Friday, June 29, 2012

July 2012 Summer Conditioning

There are a lot of exciting things planned for July and the upcoming season. Below you will find our summer conditioning schedule through the month of July.

If you would like to improve and be your best I cannot stress enough the need to run EVERY DAY! If you have a desire to compete at a high level this fall you must put in consistent mileage this summer to reach your true potential. The hunger and desire to be your best for your team must come from within. Success comes down to work ethic, desire and guts. It is that simple.

For the Month of July we will meet 5-6 times a week. It is strongly recommended you continue to build your mileage and add distance to your long run. In mid-July we will begin to incorporate tempo runs and strides into our program as we work on increasing our lactate threshold.

This is the minimum recommendation of what you should build up to by the end of July to be prepared for the upcoming XC season:

Beginner / Novice Runners:
3-4 x Team Run
Goal Mileage: 15-20 miles per week

Returning Runners:
4-5 x Team Run
Goal Mileage: 25-35 miles per week

Varsity:
6 x Team Run
Goal Mileage: 40-60 miles per week


Cool things you might want to do this summer...

July 4th: Morgan Hill Freedom Run
Since I started running in Junior High I have made my best effort to run a race on the 4th.  It all began in the small Oregon town I grew up in where there was a race from (the even smaller town of) Odell through the parade route in Hood River.  Morgan Hill's Freedom Run is a page out of that book running on the parade route.  Thousands of people line the streets for the parade and cheer on runners as the runners pass by.

There are many other local runs on the 4th of July: "4 on the 4th" in Almaden and the Santa Cruz Firecracker runs are all great races as well.  If you don't have plans its a fun way to get your run in and kick off Independence Day.
Race Info: CLICK HERE
 
July 22: Wharf to Wharf 
I'm not sure the race slogan "It's the best little road race in California," accurately describes 15,000 runners taking the journey from the Santa Cruz Boardwalk to Capitola Village but it is something you have to experience.  This is another race I have tried to do since high school after I moved to Santa Cruz.  From the deafening cannon shot that starts the race to the bands every quarter mile that help you along, this is one that you don't want to miss.  But you may have to if you didn't already sign up, it sells out in the first week after opening registration April 1. 
Race Info: CLICK HERE
 
July 23-27: Bay Area Running Camp 
This camp is in its second year and is held at Woodside Priory High School.  This is a great way to get in some quality training and hear from great speakers like Pattie Sue Plummer (two time Olympian and current Stanford coach) and Patrick McCrystal (Head Coach at Bellarmine).  Other presenters will discus on a wide range of topics from nutrition to running form.  If five or more athletes from our team attend you will receive $50 off the registration fee.  EVERYONE attending the camp gets a free pair of shoes!
Camp Info: CLICK HERE

August 4: Adventure Run - Woodside to Half Moon Bay
If you have trained all summer and have built up a good solid long run this is something worth giving a try.  This will be a run / hike from Woodside's Huddart Park, up and over the Santa Cruz Mountains ending at the Ocean in Half Moon Bay.  It is 14 miles so it is for those who are fit enough to make it.  So train hard, this is a run you don't want to miss! 
 
August 9: Los Gatos All-Comer
I'm not a big fan of lots of racing in the summer as I think your time and energy is better spent building up your mileage.  But as long as you haven't run more than one or two races and have approached them as "hard tempos" it can be a good way to keep the motivation up.  We're not doing any hard workouts so a race every three weeks won't kill you.  Just keep in mind the key races we want to be fresh for is in November, so it is important to not over do racing too early.  This All-Comer 5k is one of those "fun" races that is you can do as a tune-up for the fall.  The last race of the All-Comer series a 5k distance and it is usually run under the lights.   


To view the complete summer conditioning schedule: CLICK HERE

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