Last day of fundraiser: tomorrow

A word for all athletes: When you are on the CVHS track team you take on a debit. A debit you owe to the team. Each and every athlete on our team owes ten addressed envelopes. And we want our envelopes. All athletes will have them turned in tomorrow, taken from your contacts lists or your parents address books. A small commitment to ask for such a large team venture.

Thanks,

Coach Nack 

Wait! Don't go....

You might have noticed a site redesign. How do you like it? I've been avoiding work on a big project all day now, and this was just the latest distraction. I think it was worthwhile.

Athletes, these are my hopes...

• You have had a great spring break
• You have trained a minimum of 3 times over break (3 times for a C, 5 times for a B, times for an A)
• You are ready for a good, but hard team practice on Monday
• You are ready for the next 8 weeks (includes State Championships), as they will: go quickly, be difficult, be fun yet trying, be successful, and be fulfilling
• You have your envelopes addressed and ready to turn in on Monday at practice

On a personal note: today we said goodbye to our Japanese exchange teacher, Naoko Fukuda. Jasmine (my sweet lady) and I were very sad to see her go. Though, taking this responsibility added some stress, and took  time away from other things (work, school, track, etc), it was definitely the best decision I have made in a while. I love nothing more than traveling, but this was the next best thing. Naoko constantly surprised us with her sense of humor, composure, integrity, dignity, and manners (manners are so overlooked sometimes that the addition of them in this list seems silly, but every culture is different in their approach to manners--based on this visit I would say the Japanese have it right). We will miss her, and we are hoping for her, her students', and families safety upon return to Hachinohe, Aomori prefecture, Japan.

Naoko's calligraphy: "Loyalty"

Saturday Night Post-Meet Musings

VCA 2010 RACE RUN from changoman on Vimeo.

This video has nothing to do with anything, but it is entertaining

Thanks to Coach Sepp for the link.

What a day! It was good, but it was looooong. There is something about wind that makes a day at a track meet seem so much longer. Thank you very much to the athletes, and parents that stuck it out to the very end--I'm glad you were rewarded to a slight break in the wind at the end. If you stuck around you might have heard the good news: our boys took second in what was a very competitive meet of 27 teams. Nice job fellas! There were a lot of highlights on the day, hopefully the wind did not whip them all out of my memory so we can talk about them next week.

Speaking of next week....Here is a schedule of practices (at least how I understand them) for the week of Spring Break. (coaches if you read this and notice a mistake, please contact me with proper information)

• Coach Whitenack (High Jump)- Wed 3:30pm, Thur 3:30pm, Sat 10am
• Coach Lancett (Sprints & Hurdles)- Mon 9am-12pm, further practices TBA
• Coach Martinez (Pole Vault)- Mon 9am-12pm, I believe he is going everyday at 9am, but for now we will say 9am Tue-Fri
• Coach Kuhn and Euwema (distance)- Mon-Fri 9am
• Coach Smith (Long & Triple Jump)- ??? All should show for any sprinting workouts
• Coach Hidy (throws)- ???

No matter what you do make sure you do something everyday. It is an epically bad idea to not work out this week. We have put in all this time, and have done such a high level of volume (i.e. number of foot strikes from running, jumping, etc), that removing the volume for an entire week would ruin most of what we have built. This, I think, is particularly dangerous for athletes that just began track in the spring and did not do winter track or play a winter sport--unfortunately these athletes are the most likely to do as I advise against. If it does happpen the gains we've made would be just as hard or harder to get back.

I will absent for most of the practice times next week. I have to complete projects and field work for my Master's degree next week, so I have to take this time off. It is certainly not by choice. Look forward to working with my HJers Wed, Thur, and Sat. See everyone else Mon, Mar 28.

REMEMBER: FUNDRAISER ENVELOPES ARE DUE BACK ON MONDAY, MARCH 28.

Ladies, this is how to high jump.

A little less than a year ago I posted a video of ladies high jump, and some thoughts about it. At a new school with some new athletes I thought a little repost was in order. For some people, all you need to do is see it, to understand it a little better. It is my fortune to have some good athletes to work with, but are new to the event and need to learn from the best now. With that in mind, enjoy, even if it is a repeat for some of you.



Here are some of my thoughts from the original post:

• Notice the speed that is gained (for example, the very first jumper--Chaunte Howard Lowe...find some more of her on you tube. You will not be disappointed.)
• Notice the lean in the curve (see all)
• Notice how close these ladies are to knocking the bar off on each jump. (example: the still frame in the video above--looking at that would you guess she makes that jump) Ridiculous! The thing is, they know where it is, and they know they are close, but they do not let that deter them. They do not give up. And in the end they help us redefine what we think is possible.

My thoughts have really not changed. I do, however, learn something new every time I watch this. This time I was reminded that there are many different ways to high jump. Many of the ladies in the video, who are the best in the world, look very different at times. We, meaning you the athlete and me the coach, have to evaluate what may or may not work, implement appropriate changes, and stick with them even though your performance dips down because we know it will eventually coem back up.

Hope you learned a little something.

Coach Nack

TRHS Invite Saturday @Sports Authority Stadium (SAS)

League Relays Results

Congratulations to both girls and boys track teams on their performance today at our League Relays meet. The girls finished in a tie for 7th place with Mountain Vista, and the boys had a very impressive 1st place finish against a competitive group of schools.

Here's the break down (by place, 8th-1st):
8th- boys 3200m relay, girls shot put relay
7th- girls 1600m relay
6th- none
5th- boys 1600m relay, girls 3200m relay, girls long jump relay
4th- girls 6400m relay, girls distance medley relay, girls discus relay, boys 3200m team race, boys 6400m relay, boys 800m sprint medley relay
3rd- boys pole vault relay, boys long jump relay, girls 800m sprint medley relay,
2nd- girls 400m relay, boys meter relay, boys 800m relay
1st- boys high jump relay (tied with TRHS), boys shuttle hurdles, boys 1600m medley relay, boys distance medley relay, boys triple jump relay

A great showing for our first true varsity competition. Next week we have our first state qualifying meet which means we have to get closer to our best heights, times, and distances. A good showing at league relays might show signs of a strong team, but the times across the state are ultimately how we will be measured in the end.

We will see all of the athletes in room 8400 at 3:15 on Monday for practice. As for now, make sure you rest if you are sick. All athletes should do something active on Sunday like a 15-30min jog (longer for distance), basic gymnastics, light weightlifting, yoga, an hour long walk with the dog, an easy bike ride, a hike, etc,etc,etc... It does not have to be hard, but you should do something that requires sustained activity with easy breathing and a low heart rate.

Coach Nack

League Relays Schedule

Giving thanks

As for the Japanese exchange teacher that I mentioned in the last post, I am so, so, so glad she is here. I can only imagine what today will be like for CVHS's 25 visitors from Hachinohe, Aomori prefecture Japan, as well as for their friends and family at home, but all of my thoughts and best wishes are with them.


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Little Sleep = Lots O' Sick

A good number of you recognized that I was feeling really terrible today. Well, I have "para-influenza" which my doc termed as not quite the flu, but many of it's symptoms, and what's worse--no treatment. I have always been proud of how rarely I get sick (I don't think I have had anything resembling the flu since I was 13), but feel like I am getting more stuff more frequently as I age.

What on earth could cause this? Well, as I posted about earlier this week, I believe it is sleep, or the lack there of. I have been burning the candle at both ends with work, my own schoolwork, and perhaps most of all staying up at night preparing for our Japanese exchange teacher. I am very excited for this opporunity, but it has caused me to get about 5-6 hours of sleep each night this week as we have been cleaning and making repairs to the house for preparation of her arrival. Of course, with all that "stress" and a lack of sleep I'd get sick. It would be a small miracle if I didn't.

So, athlete, to bring this back to you....How much are you sleeping everyday? Do you get at least 8 hours? Did you know it is actually recommended that at your age you get 9 hours of sleep? (Tell your parents that your coach orders 9 hous of sleep when you are sleeping in on a lazy Sunday morning) What do you do when you start to feel sick? Let me answer that one: you cut back a lot on the work, school, and track and you step up the rest, sleep, and hydration.

For any athlete or parent looking to learn more about sleep check out the book Lights Out: Sleep, Sugar, and Survival. It is a great introduction to the science of sleep

This post has wiped me out. Back to sleep. See you soon...hopefully.

Coach Nack

PS. Good job with uniform hand out today. Though I was miserable, I thought it went well considering all the circumstances. Thanks for all of your patience.

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Sleep.You must sleep.

Check out this article from the Harvard Business Review on the importance of sleep. Happy (easy) reading:
Sleep Is More Important than Food

Coach Nack

CV v Chap v DC thoughts

 

A great day with lots of surprises
Thanks to the coaches at Chaparral for hosting us at what I thought was a pretty good scrimmage. Some of the big meets we go to are fun just for watching all the athletes that are there (most of all ours), but I really like these small events where the teams' coaches and athletes have to work together for it to get done.
I kind of had a Doublemint (what a lame reference) day, because I got to "double my pleasure and double my fun"  with seeing a group of coaches and athletes I loved working with in the past, and then getting to attend with my new team that makes me prouder everyday. Getting to see former athletes is awesome, but same goes for watching new athletes prepare and compete. I am very happy with our day!

Next...

This week we have the League Relays. To my knowledge this is the first relay meet CVT&F has ever participated in. They are pretty neat:. In each event we enter 4 athletes that compete and have their results added up (much like a relay race in a regular meet), and then the winner is determined. For instance, if our 4 high jumpers jump 5'0", 5'3", 5'9", and 6'0" we end with a score of 22'0", and are then placed. They do this in all of the events. Wait until you see how they may do the 100/110 hurdles...crazy. Perhaps most importantly, All 4 athletes must get a mark. So, technically an individual does not win any event, a team does.

Practice
Monday 3:15pm in rm8400
Tuesday 3:15 on the track
Wednesday 12:00 on the track (tentative)
Thursday 12:00 on the track (tentative)
Friday JV meet at 3:30...A short practice will be held before the meet. Also, if you're not competing you will be helping to run the meet.

A pretty good question...
Comments in old posts often get buried, but reader Summer posted this good question in the Castle View Track & Field Schedule post

Where can we get times on the meets events etc.? I see some times but todays event I could not locate a time...?? I know its hard to say when it will be over but a range would be helpful. :) thanks 

 A possibly less than satisfying answer...
Summer, thanks for coming by and posting. The time for a track meet ending is fairly unpredictable. For most of the varsity meets we go to, meet directors will issue a schedule during the week of the event. The times on those schedules normally stay true, but there can be major exceptions. To not dodge your question and give some sort of an answer :), I would put the general rule as being from 9-5 for Saturday varsity meets, and 3:30-6:30 for most JV meets. All meets are fun, but they can be long and brutal, so please help make sure your kids have plenty of good food, and water.

Coach Nack

So much drama in the BRC (not really, just hearkening back to some 90s Snoop Dogg)

Boulder Running Company: you have outdone yourselves

Awesome, awesome night at the BRC!

I think the owner, Pete, was pretty psyched with how many kids showed up tonight. The staff was patient, friendly, helpful, and full of tons of knowledge. By the end of the evening I think we had 50 kids show up with a variety of needs, and all walked out with something in hand to help this season. Coaches Nack and Kuhn even got hooked up with some new shoes to get us through the season. Woohoo!

If you did not make it tonight, we missed ya and wish you coulda been there with the team, but the BRC has extended the kindness for the rest of the season. For the remainder of the season any CV track athlete with a school ID can show up to the BRC (at Arapahoe and I-25) and get a 20% discount off of their selections.

Make sure to remind me to bring a uniform to the BRC to be framed and hung on the wall. I would like to make this a yearly tradition for our program! Hopefully you all agree its worth it.

---

On another note entirely, check out these hops...


Only 5'11"! High Jumpers: we need this explosiveness. (My favorite, BTW, is at the 1:04 mark)

Coach Nack

Sabercat track update, 3.3.11

So, we have had a large flux of kids come out, which is awesome. However, the inevitable is that people quit. Sad, but true. Well, for anyone that reads this--DON'T QUIT. There are millions of stories about athletes that didn't quit when they wanted to, and went on to experience great success. I just saw a story about this today that amazed me.
In 2007 Ebony Gainney was a college freshman basketball player at Dayton University. A short time into her career at Dayton she was diagnosed with a rare but dangerous heart condition. It was recommended that she not play the game. She stuck with the team, not as a player, but as a manager. Gainney, now a senior, had not scored a point for the team, that is, until this happened:



This story even warmed the hearts of the cynics at deadspin.com, which is not easy to do.

On to some track stuff:

• Remember the Spike Night at the Boulder Running Company in Greenwood Village (map provided from post on Tuesday)
• Bus leaves for our scrimmage vs. Chaparral at 7:30am SHARP. Be there!
• Sleep, eat, and drink lots of water

For my high jumpers:
We put lots of good work into getting an accurate mark today. This is the smoothest this process has ever gone; great job on your part. Remember these important things about your spot...

• The precise measurement
• You are not married to this spot; it WILL change
• Give yourself a 1m radius circle around your spot for adjustments
• Little adjustments make a big difference
• Be consistent! Make necessary adjustments, but if things are tough are for other reasons do not blame your mark. Need everything to be right at the beginning for everything to be right in the end. Case in point:

Lancett's Thoughts on Week 1

This week has been, thus far, a really great week weather wise, which I am sure we are all thankful for. I want to urge each and every member of the track team to bring extra clothes to practice daily. That does not mean that you leave them in your car or in your gym locker, bring them to the track so that by 5:00 pm when the sun sets you can layer up and still practice.

Injuries and toughness: There is a fine line between being tough and being for lack of a better word "dumb." If you have an injury, that means it never goes away whether you are warmed up or not! I urge you to communicate with your coaches about those before they become full blown issues that needs more attention than the training staff can provide. REMEMBER we are in the first week of a 15 week season. That means there is a LONG way to go, take care of yourself now so that you can still be going strong when the big meets roll around at the end of the year.

Looking forward: There are many surprises so far this year and more new faces than I have ever seen on the CV track team. That is exciting and scary all at the same time from a coaching perspective. If you want to make yourself known and have a shot at that Varsity spot, work hard and keep a great attitude! I look forward to seeing each and everyone of you in action as the season goes on!

GO CV!
Coach Lancett

Always nice to hear in T&F: Off to a good start

I think I can speak for the rest of the coaching staff by saying that I think we're off to a great start. We had great numbers today--85 to my count--and hopefully those will keep increasing. Keep talking to your friends and classmates that you think would be good for the team, and get them out with us. Strength in numbers.

The effort the last two days from everyone has been amazing. I was reluctant when Coach Lancett said that we were going to break up into our individual events to give all athletes the chance to try them out. However, I did see that it was a good idea. I saw a lot of athletes bumping around to different spots, which is great. Personally, I learned that I had some high jumpers that I was not expecting. Lancett had some great block drills with high participation. Coach Martinez had prospective pole vaulters doing a ton of different drills and exercises--awesome to see. Coach Smith had a large group at the LJ and TJ pits. All the while Coach Hidy had the throwers and coaches Kuhn and Euwema (distance) had their distance kids working on drills specific to their events, and were the last ones out the door today.

Great job to everybody.

Remember these things...

• eat well when you get home from practice
• drink a ton of water
• get at least 8 hours of sleep tonight and everynight
• tell us when you are HURT or sick
• the track pack orders are due to Lancett by Friday
• Scrimmage Saturday @ Chap, bus leaves 7:30am SHARP
• Spike Night @ the Boulder Running Company, Fri 5:30-8 (Map below)

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