Summer Newsletter 

looking back at the summer & forward to THE fall

Now that summer is almost over, it’s time that we turn our attention towards our upcoming season!

Questions now come to the forefront. Who has been following the summer workout plan with commitment to their team and their dream?  Who is feeling the strength gained from the weekly long run? Who has been in the culture and taken part in a race or a running series?  Who has stepped up and begun to lead?

Many of you have, and for that congratulations is in order.  With respect to leadership, some of our seniors have taken it upon themselves to pass along information, arrange for captains’ practices, and gone out of their way to be positive and let everyone know that we are all in this together, and that each of us is a very important part of the team. As time goes on, they will be the ones that we all look up to and respect, regardless of their position at the finish line. The best leaders are the ones who sacrifice for the team and put the goals of the team above everything else. They lead by example and they are the ones to be respected and followed and emulated.  

In less than a week, mandatory team practices will begin, and not a moment too soon!  So many of you have been seen running together over hills, on the track, in the mountains, or at running camp. So many of you have made time for this great endeavor, not just for yourself but for your teammates, as you know that even if they are not with you, they are preparing. We all want to be ready to enter the field of competition and compete at our very best.  So if for some reason, you haven’t been able to keep pace with the workouts or your teammates, then the time to start is NOW!

As many of you know, our upperclassmen have been hosting workouts several times a week all summer long. As the season quickly approaches, we encourage everyone to attend whenever possible, regardless of level or ability. If you’re unable to attend for whatever reason, be sure to follow the training plan, run on your own, and log each workout.

This season, the boys have an opportunity to do something that hasn’t been done in 6 years: win a section championship! Despite strong competition from schools in our class (Beacon, Cornwall, and Mount Academy), we have many talented athletes returning who will be even faster and stronger this year after a solid summer of training. While there are many unknowns, one thing is for certain; it will be an exciting season, and the competition will be intense. For the girls team, this season they find themselves as two time defending Section Champs with a lot of new faces joining the team and increased competition from rival teams. Between the boys and girls, history could be made this year if both teams win Sections in the same season!

The Keys to Your SUCCESS

1. Remember the "little things":

   • SLEEP is your NUMBER 1 recovery tool! You need about 8-9 hours a night as a teen athlete. 

   • PROPER FUELING. Make sure you are getting enough food to support your training. Include protein and carbs in most of your meals, and bring a snack that includes protein and carbs for after practice. 

   • HYDRATION. Bring a water bottle to school and sip on it all day. You should need to refill it by lunch time.

   • For more tips and information on staying healthy throughout the season, check out our "Elite Runner Cheat Sheet"

2. Build your chassis, not just your engine! (Credit to Jay Dicharry for this analogy).

   • Your run training builds your engine, but if you don't do the work to strengthen your chassis (tendons, muscles, bones, etc) that big engine isn't going to get much use if injuries occur. While our training is comprehensive with core and weight room sessions planned for several days per week, some athletes may require additional stretching and strengthening outside of practice to prevent injury and promote healing. It is also important to coordinate any sort of outside training with our workouts to ensure that you're able to recover properly and avoid overuse injuries.

3. Take hard days hard and easy days easy!

   • Our training should be both challenging and rewarding, but in order to be successful this season, you must push yourself to the brink without going too far. For newcomers, it may be a total "shock to the system" at first, but if you stick with it, you will soon improve and it will eventually become "easier". That said, workouts will typically be at least 6 days per week with a combination of easy runs, speed intervals, tempo runs, and long runs. Workouts are planned so that there should not be multiple "hard" days in a row (although there will often be a "moderate" day scheduled before a "hard" day, but easy days will break up most of the hard workouts). Most of this is based on heart rate and with the expectation that summer training has been completed. It's important that on hard days you are pushing yourself and easy days should be used for recovery. Your pace on all of these runs should be based upon your ability level. For more information on pacing, please see our pacing chart.

4. BE CONSISTENT!

   • Consistency in all the above things will lead to success. Work on developing routines that are done regularly. Develop consistent strategies for fueling and hydrating and getting enough sleep. And most importantly, you must attend practice consistently from beginning to end, and complete ALL workouts to the best of your ability in order to get the most out of your training and reach your potential.

What you need to do IMMEDIATELY

If you plan to join XC this season, all of the following must be completed as soon as possible. These links were previously posted to our Google Classroom, emailed, and sent out on Remind. 

• Sign up on FamilyID: https://www.familyid.com/organizations/goshen-central-school-district 

• Join the Goshen Varsity XC Google Classroom: https://classroom.google.com/c/NTg0ODM3NjEyMTha?cjc=jabgc4c

• Join the boys' Remind group: https://www.remind.com/join/goshenxc or text @goshenxc to 81010

• Join the girls' Remind group: https://www.remind.com/join/goshengirl or text @goshengirl to 81010

• Complete our contact information form: https://forms.gle/XofXKLkGMjypoVyPA