One down . . .

First order of business . . . There will be a meeting for the XC Parents on Monday, August 27 at the McDonough home located at 15 West Washington Street, Hanson, MA.  Anybody wishing to help out with the team, or just wishing to meet other XC parents, is welcome to attend.  Further details can be obtained from Emer McDonough (Maeve’s Mom) at 617-987-7702.

Thoughts on our first practice . . .  I always feel better when I arrive and see Coach S jumping right in.  And while tomorrow may not be one of his "Fun Fridays" it should go smoothly just the same.  There is a lot of work to get out of the way, before the games begin.  Coach Richner, despite a recent tonsillectomy joined her first practice and is anxious to get to know the team and get her first work experience in Cross Country.  And it is nice to know that our alum intern, Julia Cosgrave, will be there to help out, as she always does, in any way to improve the teams.  I have a tendency to upstage everybody else at these first few practices, but starting tomorrow, many of you will see less of me and more of the rest of the staff.  More on that in a bit.

Today went well, I think.  We got many of the administrative matters completed and navigated our home course, with 8 stops along the way.  Tomorrow, most of you will essentially do what you did today . . . with fewer stops.  When one thinks of Cross Country, running, no doubt comes to mind.  But core training and stretching also play a vital role in our sport.  In the days to come you will fall into routines that will include all the elements of XC.  Weight training, speed training, long runs, tempo runs, etc.  For now though, many of you must focus on conditioning and building up those base miles, because while I observed some young runners with enormous potential today, only a very few of you can handle the mileage expected from our lead groups.  That said, the following athletes will work with Coach George tomorrow (Friday)

BOYS - Cafferty, Hanley, Hager, Kamperides, Parkinson, Solari
GIRLS - Boulger, Carleton, DiMascio-Donohue, Flynn, McDonough, Trongone

One of my policies is to limit weekly increases to 10% of your mileage in recent weeks.  These athletes have done ample mileage to preclude an injury from a longer workout.  As the mileage increases for other members of the team, they may be asked to join that lead group.  Looking ahead beyond tomorrow, we will be running easy on Saturday as a team, and everybody will have the opportunity to extend his/her run at that time, with a day off to follow.  Monday, we will hold a Time Trial on our course.  My initial thought was to go the entire 3.1 Mile route.  After observing today, I will in all probability lower my expectations.

Today's numbers by the way, while not discouraging, were not quite what we'd hoped for.  There is plenty of room for more, and even some spots at the top for those willing to put in the effort.  I am willing to bet we will see some movement among the groups . . . very soon in fact.  I am, as always, incredibly optimistic about the season ahead and am looking forward to watching you achieve your goals.

Tomorrow then . . . 8:00AM.