. That's not bad, but if you haven't started running yet, you really need to begin now.
• Of the 50 runners signed up, 25 of you logged in your minutes/miles for Week 2's Pre-season Running. Make sure to log your times from last week!

A few things about running in this summer heat:

• It's important to stay hydrated. The best way to do this is to stay away from soda, limit the amount of fruit juice, and definitely limit the sports drinks. Stick to water, and hydrate throughout the day. The best way to do this is to have water around you all the time, and take sips of it throughout the day. Once you get thirsty, you're already dehydrated. If you're thirsty before practice (when we have practice) you'll already be dehydrated and then you're not able to reach your optimal performance.
• I said a couple weeks ago that If you're on a treadmill, my suggestion would be to set it at 6.0 MPH for now, at zero incline, then hit your time you've picked for that day's workout. You are allowed to adjust this! If you are struggling, you can lower the MPH (just don't walk). At this point, we're not too worried about speed, just get your volume (hit your times). The speed will come later.
• I'm going to get personal for a moment...last week was a rough week of running for me. My asthma has gotten worse this summer (since March, actually). I'm really struggling with this pollen and it's affecting my training. If you're battling asthma, I empathize with you. So...do your best, stay hydrated, and realize that your training will get better as the season progresses!
• With that said, remember that whatever you're doing NOW to train is like getting a good head start to your season. So don't get down on yourself if you feel like you're not where you think you should be...think of it as you're already ahead of where you should be at this time of the year, and you're getting yourself ready for when actual practice starts. Make sure to practice positive thinking!
• Let me repeat what I said a couple weeks ago: you can definitely supplement your running with other cardiovascular activities, but those don't REPLACE the running you need to do. I've had runners tell me they missed a workout but 'it's okay because I did a lot of walking at Cedar Point'. Yeah...that's not the same. Any runner will tell you you cannot replace the actual act of running with other activities (as good as they may be). I love kayaking but I still get my run in if I've kayaked that morning, I don't congratulate myself on a good run after I'm done kayaking.
• This week's running is going to be the same as the last two: three days of running but you can go up to 4 days this week. Next week we're going to increase it to 5 days of running. 
• If you really want to add more to your training, then you should be involved in other cardio activities! Biking, swimming, playing other sports...this will help with your training and mobility and will complement your running (just as running will complement your other sports).
• I have to tell you all to not congregate in groups. You are advised to run individually. If you happen to run with a few friends, make sure to exercise social-distancing pre- and post-workout and avoid running in groups at all times (or spread out during your run). 

Here's this week's running times:

• Session #1     16 - 26 minutes
• Session #2     20 - 30 minutes
• Session #3     18 - 28 minutes

These times are listed as a range of times, you can pick a time in between (for example if you decide to run 16 minutes continuously you can run 8 minutes out and 8 minutes back).

When this week is complete, you can log your minutes on the Pre-season Running Log (remember it's the same log in the same blog post as the last two weeks).

Good luck, keep up the good work and don't forget to log your minutes!

Pre-season Running Session: Week #2 (July 6-July 11)

Hey Everyone:

Coach Walters and I will be going over your running times from last week. Here are this week's running times:

• Session #1     16 - 26 minutes
• Session #2     14 - 24 minutes
• Session #3     18 - 28 minutes

A few things to remember as we progress into our second week of pre-season running:

• If you haven't yet, check out last week's post regarding the beginning of our season
• This is going to be a really hot week, so try getting your run in early in the day
• Same guidelines for running pertain to this week as last week: keep it light, same speed on the treadmill, the main thing is to maintain your jog WITHOUT walking at any point!
• Hopefully you are troubleshooting the times you can run without walking and you're gradually building your stamina up...keep progressing with this
• Log this week's running times in the same log we sent out last week (it's the post prior to this one)

One last thing, if you know of anyone who's interested in joining the team, feel free to send him/her the links to this blog site so they can sign up and start training...so far we've got a lot of kids signed up but our teams have traditionally grown over the course of the summer and we allow athletes to join throughout the summer. 

Hope you guys are good!