Practice Saturday at 10:00

We will be needing help this Saturday to ready the course for the Capital Invite on the 9th. Parents with weed eaters and mowers are welcome as are athletes with rakes and shovels. If a lot of us help it should only take an hour. If you do the math, multiply each athlete or parent times one hour. If we have 90 parents and athletes that equals 90 hours of work. Ten athletes and parents equal ten hours of work. There will be free work for all those showing up. Yes, this counts as community service.

Alone we are good- Together we are great!

Capitals Teams Ranked

For Immediate Release - August 31, 2006

Coaches rank Capital High cross country teams among state’s top 3A

OLYMPIA – The Washington State Cross Country Coaches Association pre season poll places Capital High School girls and boys teams 4th and 6th, respectively, among 3A high schools in the state. The poll, released today, is available at http://www.watfxc.com/XC/XCPoll.htm.
“The final poll— not the first — is the most important, but it's fun being considered a major player,” said Capital’s cross country head coach, Jerry Miller.
Capital High School was one of only four Western Washington schools named among the top-ten boys and girls 3A in the coaches’ poll. Capital girls coach, Kevin Wright said that puts pressure on the teams to show that they are among the best in the state.
“We’re excited about our placement in the coaches’ poll, but we know there’s a lot of hard work ahead,” said girls coach Kevin Wright.
On Sept. 9 Capital High School cross country teams will compete for the first time in the 3A, Western Cascade Conference at the Capital Invitational in Olympia. Schools in 3A athletic conferences are those whose student populations for grades 10 – 12 number between 919 and 1280 students. Capital competed in the 4A Narrows League last year. The Western Cascade Conference includes Capital, Clover Park, Lakes, North Thurston, Shelton, Timberline, and Yelm high schools.
The poll ranks North Central top in the boys division; Squalicum is ranked first among girls 3A teams.

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For more information please contact Jerry Miller, 360-709-0572 or jlmiller@osd.wednet.edu.

State Rankings Are Up @WaTFXC.com

The girl's team is ranked 4th and the boy's team 6th in the first XC 3A poll of the season. The final poll and not the first is the most important, but it's fun being considered a major player.

Meets Added

The girls Varsity and JV and the boys not traveling to Stanford will have a meet at LBA on Sept. 27. A bus will be provided. The girls will also be attending the Mt. Baker Invite on the 30th. We also will attempt to get some parents to drive any JV boys who would like to compete. E mail me at jlmiller@osd.wednet.com if you have any questions.

Pictures tomorrow! Be there at 8:45 - photos at 9:00 run afterwards - No 3:00 practice.

Photo Day is Weds. at 9:00

Photo day is Weds. at 9:00. Make sure you get there at about 8:45. There will be a workout immediately following the photo shoot.
The boys will continue to get their sweats Tues. after practice. Hopefully we will be ready to go on Weds.
The boys should be planning for a workout for Sat. I'll announce the time later. It's the last Sat. before the Capital Invitational, so be there. It's possible we might have to do some last minute course work. We should know more on Sept. 1st.

We will be needing massive amounts of parent help on Sept. 9th beginning around 9:00. None of the jobs require high tech skills.

24 Hour Relay - Awesome and Over

It's 10:40 a.m. and the 24 hour relay is over. Each person ran four legs of 30 minutes through the day and night. It was a warm day, but that did not stop the guys from playing soccer, touch football, and organizing a homerun derby and a field goal kicking contest. But the activity which took up the most time was a game the guys invented called "Brave Heart". It's played by taking the football teams blocking pads, lining up about 20 yards apart facing one another and then running straight ahead into each other when someone yelled,"Freedom!". This went on for hours.
Through out the day video games were being played on several screens in the track shed. Four or five people would play and even more watched. Later some watched videos.
The girls seemed content to play cards until about four o'clock and then Katie set up a slip and slide. Suddenly a big water fight broke out with several squirt guns, water bottles and anything else that could hold water. By the time it was over those that had started the fight were thoroughly drenched.
Around 5:30 Jack Uglick delivered about five donated pizzas which were devoured in two minutes. Russ Lehman brought a salad around 6:30. Finally, at 7:00 the pizza lady arrived with about ten pizzas ordered and paid for by Augie Vega. Thanks you guys!
Around 6:00 a group of guys, helped with some beautification work along the trail. We have much work to do to get ready for the Capital Invite (ontherun.com/capinvite/) on Sept. 9th.
After dinner there was another "Brave Heart" battle and some of the girls joined in. During the day, and until it was dark a steady stream of kids headed to Safeway to buy food and drink. At last report Safeway was out of Gatorade.
At 10:00 any friends visiting were told to leave and the gates to the parking lot were locked. Around 1:30 I looked up to the parking lot and saw a group of guys that I did not recognize and walked up to greet them. As I approached them I began to feel uncomfortable because they had a "gang" look about them. They asked me if there were any problems and I explained what we were doing. They moved on, but remained just outside the perimeter of the parking lot lights for about 30 minutes, even though a security guard talked with them.
Around 3:00 another soccer game sprung up in the dark. A group of guys and girls were listening to a CD in the parking lot. I swear the guys danced vigorously for an hour. Every time I looked towards the parking lot they were dancing to the Techno Beat. I can not get it out of my mind- it was not a pretty sight. At around four people began to settle in and go to sleep.
I was up at 5:50 and did some more trail work. At 8:00 we rousted everyone, cleaned out the Swarthout Shed and moved some high jump and pole vault pits around. Soon everything was looking great and when 10:00 rolled around and our final runners completed our 24 hour commitment and we applauded not only them as they finished, but also ourselves. A great big thank you to all the parents who helped and especially those who stayed overnight - Steve Hall, Russ Lehman and parent Coach Kevin Wright.

As my mind clears I just might have more to say later - much later.

It's later:

We were visited by dogs. The morning began with the Wright's Spaniel, Kramer coming for a bit. Mrs. Miller brought over Achilles twice and he enjoyed fetching the tennis ball and wallowing in the mud hole by the drinking fountain. And last but not least Bryce's Chocolate Lab. Bosco came for awhile to play fetch.

At sometime in the darkness Zach ran a bare foot mile in 5:23 - we are not sure why.

Connor talked a lot and we aren't sure about what - it was pretty random.

Ryan H. left the shed around 3:00 a.m. shirtless and I told him he needed to put on sun screen if he was going out side. He looked at me really funny.

Coach Wright did an excellent job of making sure everyone ran their legs of the relay on time. His voice could be heard intermittently booming out names day and night.

24 hour Relay

Starting at ten tomorrow morning (Friday) we will begin our 4th annual 24 hour relay. Things to bring or take over to your athlete:

Sleeping bag
Pillow
6 bucks for pizza and perhaps a bit more for side trips to Safeway
Change of clothing
Coat
Folding chair
Snacks

We had a coaches meeting tonight and I am happy to report there are no schedule changes. We did have to put up a bit of a fight to keep that from happening. I learned that there will be a Frosh/Soph Meet and this is good news. We are also looking at meets for Sept. 30th that our JV's can travel to. Tat's all for now. Feel free to come and visit and even run with us.

Max! Are you awake.

I was able to get this message on the board before Max went night night. Well at least I think I did. I heard, and noticed that some of you bit off a little more than you could chew at practice. It is better to under-estimate your abilities than over- estimate them. Also if you have any aches or pains I need to know about them before the workout, so that I am able to adjust your work load and prevent further injury.
After all long runs, unless I say otherwise, we will be doing strides. Actually a better name for these are buildups. Slowly build your speed up until you get to the 30 meter mark and then crank it up to your 90% speed and then glide out for the next 30 meters. Give your self some rest and do three more. Concentrate on form - eyes straight ahead- head not bobbling- hands not crossing the mid line of the body - landing on the balls of your feet - any part of your body going sideways is a waste of energy.

Always post stretch!

Parent meeting tomorrow night at 6:30 at Cougar Stadium.

Girls optional morning workout at 9:00 a.m.

Welcome Aboard!

There sould be some newcomers to this site tonight. Welcome everyone. Our first work out was a beauty. Over 40 guys cleared the for the first day and we should top 50 this season . I think I heard Coach Wright say he had 16 girls cleared, and I'm sure they will have more.

Captains Meeting:

24 hour Relay will be from 10 a.m. to 10 a.m starting Friday the 25th and ending up Saturday the 26th.

Katie has the tee shirt design underway. We agreed that we wanted a long sleeved tee. Remember, if you worked the Lakefair Run your tee is free.

Parents Night: Weds. August 23, 6:30 at the Cougar Stadium.

2006 XC Schedule 8-19-06 Final Draft!!!!!!!

2006 Capital Cross Country Schedule 2006 as of 8-19-06

July 22 Lakefair Run HELP!

July 25 – 27 Kamp Kah nee ta Central Oregon

August 21 Season begins 3:00 meet in stands

23Parents meeting 6:30 in the commons

30 Team Photos 9:00 (change)

Sept. 09 Capital Invite - Need parent help!

14 Timberline, CP @ Capital Need parent help (change again)

16 Ft. Steilacoom Invite

21 NT, Shelton, Lakes @ Capital - Need parent help! (change again)

30 Stanford Invite - Top 12 boys only – Leave on the 28th Girls go next year

Oct. 07 Jim Danner Invite – Everyone goes – we are taking a bus

12 N. Thurston, Shelton, Lakes @ Ft. Steilacoom

14 Frosh/Soph Invite

19 Conference Championships @ Ft. Steilacoom

28 District Meet @ American Lake Golf in Lakewood

Nov. 04 State Meet @ Pasco

? Border Clash

Six Days Until Our First Official Practice

Get cleared! It's only six days until our first practice 0n Monday August 21 at 3:00. We will be meeting in Cougar Stadium. Forms may be picked up from the school website and handed in to the ASB and Athletic Offices located in the gym foyer (snack bar) Forms may also be picked up at this location also.

24 Hour Relay August 25

We will be having our annual 24 hour relay on Friday August 25, 2006. Times will be announced later. We will need some parental help to make this a safe event. Here are some preliminary rules with more to follow:

1. We must have parental help.

2. Once an athlete commits to do the relay he/she must stay at or in the vicinity of the shed unless running.

3. If an athlete decides to leave the event, or quit, parental permission will be required via a cell phone call by coach.

4. No outside visitors after 10:00 PM.

5. Keys to cars will be checked into coaches.

6. Everyone runs all of their assigned legs to the relay.

7. Each athlete must be cleared by the ASB.

I'm sure more ideas will come to mind as the date gets closer.

Nine days until our first official practice

The season is rapidly approaching. (Monday August 21, 2006 - meet at Capital Stadium) Make sure you are cleared. I believe the ASB Office can be located in the concessions stand in the gym. If you are cleared on the first day I will give you a special gift.
Make sure you are talking up joining XC with your non-running friends. The more the merrier. There is strength in numbers.
We have much work to do before we can hold the Capital Invite on our campus. Be prepared for some work parties. The more people helping the less work there will seem to be for everyone.

Only 11 weeks until State XC Meet

Only 11 weeks until the state cross country meet. I hope your volume is up so that we can concentrate on transitioning from endurance/strength to speed. Transitioning is the key word here. Moving from one venue of training to another is one place that injury can happen. I remember reading a discussion on line and different coaches were talking about peaking athletes. One coach said that two weeks before state he just “slammed his athletes with speed”. We don’t slam you with speed because we like to allow the body to adapt to a change in work load or at least a change in the quality of the work load. Failure to do so will lead to soreness and perhaps injury at a very crucial time in the season. The point that I am attempting to make is that your body is amazing and is built to adapt if given the correct work load with proper transitioning and rest. A good example of this is how we do hills. We do not begin with 12 hills. Early in the summer we might do four hills and then add one or two a week. Until we get to ten or twelve hills we “allow the hill to create the work”. In other words, we are not charging up the hills like a flock of wild turkeys. Once we get the correct volume then each week we can add a couple of faster hills until by mid –season we are doing all of them fast. By the way, hills are not speed work unless you are running down them – hills are strength work – the type of strength you will need on the state course. Waiting to start hills when the season begins does not allow our bodies enough time to adapt before we begin racing. We have one and sometimes two meets a week and precious little time to rest let alone continue to build.
Look at early seasons hills as a type of controlled fartlek. After we get to ten hills think of it as a 30 minute run divided into 10 one minute runs at 5000 meter pace, with a two minute recovery jog.
Our hill course also allows us to do a run off pavement, of thirty minutes, with a little bit of work attached. On hot days, being back in the shade of the trees can be pretty sweet.
Slowly transitioning from longer intervals to shorter intervals is a common thread through out all of our training.

If you have questions about general conditioning e mail me: jlmiller@osd.wednet.edu or call 709-0572.

Our season schedule is listed at this site in mid June.

Like a Flock of Wild Turkeys

I visited the swing overlooking the pond yesterday just to get out of my parents nice air conditioned house. As I sat there gently swinging in the shade, in 90 degree heat and 70% humidity, I listened to the cicadas singing high in the trees, and an occasional Cardinal belting out a tune. In the lower meadow a ground hog had wandered out of his? or her? den (I don't know the difference, but they seem to, judging by the number of road kill) About that time a flock of wild turkeys strolled out of the woods and I couldn't help but think of you guys and wondered what you were doing:

Have you been running ?

Have you been running smart?

Do you have your physicals taken care of?

Do you have good healthy shoes?

Are you eating properly and backing it up with a parent approved vitamin?

Are you beginning to think about academics? Do you have those IB summer reading books taken care of?

Are you beginning to adjust your sleep patterns to match more closely to school hours? It sounds awful, but it will keep you from being exhausted the second week of school.

Only about one month until the Capital Invite.

Alone we are good - Together we are great!

Band of Brothers

Mrs. Miller and I went over to my old high school for a walk run yesterday before the thunderstorms rolled in. I tried to stride the blocks on the sidewalk just like I used to do while training and found I could still do it! Today I have a slightly hyper- extended knee. It sucks being old.
We walked and jogged for about an hour and as we were getting ready to leave I noticed a group of runners. I could tell by the way they ran and how intelligent they looked that it must be the cross country team. I went over to chat and they were very friendly. I asked them questions and they asked me questions. I gave them this blog address and they gave me theirs. Later on I wondered why I felt so compelled to introduce myself to them and to talk with them. I finally decided it was a "Band of Brothers" sort of thing. We all have shared the joys of running and the agony of defeet. We also have a shared history and will always have that in common. I am a part of AHS history and so are they - this will not change except for the addition of new characters each season. This is something for us as a Capital team to remember - we are part of a proud tradition. Years from now I hope you feel the pride of being connected to the Capital Cross Country Team as I do the Ashand High School Cross Country Team.

Alone we are good - Together we are great!

o hi o

What's round at the beginning, high in the middle, round on the end and hot as !!!!. Ohio! We crawled out of bed for an hour walk jog this morning at 7:00 a.m. and it was 85 degrees and 74% humidity. Despite the temperature I had been looking forward to this morning's walk which was to take place in a forested area I used to frequent as a child. I was about a mile from my house with involved a walk /run through a tall grassy field. Now there are trees where the field once was, and a wood chip trail winds through the new woods to the old woods. We referred to it as "the woods", now it is officially called Sandusky Hollow. It is a very typical midwest woods with it own special charm of decidious trees, poison ivy, grape vines Tarzan would love, and lots of horse and deer flies. I tried out a new hat I had purchased which is supposed to repel insects and it worked. At least from what I could tell from the number of insects buzzing around Mrs. Miller's head and not mine. I wish this trail had been available for running when I was growing up.
This reminds me. Someone has placed some old sofas on Capital's running trail in two places and they need to be removed. The one at the top of the trail should be placed out along side the road on Bush St. The other sofa and cushions should be moved about two hundred feet west to the opening to the parking lot which is now a construction area. I left a lone sofa cushion to mark the spot. Our goal would be to get this garbage to a place where it can be picked up and thrown into a dumpster. It would be nice to return on the 8th find all of this stuff gone. Thanks Captains and Co.
Meanwhile keep running and be smart about it! You guys and gals are awesome!

Running Intelligently

I'm presently visiting my folks in Ashland Ohio. Please make sure you are giving yourself recovery runs between work days. If you allow your pulse to go over 150 beats per minute you are no longer having a recovery day. If you must allow others to go a head of you then do so. It is better to run smart now and still be in the race later in the season.The key is to check your pulse enough that you become tuned in to what a 150 pulse feels like. It will not make you a better runner to work hard every day. Any joint pain requires a day off. Blisters deal with them, but don't allow them to force you to put too much weight on one foot. Now is a good time to get new shoes at South Sound Running.
Stay tuned for more reports from Ohio.

jlmiller@osd.wednet.edu