BMC Spirit Night

On Tuesday night, the Spartans teamed up with the Toppers for Spirit night! Chick Fil-A in Tupelo donated 20% of sales to the BMC cross country team, and the Spartans came out to show their support! We had a fun night together, and I think everyone got a kick out of Derek and Nathan dressed up in their costumes! (Poor Nathan kept getting his tail pulled!)

Current Spartans... Future Toppers! :)

This Week

Wow, y'all! I is already the last week in April! We are going to spend the month of May getting group 3 and the older runners in group 2 caught up to group 4. Then, we will be ready to begin our summer training program!

Don't forget that camp deposits are due this Tuesday or Next Tuesday. If you need a few weeks on the money, I understand... but please let me know, so that I can plan for your child to come.

Boys are going to get the first half of the week- Sunday late afternoon through Wednesday. Girls will arrive on Wednesday and stay through Saturday. (Wednesday will be a partially shared day.)

Monday-
Group 1- 30 minutes
Group 2- 3 miles
Group 3- 4 miles
Group 4- 5 miles
Group 5- 7 miles

Tuesday- 3:30 practice at Ballard Park
***REMEMBER*** If you can go to Chick Fil-A after practice, tell them you are there for BMC Spirit Night- They will give 20% of your order towards the BMC cross country trails.

OK, so it is now Thursday, and I am just now updating this!!! I am so sorry!

Today, I want groups 1-3 to run 30 minutes, and Groups 4-5 to run 4 miles easy. Do your strength training workout today!

Friday is a rest day... Unless you are running the 5K Friday night.

Saturday is a long run day- Many are doing the Coke 10K.
If you ran Friday night, do 20 minutes easy.

If you are NOT running Friday night or the Coke 10K, then on Saturday I would like you to run between 3-6 miles, depending on your group and how you feel. (Groups 1-3 no more than 4 miles.)

Strength Training

This Week

Quick reminder- Camp deposits are due the first week of May! Also, I just read about a track meet in Tupelo for ages 9-13 on May 15th. I am going to check on the prices, etc. and get back to you. If it is reasonable, I would really like for Spartans in that age range to participate.

Group 4 has gotten up to about 18-20 miles per week. I am going to hold this group there for a few weeks while group 3 catches up. The goal for group 4 is a peak mileage level of around 35 miles per week... right around running camp. We have plenty of time to get there, and so I would prefer to go about it very gradually, allowing for adaptations.

Remember, Group 1, your goal is to be able to run 3 miles in 30 minutes. The first goal is to run 30 minutes without walking. The second goal is to pick up your pace and get the 3 mile distance within that 30 minutes. When you do that, LET ME KNOW.

Also, if you are running on FRIDAY NIGHT, swap Friday and Saturday. You can take a rest day on Saturday.

MONDAY: Core workout #1
Group 1- 30 minutes
Group 2- 3 miles
Group 3- 5 miles
Group 4- 6 miles
Group 5- Forrest, depends on your knee... 8 if you're fine.

TUESDAY: Practice at 3:30, Ballard Park. We might just make practice a little more interesting this week.

WEDNESDAY:
Group 1- Rest
Group 2- Rest
Group 3- Rest
Group 4- 2 miles
Group 5- 3 miles

THURSDAY: Strength workout #2
Group 1- 30 minutes
Group 2- 3 miles
Group 3- 4 miles
Group 4- 5 miles
Group 5- 7 miles

FRIDAY: Core Workout #2
Groups 1-5 Rest

SATURDAY: Optional Strength workout #1
Group 1- 30 min.
Group 2- 3 miles
Group 3- 3 miles, pick up the pace for the last 10 minutes
Group 4- 3 miles, pick up the pace for the last 10 minutes
Group 5- 4 miles, pick up the pace for the last 10 minutes

This week

Those who ran in races this Saturday... GREAT JOB!!! Several of you got to run in your first 5K, and I hope it was a great experience.

I think the Spartan Spotlight should shine on Clay Johnson this week! I am not sure what changed, but Clay decided to show up and RUN! He ran in the 22's this week... 40 seconds better than his best ever time! Wow- it's the off season!

The training this week is going to be a repeat of last week's workouts. We are going to "push pause" in increasing mileage for a week, while we adjust to our training load.

Just refer to the post from last week about the workouts.

Tuesday we will have practice at the NAHS track at 3:00. This will be the last NAHS practice. From here on out, we will be at Ballard Park. Hope you can make it! If you have any questions about camp, I will be happy to talk to you about them.

Mansion 5K

Last Saturday several Spartans ran in the Mansion 5K in Tupelo. The race was early... TOO early! We started at 7:00 am in the mall parking lot. It couldn't have been a prettier morning to run, though!

Austin takes the lead right away...

And he finished first in 16:33... impressive for the off season!

Forrest was the first Spartan to cross... Good job, Forrest!

Clay set a PR in the race on Saturday, blowing his previous best out of the water! Way to go, Clay!

Olivia finishing strong

Look at this pack of Spartans- Way to run as a pack, guys! It turned into a good foot race at the end!

And on a special note... Amy Blassingame ran a 5K right at 40 minutes, and she got her first trophy! Spectacular, considering that Amy has not been running long AT ALL! WOO HOO!

CAMP NEWS!!!!

Running camp is going to be the first week of August. We have way past outgrown the Morris' cabin, so I have reserved a group camp facility for this time.

Camp will be at Shelby Forest in Millington, TN. You can check out the link for some information on the facilities.

This camp, although a little rustic (which builds character!), is going to be perfect for our situation. There are two bunkhouses and a large dining hall with industrial kitchen. Best of all, there are miles and miles of trails to run!

I have debated and debated as to how this week should be done... I believe we are going to split the week again... Boys one half and girls the other. This will allow for a smaller group setting and closer bonding within the teams. Some BMC runners are going to attend as "counselors," but I would like as many parents to attend as possible. I know this runs into problems with some families having girls and boys... if you would be willing to come and stay for part of the week or the whole week (even if it might mean having a few boys at the girls camp, etc.), please let me know ASAP. David Minnis has volunteered to come for the boys' half, and I would LOVE it if at least one more dad could attend.

I am estimating the cost to be about $75. This will include food, lodging, supplies, a water bottle (those were a hit last year!), and possibly a special camp t-shirt. Parents will not need to pay the full price, but maybe a little bit to go towards food would help.

If anyone would like to go ahead and volunteer to be my kitchen manager for part of the week or the entire week, you will be my favorite person forever and ever! :) Just kidding, but I could use help in meal planning, grocery shopping, etc.

If you are planning on having runners attend camp, I would like a deposit of $40 by the first week of May. If this is not possible, please contact me. The remainder of the fee will be due By the first of July.

I hope we have a great group this year- last year was a blast, and it really helped the team!

Cool Site

This is a neat resource for figuring out your mile splits and goal times.

http://www.bestrunninglog.com/race-pace-calculator.php

Good Quote

	Winning has nothing to do with racing. Most days don't have races anyway. Winning is about struggle and effort and optimism, and never, ever, ever giving up.

April 5-10 Workouts

Happy Easter, everyone! I hope you had a wonderful opportunity to worship the risen Savior this morning! I am sorry that I did not get to this sooner this afternoon.

Cale and Zack- you are still in group 3... I told you wrong last week.

Here we go... You will notice that everyone is increasing in mileage just a bit. We are only increasing our total by 10%... a good, safe amount. Any more than that puts us in the realm of heading toward injury! Varsity boys will top out this summer up close to 50 miles per week, and varsity girls will wind up around 40! Going into the season, we will back off the mileage just a bit and add in our race specific work. Be patient, follow instructions, and remember that there is a plan behind this!

BTW, my goal for group 1 is two-fold. I would like this group to get up to 30 minutes without walking. Also, I would like for group 1 to be able to run 3 miles in this 30 minutes of exercise. So, the reasoning would be to run continuously for 30 minutes (gradually phasing out the walking breaks), and then start speeding up the pace until you can complete a 5K in this time frame. I am already seeing progress- Great job, everyone!

This weekend, April 10, is the Mansion 5K. This is a flat course around the mall... great for running a fast time! The cost is a little high ($25), but it is for a good cause. You can register online... just go to www.mansionevents.org.

Monday: Everyone does core workout #1
Group 1- Exercise 30 minutes
Group 2-3 miles
Group 3-4 miles
Group 4-6 miles
Group 5-8 miles

Tuesday: Practice at Ballard Park XC trail, 3:30... Be there, or be square!

Wednesday: Core workout #1
Groups 1,2, & 3- Rest
Group 4- 2 miles
Group 5- 3 miles

Thursday: Everyone does strength training #2
Group 1- 30 minutes
Group 2- 3 miles
Group 3- 4 miles
Group 4- 5 miles
Group 5- 7 miles

Friday: Everyone does core workout #1

Saturday: Children's Mansion 5K at the Mall in Tupelo.
Other option-
Group 1-30 minutes
Groups 2 & 3- 3 miles
Group 4- 3 mile tempo run
Group 5- 4 mile tempo run