Santa Clarita Track Club
Santa Clarita Track Club Newsletter
 
September 14, 2015
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Storm Team,

 
Well, it is now official, the significant countdown begins, our first official race is this coming Saturday!  If you thought the summer went fast, hold on to your hats and hair-pieces because you're about to experience the wildest ride in the wilderness.  Alright, since we aren't at Disneyland, maybe the wildest ride in Southern California.  What in the world is going on you say?  It's time to rumble, it's time to start showing off all the strength the athletes have been building, it's time to have a blast as a team, racing and cheering each other on!  So what should you expect?

 
Let's start with the week of training.  Last week we hit it super hard with a long run Monday, a brutal lung burning repeat workout Tuesday, a hilly tempo steady run Thursday, and we topped it off with a rewarding easy Lapathon run Saturday.  This week we will continue to hit it hard with more hills and we will start churning the speed a little more.  We only have 7 weeks left of regular season and after this weekend if you have your sites on post season you'll know where you need to improve. 
Moving on to the race, this is one of my favorite races of the season.  O'Melveny is right over the hill off Balboa and is a course of rolling hills, nothing steep or long, but very technical.  This course begins for all in grass and then moves onto mostly dirt with some asphalt with a quarter mile long uphill finish.  For those who ran at El Cariso a couple weeks ago, you have those first race jitters out, the remaining, don't sweat it, you will get more instruction this week and be ready to go.  For parents here are some logistics: arrive at least by 7:45 for this race.  You park in a lower parking lot and have to walk about a quarter mile with your gear so allow for plenty of time to get settled.  The main parking lot always fills up in minutes but if you time it right, the park ranger will open a gate that allows you to cross a bridge where you will find a lot more closer parking.  Otherwise, there is parking on the street.  There isn't a fee for parking.  The park is shaded where we setup camp but still bring plenty of water, electrolytes, fruit, granola bars, and healthy sandwiches.  Based on the total number of athletes we might combine some divisions girls and boys.  So please, for the first meet just get there early and be ready to cheer everyone on.  We are usually done with all races by 11:15 so hopefully you can all stay and show support for all divisions.  The walkthroughs start at 8:15.  Please remind your athletes to bring water with them on the walkthrough.
That is going to be exciting for sure.

 
Alright, I want to move on to a more serious part of the team.  First, the safety of every athlete is my number one concern.  Sometimes we take for granted how many parents we have out there but at the same time we must realize that with 150+ kids on this great team we can't afford ever to be complacent.  We had an incident Thursday night that reminded me of how important this is for parents, coaches, and athletes to understand.  Everything is fine, but we had a younger athlete  unfortunately end up alone and finished well behind the rest of the team.  We have to be alert and looking out for each other.  The heat and humidity snuck up on a lot of our athletes that night and it was important to help them identify when to cut the workout short if necessary.  While some are perfectly fine running it out and finishing within a normal time range, some are affected in different ways and need to be comforted to take it easier.
So I will break it down like this:
  1. Coaches: it is our responsibility to be aware of the kids.  We need to have a leader of every group, several mid-packers, and a tail.  This is important because we need to be close to any athlete if there is an issue but I also need you to help monitor and help the kids make decisions like cutting a workout short.  I believe we do an excellent job of this so my words are only to remind.
  2. Parents: if you have young ones, 10 and under (and coach Elaine might add more to this), help us by reminding your athletes to always be alert for their teammates and coaches.  With as many athletes and parents as we have out there, it is hard to imagine anyone would be alone but please emphasize that they know to stay with at least 1 other teammate.
  3. Athletes: coaches do their best to know and monitor each of you, but it can happen where they might miss you.  It is essential that you are paying attention always to where you are running, other teammates with you, coaches around you and the trail.  If you feel dizzy, or short of breath, first stop running and then tell a coach right away.  If you don't see a coach or parent, grab the closest teammate and ask them to stop with you and tell them what you are feeling and to get some help if needed.
I purposely keep the runs close or simple out and back, especially for the younger kids, so we can minimize this risk.  I believe we all have a part in the safety and I wouldn't ever want anything terrible to happen so please, everyone, help me out by paying close attention.  We did have kids, who while running Thursday night in the half mile loop area, stop to play with rocks off the trail.  This cannot be tolerated as it definitely adds to the safety concerns.  If that continues this week, we will have to address that with the parents of the athletes.  Sorry for the reminder email of not fun stuff.  Ultimately, we are the most amazing team, and we are that way because we are family.  Let's keep that up and look forward to an exciting week in preparation for our first race!!!
See you Monday night at West Creek!!!


 
Thanks,
Coach Jeremy
 
 
 
Jelly Beans, Jolly Ranchers 
We need parents to help with the distribution of  Jelly Beans and Jolly Ranchers at the end of practice, if you can help, please see Elaine. 
 
This Weeks Practice Locations & Times
Cross Country will practice at the following locations:
  
Monday - West Creek Park - at 6:00 - 7:15 pm
24247 Village Circle
Valencia, CA 91354

 

Tuesday - College of the Canyons - at 6:00 - 7:15 pm
Near Baseball Diamonds Behind Track Stadium (purchase day parking pass at kiosk for $3.00, COC does issue parking tickets from time to time.)

 

Thursday - Central Park - at 6:00 - 7:15 pm
Near Basketball Courts

 

Saturday - Meet @ O'Melveny Park - 8:00 am 
 
Race Results
The Results from the meets are located on our website on the Cross Country Page.

 
From the main menu click the cross country link at the top of the page. 

 
 
Lap-a-thon
Our Lap-a-thon was held on Saturday September 12 at Central Park.

 
The Lap-a-thon is a fund raising event used to support our program and our national athletes. We will give the kids a chip, and setup our chip timing system, we will run laps at Central park while playing music for 45 minutes or so. The kids are encourages to seek donations either of 2 ways a per lap amount such as $3 or $4 dollars per lap or a flat donation of $5 or $10. All kids who raise at least $40.00 will receive a special Lap-a-thon prize. The kids will also be entered into a raffle on a 1 ticket per dollar raised and other prizes will be awarded at the end of season banquet. (more details on that as we get closer to the event).

 
Please Click Here to Download the Lap-a-thon Form and start raising funds.

 
 
The deadline to turn in funds will be Oct 1.
 
 
Sincerely,
  

   
Alan Bingham
 
Santa Clarita Track Club