Mt. Elbert

 A few posts ago I talked about General Physical Preparation (GPP) which is the basic training principle that you prepare yourself physically for any task that could be thrown at you, and handle it with some relative ease and comfort.  Yesterday I realized that hiking a mountain is great for GPP, because of all of the physical and mental demands placed upon you. There are times when you must make short sprint-like bursts, there are long periods of time where you must test your endurance, and because of the length and altitude you must rest--you must also know how much rest to take and when. There is also vital lessons in preparation and nutrition that are also learned.

Well, yesterday Coach Neale, my long-long-long time friend Justin, and I set out to tackle Mount Elbert. This Mountain is near Leadville, is the highest mountain in Colorado, and is the second highest mountain in the lower 48 states. It is 14,433 feet high. The hike starts at somewhere around 10,000 feet, so over the span of the ~5 mile (~10 mile, round trip) hike you gain >4000ft in elevation.

This was not my first 14er, and I found it to be my easiest yet, but the demands of this kind of hike are unlike any other kind of conditioning you can do at lower altitudes--sometimes 10 steps up there can feel like the hardest 200m you've ever ran. Mount Elbert was Coach Neale's first attempt at a 14er, which he handled very well, but still left him very surprised at just how difficult it was. Here are some pics:

 Left: Neale looking as fulfilled as ever after his conquest of Mt Elbert

Right: Coach Neale, mid sandwich, at the top of Mt Elbert after a 3.5hr ascent

So, in conclusion, I recommend athletes take on a trip like this during the offseason (during good weather, of course, because it is great fun, it gets us outside, it is mentally challenging, and it is always a greater physical challenge than one might expect. More Pics to finish it off.

 Left: the aforementioned Justin enjoying a sandwich as you can see--the sturdy mountain goat of the group.

Right: As always, Coach Nack, sickened by myself for breaking my rule of taking my own picture.

Nack

PS.  Yes, I did this hike in my Five-Fingers. It felt great on the way up, but neither pair of shoes I had could handle the way down--I have some very sensitive skin on the underside of my tootsies as I'm sure you've always wanted to know. Blister City, baby.

League Relay Line-Ups and Athlete Goals

Ladies
Follett 5'4" Bacovcin 5'1" Grimm 4'10"

Gents
Reasoner 5'9" Bills 5'9" Brandes 5'6"

The end of this week holds the culminating event for many of our athletes. Some will move on to state, and some will end there track season. Whatever the end it has been a great season (I know I have had a lot of fun), and thank you for all your hard work.

If you haven't done so yet set your goals, write them down, and think about what it takes to ger there them. Many of us set our goals in terms of numbers (e.g. "I want to jump 6 feet" or "I want to run a sub 12.5sec 100m"). These goals are fine and good, but I would more define them as "missions". Goals should be more focused, such as (high jump specific) "I will run my best curve of the season", or "I will have my top speed when I reach my takeoff point", or "I will look off the back corner of the pad with my hips up", etc... These may not seem like traditional goals, but when you think about it these thoughts are what will get you to the numbers you've worked so hard to achieve.

Nack

A Great Showing today at Cherry Creek-Grandview Invitational

Congratulations to the girls track team for winning first place at today's meet at the Stutler Bowl! The girls had some great performances by many athletes. I know that at least one school record was set, we had a good number of first placers in individual events, and improved times/heights/distances on the way to victory. Considering the teams we were up against--Cherry Creek, ThunderRidge, Arapahoe, Heritage, Smoky Hill,etc...--this is huge.

Not to be overlooked is the boys team. We have no idea at this point where the boys finished, but the coaching staff is optimistic about having a 4th place finish. Who knows?!? Caught some bad breaks in some areas, but overall there were some great performances! I know that there were 2 school records pushed nearly to the limit today (Discus, 3200m), and that there were improvements seen in the 4x100m; a great race for this boys team.

Fellas: hold it together! There has been a bit of stress lately, but you are a strong bunch of athletes. In my years here at the school the boys are always at their strongest at the end of the year, and are able to surprise a lot of people.

Well, all of this after a week full of activity. Many of the athletes competed 2 daysin a row in multiple events. Huge showings from some hard working kids.

Rest becomes so important at this time of the year. You guys involved in so much should be getting 9+hours of sleep this weekend (each night, not combined!). If you can continue that into the week you will be all the better off. If you're sleeping too long, and your parents yell at you to get up, tell them it's okay...your coach told you to stay in bed :)

Nack

Coach Nack going Multimedia

Awesome Interview on the High Jump with Gwen Wentland-Mikinski from NPR.



Link to the story is here.

I love the explanation of how she feels when she is given a few feet to run and jump in. What great confidence to have--probably attained through ability and practice!