Pre-Race Meal-Goals-Ping Pong

   We have the Brissman-Lundeen meet tomorrow in Rock Island, IL.  They run a great meet and and there will be a 30 or more teams there.  Tonight we have our team meal in the lounge area of Spartan Suites.  We do this before every meet.  I think whole wheat pasta and garlic bread is on the menu for this evening.  The pre-race meal is always a good time everyone pitches in, sets the table and helps cook.  Then we'll eat,  go over departure times and then I'll highlight some things that I would like to see happen during the race.  

   After that we'll hand out our goal sheets that everyone will work on tonight so that they can have them for the race on Saturday.  Think it, believe it, write it, achieve it, you can't go wrong there.  After all that someone will crush me in a game of ping pong.  I can't seem to win one this year.  Ethan has been smashing me the most so far.  If I could get them to play pool I 'd have a fighting chance.  

   Tomorrow is a big meet and we need everyone to step up because there will be a lot great teams there.  It should give us a good measure of where we are at.     

Athlete of the Week

Walter was awarded athlete of the week for his great run at the Les Duke Invite after getting his wisdom tooth pulled.

Education is the Key to Real Riches

Every week the ICCAC comes out with the Athlete of the Week and Scholar of the Week last week we had two runners get their props for some hard work.  Walt was awarded Athlete of the Week for finishing 10th at the Les Duke Invite after having a wisdom tooth pulled the day before race. It was a gutsy run.  Nick received scholar of the week.  He's headed into physical therapy and is carrying a great gpa.  The day we announced the awards we were running the golf course on the east side of campus for practice and Mr. Sommers a long time instructor at the college and the person for whom the Athlete of Year Award is named after, pulled up in his golf cart  as we were getting ready to head off to weights.  I introduced him to the team and the first thing he said  was make sure you never miss a class if you do that you are setting yourself up for success.  That's what impresses me the most about Southwestern, everyone in the college is working to make sure that every student gets a  great education and achieves their goals.     

Even Coaches Can Be Inspired

September 15, 2008

The week getting ready for the Les Duke Invite at Grinnell was anything but fun. We had a lot of aggravating injuries, nothing bad just little things shin splints, sore hamstrings etc... We were going to hold out some runners and I didn't want to do that very badly. It was going to be a huge meet with nationally and regionally ranked DIII, NAIA's and JC's and I wanted to see what we could do against the best in the Midwest. This was going to be our first meet since getting ranked and the first with the whole team being able to run. Walt had a wisdom tooth pulled on Friday and he was iffy and Ethan, Patrese and Kyle were going to be race day decisions after they warmed up. The whole way to the race it poured and I was worried about that. How were they going to react to less than ideal conditions? Now I am not sure why I was worried. They ran with a determination, a grit and a passion that I have rarely seen in runners. They splashed through standing water, navigated slick hillsides and attacked the uphills it was something that I will not soon forget. Almost on cue with a 1,000 meters left the skies opened up during the men's race and it poured and with the bear on their backs they didn't wilt or falter instead they got faster and finished with a mad fury. In the post race huddle I told them that I had never been as inspired as I was that afternoon by a group of runners. I was so motivated that when we got home I went for a short run if for nothing else than to get to share in the moment.  Got a moment check this out  http://www.jeffhobbs.org.

The link is on the Bottom of the page.

Nationally Ranked #16: A Carrot to Chase

September 9, 2008

The NJCAA rankings came out on Wednesday and we made at #16. Everyone was super excited and they should be. It is a like a slap on the back, an atta boy for all their hard work. I know rankings don't mean much it is the head to head at nationals that count but it still feels good to know that your hard work is paying off. It makes for a great motivator that proverbial "carrot on the stick." We are starting to really hit our speed days I think everyone is glad to have the chance to really let it go and see what they can do.

Central College Dutch Invite: P.R's and Finishes

September 8, 2008

It has been two weeks since our last meet and we have spent a lot of time stressing some things we wanted to do for this meet. 1. getting out fast and 2. finishing the race (last 1,000 meters) with a great sense of urgency. We did both. The ladies were great!! All of them ended up taking a lot of time off of their first race and Tress and Trese both set P.R.'s. Walt finally got to run and he finished 3rd overall. The men finished the race like a tidal wave. They rolled the last 800+ meters. The course has a 150 meter long hill at the finish and they really attacked it. Nearly every guy ran a course best record set from the year before. We finished 5 out of 12 which is great considering the other colleges were all 4 year institutions. Dylan made the front page of the program they had taken a picture of him running in last years race. There were a lot of parents and fans there which made the day even better. We hope that our performances are enough to get us ranked in the NJCAA standings which come out next week.

Time Trial at Fort Dodge

August 27, 2008

We had our ICCAC Time Trial at Kennedy Park in Ft. Dodge. It was a 5k for the men and the women. Coach Stalker and I were happy with the times especially Tressa's and Patrese's. All the men ran strong too but you could tell everyone was nervous especially the freshmen. Who isn't at the first race of the season? Pete, Tressa and Nick finished in the top 15 and got t-shirts. We showed a lot of progress since the first day and I am excited for what is to come. Classes start on Wednesday so everyone was reminded of the importance of class. Like they say every minute in the seat is more money in the pocket.

Pre-Season Camp Setting the Bar High

August 14, 2008

We just got back from our preseason camp at Sun Valley Lake. We spent three days training on the roads and trails around the lake. The weather was great. Everyone showed up in pretty good shape and we had a great time swimming, fishing, going out on the paddle boats, playing badminton, tossing bean bags and getting to know each other. It was a great time watching all of the runners get to meet each other for the first time knowing that many of them were creating friendships that will last a lifetime. It was decided in a hotly contested game that Dylan and I are the best bean bag throwers. I missed the badminton championship so I am not sure who won. Ethan was in charge of the evening bonfires and Lou and I took care of the grilling. We spent one night setting team and personal goals and going over the point that the most important person on our team is our teammate. Everyone was very excited about heading to Spartanburg, South Carolina for nationals. It was one of the best camps we have ever had!! It was a great team builder.

Southwestern Cross Country Incredible Futures With Every Step