Cross Country News

 "Running is like life, it's a long journey, but well worth it."

REVISED AS OF MONDAY, AUGUST 5th!!!!!  Please READ!!! 

Announcements  

    Bring a watch! Athletes need to wear watches so they can: monitor heart rate, time themselves during workouts, and check the actual time if they have to leave early (this happens almost daily)

·         Bring water! Make sure you pick up your water after practice so coaches don’t have to pick up after you!

·         Review forms again…I loved how you put the encouragement to scan the documents so they have them on the computer and don’t have to re-fill anything out!

·         Attendance is mandatory! If you can’t make it to the 1^st week of practice (Aug. 5^th), please let us know as we will be taking attendance!

·         Remind athletes to continue to run! If athletes are not physically at practice, they need to do the workouts posted on the blog!

·         We have a huge team! Our team is rather big this year, and we know athletes are still joining as we’ve had a lot of people contacting us who are on vacation. Please encourage your friends to join as it is normal to have a lot of athletes added to the team as the school year approaches! Get the word out!

·         Here is the schedule for next week:

Monday               9 – 10:30 a.m.                    ALHS Track

Tuesday               9 – 10:30 a.m.                    ALHS Track

Wednesday        Recovery Day                    On your own, meet with friends, or (preferred), meet with                                                                                  teammates

                                                                                20 – 30 minutes swimming (preferred) or cardio                                                                                                         (basketball, bike ride, game, rollerblading, etc.)

                                                                                or a recovery (very easy) run of 20 – 24 minutes

Thursday             8:25 – 11 a.m.                    Metro Parks

                                                                                We will meet at ALHS Track BEFORE 8:30 a.m., and we’ll be                                                                                  taking a bus to the Rocky River Metro Parks for hill

work. We will return at 11 a.m. at ALHS.

                Friday                    9 – 10:30 a.m.                    ALHS Track – bring your bike! We’ll meet at the track, then                                                                                                    start our bike ride at Kopf Reservation

                Saturday              9 – 10:30 a.m.                    ALHS Track

·         Parent Meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, August 13^th, from 6:30 – 7:15 p.m., in the Learwood Auditorium! Please plan on attending as we will go over our season. Topics will include: apparel you should buy, shoes, spikes, meet formats, Friday Night Dinners (and other social events we’re planning for the team), as well as how and what to watch for in a meet…this is a new sport for many so we want to make sure everyone is as educated as possible going into the season!

Thanks,

Coach Walters

Cross Country Update

It was great seeing so many new and returning runners today at our first day of conditioning.  Coach Rocco and I feel like this is going to be a great year.  If you missed practice or wanted to be reminded of what  was announced today, below is a summary.  I can't wait to see everyone tomorrow!

Monday, July 22 Announcements

1. All runners are highly encouraged to bring a watch to practice EVERYDAY.  The watches will be used to time their runs and check heart rate.  The watches do not have to be fancy--no need to the GPS function.  I have included a link to a couple of places that sell runners watches.  

 http://www.dickssportinggoods.com/category/index.jsp?categoryId=12320513

http://www.target.com/p/casio-men-s-60-lap-runners-watch-black/-/A-13977592

2. For the next 4 weeks, Thursdays practices will be a recovery day.  Athletes are encouraged to try to organize a way to meet up at a local pool and hopefully get a good 30-40 minutes of lap swim in.  If they are unable to find a place to swim an alternative recovery workout will be posted on the blog.  

3. This summer, since Thursday is a recovery day, there will be Saturday practice.  More details on when and where to meet will follow shortly.

4. Summer workouts are posted here.  

5. Don't forget to join the team Shutterfly site.  Click here for directions. 

6. As you are filling out all the necessary forms I HIGHLY encourage that you scan all papers and save them to your computer.  Every sport that your son/daughter joins this year will ask for medical forms.  That way, when you need to have another copy, you can just hit the "PRINT" button instead of filling out the forms again.  I would even suggest scanning the PHYSICAL forms just in case they get lost among the hundreds of others that the office receives every year. 

7.  Make sure to recruit your friends to join the team.  

Thanks,

Coach Walters 

2013 Cross Country Season

Summer vacation is right around the corner, so it is time to start thinking of cross country season.  If you are  an incoming 7th grader or an 8th grade student at Learwood and love (or sorta like) running then you should join the team!

Here is the important information you need to know:

1. Conditioning starts on July 22nd and will be at the high school from 9am-10:30am (Monday-Friday). 

2. Official practice begins August 5th same place and same time. 

3. Medical forms need to be completed by August 5th.  For a copy of all the forms click here. 

4. Conditioning is optional but highly recommended.  During summer practices, attendance policy is relaxed to accommodate vacations.
6. A Cross Country Calendar has been created and to access it click here.
7. A Shutterfly team account is available to post pictures.  Click here. 

5. If you are interested... please fill out the form below.  

Running Club

Distance Runners & Parents:

 

Here’s the next 2 weeks’ schedule for Running Club. Remember to email me if you’re planning on attending Saturday sessions at the Rocky River Metroparks (which start on Saturday, February 16^th). We should be gone from 10 a.m. – noon(ish). If we get enough runners interested we may be able to get a bus.

 

Coach Rocco

 

Wednesday, January 30^th             Learwood            3 – 4 p.m.            32 minutes

Friday, February 1^st                         Learwood            3 – 4 p.m.            30 minutes

Saturday, February 2^nd                   ALHS Track          10 – 11 a.m.        Miracle Miles

 

Wednesday, February 6^th             Learwood            3 – 4 p.m.            34 minutes

Friday, February 8^th                         Learwood            3 – 4 p.m.            32 minutes

Saturday, February 9^th                   ALHS Track          10 – 11 a.m.        Miracle Miles

 

Running Club

Distance Runners & Parents:

 

Running Club will be canceled this week due to the low temperatures.

 

I will send out the next 2 weeks’ schedule in the near future. We are going to start hill work/stadium step workouts on Saturdays—hopefully starting next week. Athletes are strongly encouraged to attend these sessions. We will start with stadium steps and then progress to hill work sessions.

 

Which leads me to our next (potential) problem. If we want to go to the Rocky River Metroparks to do hill work (which I would like to start in a few weeks), we need to have a good number of athletes involved to justify the expense of getting a bus to drive us there. So…I’m going to ask if you could email me if you’re planning on going to these sessions on the following dates so I can report back to the athletic department that it is a good expense to incur to the district. If it is deemed not to be so, we may have to see if carpooling is an option. But…let’s see if you’re interested first!

Here are the proposed dates (in bold)…all Saturdays:

 

January 26^th       CANCELED DUE TO COLD TEMPERATURES

February 2^nd       Miracle Miles

February 9^th        Miracle Miles

 

February 16^th     Hill work at Metroparks

February 23^rd     Hill work at Metroparks

March 1^st             Hill work at Metroparks

March 8^th             Hill work at Metroparks

 

Just let me know if you plan on attending ANY of these sessions! Email works…I just need an approximate number for the athletic department. Thanks!

Coach Rocco

 

Running Club Update

Distance Runners & Parents:

 

I’ve updated the next two weeks’ schedule for the Running Club. I’m starting to work with the varsity track team this week, so the schedule may change. Please check the announcements for any cancellations.

 

It is crucial for all distance runners to run 3-4 times per week! Attendance is optional at this point in the off-season training, but make sure you are running! From this point on (January through the 1^st week of March), it is vitally important to get out and run. If running outside is not an option due to weather, treadmill running, elliptical, or even recumbent bike indoors are all great options. Don’t over-do it—remember, you are now training for 400, 800, and 1600 meter races (as opposed to 3200 meter races in cross country) but do make sure you show up to the pre-season training with Coach Arebaugh ready to go!

 

We are going to continue incorporating dynamic stretches in our sessions. Make sure to static stretch either at the conclusion of our sessions or at home! This is important as well.

 

Lastly, Coach Walters and I are going to (finally) get around to doing our uniform inventory. I’ve got to clean out my room! If you still haven’t turned in your uniform, please do so! Uniforms should be placed in a bag with your name labeled on it. We’ll remind specific athletes of this.

 

Any questions or concerns, please let us know!

Coach Rocco

Coach Walters

 

Monday, January 14                      RUN ON OWN FOR 24 MINUTES

Wednesday, January 16                Learwood            3 – 4 p.m.            24 minutes

Friday, January 18                            Learwood            3 – 4 p.m.            28 minutes

Saturday, January 19                      ALHS Track          10 – 11 a.m.        26 minutes

 

Monday, January 21                       Learwood            3 – 4 p.m.            26 minutes

Wednesday, January 23                Learwood            3 – 4 p.m.            30 minutes

Friday, January 25                            Learwood            3 – 4 p.m.            28 minutes

Saturday, January 26                      ALHS Track          10 – 11:45 a.m.  28 minutes

This session MAY turn into a hill work session at the Metro Parks in Rocky River. I have to see if I can get a bus—if I can then I’ll let everyone know. If not…maybe we can carpool out there? More info. to come on this!

 

Running Club

The next few weeks' schedule for Learwood's Running Club is listed below. Also, if you cannot attend sessions, the workouts are listed alongside the workout days/times.

Athletes are reminded to stratic stretch after the workouts, either at Learwood post-run or at home. Also, make sure not to over-do these workouts! You should not be running more than 4 days a week, and you should not be running for much further distances. However, it is important to make sure you do get out and run.

Friday, Dec. 14              3 - 4 p.m.        Learwood        32 minutes
Saturday, Dec. 15          10 - 11 a.m.    ALHS Track      32 minutes

Tuesday, Dec. 18           3 - 4 p.m.        Learwood        28 minutes
Wednesday, Dec. 19      3 - 4 p.m.        Learwood        36 minutes
Thursday, Dec. 20         3 - 4 p.m.        Learwood        36 minutes
Saturday, Dec. 22         10 -11 a.m.      ALHS Track      34 minutes

Wednesday, Dec. 26     10 - 11 a.m.     ALHS Track      38 minutes
Thursday, Dec. 27        10 - 11 a.m.     ALHS Track      38 minutes
Friday, Dec. 28            10 - 11 a.m.     ALHS Track       38 minutes
Saturday, Dec. 29        10 - 11 a.m.     ALHS Track       42 minutes

Wednesday, Jan. 2       10 - 11 a.m.    ALHS Track        40 minutes
Thursday, Jan. 3           3 - 4 p.m.       Learwood          44 minutes
Friday, Jan. 4               3 - 3:45 p.m.   Learwood          22 minutes
Saturday, Jan. 5           10 - 11 a.m.    ALHS Track        22 minutes 

I might be going out of town during Winter Break, but if I have to cancel any sessions, I'll make sure to email everyone and post it on the blog. Also, information will be on the morning announcements, and you can stop by my room (404) if you have any questions! Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to everyone!

Coach Rocco