First days of practice, 8/22-8/24

Pre-season practice begins this Thursday 7:00 AM (note change in time) at the high school. In the past we met by the "snack shack" near the football field. Alas, the snack shack has been demolished as part of the renovation of the athletic complex at WHS. Instead, we'll meet just below and next to the upper parking lot. For those that have been on the team before, this is very near the start/finish line for the home course.

The first couple days tend to take a little longer as we learn (or re-learn) the team warmup and get to know each other, but things should be wrapping up by around 9 AM on Thursday.
  
Please remember you have to be registered with an up to date physical (within the last 13 months) on file with the school nurse. More registration information can be found at

http://whs.wayland.k12.ma.us/athletics/registration/ 

You should bring the following to Thursday's practice:

• running shoes

• comfortable clothes in which to work out. You might also want to wear a hat. 

• running watch, either your own the one you borrowed from the team supply. If you don't have a watch one will be assigned to you from the team supply.

• sunscreen

• water bottle - very important item. Please bring a water bottle which you can use during breaks in practice and after practice has ended. It's best to bring your water bottle already filled.

• towel for drying off after aquajogging (Friday and Saturday)

• extra change of clothes if you'd like for after practice. I'm not 100% positive about the status of the locker rooms but they should be open, if not bathrooms will be available at the very least.

For the early season practices, everyone will at some point be meeting at the Town Beach which is at the end of Parkland Drive. Some will be running there from the school, others will meet there directly. The purpose of meeting at the Town Beach is to spend some time "aquajogging" in the water as a way to increase training time without putting extra pounding on joints and muscles. That being said no one will be forced to go in the water.

Here's the training plan for the first three days of practice:

• Thursday 8/22 - meet 7 AM at the high school, brief introductions, demonstration of warmup routine, followed by an out and back run along the Weston aqueduct.

Level 1: 18-20 minutes
Level 2: 22-26 minutes
Level 3: 28-32 minutes
Level 4: 38-42 minutes

Ideally the pace will pick up gradually towards the end of the running portion of the day. Today's run will end with 6x100 yard accelerations on the practice football field with a recovery jog back between each. The time it takes to complete these accels should be included in the length of your run.

• Friday 8/23 - meet 3:30 PM at Town Beach (26 Parkland Drive), warmup on nearby softball field, then a medium length run as follows:

Level 1: 22-26 minutes
Level 2: 34-38 minutes
Level 3: 43-47 minutes
Level 4: 52-56 minutes

The route for today's run is negotiable and we'll discuss various options after the warmup is done. If you so desire, the final 10-12 minutes of your run can be completed in the lake in the form of aquajogging. No one is required to do the aquajogging if they don't want to. Don't get in the water without first being briefed by Coach Mayall, and don't get in the water unless Coach Mayall or Coach Pesaturo are on the dock.

• Saturday 8/24 - meet at Town Beach at 9 AM, warmup on nearby softball field, then a progressive long run (PLR) as follows:

Level 1: 36 minutes (12 minutes easy - 9 minutes fresh - 9 minutes good - 6 minutes easy)
Level 2: 48 minutes (16 minutes easy - 12 minutes fresh - 12 minutes good - 8 minutes easy)
Level 3: 60 minutes (20 minutes easy - 15 minutes fresh - 15 minutes good - 10 minutes easy)
Level 4: 72 minutes (24 minutes easy - 18 minutes fresh - 18 minutes good - 12 minutes easy)

Today's run will be an out and back mostly along the Hultman aqueduct, which can be accessed where it crosses either Sycamore road or Cochituate Road. There will be at least two water stops during the run. If you like, the final segment of the run can be done in the lake in the form of aquajogging but this isn't a requirement.

Next week (the last week of August) we'll be meeting for practice Monday through Thursday at 3:30. There will be practice on Friday August 30th, time TBA. Saturday August 31st there will be an optional trip to Western Massachusetts, something we did last year that was well received. E-mail Coach Mayall if you're interested in that.