Off-Season Officially Begins

Well, Hawks, we have officially entered the off-season. It is a sad time when we say goodbye to cross country season, but we all have a chance to get some serious work in to set ourselves up for a successful track season!

So many Hawks tore it up this fall, we might have to change our name to the KILLER HAWKS. We all know how hard it is to compare times from one course to the next, but we can say that nearly all of our runners this fall improved their overall mile pace over the season – and that is a direct result of the amazing work we did each week. I am in awe of both the strength and the determination these athletes demonstrated over the season. Every Hawk showed up to work every practice, and gave everything they could at the meets, leading to a number of impressive individual and team results!

For those of you who are continuing to train with us on the monthly schedule, I will be in direct contact with you to arrange what we should be doing through December and then will look forward to holding practices again in January. Anyone who wants to keep training with the team, please contact me for more information.

If you’re not rejoining us until our track season begins in mid-March, you should definitely keep up the easy runs each week to maintain your fitness. We will hit the ground running (literally) when practice picks back up and you don’t want to struggle to keep up! Below is a general training plan for staying in running shape – feel free to print it out and post it by your calendar. The truth is that if you don’t plan ahead and pencil these workouts in each week, you will have a hard time getting them done. So just keep that habit!

Week of…	Days of running	Total (not to exceed) mileage
December 8	2-3 x 3-4 mile runs	10 miles
December 15	2-3 x 3-4 mile runs + long run	14 miles
December 22	2-3 x 3-4 mile runs + long run	15 miles
December 29	2-3 x 3-5 mile runs + long run	16 miles
January 5	2-3 x 3-5 mile runs + long run	17 miles
January 12	2-3 x 3-5 mile runs + long run	18 miles
January 19	2-3 x 3-5 mile runs + long run	18 miles
January 26	2-3 x 3-5 mile runs + long run	18 miles
February 2	2-4 x 3-5 mile runs + long run	20 miles
February 9	2-4 x 3-5 mile runs + long run	20 miles
February 16	2-4 x 3-5 mile runs + long run	20 miles
February 23	2-4 x 3-5 mile runs + long run	20 miles
March 2	2-4 x 3-5 mile runs + long run	20 miles
March 9	2-4 x 3-5 mile runs + long run	20 miles
March 16	TRACK SEASON BEGINS!

Also, be sure to join us on Monday, January 5^th at Jackrabbit Brewing for our end of season party! Like last year, we will be holding a potluck meal and giving out individual awards to all of our Hawks so please attend if you can. Our new Social Chairs, Jennifer Rodriguez and Christie Jackson, will soon be sharing more information regarding the party.

As always, if you have any questions, please let me know. Have a wonderful holiday season and we will see you in the new year!

Coach Eric