An UNUSUAL Day!

 As most of you know I spent ten years coaching XC at a local girls school (Notre Dame Academy) in Hingham.  I was extremely fortunate during my time there.  In addition to reconnecting with Coach Richardson and Coach Schlicting, I had the opportunity to work with some extremely talented and intelligent athletes. During those years our teams lost ONE meet, by precisely one point, in dual meet competition.  This, in no way, was my doing.  My training plans, as I've always admitted, are the work of other successful coaches.  I merely work with those plans I feel will be successful with the athletes we train in any given year.  Yesterday, our teams lost - twice. . . more than the teams I coached lost during my time at NDA.  As perverse as it may sound, I have never been more proud of a team.  You should know that prior to each meet we project the outcome.  We analyze the other teams results and compare them with that of our team and generally speaking, in the absence of an extraordinary aberration, we can predict the outcome.  Going into yesterday's meet we knew the likelihood of winning was fairly remote.  As a team you exceeded my expectations and kept the scores much closer than I thought possible.  But that is not what makes me proud of two losses. What makes us all happy are the following facts:

1.  Each finisher from the Girls team had a season record in the 5K,
2.  Nearly every Boy (26 of 29 finishers) had a season record in the 5K,
3.  Eleven of the 20 Girl finishers established new PRs,
4.  Twenty of the 29 Boy finishers established new PRs.

Individual performances were simply outstanding.  While giving an assist to the weather and course familiarity, the credit for this remarkable improvement goes to YOUR hard work and consistent effort.  A formidable opponent may have provided some motivation but it is YOUR perseverance that created these results.  Full details of yesterday's meet can be found via the following link:

https://www.athletic.net/CrossCountry/Results/Meet.aspx?Meet=138127#

Part of any training plan is to work toward peaking at Championship time.  We still have 4+ weeks to the Patriot League Championship with EMass one week later.  Our training plan will necessarily shift from Base/Strength and Endurance running to speed work.  Gradually we will move away from tempo and hill work to speed work on the track and on the grass in preparation for those Championship meets.  Those ready for the challenge will be running at Pembroke and Wrentham come season's end.  Continue doing what you're doing and you will find success, individually and as a team.  You surprised a few people last year and can duplicate that this season.  I won't sugar coat anything.  There are some extremely talented teams in our league.  Pembroke, Hingham, Duxbury, Plymouth North stand out, certainly.  But you have already shown your mettle . . . let's see what else you can do!

Practice at 2:30 . . . Easy pace with strides, core and stretch to follow.  See you there.