Team Storm,

Happy Monday if you get this today.  I'm a little behind in writing this so please forgive me.  Busy, busy as all of you parents can probably relate.

We begin week 5 today.  What does that mean?  Well it means a lot: we have our first meet this coming Saturday the 5th, we are going to keep improving with faster workouts, and we are gearing up for the official first meet on September 19th. 

This weekend is a great meet to see where you are at.  It is just a fundraiser for the conference so it doesn't count towards the stats throughout the year.  We will run this course later in the season so there are several important reasons to be there.  If you have family plans for the long weekend don't stress out about not being there.  But, do what you can to be there and it will be worth your time.  We have 3 weeks of training until our first official race.  So it's time to keep getting faster on the flats, and stronger on the hills.  We will do that by continuing to increase our work on the Tuesday and Thursday nights so please be there for those two workouts.  If you have to miss anything, Mondays are the night because you can go out for a nice run on your own.  You can't duplicate the work you will put in with your teammates on your own.  So get out there and keep working hard.

At Saturdays practice I took group 2b through my running mechanics clinic.  Thanks 2b's to paying close attention.  As a reminder to all athletes, don't forget about the importance of good running mechanics (form).  Those of you who have been running with me for a while can help the newbies in understanding how much your running form will carry you when you feel completely exhausted.   Two keys to focus on this week: where do you look and how do you control your arms.  First with your focus, you should be looking out 20-30 feet at all times.  This helps you identify obstacles both on the ground and with other runners.  Always be alert.  Moving to your arms, you want to carry them close to your waste.  Imagine two strings running at your sides front to back parallel.  Relax your hands and imagine them following the strings front to back.  This will help you move forward on the flats and up the hills faster.  We'll hit on other mechanics probably next week and I'll remind you at practice as well.

That's it for now.  Thanks parents, coaches, and athletes.  We are gearing up for an amazing race season that is right around the corner.

See you all tonight.

Coach Jeremy