Practice Review - Thursday, September 30

PRACTICE: Hill repetitions

I would've liked to have gone easier today, but next week's schedule forced our hand today. We walked down to Russett Lane and did 3-4 sprints up the hill. A tough day, but we can use the weekend to recover.

HOMEWORK: Recovery!
Take one day this weekend to get a 1-mile jog in, but use the rest of your time off to rest and recuperate. We've had a tough couple of days and I want to make sure you're keeping your legs fresh!

NEXT WEEK: We have two meets next week - Monday at Sky View Middle School, and Thursday at Overlook Middle School.

The meet on Monday will be held at Sky View Middle School in Leominster. It will be about a half-hour ride.
500 Kennedy Way
Leominster, MA

The meet on Thursday will be held at Overlook Middle School in Ashburnham. It will about 50 minute ride.
10 Oakmont Drive
Ashburnham, MA

6th graders are exempt from attending the meet on Thursday due to the Project Adventure trip.

Everyone have a great weekend!

Meet Results - vs. St. Anna

BOYS - won 15-50
14:51 - Nick Piccioli
15:21 - Liam Gross
15:33 - Zach Honig
15:37 - Jacob Hangen
16:05 - Andrew Snoddy
16:12 - Brendan Burrell
16:20 - Patrick Nair
16:41 - Colin Willoughby
16:49 - Isaac Luke
16:57 - Ryan Gillooly
17:07 - Jared Wilber
17:11 - Michael Bolton
17:20 - Joey Guerin
18:01 - Max Sharin
18:06 - William Michaud
18:36 - PJ Anastas
18:37 - Dominic Orlando
18:39 - Mitchell Clopeck
18:48 - Jonah Lemieux
18:51 - Anthony Tata
19:02 - Michael Travalent
19:09 - Charlie Lamplough
19:23 - Joey Tavis
19:38 - Marcus Braudis
19:40 - Dean Anastas
19:44 - Nick Jones
19:57 - Collin Streeter
20:08 - Daniel Seeley
20:14 - Matt Buttiglieri
20:55 - Andrew Jowett
21:04 - David Czapkowski
21:27 - Cam Walbridge
21:38 - Michael Sanzio
21:42 - Jonny Gjeltema
21:53 - Dylan Butland
21:58 - Owen Hunter
26:35 - Greg Woelki
27:22 - Jack O'Connor
27:53 - Cam Donahue
28:03 - Steven Jiang
28:10 - George Tierney
28:12 - Sam Talpey
28:20 - Dan Yapp
38:59 - David Combs


GIRLS - won 15-50
15:54 - Courtney Aylaian
16:08 - Rylee Gillen
17:39 - Brooke Perisho
17:50 - Kylie Lance
17:55 - Mary Sabourin
18:07 - Katie Piccioli
18:08 - Janice Bolton
18:11 - Kristina MacLure
18:14 - Jennifer Schwenk
18:16 - Afton Burrell
18:30 - Nikkiah Snoddy
19:33 - Julia Hill
20:05 - Magen Cook
20:52 - Peri Matatia
21:00 - Jordan Bricknell
21:15 - Emily Suleski
21:30 - Caroline Folsom
24:43 - Hannah Lauffer
24:47 - Erin McNemar
24:51 - Madison Afonso
29:57 - Sarah Chase

Practice Review - Tuesday, September 28

PRACTICE: Dodgeball!

Due to the rain outside, we were forced to stay in the gymnasium. Thanks to Mr. Tucker for letting us borrow the dodgeballs!

TOMORROW'S MEET: The meet originally scheduled for today has been postponed to tomorrow - Wednesday, September 29. It will be held at the Delaney Project land on Harvard Road in Stow. 2 buses will take the students to the meet - they will be allowed to bring their backpacks this time! - and 1 bus will take any students back to Hale.

IF YOU OR SOMEONE ELSE IS PICKING YOUR CHILD UP FROM DELANEY, YOU MUST SEND A NOTE!

8TH GRADERS: Reminder that if you are interested in heading up to the high school for practice on Friday, get the bottom part of the sheet I sent home signed by your parent and bring it back to me. This is a great opportunity for us, and if you are interested in running for the high school team next year you may want to check it out!

NEXT WEEK: We have 2 away meets scheduled for next week: at Sky View on Monday and at Overlook on Thursday. I will get directions posted up here before this weekend so you can book your travel packages: Overlook is a bit of a drive.

MEET POSTPONED

The meet scheduled for today has been postponed due to inclement weather. We have rescheduled for tomorrow, Wednesday.

It will be held at the Delaney Project off of Harvard Road

Practice Review - Monday, September 27

PRACTICE: 3/4 - 1 mile

Nice easy day today with our meet tomorrow.

MEET: Tomorrow is scheduled to be our first home meet of the season.

In the case of inclement weather, I will send out an e-mail announcing the cancellation of the meet. If the meet is cancelled, we will still have practice. If there is no e-mail, the meet is still on.

Inspirational Running Quote #5

"Every morning in Africa, an antelope wakes up. It knows it must outrun the fastest lion, or it will be killed. Every morning in Africa, a lion wakes up. It knows it must run faster than the slowest antelope, or it will starve. It doesn't matter if you're the lion or the antelope - when the sun comes up, you'd better be running."
- African Proverb

Practice Review - Thursday, September 23

PRACTICE: Mile jog; Minute Challenge

Easy day today to recover from yesterday's pair of victories. We did try something a little different today - the Minute Challenge!

MINUTE CHALLENGE RULES:
1. Start at the line of pavement - finish at the trash can end of the basketball court. Race is less than a 1/4 mile - it's not impossible, but it's meant to be challenging.
2. Race around the field, keeping the cones to your right. If you cut a cone, you are automatically disqualified
3. If your time is under 1 minute, you win the prize - a candy bar of your choosing (or silly bands, or whatever)
4. You may try the challenge once per day. If you don't get it, try again tomorrow.
5. You may only successfully complete the challenge once per week. Once you get it, you have to wait until next week to try again.

I cut off a little bit of the normal lap for today's challenge as a bit of an introductory present. That'll be the last time that I do that - 27 athletes completed the challenge! Congrats!

NEXT MEET
Next meet is this Tuesday at home against the St. Anna School of Leominster.

As for a home course, we are just waiting on final approval from a few town boards for use of the land, but we are finally close to getting one. I hope to have a practice there on Monday so we can familiarize ourselves with our new course. I will post here and send out an e-mail once I hear the official word.

HOMEWORK
1 day: 1.25 miles - 2.5 miles
2 days: rest

Get one day of long distance in this weekend. If you feel like you can only manage to run the minimum, that's fine. If you feel like you can take on the maximum, that's fine too. I just want you to keep the mileage we've already run on your legs for the rest of the season. With 2 weeks of practice out of the way, it's almost time to raise the difficulty of the workouts a little. You're in better shape now, and I don't think anyone will have a problem with tougher workouts!

Have a great weekend!

Meet Results - @ Turkey Hill

Course = 1.58 miles over rolling terrain; grass, dirt, and track

BOYS - won 21-39
Nick Piccioli - 9:53
Liam Gross - 10:03
Jacob Hangen - 10:18
Zach Honig - 10:21
Andrew Snoddy - 10:39
Colin Willoughby - 10:52
PJ Anastas - 11:23
Jared Wilber - 11:25
Patrick Nair - 11:29
Isaac Luke - 11:37
Joey Guerin - 11:46
Ryan Gillooly - 11:52
Michael Travalent - 12:06
Joey Tavis - 12:07
Michael Bolton - 12:15
Max Sharin - 12:18
Jonny Gjeltema - 12:29
William Michaud - 12:33
Jonah Lemieux - 12:48
Sam Pappas - 12:51
Dean Anastas - 13:01
Marcus Braudis - 13:02
Charles Lamplough - 13:04
Mitchell Clopeck - 13:08
Anthony Tata - 13:09
Steven Jiang - 13:16
Jake Parquet - 13:20
David Czapkowski - 13:40
Nick Jones - 13:41
Collin Streeter - 13:46
Matt Buttiglieri - 13:48
Mike Sanzio - 14:00
Daniel Seeley - 14:14
Dominic Orlando - 14:22
Joshua Hogan - 15:06
Dylan Butland - 15:19
Andrew Jowett - 15:22
Owen Hunter - 15:40
George Tierney - 17:11
Cam Donahue - 17:33
Jack O'Connor - 17:39
Greg Woelki - 17:40
Daniel Yapp - 17:56
Sam Talpey - 20:08
David Combs - 22:12

GIRLS - won 20-42
Rylee Gillen - 10:44
Courtney Aylaian - 10:47
Brooke Perisho - 11:26
Mary Sabourin - 11:27
Kylie Lance - 11:32
Kristina MacLure - 11:39
Katie Piccioli - 12:05
Julia Hill - 12:17
Jennifer Schwenk - 12:19
Magen Cook - 12:25
Nikkiah Snoddy - 12:27
Afton Burrell - 12:39
Janice Bolton - 12:48
Peri Matatia - 13:01
Emily Suleski - 14:19
Jordan Bricknell - 14:25
Caroline Folsom - 15:06
Sarah Chase - 17:12
Erin McNemar - 17:20
Madison Afonso - 17:31

***

Great job today everybody!!!

Practice Review - Tuesday, September 21

PRACTICE: Light jogging, stretching; 3-team relay race

Very easy day with the meet tomorrow - gotta keep those legs fresh!

MEET: The meet is tomorrow against Turkey Hill Middle School in Lunenburg. The meet actually takes place at Lunenburg High School on the running track. Here is the final address.

If you are picking up your child at the meet or if your child is going home with another parent, you need to send a note into the main office.

STUFF YOU NEED TO BRING:
- Uniform
- Water Bottle / Gatorade (no soda!)
- Healthy Snack
- Small bag to store everything

Due to the large size of the team, there will not be a whole lot of room. So if you don't have a note saying you will be picked up at the meet, you will not be allowed to bring your backpack!

Schedule Finalized!

The schedule has been finalized! All meets will begin at approx. 3:30pm-4:00pm

Wed. 9/22 @ Turkey Hill MS (Lunenburg)
Tue. 9/28 vs. St. Anna School (Home)
Mon. 10/4 @ Sky View MS (Leominster)
Thu. 10/7 @ Overlook MS (Ashburnham)
Wed. 10/13 vs. Gardner MS (Home)
Fri. 10/15 vs. Gibbons MS (Home)
Thu. 10/21 @ Groton-Dunstable MS
Tue. 11/2 vs. NRSD Championship Meet @ Sawyer Middle School (Bolton)
Sat. 11/6 State Championship Meet @ Tewksbury

Practice Review - Monday, September 20

PRACTICE: 1.5 - 2.25 miles (nice and easy)

Challenging practice today - a tough distance run but picked because that's about the distance that Wednesday's race will be.

MEET: Wednesday's meet will be AWAY against Turkey Hill Middle School in Lunenburg. The race will start and finish on the track.

HERE ARE THE DIRECTIONS to the meet!

If you are picking up your child or if your child is getting picked up by another parent after the race, please send a note into the main office on Wednesday.

USER FEE: I am still missing user fees from about 20 kids. IF YOU DON'T GET IT IN BEFORE THE MEET ON WEDNESDAY, YOU WILL NOT RUN IN THE MEET. User fee is $55, and all checks should be made out to Hale Middle School

Inspirational Running Quote #4

"I always loved running...it was something you could do by yourself, and under your own power. You could go in any direction, fast or slow as you wanted, fighting the wind if you felt like it, seeking out new sights just on the strength of your feet and the courage of your lungs."
- Jesse Owens

Practice Review - Thursday, September 16

PRACTICE: Uniforms

Yep, that was basically it. On the plus side, I believe that everyone that's been here this week got their uniform. The jersey is only supposed to be worn during meets - please leave it at home in a place you can find it. The jersey is yours for the season, and must be returned at the end of the year. If you do not return the one given to you today, there will be a $15 replacement fee assessed to you. Please remember to wash it periodically as well: there is nothing worse than a stinky jersey.

T-SHIRTS: I am extending the contest one more day - get your ideas to me either through e-mail or drop off a design at the main office. I will swing by sometime after lunch tomorrow to pick up any designs.

HOMEWORK: That's right - I give out homework!!!

I gave 2 assignments today: nothing too hard.

1) Get out and stay active! We did a lot of training this week and I don't want you to lose that mileage on your legs, so try and do some outdoor activity 2 out of the next 3 days.

2) Write down and bring in on Monday your Top 5 Favorite...Pump-Up Songs! Whether it's a blaring guitar solo or a thumping bass beat, if it makes you feel like you can take on the world, put it on your list!

***

Have a great weekend everybody! See you on Monday!

Practice Review - Wednesday, September 15

PRACTICE: Hill work - mechanics going up and down, "ribbons"

Lots of tired looking athletes today, so we took a bit of a recovery day today. Easy 'learning' day where we learned how to run up and down hills - also introduced them to the concept of ribbons (which they were not too fond of)

T-SHIRTS: Bring in your ideas for t-shirts tomorrow! I have 2 so far (from the same person) and am looking for more!

UNIFORMS: We will be passing out uniforms tomorrow during practice. Please make an effort to be there so you can get your uniform: it's what you run in during the races

FIRST MEET: Is next Wednesday at Turkey Hill Middle School in Lunenburg! That's one week from today! I will post directions to the meet when I confirm where they want us to arrive.

Practice Review - Tuesday, September 14

PRACTICE: Interval Training - 5 laps around the field (1/3 lap sprinting, 1/3 lap jogging, 1/3 lap walking)

Stepped up the intensity of the workout a little today - lots of heavy breathing around the 4th and 5th rep! Everybody passed this tough test with flying colors, showing that a lot of them are already in great shape!

T-SHIRTS: Get your ideas for t-shirt designs into me by the end of the week. I want to place the order in the next few weeks so we actually get to wear them before the season is over.

USER FEE / PHYSICAL / EMERGENCY CARD: If you haven't turned in any of these things, PLEASE DO SO!!! The physical and emergency card need to be in to the main office before you can start to practice, and the user fee of $55 (checks made out to Hale Middle School) must be paid before the first meet, which leads me to...

SCHEDULE: The schedule has been completed...almost! We have added 3 away meets, and there is the high likelihood of adding one more meet to the schedule. Click the top link on the left to be directed to our schedule, and save those dates on your family calendar!!!

HOME COURSE: Still working out the details - hopefully I can finish this up by the end of the week. I was able to walk what I want for the home course today, and it measured out to 1.7 miles on grass and dirt. I hope your kids like climbing hills... : )

Practice Review - Monday, September 13

The 2010 season is officially underway!

PRACTICE TODAY: 1/2 mile time trial

Easy practice today - we had a two-lap time trial around the field behind Hale, and the stopwatch never lies...

I was extremely pleased with everybody's performance today! Every member of the team ran their 1/2 mile in under 4:00, which averages out to a sub-8 minute mile! Well done!

Remember to bring in all your forms tomorrow if you were missing them today - also remember to pay your user fee if you haven't already!

Inspirational Running Quote #3

“We run, not because we think it is doing us good, but because we enjoy it and cannot help ourselves. The more restricted our society and work become, the more necessary it will be to find some outlet for this craving for freedom. No one can say, 'You must not run faster than this, or jump higher than that.' The human spirit is indomitable.”
- Sir Roger Bannister; first man to run a sub-4 minute mile

Preseason Ramblings

Thanks to everyone who signed up yesterday - we had a record 98 SIGN-UPS!!!

Remember to bring appropriate clothing to practice on Monday - sneakers, shorts, t-shirt. I want to put you through a little test to see where you stand at the beginning of the season, so we will be running a HALF-MILE TIME-TRIAL on Monday!

Also remember to get your emergency form and user fee returned to the Main Office before the start of practice on Monday, as well as an up-to-date physical - you can't participate without them!

Let me know if you have any questions - I'm looking forward to the best XC season ever!

Inspirational Running Quote #2

"In running, it doesn't matter whether you come in first, in the middle of the pack, or last. You can say 'I have finished.' There is a lot of satisfaction in that."
- Fred Lebow, New York City Marathon co-founder

Inspirational Running Quote #1

"You have to wonder at times what you're doing out there. Over the years, I've given myself a thousand reasons to keep running, but it always comes back to where it started. It comes down to self-satisfaction and a sense of achievement."
- Steve Prefontaine